|
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Articles (1-3 of 3 total entries)
|
|
|
|
| phpList Help |
Help Documents |
| Thursday- July 20, 2006 @ 16:39:59 EDT |
Site Related |
|
|
phpList is a very comprehensive bulk-email tool. Following
is a somewhat detailed description of everything you can do with the phpList
mailing list manager. NOTE: It
is very important that you read my note on spamming at the bottom of this article.
When you login to phpList, you will be presented with an option screen containing
the following categories:
| List: |
Here you can view list members on each of your lists. You can also
download a list from here. |
| Users: |
Here is where you edit or delete any and all subscriber information.
You can search for subscribers by email address, name, city, etc. You can
sort the list a number of ways and you can also show *only* unconfirmed
subscribers. |
| Import: |
This is where you can import a pre-existing mail list to your phpList
installation. For instructions on how to do this, please drop me a line. |
| Export: |
Here is where you can download your subscribers to import into your Excel
spreadsheet, some other database, or a simple text file. You can also specify
different filters to download partial lists. Just remember that as your
static list sits on your hard drive, the live list is being updated all
the time online by subscribers. |
| Send: |
Here is where you will prepare and send your messages. You will
see seven tabs across the top of the message composition page...
Content: |
The content page is where you will enter your message.
There are a few important points to remember:
1). The "From" field will default
to something like "noreply@yourdomain.com". For bounce
management purposes it is very important that this address not
be changed (more
on this later). A separate List Admin address will be sent in the
body of your message.
2). You will notice that there are two composition fields, HTML and
plain text. You can compose your HTML message using links, images,
text formatting, etc. If the plain text field is left blank, phpList
will attempt to parse a plain text message from your HTML input.
However, it is a good idea to recompose the message yourself using
plain text to insure that your users receive exactly what you intend.
Remember that many people prefer plain text to HTML in their email
to guard against viruses and spamware nasties.
3.) The footer should be left intact, with the unsubscribe link in
plain view. More on this later. |
Format: |
You can designate the message to be sent as HTML, plain text, or
both (the default). Remember that an HTML message sent to a user
who sets their email client to text-only will arrive as a bunch of
garbled code. Sending as 'both' formats is recommended. |
Attach: |
You can send attachments with your message. It is crucial to remember,
though, that this will use a lot of bandwidth. For
example: If you send a 250 KB pdf file as an attachment to 4000 list
members, you will eat up one gigabyte of bandwidth
with a single email. By comparison, a Lookout Web Services
Silver hosting account allows you one gig of bandwidth per
month. (Bandwidth limits must also be considered when
using images.) |
Scheduling: |
You can embargo a message if you wish to send at a later date.
It will send automatically at the date/time you specify. Leave this
alone to send ASAP. |
Criteria: |
If you wish to send a message only to users in, for example, Utah,
you can select the 'State' criterion here. Any criteria can be included
on the signup page; just let me know what you need. This only works,
though, with criteria that subscribers can select from a list when
they signup. If you want to target specific postal codes, for example,
the subscriber would have to select their zip code from a list of
all possible zip codes; not a feasible endeavor. |
Lists: |
Here is where you select the list you want your message to go to.
You will note that there is probably an inactive "test" list leftover
from my installation. This can be activated for troubleshooting,
if necessary. Remember that a list must be selected in order to send,
even if you only have one. |
Misc: |
You might designate an email address(s) here to send a notification
on message send initiation, completion, or both. |
When your message is ready to go,
click 'Send Message to the Selected Mailing Lists' on the "Lists"
page and you are done. Your message will go out automatically
in batches of 500 per hour until all are sent.
NOTES: On
every "send a message" page you find a 'save changes' button. You
must save your work at every step. (This isn't necessary if you
leave the defaults on any particular page.) You also find a 'send
test message' button on every page; you can designate an address
here to send a test message, but it must be an address found on
the list. (It's a good idea to subscribe yourself.) |
|
| Templates: |
Here you can format a template to be used for all your mailouts. If you
wish to have a nice, pretty html email with images and formatting, let
me know. |
| Messages: |
You can view messages here that have been sent, or that are queued for
sending. A message 'in process' (remember that a large list can take a
day or so to send) will remain in the queue until sending is finished.
A nice feature: A previously sent message can be re-queued and it will
only go out to people who signed up after the
original message was sent. |
| Process Queue: |
PUSH THIS BUTTON AT YOUR OWN PERIL! This was originally
the button used to send messages in the queue. However, I've set the server
up to send automatically whenever a message is queued. The reason: When
the 'Process Queue' button was used, your browser had to remain open, working,
and on the Process Queue page for the entire duration of the
sending process! For all practical purposes, your computer
would be hijacked for tens of hours for a large list! I think you will
agree that automated sending is a good idea. However, there is no way to
defeat the 'Process Queue' button, so don't even look at it! |
| Process Bounces: |
When an email sent to a subscriber is undeliverable, it bounces to the
'noreply' mailbox. When you 'Process Bounces', this mailbox is emptied,
each bounce is catalogued, and each corresponding subscriber's bounce
counter is incremented by one. phpList is configured to unsubscribe users
that reach a bounce-count of five. |
| Bounces: |
This is where you can view stats on each bounce catalogued. |
A note on spamming:
Unsolicited email creates incalculable costs in bandwidth and productivity
on a global scale. It is safe to assume that the server your site is hosted
on receives tens of thousands of spam messages every day. In light of
this, the 'shoot now, ask questions later' attitude towards bulk-emailing is
understandable. One complaint by a single recipient to their internet
service provider can result in the blacklisting of this entire server and the
dozens of websites that it hosts! This means that all email
sent from this server would likely be tagged and bounced/blocked as spam. It
is crucial that no unsolicited bulk mail be sent from
this server...ever! And it is crucial that your honorable intent
is demonstrated at every turn. That is why every opportunity is provided for
the user to unsubscribe from any mailing list he/she might be on (including
links in all mailouts), abuse and postmaster email addresses are provided with
every hosting account, and protections against accidental or malicious mail
list signups are implemented on the subscribe pages. It is good practice to
never subscribe anyone to an email list unless the user explicitly requests
the subscription. If any Lookout Web Services client is found sending unsolicited
bulk email from an LWS hosted site, the offending site and hosting account
will be deleted and all client hosting accounts closed.
Bulk emailing can be a tricky and daunting task, especially with a manager
as full-featured as phpList. Please don't hesitate to let Lookout Web Services
take care of your bulk email needs.
|
|
| LWS Web Design |
LWS Information |
| Friday- June 09, 2006 @ 14:33:59 EDT |
General |
|
| Starting a web project can be daunting, but Lookout Web Services will work with you from the beginning to make your site successful. LWS provides standards compliant, search engine optimized code for a fast loading, intuitive website that will effectively communicate your message to your visitors. To get started, all you have to do is contact us and provide a few initial guidelines and we will send you a site proposal and price quote as soon as possible. |
- HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript coding
- Flash, audio and video playback
- Web optimization of graphics and images
- Shopping cart implementation
- Customer contact management
- Database installation
- Search engine optimization and submission
- Google AdWords campaign creation
- 24/7 maintenance at a low monthly rate
- Site custom built to your specifications
- No prefab templates!
|
 |
 |
| |
What are you planning to accomplish with your website? What do you have to offer your visitors? What kind of image do you wish to project? Will it be a simple information or catalog site? Or do you want to be an online retailer? Will your pages be "static" or will you need regular content updates? What kind of information do you want to collect (if any) from your user? |
|
| |
Your domain name should be short, memorable, relevant, and must be unique. Domain name prices vary wildly among vendors, so shop around. If the name you want is not available using the .com, .net, or .org extensions, you may want to consider the newer extensions such as .biz, .tv, or .us. Or let us help you with domain setup. Click here to check domain availability. |
|
| |
Due to the cost of server maintenance and high-speed data connections, it is usually cheaper for small business to outsource its webhosting needs. Any good webhost will offer features like multiple email accounts (you@yourdomain.com), SQL database support, a graphical user interface, etc., but the most important considerations when choosing a host are uptime and user support. LWS features 99.9% uptime and emergency phone support. |
|
| |
It is best to design a site navigation structure and map your pages before any actual coding is done. This provides the guidelines for constructing a basic page layout template incorporating logos and graphics. (It is important to remember that much of the world is still on a dialup connection, so you must decide on the importance of heavy graphical content vs. speed.) Now there is nothing left to do but the HTML coding, images, database installation, javascript and php scripting, etc. Or leave it all to us! |
View our portfolio | Contact
us for a quote
|
|
|
|
|
|
Powered By phpCOIN 1.2.3
|
|
