This first step explains how you will create your Mailing System account. You'll be setting up your Mailing System so that you may use the Email Weblet. If you do not yet have a mailing system, the Email Weblet will direct you to a page where you can set one up. On this page, you will name your first mailing list, and enter an administration email address for that mailing list. This information can be changed later. You may have more than one mailing list. This process will also create the user interface for your Mailing System. Once you have created your Mailing System interface, you will be directed to your Mailing System Manager, described below.

In order to do anything in the mailing system manager, you must select a list to manage. Choose a mailing list from the "Select a List to Manage" drop-down on the first page of your Email Weblet, and click "Go." An exception: the Mailing Lists link, where you can edit information about any of your mailing lists. If you'd like to create a new mailing list, click on the Mailing Lists link, then click on the "Add New" button. There is more information below. Below is a description of all of the links found in your Mailing System Manager, and how to use them:

 

Subscribers: The subscriber link shows a list of everyone subscribed to the selected mailing list. You may edit subscriber information by clicking on any email address in the list. You can also delete subscribers by clicking on the checkboxes next to each subscriber to select the ones you wish to delete, then clicking the "Delete Selected" button. You may also add a new subscriber manually by clicking the "Add New" button and entering their information. Their email address is the only information that is required, but you can add additional information, if it is available.

You may also export a list of all of your subscribers to a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file. You will never need to do this unless you know what to do with it, or you have other software that requires it.

There is also a "Quick Mail" button available from your Subscribers page. Select subscribers by clicking on the checkboxes next to each subscriber, then click Quick Mail to create a new mailing list for the selected subscribers. Once the maling list is created, you will automatically be directed to a newsletter creation page, so that you may send out a "quick email" to all the subscribers you selected. Once you are finished, and go back to your Mailing System Manager home page, the new list you created will be your selected mailing list. If you wish to use the list you were originally using before creating the new list and sending the email, be sure to select the other list again from the "Select a List to Manage" drop-down.

 

Mailing Lists: This is a list of all of your mailing lists. Click a list name to open it, then you can make edits, delete lists by clicking the checkboxes next to the lists you wish to delete, then clicking "Delete Selected," or create a new list by clicking on "Add New." When creating a new list, the most important fields to pay attention to are "Name" (the name of your mailing list) and  "Admin e-mail address" (the e-mail address you wish to use for sending mail, receiving replies from subscribers, and receiving notifications). You should also check the "Subscription through opt-in email" and "Opt-out link in emails" checkboxes to ensure that subscribers will not call you a spammer. Other fields are optional, and can be left the way they are if you do not know what to do.

 

Newsletters: The Newsletters link will display a list of all your newsletters you have created for the selected mailing list. Click on any newsletter name to open it, then you can make edits, or check a box next to a newsletter, and click "Delete Selected" to delete it. Click the "Add New" button to create a new newsletter. You may choose HTML, Plain Text, or both, for the type of newsletter. HTML newsletters are easy to create because the editor makes it easy to add any styling you want to your message. The best option is to do both Plain Text and HTML, because then subscribers who can only receive plain text email will not have a problem. You can also choose to use a Template, which is described below.

You have various options at the bottom for what you can do with your newsletter. You may click Save Draft" to save your Newsletter without sending it, so you can come back to work on it later. You can click "Test Message" to send it to your admin email address to see how the actual message will appear before you actually send it. Pressing "Send To Queue" will prepare your newsletter for sending, but it will not be sent right away. Once it is in the Queue, you may then click the "Send Now" button to begin sending it right away, or you may Pause or Resume the sending of the messages, or Stop it completely. The last option is to  choose a date and time, then click "Schedule message" to schedule your newsletter to be sent at the exact date and time specified.

 

Autoreplies: This section will display all of the autoreplies (or autoresponders) you have created for the selected mailing list. Click on any autoresponder name to open it, then you can make edits, or check the box next to any autoresponder and click the "Delete Selected" button to delete it. Click "Add New" to create a new autoresponder. The directions for creating an autoresponder are the same as those for creating a newsletter (explained above), except for the extra field called "Send reply after ___ days." When someone subscribes to your mailing list, you may send them replies automatically after a certain number of days. Since autoresponders are sent depending on when the user subscribes, the only optiion at the bottom is to Save or Close (changes won't be saved) your autoresponder. Once it is saved, it will begin sending out to all subscribers to your mailing list after the number of days you specified, relative to when they subscribe.

 

E-mail Templates: In this section, you may create templates that can be selected when creating a newsletter or autoresponder. The directions for creating a template are the same as those for creating a newsletter (above). A template simply makes it easy to create several newsletters and autoresponders that are similar. When you select a template to use when creating an autoresponder or newsletter, your template will appear exactly as you entered it, and you will be able to make any necessary changes. A list of the templates you create will be listed here for the selected mailing list. Click on the name of any template to edit that template, or click the checkbox next to a template, then the "Delete Selected" button to delete it.

 

Link & View Tracking: A list of subscribers who have opened any of the emails you have sent from the selected mailing list, as well as a list of links that were clicked within any email, and who clicked on them.

 

Remaining Messages Queue: This is a list of all of the messages that are scheduled to be sent for the mailing list you have selected, but have not yet been sent.

 

Duplicate Email Addresses: Email addresses that have subscribed more than once for the mailing list you have selected.

 

Unsubscribers: A list of all the email addresses that have been unsubscribed from the mailing list you have selected.

 

Export Subscriber List: This link allows you to download a list of all of the subscribers to the list you have selected in a "CSV" file. CSV stands for "Comma-Separated Values." It is simply a text file with all of the information about each of your subscribers, with each piece of information about a particular subscriber separated with commas, and each subscriber on a separate line.

 

Import Email Addresses: This allows you to import a list of email addresses into the mailing list you have selected. You can either import a CSV (described above) file from another system, or give a simple list of email addresses, one per line.

 

Remail Invitations: If you have sent invitations to join your mailing list by importing them using the "Import Email Addresses" link, you may use this link send the invitations again.

 

We have provided you with an easy way to create landing pages (or lead capture pages) by using the Landing Page Weblet. If you are an expert, however, you may also use the Custom Fields and Generate Form links to create your own custom landing pages that can be hosted from your own website.

• Custom Fields: If you are selling a particular type of product, then the Custom Fields link may be useful. Here you can set up a field such as "Favorite Chocolate," if you are selling chocolate, for instance. This new field will be available in the Generate Form link.
• Generate Form: You can use this link to generate a form that you can host on your own site. It presents you with a list of all of the available fields you may want on your landing (or lead capture) page, including any custom fields created in the link detailed above. When you generate the form, you can then copy the code into any page hosted on your own site. This gives you the opportunity to make the page look any way you want it to look, with no limits.

 

Statistics: This will give you an overview of all the information about the particular mailing list you have selected.