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Newsletters ReadMe
Module Setup
- Activate the Newsletters module, set viewing permissions and assign side blocks.
- Go to the admin Config section and verify:
a) you are using Downloads or DownloadsPro
b) you are using Web Links or WeblinksPro
c) you are using Forums or ForumsPro
d) you are using News or Pro News
e) auto newsletters and email parsing options are selected
f) the "archives" folder is writeable by your server
g) setup your desired Photo Gallery options
h) setup your desired Footer options
i) setup if you want to use templates
- Images in CPGNuCalendar
In order for the images and links for CPGNuCalendar to correctly appear in the newsletter,
you may need to update these two lines in modules/CPGNuCalendar/includes/functions.inc:
Approx. Line 841: add $BASEHREF to the end of the global list
Approx. Line 860: change 
- Sending only xx emails per hour
You can choose to send emails at once, or at various selectable rates per hour.
(current choices are 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 500 and unlimited)
There may be a bug when using the feature to only send xx emails/hour though I haven't experienced it yet.
Don't send another newsletter before the newsletters_temp table is finished sending the first newsletter.
- Auto generate newsletters
You have the option to send a newsletter every day, week, month, or quarter.
It will automatically find all the optional features since the last newsletter.
e.g. Articles, Forums, Links, Downloads, mKnow, MReview, Blogs and Pictures.
To add the ability for Auto Generated Newsletters, add this line in your root footer.php file, just below the MS Analysis line.
// Newsletters Entry
if (is_active('Newsletters')) { require_once('modules/Newsletters/functions/npai.inc'); }
- Pending Newsletters
Newsletters can now be saved without sending them, in the newsletters_pending table, on a group basis.
They can then be restored and edited, saved again or even deleted.
- For added visual enhancement, place this code at the end of your theme's style.css file.
/* Newsletters fields */
tr.row1 {
background-color: #FFFFFF;
}
tr.row2 {
background-color: #EAEAEA;
}
tr.row3 {
background-color: #FFFFCC;
}
- Restoring NewsletterPro records to Newsletters:
Copy all .html files from /modules/NewsletterPro/archives/ to /modules/Newsletters/archives/
Then use phpmyadmin to transfer your datbase records.
Operations tab
Copy table to
Data only
from cms_newsletter_history to cms_newsletters_history
Alternatively, Drop the newly created cms_newsletters_history table
Operations tab
Copy table to
Structure and data
from cms_newsletter_history to cms_newsletters_history
Template Setup
- You must end with .php for the file to be displayed in the drop down option in the admin Templates section.
- Create your template with your utf-8 compatible html editor, the way you want.
Then be sure to eliminate all tabs and spaces to avoid disrupting text-only mail readers.
e.g. see the layout of /modules/Newsletters/templates/Red_River.php.
- Be careful with stylesheets - many people use IE which may not display .css layouts consistently.
e.g. Red River may look like four red boxes in IE but will display correctly in Firefox.
Best to use VERY SMALL images for decorating themes.
F.A.Q.
- I sent a newsletter, but there is nothing listed in the module?
In order to see newsletters you MUST be a registered user - reasons include:
a) they had to register for you to send the newsletter, so they need to be logged in.
b) The subscribe/unsubscribe references the user\'s id.
Registered users will only see newsletters that were sent to everyone or if they belong to a specific group.
e.g. if you sent a test newsletter to yourself as "Administrator", then only users with administrator rights will be able to see those newsletters.
- How can I stop a newsletter being listed in the module?
You can disable a newsletter from displaying in the module by going to admin Newsletters and uncheck the newsletter you do not want displayed.
Admin can also delete Newsletters - be careful when you click - it is not reversible.
- What is Custom Footer?
The custom footer can be either an additional footer that is sent at the bottom of the email, or you can use it in place of the email footer that is read from your language file.
These options are in the admin Footer section.
- Who can control Newsletters?
Anyone that is a superuser or has been added as a Newsletters admin can control Newsletters.
- There is a blank page when I try to view an old Newsletter?
Most likely the newsletter was not archived in the "archives" folder.
Verify in the admin General section that "Archive Writeable" says "Yes".
If not you should be able to click on the "No" link and it will chmod the "archives" folder to 777.
If it still says "No", please use a shell or FTP client to change the "archives" folder mode to 777.
To Do
- Further debugging.
- Further code optimization.
- Subscribe/unsubscribe system for non-members.
- Consider template maker (not soon).
- Provide wysiwyg options for editor(s)
- Optimize code by removing triplicated code.
- Provision for Blogs module.
- Allow save/restore/edit draft Newsletters.
- Allow an Editors group to edit draft Newsletters.
- Allow admin to delete newsletters.
- Removal of member block - replaced by side block.
- Added ReadMe notes.
Support
- Newsletters Support is Available Here.
Enjoy!
Phoenix Resourcez
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