Help Center

Working with the byteMailer System

Before you create a new Newsletter for the first time, you should, at a minimum, create the List that the newsletter will go to. You can work on adding recipients to that list and creating the newsletter at the same time if you wish.

Creating a New Newsletter:

Click ‘Add’ on the Newsletters summary screen. On the next screen you’ll create the basic information to identify your newsletter. Enter the subject of the newsletter. This is the text that will go in the Subject line of the email. Choose whether your newsletter will display as a single-subject HTML newsletter, or as a multi-subject Article newsletter. The Article choice should be used if your list incorporates Interests, as each article can be classified by Interest.

At least one design wrapper has been provided to you as part of your purchased package (multiple wrappers can be purchased for an additional fee). Make sure your wrapper of choice is selected in the drop-down. If you have multiple wrappers, and aren’t sure which you should choose, you can preview the wrappers by selecting one and clicking ‘Preview Design Template’.

Click ‘Next Step’ to complete this page. Depending on which option you’ve chosen, HTML or Article, you will be directed to different screens at this point.

HTML:
You will be presented with an empty box. What you type here will go directly into the content area of the wrapper you’ve selected. If your newsletter will have a layout designed with side column(s), etc., we can build you an interior template to place into this empty box before you begin. Once you have a template to use you can access it by hovering over the second from last icon in the bottom row of the tool bar. It looks like a sheet of paper with the top-right corner tabbed down. Click on this icon to select the template from a list in a popup. The template will automatically be placed in your empty box. Replace the text with your own.

See Working With The CK Editor to explain each of the other tool bar options.

Article:
When you start an article newsletter, you will get a bold statement that “There are no articles for this newsletter.” Click ‘Add Article’ to begin your first article.

You will be presented with an empty box. What you type here will go directly within the first article area in the content area of the wrapper you’ve selected. If your newsletter will have a layout designed with side column(s), etc., we can build you an interior template to place into this empty box before you begin. Once you have a template to use you can access it by hovering over the second from last icon in the bottom row of the tool bar. It looks like a sheet of paper with the top-right corner tabbed down. Click on this icon to select the template from a list in a popup. The template will automatically be placed in your empty box. Replace the text with your own.

See Working With The CK Editor to explain each of the other tool bar options.

Once you complete the first Article, click ‘2. Edit Articles’ to access the articles list. Then click on ‘Add Article’ to begin your second article. Repeat this process until all your articles are added.

To complete the bottom area of your newsletter you need to go back and edit the newsletter information. Click ‘1. Edit Newsletter’ to do this. This edit screen asks for additional information needed before the newsletter can be sent out.

Your subject line should already be there from the first step you took in preparing your newsletter. The second field should be the name you want to display in the From field on the email newsletter, typically your company name. The Physical Address should also be completed from the information provided in your Settings. The company name, address and phone number shown here will be incorporated at the bottom of your newsletter. You can edit it here if you choose to (this will not affect your Settings). HTML can be used in this box to center your address, stylize the font, etc.

The Plain Text Version is what will display if your newsletter recipient cannot receive HTML-formatted emails. The default text is “Please enable HTML to view this newsletter.” You can leave this text, or change it to whatever you would like. If you would like to, you can place your entire newsletter in here in plain text so those people will not miss out on the content of your newsletter.

Your design wrapper template should already be preselected here, but if you choose to change to another wrapper, this is where you would do that.

Click ‘Save’ to save your changes.

The next step is to preview your newsletter to see what it looks like. Click ‘3. View’ to do this. A new popup window displays with your newsletter in it. Review this window carefully for typos, layout issues, etc. This is your chance to correct anything before it goes out to the masses.

Click ‘4. Send Test’ to prepare to send out a test run of your newsletter. Clicking this button presents you with another screen before the test goes out, so go ahead and click it. You are presented with two test options.

If you are the administrator of this List Emailer service, then you should see your email address boldly at the top of the screen. You can send yourself a quick test run to see how it looks before you do anything else. Or, if you are ready to send out the newsletter to your internal test list, typically for approval, then click ‘Send to test list’ at the bottom to send it to the test list displayed there.

Once you have all the approval necessary to send out the newsletter, establish what list it will go to by clicking ‘5. Recipients’ to choose a list from the selections displayed. If there are Interests involved, this is where you can segregate the list down to just the people with related interests.

You are ready to schedule your newsletter to go out. Click on ‘6. Schedule’ to specify a date and time for it to go out, or to send it out immediately for late-breaking news.

Once you have scheduled when you want the newsletter to go out, click ‘7. Launch’ to send your newsletter out into the mail queue. Do this even if the scheduled date is a future date so you won’t forget to launch it later. Even though you launch it into the queue, it won’t actually go out until the date and time you’ve selected.

You have completed your newsletter! Click on the Newsletter side bar link to see the Newsletter Summary screen. Your newsletter should show up there with Yes in the ‘Launched?’ column.