SMF1.1:News and newsletters: Difference between revisions From Online Manual

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== News ==
==News==


News is located in the News and Newsletters section of the "Main" category in the Administration Center. It serves as the control point for editing and displaying news or announcements in the news box/fader of an SMF forum.


News items can be added at the bottom of the screen by selecting "Click here to add another item". Upon creation of a new item, a blank box will be added to the display.


News items should be written into the boxes and generally be short in length to avoid the members browser from adding scroll bars to the news box. News items can contain full BBCode, Smileys and HTML. Simply enter the content desired into the box and select "Save" to make the changes live.
==Newsletters==
If an admin needs to contact all or some of the members and they don't want a hassle, they could use this feature. They can use it to send a simple e-mail or use it to send elegant newsletters.
===Membergroups===
====Group Selection====
The first thing the admin will do when they go on the newsletter page is select which membergroups they would like to e-mail. They can just select the boxes for each membergroup they want to e-mail.


News items can be edited by changing the content in the box and selecting "Save". Marking the checkboxes and selecting "Remove Selected" will remove all news items marked and remove them from active rotation.


In the Settings tab, an Administrator can select which membergroups can edit, add or remove news from the forum. Select the membergroups by marking the checkbox and then select save.
{{Notice|The following applies to SMF 1.1 only}}
====E-mail Options====
When they want to use the newsletter feature on the forum, they can configure a few options to meet the needs for sending out e-mails to the members:
* Send the messages using personal messages - With this option checked, members will receive the newsletter as a personal message rather than by e-mail. Note that this is not inclusive to sending the newsletter as an e-mail, but it sends it as a personal message instead.
* Send this to members even if they have chosen not to receive announcements - Admins can choose this to send the e-mail to the members who have the option to not receive announcements by e-mail in their profile. It is not recommended to force the users to receive the announcement unless it is really important.


== Newsletters ==


Newsletters are emails sent out by the forum to members with email addresses registered with the forum. The newsletters section can be located under the News and Newsletters section, in the "Main" category in the forum Administration Center.
{{Notice|The following applies to SMF 2 only}}
Underneath the membergroup listing is a link that says Advanced. Selecting this will expand several additional settings that can be used to configure the e-mail settings.


Initially the membergroups to receive the email should be selected by marking the checkboxes required. Each membergroup on the forum will be displayed along with a count of the amount of members in the group. Should a member be in more than one group, only one email will be sent out.  
===Advanced===
Upon selecting the Advanced link underneath the membergroup listing, there will be a number of different options which include all of the following:
* E-mail Addresses - The admin can type any additional e-mail address they would like the newsletter to be sent to, in this box
* Members - The admin can type in the usernames of any additional members that they would like to receive the newsletter.
* Excluded Groups - Here, the admin can select groups that absolutely cannot receive the newsletter under any condition. Even if they have the same group selected under the included membergroups at the top of the page, or a member belongs to one of the included groups, as long as the member belongs to any groups checked here, they will not receive the newsletter. This includes primary and secondary membergroups.
* Excluded Members  - This works similar to the above, except the admin can type in the usernames of members that they don't want to receive the newsletter no matter what membergroup(s) they belong to.
* Override Notification Settings - The admin can choose this to send the e-mail to the members who have the option to not receive announcements by e-mail in their profile. It is not recommended to force the members to receive announcements, unless it is really important.


Opening the advanced section will allow the administrator to add extra email addresses, and additional members to the mailing list being generated. Should any groups need to be specifically excluded from receiving the email those can be select, excluded groups will override any selected membergroups as will excluded members. The option exists to override any members who have elected through their profile to not receive forum emails, to be sent an email regardless.


After configuring options, selecting continue will bring up the message composition screen allowing the message to be sent to be entered. Newsletters do not support BBCode or Smileys but will support basic HTML if "Send in HTML format" is selected.  
===Composing the e-mail===
 
While composing the e-mail, the admin will be shown the e-mail addresses that the message will be sent to. They can add or remove addresses as they wish.
In composing the message, several "variables" or personalisation options can be used, by typing the code into the message where needed:
* Subject - The default subject will be the Site name, then Subject. It is recommended that the admin change the subject of the e-mail to something that is more descriptive.
*{$board_url} - The URL to your forum.
* Message - Admins can put almost anything they want into the message box. If they would like, they can even use HTML. Most e-mail clients support HTML, but not every one does. If an admin wishes to use HTML in the message, they must select this option: Send in HTML format. (With this, they can put normal HTML in the e-mail.)
*{$current_time} - The current time.
* Variables - In the message, they can also use some variables. Here are the "variables" that can be used:
*{$member.email} - The current member's email.
** <code>{$board_url}</code> - The URL to your forum.
*{$member.link} - The current member's link.
** <code>{$current_time}</code> - The current time.
*{$member.id} - The current member's id.
** <code>{$member.email}</code> - The current member's email.
*{$member.name} - The current member's name. (for personalization.)
** <code>{$member.link}</code> - The current member's link.
*{$latest_member.link} - The most recently registered member's link.
** <code>{$member.id}</code> - The current member's id.
*{$latest_member.id} - The most recently registered member's id.
** <code>{$member.name}</code> - The current member's name. (for personalization.)
*{$latest_member.name} - The most recently registered member's name.
** <code>{$latest_member.link}</code> - The most recently registered member's link.
 
** <code>{$latest_member.id}</code> - The most recently registered member's id.
Optionally the message can be sent as a Personal Message rather than an email if desired by marking the checkbox "Send this to these groups using personal messages." Additonally "Add <nowiki><br />s and &nbsp;s</nowiki> to this message." should be checked to ensure the message is sent with proper spacing for email clients (This will only be available if the HTML Format is selected).
** <code>{$latest_member.name}</code> - The most recently registered member's name.
 
After configuration and message editing is complete, selecting "Send" will enter the messages into the SMF Mail Queue, a progress bar will be displayed and SMF will process the emails based on the limits set in the forum configuration sections. Selecting continue manually will be required if Javascript is disabled in the browser. The queue must be utilised for server stability.
 
In the Settings section an administrator may select with membergroups have permission to send out email to members, by checking the membergroup and selecting save.
 
{{As an administrator}}

Revision as of 11:34, 2 December 2010

News

Newsletters

If an admin needs to contact all or some of the members and they don't want a hassle, they could use this feature. They can use it to send a simple e-mail or use it to send elegant newsletters.

Membergroups

Group Selection

The first thing the admin will do when they go on the newsletter page is select which membergroups they would like to e-mail. They can just select the boxes for each membergroup they want to e-mail.


The following applies to SMF 1.1 only

E-mail Options

When they want to use the newsletter feature on the forum, they can configure a few options to meet the needs for sending out e-mails to the members:

  • Send the messages using personal messages - With this option checked, members will receive the newsletter as a personal message rather than by e-mail. Note that this is not inclusive to sending the newsletter as an e-mail, but it sends it as a personal message instead.
  • Send this to members even if they have chosen not to receive announcements - Admins can choose this to send the e-mail to the members who have the option to not receive announcements by e-mail in their profile. It is not recommended to force the users to receive the announcement unless it is really important.


The following applies to SMF 2 only

Underneath the membergroup listing is a link that says Advanced. Selecting this will expand several additional settings that can be used to configure the e-mail settings.

Advanced

Upon selecting the Advanced link underneath the membergroup listing, there will be a number of different options which include all of the following:

  • E-mail Addresses - The admin can type any additional e-mail address they would like the newsletter to be sent to, in this box
  • Members - The admin can type in the usernames of any additional members that they would like to receive the newsletter.
  • Excluded Groups - Here, the admin can select groups that absolutely cannot receive the newsletter under any condition. Even if they have the same group selected under the included membergroups at the top of the page, or a member belongs to one of the included groups, as long as the member belongs to any groups checked here, they will not receive the newsletter. This includes primary and secondary membergroups.
  • Excluded Members - This works similar to the above, except the admin can type in the usernames of members that they don't want to receive the newsletter no matter what membergroup(s) they belong to.
  • Override Notification Settings - The admin can choose this to send the e-mail to the members who have the option to not receive announcements by e-mail in their profile. It is not recommended to force the members to receive announcements, unless it is really important.


Composing the e-mail

While composing the e-mail, the admin will be shown the e-mail addresses that the message will be sent to. They can add or remove addresses as they wish.

  • Subject - The default subject will be the Site name, then Subject. It is recommended that the admin change the subject of the e-mail to something that is more descriptive.
  • Message - Admins can put almost anything they want into the message box. If they would like, they can even use HTML. Most e-mail clients support HTML, but not every one does. If an admin wishes to use HTML in the message, they must select this option: Send in HTML format. (With this, they can put normal HTML in the e-mail.)
  • Variables - In the message, they can also use some variables. Here are the "variables" that can be used:
    • {$board_url} - The URL to your forum.
    • {$current_time} - The current time.
    • {$member.email} - The current member's email.
    • {$member.link} - The current member's link.
    • {$member.id} - The current member's id.
    • {$member.name} - The current member's name. (for personalization.)
    • {$latest_member.link} - The most recently registered member's link.
    • {$latest_member.id} - The most recently registered member's id.
    • {$latest_member.name} - The most recently registered member's name.
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