9. Sending

9.1 Send Message
9.1.1 Continue a "Cancelled" or incomplete Message
9.2. Subsets
9.2.1 Subsets – Managed List
9.2.2 Subsets – Managed List – Samples
9.2.3 Subsets – Linked List
9.3 External Clients
9.4 Send List Message
9.5 Report and Logfile
9.6 Email Tracking
9.6.1 Click-through Tracking
9.6.2 Open-rates
9.6.3 Click-through Email Tracking using Google(tm) Analytics

9.1 Send Message

Please click on the icon "Send Email", after you have finished the message, verified all settings and sent out a test message. Its recommended to send out a test message before sending out the message "List Message" to your subscribers.

Send Date:

• "Send Message Now!"
  Send the message immedialty after you click on "Send List Message".
  It can take up to 30 seconds till the task will be activated.
  
  
• "Schedule Message (Send Later)"
  Send the message at the specified date and time. Make sure the mailservice is running at the specified time, otherwise the messsage could not be sent out at the specified time.

Recipients:

• "Send Message to all List Subscibers"
  Check this option if the message should be sent out to all subscribers of the specified list. The program will send the message to members with the status "Subscriber" only – other will be ignored.
  
  
•  "Send Message to a Subset of List Subscribers"
  A subset is a group of subscribers, based on a filter. Such a filter could be very useful, e.g. if you want to send the message to recipients located in a specific state/country or if the message should be sent to recipients from a single domain only. The "Send Message to a Subset" feature is very flexible and can be used to select a group of recipients based on any field of the list. The program will send the message to members with the status "Subscriber" only – other will be ignored.

Message:

• "List"
  The member source.
  
• "Subject"
  The subject of the message
  
  
• "Description"
  You can add an internal description here to identify your mailing or to add a comment. 

Please verify all options and click on "Send List Message".
The message is moved to the "Tasks" section and will be sent out at the specified time. It can take up to 30 seconds till the task will be activated.

9.1.1 Continue a "Cancelled" or incomplete Message

If you have "cancelled" a message, the mail service was stopped or the mailing was aborted for other reason, then you can continue without sending out duplicate messages. Go to the section "Sent Messages" and click on "Retry unsent Messages".

The "Cancel Message" and "Retry unsent Messages" can also be used as Pause / Continue.

9.2. Subsets

A subset is a group inside a single list. The subset feature of the program could be used to spilt a list in multiple virtual lists. 

Sample: a list of customers contains customers from all over the world, but you want to send the message only to customers from the U.S. The country field inside the database will be used to filter the recipients, so that MailList Controller send the newsletter only to recipients from the selected country.

Create the message and click on "Send" in the editor. Now the send dialog opens. Select the option "Send Message to a Subset" and select an existing subset or create a new subset. Click on "List Query Builder" to define a subset or change an existing subset.

9.2.1 Subsets – Managed List

MailList Controller lets you define 2 filters, which will be used together. Setup the "Fieldname" to "<<n/a|" if you don't want to use it, e.g. if you want to send the message to new subscribers only. All fields of a "Managed List" have the type Text (or String).

The folloing operators are available:


Equal: = 'string'

e.g.
[Name] = 'Fox'
will return subscribers with the name Fox only
Select the Fieldname: [Name], the Operator: = string and enter the Value: Fox


Unequal: <> 'string'

e.g.
[Name] <> 'Fox'
will return all subscribers without the name Fox
Select the Fieldname: [Name], the Operator: <> string and enter the Value: Fox


Like: LIKE '%string%'
The like condition is used to specify a search for a pattern in a column.

e.g.
[Name] LIKE 'F%'
will return subscriber with the names that start with an F
Select the Fieldname: [Name], the Operator: LIKE %string% and enter the Value: F%

e.g.
[Name] LIKE '%x'
will return subscriber with the names that end with an x
Select the Fieldname: [Name], the Operator: LIKE %string% and enter the Value: %x

e.g.
[Name] LIKE '%FGH%'
will return subscriber with the names that contain the pattern FGH
Select the Fieldname: [Name], the Operator: LIKE %string% and enter the Value: %FGH%


Not Like: NOT LIKE '%string%'

You can use the same operators as in LIKE, but the result will be the opposite (NOT LIKE).


In: IN string1, string2, ...

will return the subscriber where the fieldvalue is string1, string2, ..., or string_x.

e.g.
[Name] IN ('Fox','John','Susan','Pamela')
will return subscriber with the name Fox, John, Susan or Pamela only.
Select the Fieldname: [Name], the Operator: IN string1, string2, ...
and enter the Value: Fox,John,Susan,Pamela


The option "New Subscribers only" will send the message only to new subscribers, which have received no list message before. ( [AMLC_RCVD]=0 )

The "WHERE Clause" will be generated automatically based on your selection. The "WHERE Clause" is a string, which will be used to filter the database.

9.2.2 Subsets – Managed List – Samples

This samples are for "Managed List" only – a "Managed List" uses the data-type "String" (text) for all fields.

 [Country] = 'USA'
will return Record 1,3,5

[Country] IN ('DK','GER')
will return Record 2,4

[AMLC_EMAIL] LIKE '%@AAA.tld'
will return Record 1,2,4

[Product] = '1099' AND [Country] = 'GER'
will return Record 4

9.2.3 Subsets – Linked List

The Linked (External) List shows all available fields, which could be used to generate a filter. Please type in the query string in the "WHERE Clause". The subset function in the "Linked List" mode is for experts. Beginners should use a "Managed List" instead.

Please note, that the data-type of the field may be different from field to field.

Overview of most used SQL Operators:

SQL Range Operators: < <= > >=
SQL Equality Operators: = <>
SQL Logical Operators: AND OR
SQL - In: [fieldname] IN ('value1','value2','value3', ... );
SQL - Like: [fieldname] LIKE '%substring%'
Please refer to your SQL manual for a complete list of operators and terms.

Samples:

[Age]>21 AND [Product]='ProductA'
[State]='CA' AND [Newsletter]=1
[State] IN ('CA','WA') AND [Orders]<>0

9.3 External Clients

The program does not send incoming messages to the list subscribers in general, only authorized users with a valid "External Client Account" can send messages from outside the program to a list. This function is user and password protected. It allows you to send a message from any mailclient – including webmail clients – to your subscribers.

The usage is very easy, setup a new "External Client Account" using the software.

Sample:

In our sample the user "testuser@yourdomain.tld" should be allowed to send messages from an external client to the list "Demo A".

The program automatically adds 2 passwords (make sure you use save passwords!), one to send a List Messages, another to send a Test Message. The test message will be sent to the user, not the list members. In our sample it will be sent to "testuser@yourdomain.tld".

The passwords must be inside the subject line of the message.
This means:

From: testuser@yourdomain.tld
To: yourlist@yourdomain.tld

Subject: TP9AAE5F68 This is a test
would send a test message and

Subject: S660C9E08 Newsletter 2009
would send a list message to the susbcribers.

The program will only accept the passwords if they are sent from the valid external client email. The subject
passwords will be removed by the software – it will not be included in list messages.

MailList Controller can send automated messages back to the external client – a "Task Confirmation" and a "Report Message". The task confirmation is sent directly after the program has accepted the message – the report contains a summary about the mailing.

Click on "Finish" to complete the external client setup. MailList Controller will send an email with instructions to the specified email address of the external client user, which also contains the subject passwords.

9.4 Send List Message

The section "Outgoing Messages" shows all "Scheduled" and "Outgoing Message".

The "Info" section on this screen shows the current status of the mailservice and the installed service version. It can take a few seconds before the "Status" changes from "Scheduled" to outgoing and the service starts sending the message. Click on "Send Message now!", if you have scheduled a message and you want to start it immediatly.

If the task does not start or if the task will be moved directly to "Sent Messages" without sending any messages, then please take a look at:
Help - Troubleshooting - Problems with outgoing Messages

"Cancel Message" will cancel a scheduled message or stop sending if the program is currently sending out a message. You can also stop the service (click on the green service button) to stop any traffic. (You can continue the message later from "Sent Messages" -> "Retry unsent Messages")

The status of the task will change from "Scheduled" to "Outgoing" after the program has started the mailing.

The program shows information about the mailing and will also display error and status messages. Click on "Logfile" for details – the program adds detailed information about the send process here. The progress will also be shown at the statusbar of the program.

Important:
Send a few test emails using the internal editor to your own and other e.g. webmail/freemail accounts to verify the message – the preview of the internal editor cannot replace a test message. You should also check the spam-rating of your message before you start sending the message to your subscribers.

9.5 Report and Logfile

The task will be moved from "Outgoing Messages" to "Sent Messages" after the mailing is complete or was aborted.

Click on the task to show details or double-click on the task to open the report in html-format. 
A right-click on the html-report allows you to print out the report.

More information about the mailing and error messages could be found in the service logfile. Click on "Logfile" to open todays logfile or "File Explore Service Logfiles" → for older logs. The program creates one logfile for each day.

Sample:
18:17:04 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
18:17:04 Send Message Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:17
18:17:04 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
18:17:04
18:17:04 List: MailList Controller Demo List
18:17:04 Email: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx
18:17:04 Subject: MailList Controller Demo
18:17:04 JobID: B5AF93F01CA5CB1
18:17:04 SQL-Where: AMLC_STATUS=0
18:17:04 Query recipients from database
18:17:04 Create Table AJOB_B5AF93F01CA5CB1
18:17:04 Copy recipients ...
18:17:04 Recipients: 4
18:17:04
18:17:04 <Service Version: MailList Controller 8.0 eXtreme>
18:17:04 <Mailserver: xxxx.xxxxxxx.xxx>
18:17:04 <Setup Retries: 3>
18:17:04 <Setup Limit: 0 messages in 0 hours>
18:17:04 <Setup Break: 5 seconds after 1 messages>
18:17:04 <Setup #perCon: 20>
18:17:04
18:17:23 <Retry #1>
18:17:23
18:17:23 Total:4 Sent:4 Errors:0
18:17:23 End: Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:17

The sample message was sent to 4 recipients with a pause of 5 seconds between 2 messages
(See also : 4.5.4 Limit / 4.5.5 Break (Pause))

Please take a look at: Help - Troubleshooting - Problems with outgoing Messages if you have any problems sending out messages.

9.6 Email Tracking

9.6.1 Click-through Tracking

Click-through tracking provides information about how many users click on a link inside the email. You can gather click-through statistics using your webserver and your statistics software, e.g. Google(tm) Analytics.

9.6.2 Open-rates

Open-rates are typically based on external images, which contain a "secret" tracking code. The problem is, that this information is completely inaccurate, because most modern mailclients like e.g. MS Outlook, MS Windows Mail or Thunderbird are blocking all external images for privacy reasons by default. This means, that Open-Rates based on external images will no longer work.

9.6.3 Click-through Email Tracking using Google(tm) Analytics

Please click on "Google(tm) Analytics" to open the help page.
The "How does it work?" page contains detailed instructions and information about link-tagging.