Newsletter module for xoops
Short description of basic functions:
- Usage of one or more e-mail-accounts
- Admin of one or more newsletter possible
- Subscription procedure optionally use confirmation system (double-opt-in)
- Detailed handling of permissions for subscription procedures
- Newsletter are based on templates
- Detailed handling of permissions for groups and newsletter (subscribe, write, send)
- Send: send test mail, resend to all subscribers or only to subscribers, where sending failed
- Sending newsletters to unlimited number of recipients or in packages with certain number of recipients by using cronjob
- Bounced email handler for handling Bounced emails in case of invalid e-mail-addresses
- Optionally synchronisation with mailing lists (e.g. majordomo)
- Maintenance function included
- Creating protocol for the important steps
No special measures necessary, follow the standard installation process - extract the /xnewsletter folder into the
../modules directory. Install the module through Admin -> Modules. If you need detailed
instructions on how to install a module, please see the XOOPS Operations
Manual.
The module is based on PHPMailer and PHPMailer-BMH
You can define for each newsletter and for each group, whether for (un) subscription or change a confirmation email with activation key is necessary or not (use double-option).
You can use one or more email-account; sending with php mail, php sendmail, smtp is possible.
There is a feature for testing pop3 and imap accounts.
Pay attention: functions like testing account, sending emails, start Bounced email handler,... work not with local server (you get white page without any error).
You can handle one or more newsletter categories.
It is possible to set permissions "read", "create", "admin" and "list subscribers" for each newsletter cat.
The newsletter can be created with each text editor which is installed in current xoops core (e.g. TinyMCE).
For each newsletter you can use different templates (see also 'Newsletter templates').
You can define one or more newsletter categories for your newsletter.
You can add 5 files maximum as attachment to each newsletter.
Optionally you can also copy an older newsletter and edit or send it as a new one.
The type of text editor, allows mime-types and size of mail attachments can be set in module preferences.
The newsletters are template based.
The templates are stored as files in language/{yourlanguage}/templates or stored in database.
To create a new template you can:
You can show a preview of a newsletter before sending.
You can send the newsletter for testing to a defined email-address.
The newsletters will be sent subscriber by subscriber.
For each sending action a protocol will be created.
If one or more send failed, you can see it in the protocol.
You can restart sending procedure. You can send it again to all subscribers or send it only to the subscribers, where sending procedure failed).
You can send all emails immediately or limit emails send in one package.
The number of emails and the minutes until next sending can be defined in module preferences (e.g. 200 emails all 60 minutes).
The first package will be sent immediately. To start the next sending procedure you need an external cronjob, which is calling "../modules/xnewsletter/cron.php". Xoops cannot do this with current version (2.5.5).
Pay attention: functions like testing account, sending emails, start Bounced email handler,... work not with local server (you get white page).
If you limit emails send in one package, you can see all newsletters waiting for next cronjob and the time, when cronjob can send the newsletter.
If you do not use this option, this list must always be empty.
Normally the tab "Task list" is hidden, if this option is disabled.
If you have an existing mailing list, you can synchronize the (un) subscriptions of one newsletter category with one mailing list.
I use majordomo beside this newsletter module because then I can also send an email from my email-client to the newsletter recipients.
One of the disadvantages of mailing lists is, that, if one person is registered in two or more mailing lists and you send a one newsletter to all mailing lists, this person gets the same newsletter more than one time. With xNewsletter he gets only one newsletter.
Normally the tab "Mailing list" is hidden, if this option is disabled.
xNewsletter cannot create mailing lists.
If you send newsletters, there will always be some emails not delivered to recipient (Bounced email), because email is no more valid, mailbox is full, and so on.
To handle this event and to react on this, you can use BMH.
You can activate BMH for each account.
Mails, which are detected as Bounced emails by BMH, can be deleted or moved in a special folder, you have to define.
Possible actions for Bounced emails:
-- no action (only store)
-- quit temporary the subscriptions of this email-address
-- delete the subscriptions of this email-address
This module has a maintain function, which can repair several faults in the data.
You can import data with various plug-ins: