FlashYourWeb is pleased to release our latest version of the Geeklog Newsletter plugin.
Compatible with Geeklog 1.5.x, the newsletter plugin allows you to publish your newsletters as a linkable "static page", while also allowing you to email your newsletter subscribers your latest issue.
The interface is based on the Static Page editor found in Geeklog, so it's easy to become familiar with the functionality of the new plugin.
The subscriber list allows you to easily manage your subscribers and offers import and export functions for batch adding email lists. The plugin also allows you to send a test email to make sure the layout is just right before you publish it to your subscribers.
The plugin supports full HTML email and offers editing with FCKeditor. If you have G2bridge installed, you can also take advantage of Gallery by accessing content through G2Image.
Blacklist is a great idea, never thought of that one.
The list is easily manageable, But it does not contain your userbase - I have plans to include a checkbox for users to be able to check in their account settings to subscribe/un-subscribe when I figure out how to do that.
Currently we only include email addresses. I believe people are more comfortable remaining anonymous, and are more likely to sign-up. We are not asking them to join our site, just a newsletter that may compel them to sign-up. So in this case I think less is better. But I'm open for discussion.
-s
There will always be...
Anonymous: lwc
June 27 2009 11:08 am
Yes, but there's nothing like turning a mass message into a personal one ("hello {name}".
Is there a need?
I don't think I've ever passed an unnecessary attachment in a newsletter.
A link to download my PDF or file maybe... but actually attach it... NO.
That link is 3 pages. I haven't found anything there about attachments or PDF files.
Anyway, users online have zero patience. When you mass mail them, you cross your fingers that some % will actually bother to read your long message. If you actually expect them to click on links and start downloading stuff and possibly have various prompts in the way, you're really pushing your luck.
Yes, links may help with those who have zero free space in their webmail. But I still prefer to raise my chances with the others.
In any case, official mailing list scripts present let both methods. Although usually the "only send links" setting also stands for "send in plaintext" in general.
I never thought I'd see "attachment" as a feature request. The only time I have ever received an attachment form anyone that is mass-mailing, it has been a spammer.
If you are wanting to distribute archives, zip files, or anything else in your email, I would take suprsidr's advice and make a link. Your email is less likely to be stopped by virus protection and server-side junk mail services like SpamAssassin.
Your blacklist idea is a great one. I think that would make a good addition to the plugin.
Making the emails personal was a consideration of mine too. Though after discussing it with suprsidr, he makes a very good point. This plugin is for anonymous visitors to your website to subscribe to a newsletter. This plugin isn't intended to replace a mass-emailing service.
"The Dude abides."
Anonymous: lwc
June 28 2009 00:56 am
I agree about ZIP files, but it's PDF or Office files I attach. Just like I would have attached them if I were to sent them to someone specific. And, for all that someone knows, it still is quite individually (due to using his name).
Anonymous: ::Ben
June 28 2009 01:24 am
Hello,
Thank you for this plugin, I will try this new version.
Thanks for the heads up on that. I must have made a typo when I created the update.
-gdl
"The Dude abides."
Anonymous: lwc
June 28 2009 15:13 pm
You really should consider corporate users. Many of them can't press on links in e-mail. Those who can are more than likely to have limited browsers. Even if your own PDF links will work just fine, lots of corporate users won't click on them to begin with thinking they're likely not to work with their limited browsers.
I don't think the function you are interested in effects a large enough market to be an issue.
Having worked for a few fortune 500 companies, I can tell you that their environments would be friendly to our current plugin. Most organizations are running WinXP, IE, and Outlook. They accept HTML emails and have the ability to link to authorized websites.
If this functionality is really important to you, I would advise you to go to geeklog.net and see how the community feels there about placing attachments in sendmail functions inside geeklog –such as mass mailing site members, or allowing attachments for user mail. If they decide to incorporate that functionality in the CMS, we could possibly extend that functionality to the newsletter. Though again, I don't see much value in the marketplace for this process.
If these corporate users cannot click links, you think they can accept attachments?
-s
There will always be...
Anonymous: lwc
June 29 2009 02:35 am
I've never heard of anyone who can't get document files as attachments. It's the surfing that is usually either can't be accessed from an e-mail message or just very limited.
Many organization use Lotus Notes.
Who says your site is authorized? Besides, it's again the point. If they're used to unauthorized sites, they won't bother trying.
I like the touches you have done on your website and I am glad to see a new plugin for Geeklog.
Does your newsletter plugin send all emails at once or can you set it up to send a certain number of emails in a certian time period? Some hosting companies tend to complain if you send to many emails out at once?
Newsletter loops through your entire list at once, but we're using Codeworx phpmailer which is head and shoulders above geeklog's built-in mail functions.
My friends site has 1200+ in her list hosted on my server, and they send without breaking a sweat.
I taked time to test the newsletter plugin and I noticed some non important issue you could look at for a next release:
- There is a file call .tmp_functions.inc.79017~ in the distrib
- There is use of an online image in the language file
PHP Formatted Code
'block_text' => 'Enter your email <img style="border:0px solid; float:right;height:40px;width:40px;" src="http://www.southjerseymarina.com/public_html/newsletter/images/newsletter.png"/>address below and we'll keep you up-to-date on our news, events & other specials.',
Here is my translation to french language if you need it
PHP Formatted Code
<?php
############################################################################### # french_france_utf-8.php # This is the english language file for the Newsletter plugin # # Copyright (C) 2001 Tony Bibbs # tony@tonybibbs.com # # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or # modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License # as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 # of the License, or (at your option) any later version. # # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the # GNU General Public License for more details. # # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software # Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. # ###############################################################################
############################################################################### # Array Format: # $LANGXX[YY]: $LANG - variable name # XX - file id number # YY - phrase id number ###############################################################################
$LANG_NL = array( 'newpage' => 'Nouvelle Page', 'adminhome' => 'Panneau administration', 'newsletter' => 'Newsletter', 'newslettereditor' => 'Editeur de Newsletter', 'writtenby' => 'Auteur', 'date' => 'Mise à jour', 'title' => 'Titre', 'content' => 'Contenu', 'hits' => 'Visites', 'newsletterlist' => 'Liste des Newsletters', 'block_title' => 'Newsletter', 'block_text' => "<img style=\"border:0px solid; float:right;height:40px;width:40px;\" src=\"{$_CONF['site_url']}/newsletter/images/newsletter.png\"/>Merci de saisir votre adresse email pour vous inscrire à la newsletter.", 'block_button_text' => 'Envoyer', 'block_link_text' => 'Archives', 'success_title' => 'Merci', 'list_title' => 'Archives des Newsletters', 'add_success' => 'Votre adresse email à bien été ajoutée à notre liste.', 'url' => 'URL', 'edit' => 'Editer', 'lastupdated' => 'Dernière mise à jour', 'pageformat' => 'Format de page', 'leftrightblocks' => 'Block à gauche et à droite', 'blankpage' => 'Page blanche', 'noblocks' => 'Pas de block', 'leftblocks' => 'Blocks à gauche', 'addtomenu' => 'Ajouter au Menu', 'label' => 'Label', 'nopages' => 'Il n\'y a pas encore de newsletter', 'save' => 'sauvegarde', 'preview' => 'preview', 'delete' => 'supprimer', 'cancel' => 'annuler', 'email' => 'Email', 'access_denied' => 'Accès non autorisé', 'access_denied_msg' => 'Vous essayez d\'accéder à une partie administrative de ce site sans y être autorisé. Cette tentative à été enregistrée.', 'all_html_allowed' => 'Tout le HTML est permis', 'results' => 'Résultats des Newsletters', 'author' => 'Auteur', 'no_title_or_content' => 'Vous au moins devez compléter les champs <b>Titre</b> et <b>Contenu</b>.', 'no_such_page_anon' => 'Merci de vous identifier.', 'no_page_access_msg' => "Cela peut être par-ce que vous n'êtes pas identifié, ou que vous n'êtes pas un membre du site {$_CONF['site_name']}. Merci de a href=\"{$_CONF['site_url']}/users.php?mode=new\">créer un compte<</a> sur {$_CONF['site_name']} pour pouvoir accéder à l'espace membre.", 'php_msg' => 'PHP: ', 'php_warn' => 'Attention: Le code PHP de vos page sera evalué si vous activez cette option. A utiliser avec précaution!!', 'exit_msg' => 'Type de sortie: ', 'exit_info' => 'Activer pour afficher le message de connexion nécessaire. Laissez non coché pour un message et une vérification normale de la sécurité.', 'deny_msg' => 'L\'accès à cette page n\'est pas possible. Soit elle à été déplacé ou supprimée, soit vous n\'avez pas la permission suffisante pour l\'afficher.', 'stats_headline' => 'Les 10 Newsletter les plus consultées', 'stats_page_title' => 'Titre', 'stats_hits' => 'Hits', 'stats_no_hits' => 'Soit il n\'y a pas de newsletter disponible sur ce site, soit personne n\'en à encore vu une.', 'id' => 'ID', 'duplicate_id' => 'L\'ID que vous avez choisi pour cette newsletter est déjà utilisée. Merci dans choisir une autre.', 'instructions' => 'Pour modifier ou supprimer une newsletter, cliquez sur l\'icon d\'édition ci-dessous. Pour voir une newsletter, cliquez sur le titre de la page que vous souhaitez voir. Pour créer une nouvelle newsletter, cliquez sur "Ajouter" ci-dessus. Cliquez sur l\'icon de copie pour dupliquer une newsletter existante.', 'centerblock' => 'Block central: ', 'centerblock_msg' => 'Lorsque cette option est cochée, cette Newsletter sera affichée dans un block central sur la page principale dus site.', 'topic' => 'Catégorie: ', 'position' => 'Position: ', 'all_topics' => 'Toutes', 'no_topic' => 'Accueil uniquement', 'position_top' => 'Haut de la page', 'position_feat' => 'Après l\'article en vedette', 'position_bottom' => 'Bas de page', 'position_entire' => 'Page complète', 'head_centerblock' => 'Block central', 'centerblock_no' => 'Non', 'centerblock_top' => 'Haut', 'centerblock_feat' => 'Article Vedette', 'centerblock_bottom' => 'Bas', 'centerblock_entire' => 'Page complète', 'inblock_msg' => 'Dans un block: ', 'inblock_info' => 'Afficher la Newsletter dans un block.', 'title_edit' => 'Editer la newsletter', 'title_copy' => 'Faire une copie de la newsletter', 'title_display' => 'Voir la newsletter', 'select_php_none' => 'Ne pas exécuter le PHP', 'select_php_return' => 'exécuter le PHP (return)', 'select_php_free' => 'exécuter le PHP', 'php_not_activated' => 'L\'utilsiation du PHP dans les newsletters est activé. Merci de vous reporter à la <a href="' . $_CONF['site_url'] . '/docs/newsletter.html#php">documentation</a> pour plus de détails.', 'printable_format' => 'Format imprimante', 'edit' => 'Editer', 'copy' => 'Copier', 'limit_results' => 'Limiter les résultats', 'search' => 'Chercher', 'submit' => 'Envoyer', 'sendnow' => 'Envoyer cette newsletter maintenant?', 'sendtest' => 'Envoyer un test à votre adresse email?', 'send' => 'Envoyer maintenant', 'sent_time' => 'Dernière expédition', 'removed_title' => 'Désinscription', 'removed_msg' => 'L\'adresse email %s à bien été supprimée de la liste.', 'trouble_viewing' => 'Si vous avez du mal à lire cette newsletter, vous pouvez la retrouver sur notre site en <a href="%s/newsletter/index.php?page=%s">cliquant ici</a>.<br />', 'unsubscribe' => 'Se dés-inscrire', 'subscriberlist' => 'Souscripteurs', 'email_format_error' => '<strong>Erreur</strong>: Une adresse email non valide à été saisie.', 'email_store_error' => '<strong>Erreur</strong>: Oups je n\'ai pas réussi à enregistrer votre adresse email.', 'email_success' => 'Merci pour votre inscription!', 'email_missing' => 'Merci de saisir une adresse email.', 'adding_msg' => 'Adresse email ajoutée...', 'block_text_small' => 'Inscrivez vous à la newsletter!', 'import' => 'Import', 'export' => 'Export', 'import_temp_text' => 'Copier/Coller votre liste d\'importation ici.', 'delimiter' => 'Delimiteur', 'importer' => 'Newsletter Importation de liste Email', 'import_complete' => 'Importation Complète' );
// Messages for the plugin upgrade $PLG_newsletter_MESSAGE3001 = 'La mise à jour du Plugin n\'est pas supportée :('; $PLG_newsletter_MESSAGE3002 = $LANG32[9];
// Localization of the Admin Configuration UI $LANG_configsections['newsletter'] = array( 'label' => 'Newsletter', 'title' => 'Newsletter Configuration' );
$LANG_confignames['newsletter'] = array( 'allow_php' => 'Permettre le PHP?', 'sort_by' => 'Trier les blocks centraux par', 'sort_menu_by' => 'Trier les labels du menu par', 'delete_pages' => 'Supprimer les newsletter avec leur propriétaire?', 'in_block' => 'Afficher les newsletter dans un block par défaut?', 'show_hits' => 'Montrer le nombres de visites?', 'show_date' => 'Montrer la date de modification?', 'filter_html' => 'Filtrer le HTML?', 'censor' => 'Censuré le contenu?', 'default_permissions' => 'Permissions par défaut des newsletters', 'aftersave' => 'Après la sauvegarde', 'atom_max_items' => 'Max. Pages dans le flux des Webservices' );
Wow! Thanks for all of the hard work on the plugin. I know the community will find this very useful.
Je ne parle francais, but I do understand it quite a bit.
Also thanks for the heads up on the little issues with the distro package. I am sure that suprsidr will take that into consideration with the next release, and we'll probably update the existing archive to remove the temp file and re-link the graphic to a local directory version.
Suprsidr is on vacation at the moment, though I am sure when he returns –and he may even answer from the beach, he will look at the requested features. I think they are a great idea and user feedback is always important. Especially when editing & sending a newsletter.
Thanks Ben I'll need one more translated line.... "Sorry no archives yet" or similar.
I was working on the bugs you mentioned... thought I had uploaded a fix.... plus I had added mass add/delete/blacklist/whitelist capabilities. Not sure how much I updated the distribution. I was working on a profile option for subscription control but Dirk decided not to research my question. So I kinda left it hanging like Dirk left me hanging.
.
