Here are the most frequently asked customer support questions. If you have a question you don't see here, tell us about it!

1) How do I create an area for ads or special content?

SOLUTION

• Create a topic.
• On the Main Menu page of your account, click the "Topics" button and you’ll be taken to the page where you can set up categories, sections, or in this case, a special content area.
• Select the button "Add New". Give your topic a name that implies where you want the content to live in the layout, such as "Left Column." This will help you keep track of where you want to place each special content area. After creating a name, click on "Create." You are now on the "Topics" page. Click on the Topic you just created and when you are taken to the "Topic Section Name" section, click on the "Hide topic from Topic List…" radio button option. This will suppress this topic from showing up in your topic list and your Table of Contents.
• Set up the layout.
• Now it’s time to insert your new topic in your layout. Back on the Main Menu, click the red "Layout" button. This will bring you to the editing interface for the layout template for the Cover Page.
• On this page, click the "Add" button in the area where you would like to insert the new specialized content. This will bring up a list of new layout elements to select from.
• Select "Multiple Article." You will come to the "Element Properties" where you can set up the rules of display for your new layout element. Configure the article as you would any other article, changing display attributes, background colors, and text styles to your liking. Next, go down to the "Order and Filter" area on the lower left of the "Element Properties" page. (Note: this option is not available in "Single Article" elements, which is why you must do this through the "Multiple Article" element.) Change the setting labeled "Show only items positioned/rated above" to a value of 20 and the setting "Limit to this Topic" to the option for the new Topic you just created ("Left Column") and Save.
• Set up content.
• At this point, the basic setup is complete. The only thing that remains is to create the content that you want to appear in the new layout area. Click on "Articles" on the Main Menu page, hit the "Add New" button and the "Continue" button under "Contribute Your Own" which will bring you to the "New Article" page. Next to the date right at the top of this page is the option "Topic Section." Change this to the topic you created in the first step ("Left Column"). This will place this new article right where you wanted it – in the left column of your newsletter or wherever you added it in the "Set up the layout" step above. The last thing to do is under "Article Position." Use the "Determine Position Later" setting (or a number between 21 and 49 if you have a number input showing). This keeps the article from showing up in other regions of the layout.
• Complete the adding of the content for your new content area (such as uploading your ad) and Save.

2) When I click [FULL STORY] the wrong article appears.

SOLUTION

The Article Page template needs to have a single article element configured to display the Full Article in order for this to work.

To fix this:

• Go to the Layout Editor.
• Select Article Page from the page list at the top and click GO. Or, click the FULL STORY link on an article to go to the Article Page template.
• In the middle (or widest) column on the Article Page, locate and click on the red CUSTOMIZE button.
• Select the "Single Article" element from the Choose A Page Element screen.
• On the Single Article element properties, choose "[AUTO]" under the Article Assignment setting.
• Under Display Attributes, select "Full Story" as the Display Mode.
• Click Save to save the element properties.
• Click SAVE CHANGES on the upper right of the page.

3) When a change is made to the layout template does this change the layout of previous issues in the archive?

SOLUTION

The system was designed to have a single template that defines the look and feel of your newsletter so that it is consistent from one issue to the next. So as changes to the template are made, these changes appear in the issue you are currently building and subsequent issues.

Past issues that are posted to the Web will not be affected by these changes unless you click the \'Post to Web\' button while that issue is selected as the current one. So you can evolve and change your template and it should not affect any past issues. If you go back and look at these past issues in Preview mode, it will appear as if they have been changed by the new template, but in actual fact the published version only changes if you re-post it.

4) When is an email considered "open"? Or why does a particular subscriber appear to have opened the email many times?

SOLUTION

It depends on the configuration of the recipient's email program and how they review their email. If the program is configured to use a Preview Pane (like Outlook or Outlook Express), then when a message is highlighted in the Message List, the email will be automatically displayed and will be tracked as "open". If the Preview Pane is not being used or if the message in the Message List is never highlighted or double-clicked, the "open" will not occur.

The trick that is used to track open rate is actually quite simple. A 1 x 1 pixel graphic is called through an embedded HTML image tag hidden somewhere within the email message. When this image is called, a routine on the tracking server sees this and counts this as an "open". So in order for an email message to be considered "open", it must be displayed through a window that can show embedded graphics.

The open rate is a tricky statistic when dealing with HTML email. It's the statistic every marketer would love to have, but it is hampered by the technical realities of the medium. For instance, it is not possible to know the open rate for email messages received in plain text format. If your list management solution allows subscribers to choose their preferred email format then you might be able to segment the list to those wanting plain text and those wanting HTML (and no format unknown). Then, if you send only HTML to the people who want HTML and then check the open rate for this list, you will have a more relevant statistic.

Otherwise, if you are unable to explicitly segment your list according to format, the Open Rate statistic becomes only a more general measure of user activity. The emphasis then falls on the traditional Click-Through-Rate which remains one of the best ways to measure user interest and response.

If you have the need to maintain multiple template designs, you might consider using a different account level. Some allow for multiple layout templates to be stored at the same time.

5) Is it possible to make fields in the Subscription Box mandatory (or required)?

SOLUTION

By default, the only required information that must be supplied to the Subscribe Box is an email address. If necessary, you can make additional fields in the subscribe box required. This will require some manual changes to the HTML. 

To make a particular input field required, add a corresponding hidden field to the form. This can be done by editing the source code of the subscribe box HTML through the online HTML editor (click the Edit Mode button on the lower right) or by adding it to the generated HTML produced by the View Current Source button. This hidden field uses the following syntax:

<input type="hidden" name="[fieldname]_required" value="[Error Message]">

The [fieldname] is the name of the input field to which this field corresponds. It is followed by the text '_required'. The value parameter of this field is [Error Message]. This is the text that should appear if the [fieldname] input field is empty.

Another way to do this would be to use some JavaScript in the HTML. This requires knowledge of JavaScript and would provide the most flexibility but is unfortunately beyond our product scope.

6) How can I allow people to review an issue on the web without replacing the active issue?

SOLUTION

Many organizations have people who aren't involved in the editing of their newsletter who must approve it before it can be sent to subscribers. Below is the procedure you can use to allow them to see the issue before you make it active.

Change the issue status to Pending:

• From the main menu, select the issue properties.
• At the bottom of the issue properties area, change the Status to "Pending"
• Click the Save button.

This should bring you back to the Main Menu.

Now, click on the "Post to the Web" link. You should see a warning that says, in part:

"The Issue being published has not been approved for publication. This Issue can be published to the Web, but it will not be directly accessible through the main Web address assigned to your account until someone approves the Issue in the Issue Management area."

This message is basically telling you that this new issue will not replace your current active issue. Nor will this new issue be accessible via your newsletter archive.

Send out the issue for approval:

• Go to the Main Menu and click "Send As Email"
• When that screen comes up, you will need to be sure that the newsletter is only being mailed to those who need to view it at this point.
• If you have a special subscriber list of these individual set up, you can select "Subscriber List" from the “Email To:" area of the form, then select the correct sub-list. 
• If you do not have a special list set up, select the option labeled "Use one or more test addresses specified below:" Then in the space provided next to "Email address (es):" enter any address to which you want to send the issue, separated by commas.
• Then click Continue. 
• You can check the previews provided, and click Send Now.

Once the recipient receives the newsletter, they should be able to open it directly in their email client.
If you still have any questions, or encounter any problems, contact our support department and let them know. 

7) When problems occur with HTML email

SOLUTION

Sending HTML email messages is an imperfect science. The fact is there are actually 100’s of different email programs and mail server programs installed around the world today. Each of them offers different capabilities and levels of HTML email support. Luckily a large majority of these systems support the decoding and display of HTML formatted email messages.

We use various techniques to make sense out of all of this chaos and deliver the best email format to the widest audience. These techniques include probing, multi-format encoding, and support for user preferences.

Despite the use of these techniques, you may occasionally receive a complaint from a recipient who is unable to properly read the HTML email you deliver. In these cases, it is likely the recipient is using an older email platform that is incompatible with the various probes and multi-format messages we send AND do not display HTML email correctly. Below you will find further information regarding these systems. In each case, the quickest and easiest solution to the problem is to change the format preference for the subscriber to ‘Plain Text’.

Eudora and Lotus Notes

Eudora and Lotus Notes are common email clients. Unfortunately certain earlier versions of these programs do not adhere to current email standards.

The details are a bit complicated, but, for example, Eudora 4.0 (or earlier) supports only a simple form of HTML lacking many layout controls like tables. Later versions of Eudora (after version 4) work much better. If these subscribers have been able to receive HTML in the past, they are probably receiving simpler HTML than that produced by the Cover Page you send. The other alternative is to email out HTML paragraphs (instead of the cover page). You will see this option on the top of the Send as Email screen.

Lotus Notes sometimes strips out all the HTML and images instead of showing the plain text version. It also depends on how the Notes server and mail gateway is configured (see below).

For additional information about known problems with Lotus Notes (and possible solutions that can be implemented by the recipient's IT dept) see the following articles: 

Background and Current Status of Notes/Domino R5 Native Support of HTML and MHTML Rich Text Format:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27002941

Domino R5 Converts HTML into Misaligned Formatting with "[IMAGE]" Throughout Message:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21087057

Recipients in R5 & Group Tools Environment Receive Internet Mail with Misaligned Text & "[IMAGE]":
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21086884

If your subscriber’s IT department is unable to correct this situation, the best advice is to change the email format preference for subscribers using these email programs to ‘Plain Text’. The plain text message will then include links to the HTML version hosted online so that the full color version of the newsletter is available to everyone.

Mail Gateways and Microsoft Exchange

In addition to email programs, email servers and gateways can cause trouble with HTML email. These are the systems responsible for passing email messages from one machine to the next over the Internet and within a company. The gateway is usually responsible for providing security (also known as a firewall) and an interface between internal and external email systems.

One thing we have seen gateway systems do is intercept an incoming HTML message and change the information it contains. This happens occasionally and can cause unpredictable results. In addition, some gateways will not support multi-part email messages correctly and will end up sending the complete message through without the proper encoding.

Subscribers who receive emails passed through these gateways may see a garbled email message or may only receive the plain text version. One thing to try in these cases is to force the email format being sent to HTML. This is done by changing the subscriber’s format preference from ‘Unknown’ to ‘HTML’. If you are sending a test message, this can be a little tricky since there is no way to force the HTML format. In this case, the email address you are testing should be placed in a sub-list with the email format of this record set to HTML. You can then send your email to this sub-list.

AOL

AOL version 5.0 or earlier also provides limited HTML email support. Recently AOL improved HTML email support with new versions 6.0 and 7.0 of their client software and the AOLAnywhere web service. Because of this mixture of supported and non-supported users, we have built special functionality to handle subscribers who use AOL email. A special AOL email version is always created and sent to these users when you send your newsletter. We also perform special probing to see if we can determine which AOL version is being used. This probing works most of the time and if we can positively identify an AOL 6.0 or AOL 7.0 user, they will be sent and will receive the complete HTML version of your email. In all cases, AOL users see the best version of the email that can be delivered to them.

8) How do you ensure messages are not being unintentionally blocked or classified as SPAM?

SOLUTION

We take many steps to prevent unintentional blocking of your messages and to make sure they are received in a private and secure manner.

Here are some of the things we do:

• Each message is individually addressed using the TO header, and no other email addresses appear.
• Each message is unique, has a unique message identifier, and can be customized with personal information about the subscriber.
• Each message originates from a valid email address and has proper 'REPLY TO' and \'ERRORS TO\' headers.
• We do not use the \'Priority: Bulk\' email header.
• We work with major ISPs to make sure they recognize that the high volume of email we send is valid opt-in email communications.
• We send all email using our own private SMTP servers. These are not open relays and are accessible to only our servers.
• We enforce a strict opt-in email policy. This requires all customers to send permission-based email.
• We monitor all SPAM complaints carefully and will discontinue services to anyone who violates our policies.
• We run regular tests to make sure messages are being received by accounts at major email providers and are not being classified as SPAM.

9) I cannot remember my account name and/or password. How can I find this information?

SOLUTION

To obtain the password for your account, enter the account name in the Login box on the service home page. Then, when your password is requested, click the link underneath the password box to have the password emailed to you. The password will be emailed to the address used when the account was created - the publisher's email address.

If you do not remember your account name, you can have both the account name and password emailed to you. To do this, enter the publisher's email address in the account Login box on the service home page. The account name and password for all applicable accounts will be emailed to this address.

If you are unable to obtain your account or password information using these methods, please contact our sales team.

10) Optimizing Microsoft Word For HTML editing

SOLUTION

If you’ve ever tried editing newsletter fonts and text formatting in the eNews Builder online HTML editor only to find that the changes you’re making aren’t taking effect, chances are Microsoft Word is getting in your way.

Microsoft Word documents are a great way to get pre-formatted copy into your newsletter. The eNews Builder system lets you import Word documents directly, or you can cut and paste from a document into a newsletter article, often eliminating the need to retype the copy.

While eNews Builder honors the formatting rules and coding used in Microsoft Word documents, some versions of Word often don’t, which can lead to “locked” or un-editable copy when you want to further edit Microsoft Word copy with the eNews Builder system.

Fortunately, we’re well prepared for these situations and a few simple steps will stop the Word lockdown and let you go about your business.

There’s Something Lurking Behind the Scenes

When creating a Microsoft Word document, Word’s software (behind the scenes) is creating a set of instructions about how the text/images you’re entering should be displayed on screen. These instructions (depending on the version of Word you’re using) translate into a mixture of Microsoft Word markup code and/or HTML.

Unfortunately, the code generated by Word is often very restrictive and can prevent other software editors from successfully making changes. In typical eNews Builder fashion, releasing your copy from Word’s constraints is easily accomplished.

The Code Sweeper

When editing newsletter articles or copy in the eNews Builder online HTML editor, we provide a tool called the Code Sweeper to help clean up the Microsoft Word code blocking changes.

You can find the Code Sweeper in the lower left corner of eNews Builder’s online HTML editor.  Click the icon that looks like a broom sweeping a Word logo (the text “Code Sweeper” appears when you hover your mouse over it) to open it.

The Code Sweeper window opens, displaying a variety of choices. There are two targets we want to sweep to “unlock” the copy. The first selection we want is  “Microsoft Word mark-up.” This action will remove all Microsoft Word specific coding from the copy.

The second selection we want is “Span Tags.” Span tags are HTML tags that Microsoft Word often uses to create ultra-specific layout instructions and are another cause of “locked” copy. If sweeping the Microsoft Word mark-up doesn’t free your copy, sweeping the span tags will.

Once the copy is swept, you can go about your editing as normal.