Create a Newsletter by clicking the key icon to get to the Administration menu, then click the link for Newsletter Administration, then click the "Add New Newsletter" link to create a new newsletter. There you will define the title of the newsletter, description, and some other settings. You can select which roles are allowed to subscribe, by default it is All Users. Once you have saved the newsletter additional links will appear on the Newsletter Administration page that allow you to create new letter editions and view previous editions that have been sent (of course at first none have been sent).

A new option appears on the My Account page where users can opt into the list. You can view current subscribers also from the Newsletter Administration page.

Token Replacement

Most important when creating your letter editions is to make sure you include #unsubscribe# somewhere in your letter. This token will be replaced with a user specific unsubscribe link automatically. We may also implement other tokens for personalizing the messages in future versions in a mail merge fashion.

Unsubscribe links are mandatory. You should familiarize yourself with the CAN-SPAM Act Requirements to make sure you do not violate them. Used correctly email marketing can be a great tool to build connections with your readers.

It is possible but not recommended to disable the enforcement of the #unsubscribe# token by adding this in user.config:

<add key="NewsletterEnforceCanSpam" value="false" />

If the newsletter is available for all roles then you can also optionally use a token to include a "View As Web Page" link, the token is #viewaswebpage#

Additional Tokens added as of mojoPortal CMS version 2.3.9.4

#username#
Will be replaced by the site member display name or the nonmember email address.

#email#
Will be replaced by the email address.

#displayname#
Will be replaced by the site member display name from the user profile.

For nonmembers, this will be replaced by the Display Name Token Default setting on the newsletter definition, or with an empty string if that is not populated.

#firstname#
For site members will be replaced by the first name from the user profile if populated else it will use the display name from the user profile.

For nonmembers, this will be replaced by the First Name Token Default setting on the newsletter definition, or with an empty string if that is not populated.

#lastname#
For site members only will be replaced by the last name from the user profile if populated else it will use be replaced by an empty string.

For nonmembers, this will be replaced by the Last Name Token Default setting on the newsletter definition, or with an empty string if that is not populated.

So, as an example, for nonmembers, one could put Valued Customer for the first and last name defaults. These would not be used for a site member because we can at least be sure of a display name even when the first and last name fields are not populated.

Importing Subscriber Data

We have example code for importing subscribers from a comma separated value (CSV) file. Download the ImportNewsletterSubscribersBasic.zip file, and read the readme.txt for further details. Thanks to Steve Railsback who provided the example code.

Custom Email Server Settings

If you have a large number of subscribers to your newsletter, you will probably need to work with a third party service such as SendGrid, ElasticEmail or MailGun to ensure proper delivery of your newsletter emails. In that case, you can use the following web.config settings to direct mojoPortal to use a different email server or just different authentication information.

<add key="Newsletter:SmtpServer" value="NameOfYourServer"/>
<add key="Newsletter:SmtpServerPort" value="25"/>
<add key="Newsletter:SmtpUser" value="YourSMTPUserAccount"/>
<add key="Newsletter:SmtpUserPassword" value="ASmartPassword"/>
<add key="Newsletter:SmtpRequiresAuthentication" value="true"/>
<add key="Newsletter:SmtpUseSsl" value="true"/>

Controlling How Many Messages are Sent Per Minute

Some email providers limit how many email messages you can send per minute or per hour. You can add the following web.config setting to control how many messages the newsletter feature will send per minute. 

<add key="NewsletterMaxToSendPerMinute" value="25" />

Managing Subscribers

To get subscribers to your newsletter, you have a couple options. 

• Sign-up users when the register on your site. There is an option for this in the newsletter definition.
• Add the Newsletter Sign-Up Form to a page or multiple pages of your site. 
• Buy a list from a reputable source and import it using the method described above.

Once you have subscribers, you should keep an eye on your email logs from your email provider and make sure to remove emails which are no longer valid. 

Handling Unsubscribe Requests

The #unsubscribe# token will place a link to the unsubscribe page for the newsletter. When someone clicks this link, they will be automatically removed from the subscribers list for that newsletter. If you wish to prompt them to confirm before unsubscribing them, add this setting to your user.config.

<add key="PromptBeforeUnsubscribeNewsletter" value="true" />