{% extends "outreach/admin/base.html" %} {% load i18n %} {% block bodyclass %}{{ block.super }} help-page{% endblock %} {% block page_title %}{% trans "How to use Outreach" %}{% endblock %} {% block page_subtitle %}

{% trans "Everything you need to add prospects and send a message." %}

{% endblock %} {% block content %}

{% trans "What a prospect is" %}

{% blocktrans with name=site_name %}A prospect is a person or an organisation you may write to. They can be {{ name }} members or people who have not enrolled yet.{% endblocktrans %}

  • {% trans "Prospect" %} {% trans "has never been mailed." %}
  • {% trans "Contacted" %} {% trans "has received at least one message." %}
  • {% trans "Unsubscribed" %} {% trans "will never be mailed again." %}
  • {% trans "Member" %} {% blocktrans with name=site_name %}means the email matches a {{ name }} account. The link is made automatically.{% endblocktrans %}

{% trans "Add and import prospects" %}

{% trans "Use Add prospect for one person, or Import CSV for many. Every row needs an email address. These columns are read, and the alternative headers work too:" %}

{% for column in import_columns %} {% endfor %}
{% trans "Column" %}{% trans "Other accepted headers" %}
{{ column.name }}{% for alias in column.aliases %}{{ alias }}{% if not forloop.last %} {% endif %}{% empty %}-{% endfor %}

{% trans "Addresses already in Outreach are skipped. One invalid row cancels the whole file, so nothing is half imported, and the error names the row." %}

{% trans "Send a message" %}

  1. {% trans "Tick the prospects in the list. To take every match of the current filters, use Select all under the list." %}
  2. {% trans "Choose Send a mail in the Action menu and press Go." %}
  3. {% trans "Write the subject and the message. Insert variable puts a person's name or another detail into the text." %}
  4. {% trans "Press Preview message. Use Preview as to see it for another recipient." %}
  5. {% trans "Press Send. A summary tells you how many were sent, skipped and failed." %}

{% trans "Variables" %}

{% trans "Variables are replaced for each recipient, in the subject and in the message. Write them between double braces." %}

{% for variable in variables %} {% endfor %}
{% trans "Variable" %}{% trans "Example" %}{% trans "Description" %}
{% templatetag openvariable %} {{ variable.key }} {% templatetag closevariable %}{{ variable.example }}{{ variable.label }}

{% blocktrans with placeholder="{{ unsubscribe_url }}" %}{{ placeholder }} is the link recipients use to unsubscribe. It is added automatically at the bottom of every newsletter, and you can also use it as the target of a link in a newsletter. A notice has no unsubscribe link.{% endblocktrans %}

{% blocktrans with example="{{ first_name | there }}" %}Add a fallback after a pipe: {{ example }} writes “there” when the first name is empty. A name that is not in the table stops the preview, so nothing odd is ever sent.{% endblocktrans %}

{% trans "Tags" %}

{% trans "Tags compute a value for each recipient when the message is sent, in the subject and in the message. Write them between brace and percent signs." %}

{% for tag in mail_tags %} {% endfor %}
{% trans "Tag" %}{% trans "Example" %}{% trans "Description" %}
{% templatetag openblock %} {{ tag.name }} {% templatetag closeblock %}{{ tag.example }}{{ tag.label }}

{% trans "A tag can take arguments. Text in quotes is used as written, for example a date format:" %} {% templatetag openblock %} today "j F Y" {% templatetag closeblock %}

{% trans "A name without quotes is a variable, or a tag called without arguments: its value is given to the tag." %} {% trans "A tag whose name is not in the table stops the preview, so nothing odd is ever sent. The date and the greeting use the server's time zone." %}

{% trans "A button is a link shown as a button. It takes a label and one link, and only works in the message, not in the subject:" %} {% templatetag openblock %} button "Read more" "https://example.org" {% templatetag closeblock %}

{% trans "The link can be a variable or a tag instead of fixed text. It must start with http, https or mailto. A recipient whose link is empty or invalid is not sent the message and is counted as failed." %}

{% trans "Who is skipped" %}

  • {% trans "Newsletters skip prospects who unsubscribed, and addresses that unsubscribed before and were imported again." %}
  • {% trans "Notices skip prospects who are not members. Members who unsubscribed from newsletters still receive them." %}
  • {% blocktrans with window=cooldown_label %}Prospects mailed within the last {{ window }}.{% endblocktrans %}
  • {% blocktrans with maximum=max_recipients %}Anyone past the first {{ maximum }} recipients of one send. Send again later for the rest.{% endblocktrans %}

{% trans "The compose page lists who is skipped and why before you send." %}

{% trans "Unsubscribing" %}

{% trans "Every newsletter ends with an unsubscribe link. The recipient confirms with one click on a page of their own, and no account is needed." %}

{% trans "Unsubscribing is final. The address is never mailed again, even if the prospect is deleted and imported again." %}

{% trans "Mailings" %}

{% trans "Each send is recorded under Mailings with its subject, the message as written, who sent it and the counts. Open a prospect to see which mailings reached them." %}

{% trans "Templates" %}

{% trans "A template is a saved subject and message you can reuse. Everyone who may send mail sees the same list." %}

{% trans "To use one, open the compose page, choose it in the Template menu and press Use template. Your current text is replaced. To keep what you wrote, save it first with Save as template." %}

{% trans "To change a template, open Templates in the menu. Editing a template never changes mailings that were already sent, because each mailing keeps the message as it was sent." %}

{% trans "Permission" %}{% trans "Lets staff" %}
{% trans "View templates" %}{% trans "See the list and pick a template when composing." %}
{% trans "Add templates" %}{% trans "Create a template, or save a message as one." %}
{% trans "Change templates" %}{% trans "Edit a template, or replace one when saving." %}
{% trans "Delete templates" %}{% trans "Delete a template." %}

{% trans "Audiences" %}

{% trans "An audience is a named list of prospects you mail again and again, such as the visitors of an event. A prospect can be in several audiences." %}

{% trans "Create an audience under Audiences in the menu. In the prospect list, tick people and choose Add the selected prospects to an audience in the Action menu. Choose Remove the selected prospects from an audience to take them out." %}

{% trans "On that page you can also type the name of a new audience instead of choosing one. It is created and the selected prospects are added to it." %}

{% trans "To send a message to an audience, filter the prospect list by that audience, use Select all under the list, then choose Send a mail. The usual rules apply: unsubscribed prospects stay in the audience but are never mailed." %}

{% trans "Permission" %}{% trans "Lets staff" %}
{% trans "View audiences" %}{% trans "See the list of audiences." %}
{% trans "Add audiences" %}{% trans "Create an audience." %}
{% trans "Change audiences" %}{% trans "Rename an audience or change its description." %}
{% trans "Delete audiences" %}{% trans "Delete an audience. Its prospects are kept." %}

{% trans "Adding and removing prospects needs the permission to change prospects." %}

{% trans "Permissions" %}

{% trans "Permission" %}{% trans "Lets staff" %}
{% trans "View prospects" %}{% trans "Open Outreach and read prospects." %}
{% trans "View mailings" %}{% trans "Read the Mailings log." %}
{% trans "Add prospects" %}{% trans "Add one prospect and import files." %}
{% trans "Change prospects" %}{% trans "Edit, send mail, unsubscribe and link accounts." %}
{% trans "Delete prospects" %}{% trans "Delete prospects. The unsubscribe record stays." %}

{% trans "Troubleshooting" %}

  • {% blocktrans with setting="OUTREACH_BASE_URL" %}Sending is refused. The site address for the unsubscribe link is not configured. Ask a developer to set {{ setting }}.{% endblocktrans %}
  • {% blocktrans %}A recipient is marked failed. The mail server refused that message. Check the address, then send to that prospect again.{% endblocktrans %}
  • {% blocktrans %}An old link shows “unsubscribed”. The prospect was deleted since the mail went out. Nothing is stored for that link.{% endblocktrans %}
{% endblock %}