AutomatedNewsletter Q&A

AutomatedNewsletter is the easiest way to keep your customers informed about your newest, bestseller and store special products... all fully automated.

It is definitely one of our most used email modules, so we decided to do a Q&A session about it. Below, we have assembled some of the most frequently asked questions.

Does AutomatedNewsletter regard my current OpenCart mail server settings?

Yes, AutomatedNewsletter uses the OpenCart function for sending emails. This means that depending on whether you have set up POP or SMTP, AutomatedNewsletter will be regarding and using these settings.

Some of my clients are not receiving the automated newsletter? Why is that?

The spam filtering of the emails does not depend on the module itself but on the content of the emails you send. We would suggest you read these articles which provide tips on how to keep the emails out of the spam folder:

• 10 Tips to keep Email Out of the Spam Folder
• A Marketer's Guide to Email Deliverability: How to Avoid Email Spam Filters

You can also check your emails SPAM score content by using this service http://spamcheck.postmarkapp.com/

Is AutomatedNewsletter multi-lingual and how can I translate it in my language?

The admin panel's language for the module is in the following file:

admin/language/english/module/automatednewsletter.php

Once you open it with the FTP client of your choice, you will see a file which looks like. You need to translate the text after the equal sign ("=") which is surrounded by quotes:

// Text
$_['text_module']                 = 'Modules';
$_['text_success']                = ' Success: You have modified module AutomatedNewsletter!';
$_['entry_code']                  = 'AutomatedNewsletter status:';
$_['error_permission']            = 'Warning: You do not have permission to modify module AutomatedNewsletter!';
$_['error_input_form']            = ' Please check the form for errors!';
$_['subject_text']                = 'Subject';
$_['text_yes']                    = 'Yes';
$_['text_no']                     = 'No';
$_['text_enabled']                = 'Enabled';
$_['text_disabled']               = 'Disabled';				
$_['new_products_text'] = 'New products';
$_['text_newsletter']      = 'All newsletter subscribers';
$_['text_customer_all']    = 'All customers';
$_['text_customer_group']  = 'Customer group';
$_['text_customer']        = 'Specific customers...';
$_['text_affiliate_all']   = 'All affiliates';
$_['text_affiliate']       = 'Specific affiliates...';
$_['text_product']         = 'Customers bought specific products';
$_['entry_store']          = 'From:';
$_['entry_to']             = 'Recipients:';
$_['entry_customer_group'] = 'Customer group:';
$_['entry_customer']       = 'Customers:<br /><span class="help">Select specific customers. Just start writing in input field</span>';
$_['entry_affiliate']      = 'Affiliates:<br /><span class="help">Select specific affiliates. Just start writing in input field</span>';
$_['entry_product']        = 'Products:<br /><span class="help">Send only to customers who have ordered products in the list. Just start writing in input field</span>';
$_['entry_subject']        = 'Subject:';
$_['entry_message']        = 'Message:';
$_['schedule_type'] 				= 'Type of schedule';
$_['fixed_dates']					= 'Fixed dates';
$_['periodic']							= 'Periodic';
$_['default_subject'] =  'Newsletter subject';
$_['cron_select_admin_period'] 	= 'Email store owner<span class="help">Use this option to configure how often to send a list of current birthdays to the store owner</span>';
$_['cron_select_customer_period'] = 'Email customer(s) <span class="help">Use this option to configure when to send emails to customer(s)</span>';
$_['cron_time'] = 'Time: ';
$_['schedule_tasks_status'] = "Schedule tasks status:";
$_['best_deals'] = "Get bestsellers for last:";
$_['new_products_for_last'] = "Get new products for last:";
$_['best_deals_top']   = 'For the bestsellers list get the first:';
$_['specials_for_next']  = 'Get specials for next:';
$_['custom_css'] = ' Custom CSS: <span class="help">You can modify the style of the email by adding your CSS in this field</span>';
$_['product_image_size'] = 'Product image size: <span class="help">Configure the size of the product images in the newsletter</span>';
$_['count_of_products_per_row'] = 'Count of products per row:';
$_['text_default'] = '(Default)';

$_['newsletter_subject'] = "Newsletter Subject";
$_['date_sent'] = "Date Sent";
$_['language'] = "Language";
$_['recepients'] = "Recepients";
?>

Save the file and you are all set.

Are clients able to unsubscribe from the email campaigns?

Yes, every email features an unsubscribe link at the bottom, where the client can unsubscribe from your newsletter. Reference above. 

How can I configure the newsletter recipients?

Access the AutomatedNewsletter admin panel and then go to Settings and select Recipients. A dropdown will open with all the available options to choose from. 

Can I see who the email was sent to once the campaign has launched?

After the email is sent there are statistics shown under Module Settings > Sent Newsletter and you will see listed all the recipients.

Can I select which products to show in the newsletter?

Adding selected products to our newsletter includes two small steps.

First include the products you would like to feature in the automated newsletter. This is done from: Product Lists module Tab.

Once you click there go all the way down where you will see an autofill form. Start typing in the name of the product and then add it to the list.

Once you are done there you need to go to the Newsletters tab and click Create new (if you are creating a new one) or edit an existing newsletter.

When you are in the newsletter tab and want to include these selected products, you need to use the {selected_products} in the Rich Text Editor tag as shown in the photo above. Using the {selected_products} tag will output all of the products we have set in step 1 (see above).

How does Check out this month's hot offers work?

This is the section where all the products which have Specials activated are listed. One of the common reasons why these are not showing up is because specials might have an available date restriction.

What you need to do in order to check out the specials is to go to your products from Catalog > Products > Example product [Edit] > Specials.

How to edit the newsletter template styles?

If you decide to change the design of the newsletters, you need to apply the changes to your .tpl file. Go to:

catalog/view/theme/default/template/mail/automatednewsletter.tpl

Please mind that changing the newsletter design would require some coding so it's best if you get a front-end developer to do this for you (CSS + HTML knowledge required).

That is it for now. Let us know if you have any additional questions about AutomatedNewsletter in the comment section below.

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