We are currently using Constant Contact for email blasts and would like to customize the Wild Apricot email template to look similar (or at least familiar) to what our members currently receive. What would this require? We have a volunteer IT person who can help, but only if it doesn't require too much time.

Thanks!

Vickie

We do not yet have special functionality for email templates but here is a workaround you might find useful:

Steps to create a custom Wild Apricot e-mail template.
 
1. Go to members tab and do keyword search for your name (administrator's name) so you can send an email to yourself.
2. Click on [E-mail all members]
3. In Subject line write 'Template' (or anything easy to remember later on)
4. Copy the HTML code of your template and paste it into the email's HTML section, see inserting HTML snippet.
5. Send the message, click [Preview and send] / [Send message]/[OK]

Wild Apricot keeps a log of all email blasts that you send.

Each time you want to send this template simply click on [Copy previoulsy send] and select message with 'Template' in subject line, see email blast

 

---

Jim Sympathy, Fluid Apricot

We are currently analyzing a system for re-usable email templates.

This would allow you to start composing an email and save it as a template that can be used any number of times after. After that, any time that you create an email you could either do it from scratch, return to a previously saved draft, or use one of the templates you created earlier as a starting point.

We are analyzing this, and so are moving the thread to the Roadmap forum. As always if you have any suggestions or ideas, we are happy to hear them.

 

 

 

gvalentino:

We are currently analyzing a system for re-usable email templates.

This would allow you to start composing an email and save it as a template that can be used any number of times after. After that, any time that you create an email you could either do it from scratch, return to a previously saved draft, or use one of the templates you created earlier as a starting point.

We are analyzing this, and so are moving the thread to the Roadmap forum. As always if you have any suggestions or ideas, we are happy to hear them.

 

It could be as simple as

givinf us the radio button option of deleteing an e-mail draft.

 

Thanks

Roger

 

 

 

We very much like the ability to copy a previous email. However, we would also like to be able to create templates that you can click on as well. These templates would represent the ideal way to format the email, thus giving administrators a blank slate every time. We currently have to send an email and label it Basic Email Template, Newsletter template, etc but over time these get pushed way down the list. So people end up using the most recent newsletter as a starting point, which results in the getting slowly further away from the original template.

Thanks for your ideas and suggestions.

We have marked this as one of our Top 50 items for 2010, and plan to start development on it in the next 12 months.

We will let you know when we have a solution designed, and when we have a release date. As always, keep those ideas coming!

This is a would be nice feature.  To be able to create an email template that could be used for any email notifications and to be able to set the alerts to use the template.

 This would avoid having to edit each individual alert.

Perhaps this is already available and I do not know it?

 Thank you,

Justin Loranger

---

Justin Loranger
Executive Secretary
Maine Arborist Association

My organization would love this feature.  I admit I haven't played much with WA's email templates, as we had been using Constant Contact before starting with WA.  It would so fabulous to integrate both pieces.

 Since you're asking, here are features we'd like:

• customizable templates that work in email browsers - e.g. built with tables, font tags, etc., all that old html that we learned in 1997 and thought we never had to look at again.
• allow subscriptions w/o being a member or contact
• stats: open rate (as unreliable as it may be it's all we have), click through, forwards
• allows images
• allows archived emails
• manages unsubscribes

Thanks for looking at this feature!

Key features for me are obviously a fully-functional WYSIWYG editor like you would find in any traditional email template program (i.e. Constant Contact).

As well, for real usability, I think the ability to embed macros in the email templates would be super useful.  Example, we get a lot of paper membership applications or paper donations that we need to input manually and then send-out email confirmations and/or tax receipts.  It would be great to simply pull-up the tax-receipt email template which would pre-load the contacts name, membership information, and the ability to say load in the most recent donation stats (amount, date).  That donation info would be in say a table that has been made to look like a donation receipt.

---

Kyle Mitchell | www.spec.bc.ca

Would like to add our vote to the "email template please" list, in the hope it can be moved up the roadmap for 2010.

At the moment we use Constant Contact but it is pretty stupid to maintain two lists and pay two monthly charges. Am currently trying to generate an HTML table template to use but it is a tortuous exercise to say the least!!

Regards,
Ian
worthing and adur chamber of commerce

 

 

We've been working on a solution for this. As always, we want to balance functionality with ease of use, as well as make sure that it fits in with the way you've come to expect from Wild Apricot.

To that end, here's a summary of what we're planning. We'd love to get your feedback on this - does it meet your needs? Is it easy to understand? Are there any blanks that we need to fill in?

Overview

• There is a new option for manual email blasts - create email from a template
• Provide a template library
  
• Selected template becomes the starting point for the email and user can enter content and edit it using existing WYSIWYG editor tools
• While editing any email blast (no matter how it was created), admin can save their current state as a new template to the library. Thus they can create new templates from scratch or by modifying existing templates

Create email from template

• Add option to Compose e-mail screen - "From template"
• Admin is then shown the templates in the library. There are two sections - top one is for system templates, and then a section below them for Admin Created/Modified templates.
•  For system templates show as a series of thumbnails with the name of the template at the top.
•   For user created/edited templates just show the summary information for them  
• Admin selects template. Admin can only select one template

Writing the email

• WYSIWYG editor window is prepopulated with the template. Admin edits the email and its structure as they would any other email
• New action button "Save as template"
• Button is on all edit email screens, regardless of how the email was created.
• On the settings page in the email blasts section, add a new section called "Template library"
• Page has action button at top to "Create new template"
• Two sections on page - "System templates" and "Custom templates"
• System templates -Templates created by Wild Apricot
• Custom templates - Templates created by site admins
• Each system template is represented by a thumbnail with the name of the template at the top.
• Attributes saved with each template
• Last updated <date/time>
• Created by <creator name> ("Wild Apricot" for System templates).
• Last updated by <last updater name>
• At the bottom of each Local template is a "Delete template" link. Admin is asked to confirm deletion.
• System templates cannot be deleted. If they are edited they have to be saved as new templates.
• Clicking on any template brings up the Template details screen

Details screen

Details screen is a preview of the template, full size.

Include an "About" area (could be done either as a tab or a section under the preview) listing

• Created date
• Created by <creator name> ("Wild Apricot" for System templates).
• Last updated <date/time>
• Last updated by <last updater name>

 

Notes/Questions

System templates - Creating templates that go with each website theme would take a prohibitively long time, as there could be hundreds. We plan to create a set of system templates, about 5 or so, whose look and feel is completely independent of your website

Sent emails - On the Sent emails screen, would you want to have the source template indicated if an email was created using a template? For example, if you used "Newsletter template 1" for your May member's round-up, would you want a field telling you that?

Our aim was to reproduce – as far is as possible – the look and feel of the template we currently use in Constant Contact. To this end I have spent quite a lot of time using an HTML editor to produce a table-based template. However good I get it to look in the editor or in IE and Firefox and however much I tidy up the HTML by hand, it’s never quite the same when it’s been cut & pasted into a WA email. So I gave up
 For starters, a few basic “system templates” options – single column, multi-column etc, with headings etc would be good. We then need to be able to edit these to set up organisation colours, fonts etc and then save as “user templates” for future use.
Ability to insert pictures (.jpg logos etc) in the template is essential.
Links/Anchors to facilitate a Table of Contents.
Ability to embed macros as suggested above would be very useful.
 
As this thread (and this requirement) has been going for  almost two years now, I would suggest that to get things moving you start simply, get something basic into WA as soon as possible and then let us all see how we use it and what we then view as “useful”, “essential” etc.
However if we ultimately are to use this as a total replacement for Constant Contact we will need tracking/bounce/click through statistics etc but that's another thread I would imagine
 
Regards,
Ian
worthing and adur chamber of commerce

We too use Constant Contact and are encountering a lot of resistance to moving to WA. As this seems a fairly standard tool to judge by the posts we also would like something that is comparable in function to Constant Contact in both ease of use and functionality.

I just wanted to add my vote for the templates. This sounds like a great idea, and anything that makes the email look more professional and "polished" would be great. If we can make change to the color, that would go a long way toward making it look similar to our websites.

 I'm looking forward to seeing this new feature.

 Thanks

 Rebecca May-Cole

PA Behavioral Health & Aging Coalition

I would love to have email templates similar to Constant Contact as well.  I am reviewing several options currently to accomplish it.

---

Bill Krisher
AESNYS Association Manager
www.aesnys.com

Is there a target date for this new feature? I notice that one of the early posts on this topic mentioned that it was a priority project for 2010.

I'm particularly interested in setting up a newsletter template for my members.

Thanks,

KathyM

The current work around is pretty good, the only issue is that in my template I want to use anchor links, but there is no functionality in the email for this.

 

I would love to see template libraries, as well as the option to create your own template. This is a priority for my organization right now.

 

Cheers,

Ben

---

Cheers,

Ben

This subject has raised itself again in our organisation as we discuss the feasibility of finally moving away from Constant Contact.

Not having even a rudimentary system of templates or anchors so we can produce a simple table of contents are showstoppers still.

Is there any sign of this happening in 2011??

Regards,
Ian
worthing and adur chamber of commerce

yes, this is one the things we plan to roll out in 2011.

Release 4.2 will bring full history of all emails (automatic and manual, with all recipients)

4.3 should include automatic handling of bounces

so templates are planned for 4.4 

---

Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot

Very happy to hear this.  Like most others, I'd much rather have all my lists in one area without having to add/delete from Constant Contact and WA.  And, I'd love to get rid of one more monthly fee as well.  I'm looking forward to the template functionality.

I want a "Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser" feature also! WITHOUT having to create a page in addition to the email template. Is this feasible?

---

Cathy Harrington

Terrific!  We would like to give our e-blasts more of a newsletter feel, as well.

Just to warn - this is going to be not earlier than in 2012 and we are not sure about exact date and release number. 

---

Evgeny
Product Design Team

Any updates on whether templates will be included in 4.4?

Yes, they are in development now. Watch our blog for more details next week. 

---

Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot