Elxis CMS Forum

Extensions => Modules => Topic started by: datahell on January 23, 2014, 09:49:04

Title: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 23, 2014, 09:49:04
I develop a Newsletter module for Elxis 4.x.
People will be able to register in newsletter to receive a daily, weekly or monthly e-mail report with site news. The management of subscriptions and the e-mails dispatch will be fully automatic and it wont need the administrator to do anything to send the e-mails. The module will be available in 3-5 days.

Note
Elxis 4.x modules and plugins are much more improved than those for Elxis 2009.x and as the system is more powerful it is possible to make an Elxis 4.x module do what a small component would do in Elxis 2009.x. So we have smaller but smarter applications that can be developed faster and are easier to be managed. Such examples are the Photo Vote plugin (https://www.elxis.net/edc/public-opinion/60.html) and the upcoming Newsletter module.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: webgift on January 23, 2014, 10:44:21
Very good news!
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: michalis1984 on January 23, 2014, 13:07:10
I think this module will be installed by the majority of elxis users.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: nikos on January 23, 2014, 22:36:25
Very good news as a Newsletter for any site is a useful function.

I thought that this should be a component but you know better if is going to be a module.

I don't know if it is early to talk about details, but i would like to place here some thoughts if it is possible to be included

1. Option to select by simple clicks to send specific articles (for example the intro text of each with link on title for the whole article)
2. Option to type and send a short plain text message as e-mail and as sms via Clickatell for example
3. Option to select recipient groups and subgroups of many levels.

Am i asking too much? :D
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 23, 2014, 23:04:36
Yes, you ask too much ;D

SMS newsletter is too custom. How many sites will use that? And how to fit content items and links into an SMS? SMSes have a limit of 160 characters (not unicode) per message. As for custom text and custom dispatch I don't want to do that because I hate spam. People will get what they subscribed for any nothing more. They will also be able to un-subscribe and administrators will also be able to remove an email from the list.

The module will work like this:

Guests will register in newsletter with their email address (no other user data will be collected, not even name). Depending on the frequency selected (daily, weekly, monthly) the module will collect the new content added during the last period (last day, last week, last month) and send email notifications of the content added. Each row will have the item title, a link to it and a short description. You wont be able to send custom content or create different newsletters per subscriber. To reduce server load emails are sent in steps, by default 50 per run (10 to 100 configurable). If no subscribers exist, or no new content has been added during the last period nothing will be send. On each newsletter there will be a secret unsubscription code that users will be able to use in order to be removed from the notification list (not with their email as someone might unsubscribe an other person).

I believe it is absolutely fine for the majority of the web sites as it does what a newsletter should do, notify about new content. It is also extremely easy to use. Just publish it and you have fully automatic newsletters without ever again deal with the module.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: nikos on January 24, 2014, 10:28:18
For sms, ok you are right, it is a custom option for a minority of site administrators. The 3rd option i mentioned becomes from of IOS Newsletter for 2009.x which i consider that the possibility it has to send newsletter in groups and subgroups, it is very useful because in this way you can send targeted information and i was thinking if could be applied also in the new one for Elxis 4.x

All the rest functionality as you describe is just fine and will be a very good module.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 24, 2014, 13:04:46
It is not a newsletter component! It is a module that sends site's news. If it is not what you need don't use it!
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 24, 2014, 20:29:27
Early preview of module's Newsletter front-end interface.

Don't forget that you must login in forum to see images and attachments!
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: michalis1984 on January 24, 2014, 21:26:01
Great! Sweet and simple!

I am waiting for the release  8)
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: kyomar on January 25, 2014, 09:47:16
Awesome, I am looking forward to this new module. Well done!
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 27, 2014, 21:21:30
The Newsletter module is ready!
Today I did all tests and works fine. It took me 4 days to finish it as it was quite complex. I also added some surprising cool features, you will see... ;)
As the module requires some special care I will write detailed usage instructions on Elxis Docs (https://www.elxis.net/docs/) before I publish it. If I don't do so I will have many questions, so it is better to wait a little more for the documentation. Most probably it will be released tomorrow morning.
Title: Download module Newsletter
Post by: datahell on January 28, 2014, 12:02:04
Newsletter released!

Download module Newsletter (https://www.elxis.net/edc/communication/61.html)
Newsletter module documentation (https://www.elxis.net/docs/using-elxis/third-party-extensions/newsletter-module.html) at Elxis Docs

I will enrich EDC listing with some screenshots in the afternoon. Happy downloads!
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: webgift on January 28, 2014, 15:15:11
Bravo! That's a great module development!
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: hakangur on January 30, 2014, 11:25:50
I went to Elxis.net and attempted to register for the Newsletter. I tried with three different e-mail addresses (with yahoo.com, gmail.com and tu-claushtal.de extensions) but, each time I tried, I got the  "Subscription failed" message. I hope this is a temporary glitch.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 30, 2014, 12:46:57
Registration works fine. Try with a different browser....
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: webgift on January 30, 2014, 13:02:01
I confirm what hakangur said before! A popup window is displayed yesterday with the message "Subscription failed!". When i submit the same email address, newsletter module returns the error "You are already registered!"
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 30, 2014, 13:42:48
This will only happen if javascript ajax call return a wrong response (not json).
Have you updated to version 1.1? Version 1.0 had a problem in the installer and didn't work. Update to v1.1 if this is the case. Else check Elxis error log to find out which is the problem.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: webgift on January 30, 2014, 14:30:06
This error occurred when tried to submit myself on Elxis.net website! I haven't installed it yet.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on January 30, 2014, 19:22:43
I checked the module and error log, I found nothing... You have all registered successfully. I changed the module a little in order not to alert such message but write it in the response area instead.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: kyomar on January 31, 2014, 05:08:46
Awesome module - love it. Thank you!
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: michalis1984 on February 02, 2014, 02:20:33
There is a typo at greek language. I realize it now, when i received the weekly newsletter.

mod_newsletter/language/multilingual.php

Line 79
'WEEKLY_NLFROM' => 'Weekly ενημερωτικό δελτίο από %s',


This module is awesome. It does all the job automatically.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: QAZI on February 07, 2014, 13:14:53
Dear sir


please tell  me the basic setting of position and ordering  of news letter  if i keep the position to right it occupies the whole site and gives a blank look to site



Thanks
qazi farooq

 
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on February 07, 2014, 14:54:49
The module occupies automatically the whole area in which you place it. If I remember correctly it needs a minimum width of about 200px to be displayed fine. So make sure your side columns, in which you place the module has this width.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: QAZI on February 11, 2014, 20:41:23
Dear Data hell

 Thanks for your support  is it possible to make the newsletter   compact or small in size so that it can be adjusted in footer or side column
 left or right. it occupies a lot of space  in the site which make the site dull in look. 


Qazi
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on February 11, 2014, 22:54:16
The module has a responsive CSS design to fit any area and be mobile friendly. The pre-made CSS makes the module be stretched to the area you place it. If that area it too large it will look a little ugly. You can limit its width with a smaller container, or set a max-width css rule, or edit its CSS if you like.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: oisy on March 14, 2014, 22:00:21
The module is very nice. I will write translation in Bulgarian in a few days.
But it didn't send messages. I try the automatic and manual  and both nothing.
Is there some special settings?
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on March 15, 2014, 22:34:29
First make sure your Elxis is well configured to send emails. We strongly recommend to use SMTP method to send emails.

Then check these: There is something to send (new content, etc), the dispatch date is based on the newsletter settings, and there are subscribers.
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: oisy on March 16, 2014, 18:45:19
Thanks it work  :)
Here are Bulgarian translation. Users can modify it like they like :) Download from this link http://oisy.org/RABOTNI/NEWSLETTER_BG/
Title: Re: Newsletter for Elxis 4.x
Post by: datahell on March 20, 2014, 19:58:02
The link does not work.