EasyMail Newsletter: F.A.Q.

What about the old plugin homepage (untill v.1.5) and all user comments?

You can find it here: Alo EasyMail Newsletter: plugin per Wordpress per inviare newsletter.

  • Wonderful plugin!
  • I’m using it in all my sites!
  • It would be great if it also had this feature…

You can support me by donating some money. You can even pay me a beer.

Why won’t my newsletter be sent? (Problem with cron batch sending)

Maybe you are using a WP version with a known BUG in the wp_cron system (a WP bug, not an EasyMail bug). The EasyMail v.1.6 and newer (with cron batch sending) works on WP 3.0 and 2.9.1. It DOESN’T work on WP 2.9 and 2.9.2. (It seems to work with WP 2.8.x series, but I’ve not tested it enough and however I advise to upgrade). Maybe you could try to run it on these WP versions (for details read here and here) or try and install another WP version.
Use a plugin like as Cron View to check if EasyMail cron is properly scheduled.
Here is a summary of some solutions that might help you:

  • add these 2 lines in [your-blog-url/]wp-config.php to use alternative cron and increase memory allocated to PHP: 
    define('ALTERNATE_WP_CRON', true);
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '96M');
  • modify the cron timeout in [your-blog-url/]wp-includes/cron.php (read more).
    From:

    wp_remote_post ($cron_url, Array (' timeout' => 0.01, ' blocking' => false));

    To (they suggest 20 seconds, maybe you can try with a higher value):

    wp_remote_post ($cron_url, Array (' timeout' => 20, ' blocking' => false));

What about subscription/unsubscription procedures?

Registered users can subscribe/unsubscribe either using a widget or through their profile page. If you are a new subscriber you can insert your name and email address in widget: you’ll receive an email with an activation link; click on this link to activate your subscription (the new subscribers will be deleted if they don’t activate the subscription in 5 days). To unsubscribe: at the end of newsletters there is always a link to unsubscribe.

Why don’t I see the subscription form in the widget, but yes/no radio buttons?

The widget shows different contents according to whether you are logged in or not. If you are registered and logged in (as admin too) the widget shows radio buttons (yes/no). If you are not registered or not logged in, the widget shows the subscription form (name, email) and the submit button.

Can I modify the style of the subscription form?

Yes, you can use some available css id and class. About the form:

#alo_easymail_widget_form { /* the form */
    color:#000;
}
.alo_easymail_widget_error { /* error msg */
    color:#f00;
}
.alo_easymail_widget_ok { /* success msg */
    color:#0f0;
}

Then, the form is included in the widget and in the Newsletter subscription page. If you want to use different styles, use the id of the container div that include form: for the page the id is always alo_easymail_page, for the widget is something like alo-easymail-widget-[n] where [n] is the widget number.

I have a problem with the formatting of the newsletter: the css or html tags are not shown correctly.

The WordPress rich editor is not very accurate, so if possible you have to disable it (you can create a new user for sending newsletters, then go to his/her profile and disable the rich editor). Then, use a very simple html and only inline css. About css read this Guide to CSS support in email clients. About html for newseltters read this useful guide.

The newsletters don’t correctly show all the characters of my language. Why?

Maybe you are using an EasyMail version 1.6 or older. You may have to modify the collation of the EasyMail tables of your database. Probably the collation is not UTF8: you have to change it with utf8 general. Before, make a backup of your tables (do you want to loose all your subscribers?!).
If then the newsletters don’t show all the chars yet, you should upgrade to the latest EasyMail version, make a backup of EasyMail tables of your database, delete the EasyMails tables, then reactivate EasyMail plugin. Now there should be the EasyMail tables with the right collation and you can try to import your subscribers. More info on WP Codex.

What about the batch sending based on WP cron system?

After a newsletter is scheduled for sending, the plugin starts sending it to a small number of recipients every 10 minutes, until all recipients have been included. The number of recipients for each sending is calculated on the cut-off of emails you can send per day (you can setup it on Settings → EasyMail). The WP cron makes a sending when someone hits your blog after at least 10 minutes from the previous sending. If you receive one visit every 30 minutes you will have one sending every 30 minutes. If nobody visits your blog for more than 10 minutes, the number of recipients of the next sending is recalculated based on the time interval from the previous sending.
Example #1 – Daily cut-off: 2000 emails. The standard sending: 13 emails every 10 minutes (2000 / 24 hours / 6). Sending 20 minutes after the previous one: 27 emails (2000 / 24 hours / 3).
Example #2 – Daily cut-off: 5000 emails. The standard sending: 34 emails every 10 minutes (5000 / 24 hours / 6). Sending 25 minutes after the previous one: 52 emails (5000 / 24 hours / 4).

→

  • I’ve deleted the Subscription page…
  • The Subscription page is missing!
  • I’ve paste the [ ALO-EASYMAIL-PAGE ] code in another page

On installation the plugin adds a “Newsletter Subscription” page: useful for collect new subscribers and required to allow subscribers to manage their newsletter preferencies.
Two things about this page are required so the plugin can work properly:

  1. the page must contain the [ ALO-EASYMAIL-PAGE ] code (without spaces between the brackets),
  2. the value of a plugin option (“ALO_em_subsc_page”) must be the page ID.

These two constraints must be respected even if you want to create another subscription page instead of the default.
So if you have problems with the page a checklist could be the following:

  • check if the page exists (in administrator menu: Pages) and it’s properly working (in administrator menu: Settings → Newsletter → tab General);
  • check if the “ALO_em_subsc_page” option value is the page ID: search the option in the wp_option table of your database or using the page [your-blog-url]/wp-admin/options.php;
  • check the shortcode in the page: the page must contain [ ALO-EASYMAIL-PAGE ] (without spaces between the brackets).

EasyMail doesn’t work on my blog: what can I do?

First of all consult these resources:

Then check these things:

  • Check if the rest of the blog is working properly: frontend, backend, other plugins…
  • Does the error occur when you’ve updated your blog or EasyMail or when you installed or updated some other plugins?
  • If you’ve just updated EasyMail remember to de-activate and activate it again.
  • Check the file permissions of EasyMail: 755 should be more than enough.
  • Check the folder of EasyMail: it must be [your-blog-url]/wp-content/plugins/alo-easymail
  • Look at the PHP and server error logs.
  • If the site is still set to test you can set up WP_DEBUG to true to show errors and warnings.
  • Maybe there is some conflict with other plugins: try to disable them all and see if it EasMail still does not work.
  • Check your blog theme: a customised theme might be causing errors; you can try to activate the standard WP theme to see if the cause is the theme.

Then, if you have followed all the above and you have not found any solution, you might open a new topic in the forum for help: please read the rules before posting.

I am available to help or develop changes on request. Please contact me at:

DeliciousFacebookDigg
RSS FeedStumbleUponTwitter