WEB EDITOR SPECIAL PAGES SUBSCRIBE

Overview

The Subscribe Page is similar to the Request page type, but it is used for a different purpose. As the name suggests, you may use this page to allow your site visitors to subscribe or unsubscribe to a service your site offers (newsletter, forums etc). Thus the Send button from the Request page is replaced with Subscribe and Unsubscribe buttons.

Please, note that we have a Video Tutorial available on this topic. You can check it out at EZGenerator Tutorials.

Basics

The Subscribe page is a web form containing some (or all) of the fields available in your Contacts database, that the user can fill and send (usually the e-mail field is present). After the user fills the form and presses the Subscribe or Unsubscribe button to submit it, a confirmation Subscribe/Unsubscribe email is sent to the user and thereby he is prompted to confirm his Subscription/Unsubscription. After a subscription is confirmed the user will be automatically included in your subscribers list. And of course, after unsubscription is confirmed the user will be automatically excluded from your subscribers list.

In contrast to the Request page type, Subscribe page stores your subscribers personal info as a subscribers list in flat files on the server. There are three flat files – one for Unconfirmed subscribers, one for Confirmed subscribers and another one for Unsubscribed users.

You can preview your Subscribe page only when uploaded on a PHP enabled server. Use EZGenerator test server for that purpose.

In Subscribe case:

• When the Subscribe form is submitted, user personal data is inserted into Unconfirmed subscribers flat file.
• When the Subscription is confirmed, user personal data is removed from Unconfirmed subscribers flat file into Confirmed subscribers flat file.

In Unsubscribe case:

• When Unsubscription is confirmed, user personal data is removed from Confirmed subscribers flat file into Unsubscribed users flat file.

Two pages are automatically generated along with each Subscribe page - Error page and Submit page. Error page will display error message in case the form is not filled correctly. Submit page is called after user successfully Subscribe/Unsusbcribe. If you want to set different text for subscribe and unsubscribe in Submit page, enclose subscribe text with <SUBMIT_SUBSCRIBE> and </SUBMIT_SUBSCRIBE>, and unsubscribe text with <SUBMIT_UNSUBSCRIBE> and </SUBMIT_UNSUBSCRIBE>.

Subscribe Settings

The following properties are available in the Subscribe Settings panel:

Main

• E-Mail Field (text box) - This field should contain the email field name as it is in the subscribe form.

Change the default value in this field, only in case you have changed the email field name in the subscribe form.

• E-Mail (text box) - Type the email address that is to be considered as subscribe administrator email address. This address is used as "From" address when Subscribe/Unsubscribe confirmation email is sent, when notification email is sent (after user confirms his Subscription/Unsubscription) and when newsletters are sent to subscribers.
• Disable CSS (check box) - If checked, this option will disable template CSS style for form fields, and standard html form fields will be used instead.
• Confirm. Success (text box) - Set here the message that will be shown after the user successfully confirms his subscription/unsubscription.
• Reset Password (button) - Use this button if you have forgotten your administrator interface username or password. This will reset username & password to admin & admin.

Subscribe Email

• Subject Subscr. (text box) - Type subject for the confirmation email that is sent to the user when Subscribe form is submitted.
• Message (text box) - Type message for the confirmation email that is sent to the user when Subscribe form is submitted. To insert form field value here type field name enclosed with %%. Example: %%P_Name%%, %%Email%%. To check certain form field name, double-click on the field in the form and check Name property in the Field Property window.

Unsubscribe Email

• Subject Unsubscribe. (text box) - Type subject for the confirmation email that is sent to the user when Unsubscribe form is submitted.
• Message (text box) - Type email message for the confirmation email that is sent to the user when Unsubscribe form is submitted. To insert form field value here type field name enclosed with %%. Example: %%P_Name%%, %%Email%%. To check certain form field name, double-click on the field in the form and check Name property in the Field Property window.

Note: For both subscribe and unsubscribe messages you can use the %CONFIRMLINK(confirm)% macro to set the text that will be used as confirmation link. If you want also to provide a direct link to the confirmation page (in case the user might have his confirmation link disabled for some reasons), use %CONFIRMLINK%.

Example: In case the above link is disabled, copy and paste the following url in your browser: %CONFIRMLINK%.

Notification

• Send Notification (text box) - If checked, notification email will be sent to the email address specified in E-mail property (the administrator email address), every time a user confirms Subscription/Unsubscription.
• Subject (text box) - Type subject for the notification email, if used.
• Return path (edit box) - This option is used only in case your host provider has set trusted (registered) users to be used as "From" email address. Type here the admin email address (or other) that will be used as "From" email address. This option will set the f- mail sending option in php.
• Sendmail from (edit box) - This option is to be used only in case your host provider has not set Sendfrom_email configuration option in php.ini. Type here the subscribe administrator email address (or other).

Editor

In this tab you can select HTML editor that will help you create and edit your newsletters. You can choose between HTMLAREA and Innova. Innova editor supports more than one language. Use the Language combo box to select one.

Messages

• Email Not Valid (text box) - This message will be displayed in case user fills invalid email address.
• Emails Not Match Msg(text box) - This message will be displayed in case user fills different email addresses in Email and Confirm Email fields (applicable only if Confirm Email field is set).
• Field Empty (text box) - This message will be displayed in case user skips required field.
• Checkbox Unchecked (text box) - This message will be displayed in case user does not check required checkbox.
• Not Subscribed (text box) - This message will be displayed in case user attempts to Unsubscribe, while he is not a Subscriber.
• Already Subscribed (text box) - This message will be displayed in case user attempts to Subscribe, while he is already a Subscriber.

Accessible Fields and Special Objects

You can insert form controls for any field in your Contacts database (the black buttons in the Fields list), for example, create a text box for a text field, check box for a boolean field etc.

The following special objects are accessible in the Subscribe page:

• Subscribe Button - Creates an image button "Subscribe", which sends a Subscribe confirmation email to the visitor requesting for subscription. The following initialization properties are available: Caption (text box) - lets you set the button caption.
• Unsubscribe Button - Creates an image button "Unsubscribe", which sends an Unsubscribe confirmation email to the visitor requesting for unsubscription. The following initialization properties are available: Caption (text box) - lets you set the button caption.
• Hidden Field - Allows you to add hidden fields to your form. Hidden fields are not visible or accessible to the site visitors, but can be used to pass certain data, for example, the page from where the form was sent, or to help you to categorize the information when you receive it. The following initialization properties are available: Name (text box) - lets you set the field name; Value (text box) - sets the field value.
• Custom Field - Allows you to add custom fields to your subscribe page. Custom fields are fields not connected to contacts/catalog database. Use custom field to create more advanced forms. The following field types are available: Text, Memo, Listbox, Checkbox, Radio, File, Button, Date and Password. When you insert custom field you have to set Caption, Name, Type and Value. Use the Required checkbox if you want to set the custom field as required.

Upload file: If you want to allow subscribers upload custom files along with their subscription, insert File custom field in your Subscribe form. When visitor subscribes and selects a file, the file will be uploaded on the server (in 'newsletters' folder) and after subscriber confirms his subscription this same file will be attached to the notification email sent to administrator.

• Nopagefooter - Creates NOPAGEFOOTER macros, which disables footer on Subscribe page.
• Tell a Friend - This object generates link to Tell a Friend page.
• Logged info - This object generates logged info macro in your site - %LOGGED_INFO(logged as,central admin,logout)%. This macro is applicable for protected pages or pages with admin screen (as Subscribe, Calendar, etc) and will show username of the logged user along with logout link. The four parameters inside the () are labels. If needed you can translate them in another language. Check Page Protection for more info on page protection.

Confirm email feature: You can insert second email address field in your subscribe form to be used as confirm email field. This way you may require subscribers to confirm their email address before submitting the form. To accomplish this, drag-and-drop second email address field from Fields panel and change its name - for example, if your normal email field has name "EmailAddress", the confirm email address field should have name "EmailAddress_confirm".

Administrator Interface

Administrator interface allows you to manage your subscribers list and newsletters in online mode - review, edit and delete existing subscribers; create and edit newsletters, upload offline created newsletters and send these newsletters to your service subscribers.

Administrator interface is accessible through the Admin button, placed on the Subscribe form, only when your site is uploaded on a server.

The interface is username&password protected. If the page IS NOT under Central Admin control, the default username&password are admin&admin. Once you log in the administrator interface, you can change the default username&password combination.

If page IS CONTROLLED by Central Admin, you have to go to Central Admin and create user accounts.

To insert administrator link in your subscribe page:

• Go to Fields panel.
• Drag-and-drop 'administrator' field in your Subscribe page.

Manage Subscribers

This screen gives you a list of all your service subscribers. Use the View/Edit button to review the detailed personal information of a particular subscriber, and to edit or delete this information if needed. If you need to delete multiple subscribers from your list, check the susbcribers you intend to delete and press Mass Delete button.

Manage Newsletters

This screen gives you a list of all newsletters available, attended by a short info – Last modified and Size in bytes. It also gives you possibility to create or upload new ones.

To create newsletter:

• Fill in filename for the newsletter you want to create in Type Filename field.

Note: Do not include file extension in the filename typed. All newsletters are created with ‘html’ file extension.

• Press Create button.
• Write the newsletter content in the editable area presented.

Note: Some default content is included in the editable area when you open it. You can delete or keep this content, as you prefer.

Important: Every newsletter should give the subscribers possibility to unsubscribe from your service. That's why a piece of text concerning unsubscription possibility is placed at the bottom of the editable area. You can freely replace this text with whatever you want but be careful not to delete the %% symbols enclosing. When your newsletter is sent the %%..%% expression will be replaced with unsubscription link.

• Press Save button when ready

If you want to personalize your newsletters, you can use the %%EmailAddress%% expression. When you send newsletter, this expression will be replaced with your subscribers email address.

To upload newsletter:

• Use the Browse button to choose the file you want to upload.

Note: You can upload only files with ‘htm’ or ‘html’ file extension.

• Press Upload button

To preview/edit newsletter:

• Press View/Edit button for the newsletter you want to review/edit.
• After editing the newsletter content in the editable area, press Save button to save those changes.

Important: Every newsletter should give the subscribers possibility to unsubscribe from your service. That's why at the bottom of the editable area a text concerning unsubscription possibility is placed. You can freely replace this text with whatever you want but be careful not to delete the %% symbols enclosing part of the text. When your newsletter is sent the %%..%% expression will be replaced with unsubscription link.

To delete multiple newsletters:

• Check the newsletters you want to delete
• Press Mass Delete button

Send Newsletters

This screen allows you to send certain newsletter to all or some of the subscribers in your subscribers list. Newsletters are sent in html format. If user's email client does not support html, he will receive plain text email with url to the newsletter included, in order to access it directly. To send a newsletter:

• Select Newsletter - Select the newsletter you want to send.
• Subject - Type subject for the newsletter email.
• Text message for users without HTML email support – Type here the message that will attend the newsletter direct link, in case the user email client does not support html.
• Full subscribers list & Selected subscribers - In case you need to send the newsletter to few subscribers only, select certain email addresses from Full subscribers list box and move them to the Selected subscribers list box. If you want to send the newsletter to all subscribers, just leave the Selected subscribers list box empty.
• Send to administrator only - Check this box, if you want to send certain newsletter to the administrator only (as a test, for example).
• Attach File - Use this field if you need to attach extra file when sending your newsletter.

Subscribers Log

The Subscribers log file, available in Subscribe page, contains detailed information about every operation concerning subscribers, including: Request for Subscription/Unsubscription, Subscription/Unsubscription confirmation, Edit/Delete subscriber from admin, attended by date/time info. In Administrator Interface you can access the log file and review it online, and also clear the log file when needed.

Newsletters Log

The News log file, available in Subscribe page, contains detailed information about every operation concerning newsletters, including: creating, editing, deleting and sending newsletters, attended by date/time info. In Administrator Interface you can access the log file and review it online, and also clear the log file when needed.

Download Log/DB files

Use this screen to download the log files or the flat files storing the subscribers info in .TXT format.

Change User/Pass (when page is not Central Admin controlled)

This screen allows you to change your administrator interface username&password combination. Accessible only when page is not controlled by Central Admin.

Logout

Use Logout whenever you want to log out of the Administrator Interface.