Using MyParishCouncil for a Newsletter

Introduction

We have kept the functionality for Newsletter very simple as our experience has indicated that Newsletters tend to fall into two types.

i.e. Sophisticated or Simple

For sophisticated ones, there is usually some software or solution that already exists to be able to manage the format of the newsletter in great detail. Trying to replicate that or capture all of that existing functionality would not be considered good value due to the costs associated with providing it.

However simple newsletters which act as outbound communication for what’s going on and what’s coming up is supported in the following way

What we provide

First we provide a widget that can be placed where you want on a web page that allows you to collect the email address of anyone who wishes to sign up for your Newsletter. This also includes the checkboxes to confirm you have permission to send the future communication by email according to GDPR regulations.

That list of emails can be accessed by the responsible person for the list (such as the clerk) in the admin part of the solution. They can export the list at any time as a .csv file. They can then copy and paste those emails into their email client and BCC those subscribed.

All communications of this nature must now have an unsubscribe method which is often simply a reply to the email sent saying “Unsubscribe”

As the person who sends the newsletter normally monitors the replies, then if they receive such a response, they can go to the admin area of the website and unpublish that newsletter email. This ensures, that the next time a list is exported, that email is no longer included.

What else do we provide

The website template already supports News Posts. This consists of a top image followed by a “What You See Is What You Get” WYSIWYG area.

As part of the support we offer for Newsletter’s, we provide a Microsoft Word Template. When this is used and content added, it can be simply copied and pasted into this WYSIWYG area and allows for the Newsletter to be posted as a news item on the website.

Also as Microsoft Word supports saving a document as a .pdf then the newsletter can also be saved this way.

This means when the newsletter is sent out to those that have subscribed there are at least 3 options.

1. To send them an attachment as a .pdf (everyone can read this format on any device)
2. To send then an attachment as a word document (still popular but not universal)
3. Send them a link to the newsletter post on the website. (See this example)

Finally

If you have a Facebook page for your community, then you can connect your news posts to that Facebook page. That means as you post you newsletter on your website it automatically appears on your Facebook page.

Use the contact form to ask us any questions you have about Newsletter support.

Help (What word elements can be used when pasting across)

Heading 1 ,2 and 3 – They become H1,H2 & H3

Subtitle

Strong

Underline

Italic

Font^Superscript

Font_Subscripe

How it looks on different devices