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

Having listened to several councils, who have indicated they wanted an interactive map where they could show their assets on, we are now launching that solution.

At the moment you work with us when creating the boundary for a particular area but we will be launching a tool to go along with the feature so councils can manage it themselves.

Do contact us if you are interested in being an early adopter. The feature is Free Of Charge for 2025.

As part of our ongoing enhancements of the template, we are now making a Local Services widget available to existing and new customers.

As with all our widgets you can place it anywhere on a page. Then as you add more services, you simply use the widget form to create the detail and its automatically added to the page or pages where you have placed the widget.

Just look at our home page to see an example.

As Parishes, Towns, Communities and interest groups look to improve their engagement we are very pleased to announce the availability of our latest feature to support community engagement.

This new feature  will pull posts directly from the relevant Facebook page and embed them on the website.

Now, using this template, you can originate community engagement posts either using your social media page or from the website and ensure the information is shared in both places at once.

The feature is available as standard. If you need our help to setup the Facebook page to allow this to work then there is a small charge of just £45 ex vat.

Just contact us whenever you are ready to make the next step in community engagement.

Try the helper bot yourself. It is now ready to be deployed to your site.

We are on track to launch our next feature that supports Parish and Town councils when pushing information onto social media (like Facebook).

The new feature will allow clerks and others who create news to select a post to Facebook action. That saves time and keeps both the website and Social media in sync. i.e. You do once and post to multiple digital channels.

The initial setup guide is available here. It will allow you can prepare your Facebook page ready for the feature release in Feb 2025

Try the helper bot yourself

Having received various guidance from NALC and other bodies as well as the 31st October deadline now looming we wanted to triple check that the template available for councils was fully compliant. We are very pleased to confirm this is the case and we stand ready to help as many councils as needed to get compliant before the deadline. Just call Mark on 01635 282361

We are launching some new features in 2024/2025

1. A FAQ plug-in to allow a database of things about the Town or Parish to be created. This is now launched.
2. We are introducing a YouTube widget for those who want a video on a page. 
3. An intelligent Helper bot for users to be able to find what they need - An enhanced version of the existing search feature.
4. An Helper bot that will support speech to words - words to meaning and focus on specific accredited resources so people can get an answer they can rely on.
5. We will also be providing plugins for Facebook and X so your posts and Tweets can be displayed on the website.
6. We are also looking to introduce VOICE assistant integration for town councils and larger parish councils.

With hundreds of Parish and Town councils now using the template, we are pleased to share a quick map showing where the councils are based.

Do contact us if you would like a demo or references if you're about to make a choice yourself. The more councils that join our network, the easier it is for us to keep the costs per council as low as possible.

Call us on 01635 282361 if you need help.

We are pleased to announce our "Virtual Clerk Service"

The service can be used for anything related to your website!

Our premium hosting package already included 30 minutes a month of Virtual clerk - to assist with loading of Agenda, Minutes etc.

The Virtual Clerk Service allows for 1 hour as a minimum but can be extended by 30-minute increments so you just take what you need.

When taking the "Virtual Clerk Service" you get access to a team that can make any and all changes needed as part of your digital communication. That includes updating the website but can also include updating your Facebook and Twitter feeds etc.

It's especially useful if you're between clerks or have a leave of absence that needs covering

Costs are just £30 per hour ex vat

Why is a left-hand Navigation system better for desktop?

Please take a look at why we recommend using the left-hand nav option. Our template supports both top and left nav, so it's your choice, but the  end-user evidence says left is best at the moment

We are pleased to release to production our Virtual Tour widget. This allows anyone to create a map of key locations around your Town, Parish, Ward etc. End User can then click on the pins and undertake a virtual tour. 

It uses Google Street view to provide the interactive map and you create spots by simply providing a Lat & Lon along with which direction to look in.

A great way to show off what's important to you locally and what will be of interest.

We are pleased to launch an additional option for the council framework. This is an update on the previous vertical navigation and support focus's on the best use of any screen size a user is accessing the site whilst ensuing clear and simple navigation.

Available as a update to existing users and by default on all new sites deployed after 31st March 2021.

Having had requests from several councils we created and have now launched the blog features for the framework.

You can have as many blogs as you want, which are useful when discussing specific issues in the area.

The Blog widget allows posts from the blog to be placed on any page you choose.

A Royal Bridge Protocols Feature has been launched and is now available on request from existing users and by default for all new deployments

The planning feature has just got better with the following additional features

• Self-configuration to allow you to customise the way the information is displayed
• Users can easily change their view between the available options from the council

We are very pleased to announce the production readiness of our Automatic Planning Feature..

With just a little setup to connect your site to the relevant planning authority, planning applications relevant to your Parish, Ward or Town etc are will be automatically pulled through to be shown as a list or map within your website. When a resident wants more detail they are able to use the links embedded and go directly to the correct location on the Planning authorities website.

Our normal charge for your site to have the feature enabled is just £2 per month. However, we have an introductory offer with 50% off for the first year (so just £12 a year)

You can see more views of the feature below.

Having received various guidance from NALC and other bodies as well as the 22nd September deadline now looming we wanted to triple check that the template available for councils was fully compliant. We are very pleased to confirm this is the case and we stand ready to help as many councils as needed to get compliant before the deadline. Just call Mark on 01635 282361

New Ticket Desk Open

We are pleased to announce the release of our new ticket desk designed to support up to 1000's of Parish Councils.

This should provide users of MyParishCouncil with fast responses to any issues found.

You can get to the new system using this link.

The latest version of the template now supports a Calendar Widget. This widget can be used on a page and brings into an online calendar all meetings and events that are created using the template functions.

This provides a single place where people can easily see what is coming up.

Just ask your salesperson if you want this feature installed on your template.

We are pleased to announce the availability of several new features as of today. Not least the ability for anyone to now insert an image gallery on any page they want. It's as simple as selecting the "Image Gallery" block when creating a page and then browsing through the media library and selecting any images you want to display in that gallery.

You can also drag and drop each image so they display in the order you want.

There is a YouTube Video on this feature here

As of today we are pleased to now include an enhancement to our meeting function that makes the job of adding additional documents, other than the Agenda and Minute's, lots easier.

You now just use the "+" symbol and then browse to the additional files you want including via the media library. 

The enhancement automatically inserts these documents as a link button so people can download or view them.

Your Parish Council is responsible for the allocation and management of allotments in the Parish. So drop a note to the clerk if you have a question or need help. 

Here we see an example of a blog post that can be used by a Parish Council to provide information for parishioners