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.
- To send them an attachment as a .pdf (everyone
can read this format on any device)
- To send then an attachment as a word document
(still popular but not universal)
- 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
FontSuperscript
FontSubscripe
How it looks on different devices
