Morning all,
Harry popped by the office yesterday and had the pleasure of seeing me battle with our database's WISIWYG editor to try and design a HTML email template. It was not pretty.
I'm thinking of purchasing/downloading something better that will allow me to design newsletter and mailing templates, preferably with a split view option so I can tinker with the code and have a WISIWYG option too. This will mean over time I can build a repository of templates to support my post's needs (Membership and Development comms) and hopefully over time other staff members can develop their own to support their roles (For events, or volunteer specific communications etc).
Recommendations would be welcome - I'm looking to get something in place soon so suggestions by the end of the week if you can!
Also, anyone with experience or interested in helping develop high quality mailing templates we can release as CC BY SA to benefit other chapters too, do put your name forward :)
Thanks!
Bear in mind that we get a massive charity discount for a lot of these products via CTX, so cost isn't necessarily an issue.
Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
On 30 October 2012 11:21, Katherine Bavage < katherine.bavage@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
Morning all,
Harry popped by the office yesterday and had the pleasure of seeing me battle with our database's WISIWYG editor to try and design a HTML email template. It was not pretty.
I'm thinking of purchasing/downloading something better that will allow me to design newsletter and mailing templates, preferably with a split view option so I can tinker with the code and have a WISIWYG option too. This will mean over time I can build a repository of templates to support my post's needs (Membership and Development comms) and hopefully over time other staff members can develop their own to support their roles (For events, or volunteer specific communications etc).
Recommendations would be welcome - I'm looking to get something in place soon so suggestions by the end of the week if you can!
Also, anyone with experience or interested in helping develop high quality mailing templates we can release as CC BY SA to benefit other chapters too, do put your name forward :)
Thanks!
-- *Katherine Bavage * *Fundraising Manager * *Wikimedia UK* +44 20 7065 0949
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
With MS Office costing £25, and Windows Server 2012 at £34, cost is generally low, But then, it depends on the software! Mailchimp is good, but can we release the code generated by it under a free licence, for other chapters to use?
Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
On 30 October 2012 12:18, Gordon Joly gordon.joly@pobox.com wrote:
On 30/10/12 12:02, Richard Symonds wrote:
Bear in mind that we get a massive charity discount for a lot of these products via CTX, so cost isn't necessarily an issue.
Cost is an issue. Value for money!
Gordo
______________________________**_________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-lhttp://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
MailChimp lets you export/import templates, but I can't find anything about licensing.
However, I doubt there is any issue with templates you build yourself!
They have decent support though, so I am sure an email will clarify this.
Tom
On 30 October 2012 12:26, Richard Symonds richard.symonds@wikimedia.org.ukwrote:
With MS Office costing £25, and Windows Server 2012 at £34, cost is generally low, But then, it depends on the software! Mailchimp is good, but can we release the code generated by it under a free licence, for other chapters to use?
Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
On 30 October 2012 12:18, Gordon Joly gordon.joly@pobox.com wrote:
On 30/10/12 12:02, Richard Symonds wrote:
Bear in mind that we get a massive charity discount for a lot of these products via CTX, so cost isn't necessarily an issue.
Cost is an issue. Value for money!
Gordo
______________________________**_________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-lhttp://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Hi Tom,
So there are a couple of issues.
There would be no problem using templates we design and releasing CC BY SA, hence starting with that premise, but you suggested Mail Chimp on the basis it would have appropriate mark up. I see you're not sure we can actually use the templates and release them CC BY SA - I not confident they would be ok with that.
If we administer campaigns in Mail Chimp we don't then have the data that generates (bounce backs, click throughs etc) in our database - it's stuck in theirs. What we want is to have the templates in our system and distributed from it. I'm v familiar with Mail Chimp by the way, and had in fact already been using it in this way, but as a stop gap precisely because of these issues. Also, frankly, the templates are only OK - they aren't up to scratch in the long term in terms of quality - having looked at the mailings WMDE and other chapters do, we should aim higher.
Perhaps suggestions about a how we can ensure that the appropriate mark up issues are dealt with - any tips on good training manuals or courses we could look into would be welcome :) Any suggestions about other HTML editors too... :)
Katherine
On Tuesday, 30 October 2012, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
MailChimp lets you export/import templates, but I can't find anything
about licensing.
However, I doubt there is any issue with templates you build yourself!
They have decent support though, so I am sure an email will clarify this. Tom
On 30 October 2012 12:26, Richard Symonds <
richard.symonds@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
With MS Office costing £25, and Windows Server 2012 at £34, cost is
generally low, But then, it depends on the software! Mailchimp is good, but can we release the code generated by it under a free licence, for other chapters to use?
Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
On 30 October 2012 12:18, Gordon Joly gordon.joly@pobox.com wrote:
On 30/10/12 12:02, Richard Symonds wrote:
Bear in mind that we get a massive charity discount for a lot of these
products via CTX, so cost isn't necessarily an issue.
Cost is an issue. Value for money!
Gordo
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Which database are you using at the moment? Do you mean CiviCRM?
Tom
On 30 October 2012 13:03, Katherine Bavage < katherine.bavage@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
Hi Tom,
So there are a couple of issues.
There would be no problem using templates we design and releasing CC BY SA, hence starting with that premise, but you suggested Mail Chimp on the basis it would have appropriate mark up. I see you're not sure we can actually use the templates and release them CC BY SA - I not confident they would be ok with that.
If we administer campaigns in Mail Chimp we don't then have the data that generates (bounce backs, click throughs etc) in our database - it's stuck in theirs. What we want is to have the templates in our system and distributed from it. I'm v familiar with Mail Chimp by the way, and had in fact already been using it in this way, but as a stop gap precisely because of these issues. Also, frankly, the templates are only OK - they aren't up to scratch in the long term in terms of quality - having looked at the mailings WMDE and other chapters do, we should aim higher.
Perhaps suggestions about a how we can ensure that the appropriate mark up issues are dealt with - any tips on good training manuals or courses we could look into would be welcome :) Any suggestions about other HTML editors too... :)
Katherine
On Tuesday, 30 October 2012, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
MailChimp lets you export/import templates, but I can't find anything
about licensing.
However, I doubt there is any issue with templates you build yourself!
They have decent support though, so I am sure an email will clarify this. Tom
On 30 October 2012 12:26, Richard Symonds <
richard.symonds@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
With MS Office costing £25, and Windows Server 2012 at £34, cost is
generally low, But then, it depends on the software! Mailchimp is good, but can we release the code generated by it under a free licence, for other chapters to use?
Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England
and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
On 30 October 2012 12:18, Gordon Joly gordon.joly@pobox.com wrote:
On 30/10/12 12:02, Richard Symonds wrote:
Bear in mind that we get a massive charity discount for a lot of
these products via CTX, so cost isn't necessarily an issue.
Cost is an issue. Value for money!
Gordo
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Mailchimp.com
Easy to use, tailored to email campaigns, loads of templates and it can handle all the relevant compliance and subscriptions if needs be (or you can just use it to create templates).
I recommend avoiding wysiwyg HTML editors as they will not produce good, compliant HTML with alternative text options that is needed for email.
Tom Morton
On 30 Oct 2012, at 11:21, Katherine Bavage < katherine.bavage@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
Morning all,
Harry popped by the office yesterday and had the pleasure of seeing me battle with our database's WISIWYG editor to try and design a HTML email template. It was not pretty.
I'm thinking of purchasing/downloading something better that will allow me to design newsletter and mailing templates, preferably with a split view option so I can tinker with the code and have a WISIWYG option too. This will mean over time I can build a repository of templates to support my post's needs (Membership and Development comms) and hopefully over time other staff members can develop their own to support their roles (For events, or volunteer specific communications etc).
Recommendations would be welcome - I'm looking to get something in place soon so suggestions by the end of the week if you can!
Also, anyone with experience or interested in helping develop high quality mailing templates we can release as CC BY SA to benefit other chapters too, do put your name forward :)
Thanks!
wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org