Newsletter

The site's electronic newsletter 'e-Spoken' is implemented using the 'simplenews' module in combination with 'CiviCRM'.

The simplenews module takes care of publishing and sending the newsletter. In the language of this module, "e-Spoken" is a term of the "newsletter" vocabulary, and an issue is just a node. Simplenews also manages the signup information, but only cares about the email address and any connection to the user's potential Drupal account.

CiviCRM is a recipient of extended information during the sign up. This is important - the CRM information is not the current list for the newsletter, but a collection of all signups since the site was implemented in Drupal (i.e. April 2008).

Create A New Newsletter Issue

To create a new newsletter to send out to the current list, use the Create content link, and choose "Newsletter Issue". The module has support for multiple newsletters - you can choose "e-Spoken" under the "Newsletter" category selection.

Creating the body of the newsletter is similar to creating the body of any "node". But there are two ways that it's different. The first is the use of the simplenews template module, which saves you the hassle of adding the header/footer to each issue. The second is the use of the related content module which allows you to pick nodes from your site for automatic inclusion in the newsletter.

Send A Newsletter

Once you've created your issue and it looks good on the site, you'll want to send it. To do this, first send yourself a test copy -- email and the web are two different media and you'll want it to look good in both.

Sending the newsletter issue is done from the edit screen - there's a field group about halfway down for this. Once the tests look good, you send it to all the newsletter recipients.