Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM-2013
Contents
1. Dermo Edit links individually URL Description optional Trackable Action http localhost 8080 form do Text and HTML version No action http localhost 8080 form do Text and HTML version No action http www agnitas com Text and HTML version No action http WWW openemm org cms dem Text and HTML version No action Edit links collectively Irackable Default action 4 Click on the Trackable multi option selector and select the not trackable option then click on the Save button to save the change URL http localhost 8080 form do agnCl 1 amp agnFN unsubscribe amp agnUlD Ai Trackable Text and HTML wersion Action No action 5 When all of the embedded external URLs even those for w3 org or other places where CSS JS files may come from have been changed then they should ALL show not trackable back in the Trackable links window URL s that are not protected in this way will be converted to an internal OpenEMM URL that attempts to point back to the content on the OpenEMM server obviously remote content won t be there Page 23 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 5 Now we are ready to finalize the placement of the Content Modules which we previewed earlier technically this could have been done earlier when all of the Content Modules had been assigned to the mailing but sometimes2. lt gt Mailing Save 1 Enter a reasonable name for this mailing something that will make it easy to distiguish from other mailings it might be good to include some unique data item such as a date sequence count color day of the week et cetera however realize that the display of ALL mailings will only show the first 20 30 characters of the Name so put the more meaningful part in those first characters 2 Enter a reasonable description of this mailing perhaps expanding upon its Name perhaps explaining why it is being used or for whom it should be good enough for someone else to get a high level view or grasp of the purpose and maybe something of its content without having to look through or preview the mailing or its components 3 The E mail sub section is where you will verify and or select four characteristics of this mailing Charset Line Feed after Format and Measure open rate the above example should be good enough for most mailings see the User Manual for more information Page 13 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 4 In the other five E mail are the identity items for this mailing the first three are required New Mailing Name JS eHIPHTON opto t lt Email Sender email Reply to email Reply to full name s Show template Settings General larget groups Subject
3. web page One needs to REALLY think carefully about this though There are many considerations to take into account such as e limits on e mail document sizes e browser e mail client quirks e usefullness or uselessness of fancy features e ease or frustration of recipient in viewing the intended content e time to completion for very complex deliveries versus simpler ones e potential complexity to be able to revise the template module design 3 A dynamic Content Module can be designed to stand on its own and that may work very well for certain kinds of intended formatting every inquiry form has the same basic format et cetera It also may create problems if its internal formatting competes or defeats that found in the dynamic template In many cases the KISS principle is more appropriate Page 30 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 4 OpenEMM action mails forms recipient management statistics on a larger scale and Target Groups have not been addressed in this document please see the User Manual for more information about them 5 If you have large scale external Sendmail Listserv mailing lists with clients who may appreciate and be able to make use of graphical e mail then OpenEMM can be used as a Content Mangement System with recipeint management handled externally see separate document about this possiblity note that there may be specific rest
4. List size 20 O50 1060 Entries found show all Entries Mailing ID Mailing Assigned 6 Demo 2 9 block dynamic tempate E 5 Demo a 2 Entries found show all Entries Assignment 4 Use the same method above to UNassign a Content Module from a mailing Page 18 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 3 For each of the required Content Modules repeat the above select and assign process KEY CONCEPT each module should be assigned in the same order that they appear in the template this should alleviate manual adjustment later KEY CONCEPT this is how dynamic Content Modules are assigned to a mailing using a dynamic template this is different than what is done with static templates where the Content Modules are predefined when the static template is saved also dynamic structures are single components whereas static structures are multiple combined components eg all Content modules together 4 To verify that all of the required Content Modules are now assigned to the new mailing to go Mailings Overview Mailing and click on the newly created Mailing Overview ee m pa Show normal mailings gt Overview CO Show action based mailings gt New Mailing gt Content Manager Templates e moe A l List size 20 50 1000 Archive Action Mailing Recipients Demo 2 9 block dynamic ter Statistics Demo 5 Click on t
5. Sender full name Charset Unicode UTF 8 gt c Line feed after 72 Characters lt gt lt gt Measure open rate at top of email Format Text HTML and Offline HTML Mailing r Save Subject good enough for client to understand what this mailing is all about try to avoid typical spam format words sender email e mail address from the sender which will appear in the mailing From header sender full name of the sender which will also appear in the mailing From header Alot of comments can be made about using valid invalid or valid but not really the real physical sender in the two Sender fields some reasons are very good whereas others may be perceived as misinformation or intentional obscurity which might lead to negative results one should also not use a valid Sender name and e mail address that they have no right to use if a proper name and address could be used but might lead to confusion eg parent company information then think carefully about what is used Page 14 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 5 Since we are working with a Content Manager dynamic template there will be nothing associated with or displayed under the Show template sub section you can certainly click on the link and it will expand to Show nothing
6. cm8 cm6 cm4 cm2 This will put cm8 in the cm2 text block location when we are done Page 38 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Move cm8 first 1 is the 9 cell dynamic template text component emg 2 sceten ond 3 soetten ona 4 sceten ond 5 Category lt none gt Content Fcell text cm2 gcell test cmg Scell text cim Page 39 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Then cm6 Category This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component cms 2 lt none gt S 1 Content ijatena Scell text cm2 O This is the 9 cell dynamic template 3 gcell text component cm6 text cm6 4 Scell text cm 5 Scell text cm4 t Then cm4 Category This is the 9 cell dynamic _ lt none gt 1 template text component 2 ems Content gcell text cmz This is the 9 cell dynamic This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component 3 template text component cm6 emf Then cm2 Category This is the 9 cell dynamic lt none gt gj 1 template text component 2 cmg content This is the 9 cell dynamic This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component 3 template text component
7. removes or excludes any predefined Content Modules at the Top layer which is not possible with the static template system Think of building or designing a new house e Dynamic Template foundation walls floors roof overall structure e Content Modules windows lights furniture accessories doors usability units specific styles or brands might have additional independent formatting controls e Content Type basic structure for each kind of Content Module specifications of usability units dimensions color pattern et cetera e Mailing Content Module placement location of usability unit Think also of detail abstraction with regards to where and how much HTML CSS formatting is defined in any given layer You can have as much detail at any layer as you want or you can hide or abstract as much detail in one layer as you want that will then be defined in a higher layer Another way to look at all of this is that you are going to build something using Lego blocks but you first have to create define each Lego block to be used At the same time you are free to design new Lego blocks whenever needed Page 5 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Basic Dynamic Template Creation Process Please keep in mind that the following procedure is specific to the given template While the actions are similar in all most cases do
8. 22 2013 If we now click on the down move arrow over cm8 it will exchange places with template table cell location cm2 which contained content originally in cell location cm4 This is the 9 cell dynamic 1 template text component 2 cme This is the 9 cell dynarnic This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component 3 template text component cma cm So here we have shown how to dynamically re arrange content blocks once they have been assigned to a mailing Hopefully you won t have to do very much of this if any at all Page 36 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Move Blocks Within Content Preview Pane by using call list pane Start out with all content blocks assigned to their assumed template locations as before Mailing Content Picture Components Attachments Trackable Links Send Mailing Statistics Preview Recipients OpenEMM Tester lt mmtestlist1 centos62b vboxnet gt Format HTML Size 800x600 pa Category This is the 9 cell dynamic A 1 template text component 2 _ lt none gt c emiz Content This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component cem This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component a oma This is the 9 cell dynamic 4 template text component 5 ems Now we will delete all of the text content bl
9. Delete current Content block from mailing preview and store it ina call list to the right where it can be reinserted into the mailing preview this does NOT delete the Content module from the CM Content Modules list area it does however unassign the Content block to the current Mailing scelhten omz 2 SE enone gt om This is the 9 cell dynamic Content 3 templa te text component PE o cm This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component 5 emo KEY CONCEPT if you bounce back and forth between the mailing Content window and other OpenEMM operational windows WITHOUT first clicking on the Content Save button at the bottom right then ALL changes will be lost 2 If you delete a content block from the Content preview it will be put into the call list block with a green plus sign to the right of its module name clicking on the add plus sign reinserts the specific Content module into the Content Preview pane in the first available slot and reassigns it to the associated Mailing you canNOT save a module in the call list and have it preserved there if you Save the Content and leave the Preview screen it will be gone and unassigned 3 Deleting a content block from the preview pane may also reorder the remaining assigned content blocks Page 25 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 201
10. list mailinglist lt q Archive po archive lt gt Show in archive 1 Template will display No Template as dynamic templates are not Shown only static templates would appear here 2 Mailing list select the proper predefined mailing list for this mailing 3 Archive optional as to whether you want to keep a local internal to OpenEMM copy of the mailing which could be used for various reasons but also takes up more database space 4 Mailing type for all but special Date or Action based mailings this Should be left as Normal mailing KEY CONCEPT only user recipients whose OpenEMM profile contains the selected mailing list has enabled that mailing list AND has the mailing list definition in the profile set to Normal mailing will receive THIS mailing if the Mailing type is set to Normal mailing 9 The last sub sub section Target groups will not be discussed here as I have not had enough practical experience in using it in conjuction with selected Mailing lists to offer any useful comments refer to the User Manual for more information g arget groups lt gt g i All subscribers Page 16 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 9 Click on the Mailing Save button bottom right to save the new Mailing configuration this should cause the Mailings Overview window to appear
11. or just another blank line New Mailing gt Email Subject Charset Unicode UTF 8 Sender email Line feed after 72 Characters _ n Sender full name Format Text HTML and Offline HTMIL 5 Reply to email Measure open rate a top of email Reply to full name s Show template Settings General Target groups Mailing 6 The last sub section Settings is where you connect or assign the recipients to this mailing it is made up of two sub sub secions General and Target groups 7 The User Manual mentions how both sub sub sections together make the final determination as to who will receive the mailing that is it may be possible to override or subset the list of recipients grouped together by the same mailing list assignement in their OpenEMM user profiles how this control does or might work will not be discussed here Page 15 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 8 The General Settings sub sub section is required as this is where you will link this mailing to a given predefined mailing list those recipients whose OpenEMM user profile has selected or enabled the selected Maling list will now be automatically designated as recipients for this mailing General Template No template Mailing type Normal mailing Mailing
12. save Module 7 Repeat the above actions for every Content Module needed for the particular mailing where it will be used 8 Create define a mailing to be used to gather all of the content components and later send it out select Mailings New Mailing from the menu Overview New Mailing gt Content Manager Templates Archive 7 An option window will appear where you can choose to use a Wizard method or Normal method to create the mailing we will use the Normal method as we have already done the work necessary to prepare and review the basic content components The Wizard Method may help someone new to this process but really all that is needed at this point is the basic mailing configuration which is What the Normal method provides New Mailing You want to create a new mailing Please choose a method E For experienced Arsa Step by step users Page 12 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 8 There are four sub sections to the New Mailing edit module New Mailing Email Subject Sender email Sender full name Reply to email Reply to full name s Show template Settings General Target groups Description optional f Charset Line feed after Format Measure open rate Unicode UTF 8 22 Characters Text HTML and Ofline HTML at top of email ce a gt a gt
13. that order may not be followed and the placements need to be adjusted KEY CONCEPT dynamic Content Modules are not limited to the position of the associated Agnitas tag in the template once assigned they can be moved during the mailing final setup which may be confusing if there were not assigned in template order to begin with static templates and content modules are tied directly together and placement is fixed 6 Go to Mailings Overview and select the new mailing 7 Click on the Content tab to open up the dynamic Content editor 1 First of all note that each Content block has a handle associated with it where you can perform several operations this handle only appears when you mouse over the displayed content block it contains six Operators text cm2 EF Ej a 1 Agnitas tag name associated with current template placement 2 Move content block up or down one template content tag location 3 Unknown 4 Jump out of the current Content editor and enter a New Content Module editor where an entirely new Content module can be created independent of any other Content module including the one that you came from 5 Jump out of the current Content editor and open the dynamic Content Modules section with the current Content block open in edit mode Page 24 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 6
14. 3 04 22 2013 4 There are three methods for ordering the individual Content Modules 1 Leave them all in the Content Preview pane and use the up down operator in the Content handle to move each Content block up or down one template position the name of the Agnitas position tag will change repeat until all Content blocks are ordered as desired note this can be very confusing as it may not be possible to see all of the content blocks at once or it may wind up being like the Tower of Hanoi game multiple pieces to move but ony three pegs 2 You can delete all of the Content blocks from the Content Preview pane and work with them from the call list pane each Content block re inserted goes into the next available template position so you need to select your blocks in the desired order of placement 3 You can create all of the Content Modules and then assign them to the mailing in the order in which they need to appear this is the best and safest method to use 5 Click on Content Save to save all of the changes or they will all be lost when you leave the Content Preview screen You have been warned Page 26 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 6 To verify the final hopefully results of all of the Content module placements click on the Preview button near the top right of the screen only static images and assigned Content Modules wil
15. M 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Move Blocks Within Content Preview Pane Let s start out with the fully assigned image and text components The call list pane is empty The text components were assigned in the order as their template Agnitas tags indicated which corresponds to their cell number left to right top to bottom Preview Recipients OpenEMM Tester lt mmtestlist l centos62b vboxnet gt Mailing Content Picture Components Attachments Trackable Links Send Mailing Statistics Format HTML Size 800x600 S 9 Preview This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component cem Category lt none gt Sy Content This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component 3 com4 cm6 This is the 9 cell dynamic 4 template text component 5 ems This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component If we mouse over 9cell text cm2 and click on the down move arrow cm2 has exchanged places with cm4 these two blocks are no longer in the same position as their template tags were named hence dynamic placement This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component cm 5 Page 35 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04
16. Mailing gt Content Manager gt Templates eee i reece List size 270 O50 0100 gt Archive Action Mailing Recipients Demo 2 9 block dynamic ter Statistics ee 2 Click on the mailing name and a new editor window will open up with multiple actions tabs along the top Mailing Picture Components Attachments Trackable Links Send Mailing Statistics 3 If there is an external file that needs to be included as an attachment note OpenEMM only provides for 2MB or smaller attachments by default then click on the Attachments tab there can be multiple attachments 4 If there are any embedded external URLs in the mailing then these will need a tweak to prevent them from being turned into bran mush 1 Click on the Trackable Links tab 2 Anew window will open up with the name of the mailing at the top though not labeled and one entry for each embedded URL if there are any look at the Trackable column if it shows anything other than not trackable for an embedded external URL then the Trackable setting for that URL needs to be changed Page 22 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 3 For each embbed URL to change click on the URL text NOT the little icon to its left which will open up the link in a new browser window Mailing Content Picture Components Attachments Trackable Links Send Mailing Statistics
17. Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Note the previous version of this document contained numerous errors It Should be discarded You may create the necessary dynamic CM HTML template using e external plain text file editor e external HTML web page document editor e importa dummy template and then modify it inside OpenEMM Dynamic here refers to a template in the OpenEMM Mailings Content Manager CM Templates section As with the static template document where I put all HTML code in the template file that can also be done with dynamic templates On the other hand both the dynamic and static templates may be basic HTML skeletons or canvas with additional HTML formatting code in the Content Module This document will be based on the OpenEMM delivered demo dynamic template with several provided Content Modules and Module Types and several supplied image files and a 9 cell table layout template Another difference between the static template example and this dynamic template example is that the static example placed all of its template canvas images in external to OpenEMM GUI files whereas the dynamic uses Picture Component modules associated with the dynamic template to upload the images into the CM cms content management system database This makes the images internal to the dynamic template but not necessarily directly available to any other template m
18. amic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 The idea of this particular template was to present the content in a specific Spatial orientation so that there would be a notable shape that it would appear as So it is the shape of the content layout that was the definitive goal for the template structure not strictly the order of the text and or images Their order could be intentionally sequential or linear from top left to right bottom but the dynamic template is attempting to create a shape that has a recognizable perhaps theme or pattern The primary idea here was that the images had fixed locations as did the text Their specific contents could be changed from use to use or move to another similar content location but the display shape would remain as is The remainder of this discussion will focus on placing the various components into the template structure The significance purpose or order of the component content is not relevant at this point Keep in mind however that there may also be a requirement for order for the images and text The OpenEMM dynamic template demonstration entry uses a simple top down linear layout which is fine The principle of dynamic content placement is the Same no matter what the display shape of the template layout is It is important that the individual placing the content have an understanding of the intended appearance of the final result unless there
19. and whomever needs to approve new mailings are truly Satisfied with the test results should you then send out the mailing live to all targeted recipients using the Mailings Send button see the User Manual for any possibilities of canceling this action once it has been initiated you or someone else may also be able to control the e mail transmission process outside of OpenEMM but that may not be quick enough to stop everything this is the final straw the real delivery and you better hope that all of the testing was accurate 4 After OpenEMM has transmitted the selected mailing a Distribution Statics window will appear below the action buttons with a count of the number of e mails that were generated by OpenEMM and when OpenEMM finished delivery of them Distribution status This mailing has not been sent yet Last delivery Test delivery Date Mar 6 2013 Time 5 30 PM Target groups Total emails 1 5 There will be different statistics boxes for the Test and real deliveries Page 29 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 General Comments 1 This document has attempted to show all of the steps necessary to create and deliver a dynamically formed mailing It should be noted however that this is just one way to achieve this goal The basic steps will be the same but you may choose to do them in a different order That is fine have a
20. cm6 cm4 This is the 9 cell dynamic 4 template text component Teme Page 40 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Final Comments Simple examples have been used to help illustrate how OpenEMM dynamic templates and content can be used It should be obvious that there is nearly an unlimited number of ways that these components can be combined and altered to produce much more complex or even simpler content presentation As each text content module can be used in an indefinite number of mailings this exponentiates the possibilities Naming content fields blocks helps to organize and perhaps visualize a desired content layout but it should be readily apparent that dynamic templates and content aren t bound by any rules of order Nevertheless it will be easier to accomplish a desired goal if content blocks can be assigned in an order that will place them in the desired template positions without requiring any further placement manipulations Page 41 of 41
21. es remember that the formatting controls can be anywhere from nothing to very complex the template being used here has only minimal placement HTML with no CSS so any desired text Content Module formatting will have to come from the Module Type configuration HTML CSS coding of course each Module Type can be different but every Content Module derived from a given Content Type will have the same HTML CSS coding structure CM ternplates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories 2 Then expand click on the New module type link CM templates Module Types Content Modules s New module type Page 8 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 3 Anew option will appear where you must select some other kind of module type it doesn t really matter WHAT it could even be an empty module type you will alter the selected Type following this Click on the Create button to initiate a new module type P S It would be a good idea to go through this process once to create an empty Type CM templates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories g New module type Select base content module type Demo Sailing Banner a Module type 4 Anew editing section opens up where you will NOW name the new Content Type describe it and actually edit the content of the new Type modifying delet
22. for sending You may test it with the following two links or send it to all recipients Check links BaT Admin Mai Bitters Test M ail Batters Mailing sale 4 The two test Send buttons Admin mail and Test Mail are used to test the correctness and completeness of the mailing content and delivery using well known and limited recipients either those marked as Adminstrator or as Test recipient in their mailing list setting in the profile 1 You should use the Admin Mail option first to what is expected to be a very small recipient list perhaps even just one perhaps you this will test all of the OpenEMM functionality in generating and transmitting the selected mailing it will also test the final appearance when the Administrator user opens and views the mailing this should ALWAYS be used for EVERY new mailing If there are any mistakes this will be the safest way to find them before a major foul up can occur 2 The Test Mail delivery would most likely be used to test the mailing and delivery to a larger recipient population that should include some that are representative of the known or expected real recipient set eg different ISPs different e mail clients different experience levels et cetera it may include more fellow workers or outsiders Page 28 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 3 Only when you
23. ge 20 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 8 You could continue with checking the Picture Components but the images should all appear within the Content Preview it might be easier however to review a lot of pictures with the Picture Components just to see if everything expected is listed 12 TAKE A BREAK no seriously TAKE A BREAK all of the basic components have been defined and all of the desired content has been filled in there are still a few finishing touches to be considered plus Content Module placement mailing review and sending out the mailing 13 You should make sure that you have a sufficient backup plan to protect your work if you haven t backed anything up recently then do so NOW or better yet before you go on break you should have multiple layers of redundancy one online for immediate access and at least one offline for longer period recovery or history or disaster recovery which could be nothing more than your own workstation Page 21 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Finishing up mailing configuration and review mailing 1 Log back in to OpenEMM and find the new mailing that you just completed configuring and filling in its content Mailings Overview Mailing column Overview ee a Show normal mailings gt Overview C Show action based mailings gt New
24. he Content tab this should open up a preview window with a Preview section where recipients are identified and a template preview section Mailing Picture Components Attachments Trackable Links Send Mailing Statistics Note that the next image uses the optional OpbenEMM demonstration template and content as it was ready before I created my actual content for my 9cell template Page 19 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Content Picture Components Attachments Trackable Links Send Mailing Preview Recipients OpenEMM Tester lt mmmitestlist l centos62b vboxnet gt Format HTML Size E Salling to Philadelphia Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi Mar eget dui Etiam rhoncus Maecenas tempus tellus eget condimentum rhoncus sem quam semper libero sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum Mam quam nunc blandit vel luctus pulvinar hendrerit id lorern here is a link F ome cma cmd 6 If all of the required Content Modules have been successfully assigned to the new mailing then there should be no dynamic template Agnitas tag names displayed the above example had more tags than content all of the assigned Content Modules should be displayed 7 If this is NOT true then go back and review whether all Content Modules were assigned and if so do they all contain content Pa
25. ing adding to whatever is already there CM templates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories Content lt table width 570 cellpadding 0 cellspacing 0 style border 1px solid EAFSF9 gt lt tr gt lt td gt lt table border 0 cellpadding 6 cellspacing 6 width 568 gt lt tbody gt lt tr gt lt td gt lt img src http www openemm org cms demo graphics blind git alt border 6 height 15 width 9 gt lt td gt lt td gt lt img src http www openemm org cms demo graphics blind gif alt border 6 height 15 width 395 gt lt td gt lt td gt lt img src http www openemm org cms demo graphics blind git alt border 6 height 15 width 25 gt lt td gt lt td gt lt img src http www openemm org cms demo graphics blind git alt border 0 height 15 width 130 gt lt td gt Module type 5 Click on the Save button to save the new Module Type one more time remember that a Module Type is a mini template for a Content Module if you were working on a larger scale template which used a lot more HTML CSS formatting code some of that code could but doesn t necessarily have to be moved into a Content Type Page 9 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 6 Repeat this action for every Type that is needed remember that you are defining the particular forma
26. is no concern for appearance and it is only the order of the content that is important So aS a review before placing dynamic template content e The dynamic template will have been designed and imported into OpenEMM CMS e Image files will be uploaded to the OpenEMM CMS e Content blocks will be manually created for each text block content module names should include some kind of sequencing string to make it easier to manage the individual blocks e The mailing configuration will be completed that will use the particular dynamic template Now it is time to place the content blocks In the 9 cell example pictures were statically defined and assigned to their respective positions as part of the template definition It would have been possible to have all nine cells defined as open blocks and then move the pictures and text content modules into the proper order to achieve the 9 cell picture text layout design To make this demonstration easier the pictures were defined in the template so all that has be to inserted are the text content modules At the same time this method assures a fixed layout design Page 33 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 We will be inserting the text content modules in numerical order That is Qcell text cm2 then 9cell text cm4 9cell text cm6 and finally 9cell text cm8 Note tha
27. l be displayed eg any unassigned template positions will not be seen note that when you go into full bliss preview mode you will also be switched from the Content tab window to the Send Mailing tab window the Content Preview button is really a link to the Send Mailing Preview button so make sure that you do a Save beforehand as you will need to return to the Content window to make any more changes Trackable Links Send Mailing Statistics boxnet gt 2 iltricies nisi Mar et condimentum 1 sem negue sed Format HTML S Size 800x600 2 Content Ph koa Category nones Text wersion Preview Page 27 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Sending Out Mailings 1 When all of the work in creating templates mailings and modules are completed it is time to test the mailing and if that is satisfactory send the mailing out live 2 Go to Openemm Mailings Mailing lt new mailing gt Send Mailing 3 Depending on the combination of mailing type and recipient mailing type there will be three or four action buttons that will appear there is also the Preview button to allow you to once more preview the entire mailing content Mailing Content Ficture Components Attachments Trackable Links Send Mailing Statistics Demo Preview of mailing Preview Your mailing is now ready
28. le to create new yet similar components this can bea very useful feature as the new component is given a name Copy of so there is little possibility of accidently overwriting or deleting the original component it also provides a complete working component that may save a lot of time in further development for the new component learn how and where to use this feature Page 31 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Return to and completion of the 9 cell template example The full size template is shown in the top portion of the following screen shot The reduced size 9 cell template is shown in the bottom portion Since the reduced size is easier to display it will be used for the remainder of this discussion It has the exact same layout structure as the full size version picture elements in cells 1 3 5 7 and 9 text elements in the intervening cells As mentioned before actual pictures and text entered into their respective cells may cause the size of the layout to change but the basic structure will be retained eg hide preview lagnbYN 1 name 9cel text cm2 lt agnbYN name Scell 3 text cm4 aoo e gt et hide preview lagnDYN name Scell text cm2 lagnDYN lagnDYN name 9cell name 9cell text cm4 text cm6 agnbDYN A name 9cell 5 text cms s Page 32 of 41 Setting Up A Dyn
29. lly distributed cell arrangement as used above may not work well with the text content blocks or even the pictures if there are of different dimensions Since there are no specific table row cell dimensions used adding text may cause the above table to be resized in a manner that will not be desirable Again this is just a simple template to illustrate HOW the basic setup process works not how BEST to do things Page 4 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Content Layout You can think of OpenEMM dynamic templates and modules as a layered system e Base document structure o Global Template o Modular Module Type e Middle Content Module e Top Mailing Content Module placement At either or both of the Base levels HTML CSS overall document formatting can be defined Either of these layers can have anywhere from very limited to very complex formatting Formatting in the Modular level is intended to provide a specific structure for a particular planned kind or type of Content Module Content Types can be used to create many Content Modules with the same structure In the middle layer formatting controls can be added to text blocks but not to media blocks and this formatting fits within the overall document formatting The dynamic template system is not dependent on a fixed definition of content blocks as is the static template system One dynamically adds
30. mplate in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 4 Anew Picture Component with a view of the image and its name Should appear Picture component Number l png 1 L Edit Upload External picture component New Picture component 4 Repeat the above steps for each embedded image file 5 After adding importing all of the necessary images scroll to the bottom right and click on the CM Template Save button to save the changes New Picture component Cl Add Mame Upload External picture component CM Template Page 7 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 6 The following image is a reduced version of the saved 9 block template to make it easier to see all of the content blocks defined within the template all of the picture components are now attached to and visible in the dynamic template as shown in a preview image of the template again note that any text content added that results in an area larger than any other cell will cause the overall layout to be altered though the block placement will remain fixed agnbYN 1 name 9cell text cm2 agnbYN agnbYN name 9cell 3 name 9cell text cm4 text cm6 agnDYN A name 9cell 5 text cm8 5 OpenEMM Module Types 1 Next click on the Module Types tab to start creating the HTML CSS structure for different kinds of Content Modul
31. n t forget to make any necessary changes for whatever template that YOU will be using 1 Create the template file HTML page document either with complete or skeleton layout 2 Create a ZIP archive of the template file eg zip lt filename gt zip lt filename gt 3 OpenEMM Content Manager CM Templates New CM template 1 Browse for template ZIP archive file 2 Click on CM Template Upload 3 New Template Name enter name for template 4 Click on Save 4 OpenEMM Content Manager CM Templates 1 JA 3 Click Edit CM Template icon to open template preview for the new template Scroll down and click on the Edit button to go into template editor mode For each image element click on the New Picture Component button Enter a name for the image in the Name field which must match the value given in the template agnIMAGE name field if this field is left blank then it will be filled in with the image filename which must then be the same value as the agnIMAGE tag value i Browse for the local image file eg home openemm local images if web browsing directly from the OpenEMM host or wherever on your local computer Picture component New Picture component Add Name Upload var tmp OpenEMM templa Browse External picture component CM Template Click on the Save button Page 6 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Te
32. ocks and they will be temporarily stored in the call list pane Category Terme Content This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component cm This is the 9 cell dynamic 4 template text component 5 cme This is the 9 cell dynamic template text component 3 Page 37 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Here all of the deleted content blocks are now in the call list pane not all of the blocks are visible and they were not deleted in order though they appear to be stored in name number order gcell test crz 1 2 scatter cm 3 soettent ome 4 Category nones Content e gcell text cmt Scell test cmo 5 gcell text c rma gcell text c m roalltart r mA Let s assume for this demonstration that we wish to re insert the deleted blocks in reverse order of the block name number The key here is that the actions must be done in the proper sequence if this is going to be the only method to rearrange them One can always move the blocks in situ once they are all re inserted but that is more steps than necessary for this demonstration and can lead to great confusion and frustration The order chosen for re insertion has to go in the reverse order as the block name order
33. ore on this later KEY CONCEPT template and mailing association does not occur during mailing creation as it does with static templates the dynamic template is created then the mailing is created then the dynamic template is re edited and the Assign to Mailing button bottom right is used to assign the template to a selected mailing KEY CONCEPT the existence of an Agnitas dynamic tag agnDYN in the dynamic template does NOT automatically created a Content module as they do in the static template method however Content module names must be the same as the agnDYN tag names still manual placement of content modules may be forced to differ from the agnDYN tags more on this later KEY CONCEPT dynamic text blocks can be either a single agnDYN tag witha terminating slash or a block of agnDYN tags with intervening content refer to the User manual this is unique across all OpenEMM tags forget the terminating slash and the representative block may be unusable later on Page 1 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 Another major difference between static and dynamic templates is that the dynamic method assumes that the template file is in an external zip archive which is then imported into the OpenEMM dynamic filter section New CM Template upload There is no template copy function as there is with static templates Note the OpenEMM User Guide mention
34. required data eg URL URL link title description image file filename content text KEY CONCEPT what is entered and selected in this Content Module will then become the formatted content included in the mailing wherever this particular Content Module is placed CM templates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories Description optional f Category lt none gt oe ow s Preview Content link url bannerimage Upload image Browse Use external image Content module 5 Insert images or text content as indicated by the specific control fields and click on the save button to save everything for this Content Module 6 Preview the filled in Content Module to verify its appearance and expected content 1 When the Content Module is saved a thumbnail image of its contents are placed in the Preview column some content may not be visible yet Page 11 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 2 Left click on the Preview thumbnail and an expanded preview image will be displayed all of the content should now be visible you may have to scroll the preview image box 3 Click on the lt lt hide preview link above the preview image to return to the preview thumbnail 4 If there are any adjustments that need to be made then click on the edit button mini text page with pen to re edit and
35. rictions with these facilities 6 A wise dynamic template designer will use Agnitas tags whose names are sequentially numbered so that the Content designer provider will have an easier time of assigning each Content Module to the correct place within the template layout canvas 7 Not much has been mentioned about uploading images to OpenEMM when this process is used the image file gets stored in the OpenEMM database and is only accessible by its file name or a properly formatted URL this may not make it easily reusable in other templates as you can t browse the database for images via the OpenEMM interface though you can go back through previous Mailing Picture Compoents and find the requisite URL or filename It might be easier to make a copy of a mailing to reuse DB stored image files this may also may make deleting images somewhat more difficult it comes down to experience with using OpenEMM and managing its database as to whether this is a preferred method over using static image files on OpenEMM disk space which obviously requires access to the OpenEMM application host and proper file directory permissions 8 One of the main benefits of OpenEMM IS its content management system functionality templates content modules images are centrally located and in many cases can be reused this can be a very valuable asset 9 Nothing has been mentioned about the ability to copy certain OpenEMM components to be ab
36. s a method to create an archive file to import a new dynamic template with images There is no example and a simple attempt to follow these instructions did not work 03 13 The simplest thing to do is to archive just the template in a zip file and then import that KEY CONCEPT linking or associating static images to a dynamic template after the template is imported named and saved require knowing the name of the image files to be placed into the template The User Manual states that using the Picture Component module to select Add and give the item a name What it does not make clear is that the name must be the name of the image file itself This is shown in the template source agnIMAGE tag lt tr gt lt td gt lt img src agnIMAGE name Number 1 png alt Number 1 png gt lt td gt lt td gt agnDYN name 9cell text cm2 lt td gt lt td gt lt img src agnIMAGE name Number 2 png alt Number 2 png gt lt td gt lt tr gt After the image file has been imported the template HTML image tag SRC field may be changed to an internal relative URL something like lt img src cms image fid 99 alt Number 1 png gt Page 2 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 For the purposes of this document the following image shows the basic full sized template layout which consists of 9 blocks Number 1 png gcell tet cm Number 2 png gcell te
37. t it 2 With the flexibility of OpenEMM dynamic mailings also comes complexity Not just in the larger number of steps required versus doing things with the static template method but also in the fact that the Content Modules in the dynamic method can become more of mini HTML documents than their Static counterparts Both dynamic and static Content modules may contain as little or as much HTML CSS Javascript coding as is desired or necessary However dynamic Content modules be assigned to ANY mailing whereas the static modules are tied to only one template which can be linked to different mailings but the static Content modules themselves cannot be assigned to different mailings This can be a boon or a bane depending on how self complete the dynamic Content Module is and how well it fits into any and all dynamic templates For example an advanced template designer may be familiar with HTML frames iframes relative or absolute positions and 3rd axis positioning used to hide or show static or dynamically created content They most certainly will also be familiar with floats creating organizing and cancelling Then there are the various image galleries some with fancy lightboxes animated menus et cetera et cetera et cetera They may also be quite fluent in Javascript and now how to perform many functions and tricks with it So now a template designer can design an e mail that looks and acts just like a fancy
38. t the content module names are not directly related to the template dynamic block tag names as they are with static templates They could both be entirely arbitrarily different As suggested before however the content module names here included the template dynamic tag name so as to assist in the proper placement order Also remember that each dynamic content module can have its own HTML CSS coding format or they can rely on whatever coding format is defined by the dynamic template 1 In Mailings Content Manager Content Modules find the text modules to be placed in the desired dynamic template 2 In the sequence top to bottom left to right it 2 3 4 Click the edit icon for the module Click on the Assign to mailing button Select the desired dynamic template to assign the module to click in the appropriate Assigned box Click on the Assignment Save button to perform the module assignment 3 Repeat the above steps until all desired text modules have been assigned Now to illustrate that content blocks can be positioned differently than their name and Agnitas tag association we are going to do two things e First move blocks in their existing assigned locations to another location e Second delete blocks and put them in the call list pane and then reorder them by the order of re insertion from the call list pane Page 34 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEM
39. tent type gt lt meta content BlueGriffon wysiwyg editor name generator gt lt title gt Simple9cellTableTemplate lt title gt lt head gt lt body gt lt table style width 100 border 1 cellpadding 60 cellspacing 30 gt lt tbody gt lt tr gt lt td gt lt img src agnIMAGE name Number 1 png alt Number 1 png gt lt td gt lt td gt agnDYN name 9cell text cm2 lt td gt lt td gt lt img src agnIMAGE name Number 2 png alt Number 2 png gt lt td gt lt tr gt lt tr gt lt td gt lt agnDYN name 9cell text cm4 lt td gt lt td gt lt img src agnIMAGE name Number 3 png alt Number 3 png gt lt td gt lt td gt agnDYN name 9cell text cm6 lt td gt lt tr gt lt tr gt lt td gt lt img src agnIMAGE name Number 4 png alt Number 4 png gt lt td gt lt td gt agnDYN name 9cell text cm8 lt td gt lt td gt lt img src agnIMAGE name Number 5 png alt Number 5 png gt lt td gt lt tr gt lt tbody gt lt table gt lt body gt lt html gt There could be more HTML CSS formatting code used alignment font et cetera but this is meant to be a simple skeleton template to help demonstrate how things hang together Don t let this example dissuade you from using more extensive HTML CSS coding Also remember that Content Type modules mini templates for Content Modules may also contain HTML CSS coding or not Note that using an equa
40. tings General Template field KEY CONCEPT to unassign a dynamic template from a mailing follow the same steps above but Unselect the Assigned template Page 17 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 11 Lastly at this point we need to assign associate the required Content Modules with the mailing note that this is different than from the way that Static templates and content modules are linked together 1 Select Mailings Content Manager Content Modules you don t need to worry about which template will be used at this point CM templates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories Category lt none gt a Overview inane ita New Mailing New content module gt Content Manager Templates List size 20 O50 100 Archive Name Preview 2 For each Content Module to be used with the newly created mailing 1 Find each Module and click on the edit icon to its far right 2 Now scroll all of the way down and to the right to find the action buttons and click on the Assign to mailing button Content module Assign to mailing 3 A modified overview screen should appear such as follows find the Mailing to assign the Content Module to and click in on the Assigned box and then click on the Assignment Save button at the bottom right CM templates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories B
41. tting and layout or internal canvas fora generic kind of Content Module that will use this Type later also remember that Types can be used by different Content Modules so you don t necessarily need to create a Content Type for every Content Module unless they are all going to have different formatting 6 OpenEMM Content Module 1 Click on the content Module tab and then expand the New content module link CM templates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories Category lt none gt x New content module Select content module type Dermo Sailing Banner O Content module 2 Select the desired Content Type to be used to set the basic formatting for the new Content Module Click on the create button to initiate a new Content Module editing window here you will NAME and describe the new Module module category selection is optional see OpenEMM User Manual for more information note that what is presented is the formatted version of the Module Type so whatever Agnitas content tags that were used in the Module Type will create appropriate editing fields controls similar to what is seen in the following screen shot where the Content Type chosen used only two Agnitas tags agnLINK and agnIMAGE Page 10 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 4 Wherever there is an entry field select or enter the desired or
42. with the newly defined mailing included in the Mailing column 10 Now you need to attach or associate the dynamic template to with the newly created mailing 1 Go to Mailings Content Manager CM Templates and find the desired dymanic template 2 Scroll to the right if necessary and click on the edit icon button 3 Scroll down again to the bottom right until you find the following action buttons CM Template Assign to mailing 4 Click on the Assign to mailing button this will open up a modified version of the Mailings Overview window with two different columns at the right side Has CM template been assigned and Assigned CM templates Module Types Content Modules Module Categories List size 20 O50 100 2 Entries found show all Entries Mailing Description optional Has CM template assigned Assigned Demo 2 9 block dynamic ter Wes E Demo yes o 2 Entries found show all Entries Assignment 5 For the Mailing that the selected dynamic template will be assigned to click on in the Assigned box and then click on the Assignment Save button at the bottom right KEY CONCEPT this is how a dynamic template is assigned to a mailing which is different than for static templates where they are assigned to a mailing via the New Mailing Settings General Template field also remember that the dynamic template will NOT appear in the Mailings Mailing Set
43. xt cm4 Number 3 png g9cell text cm Number 4 prng cell text cm Number 5 png Note that there are 5 image blocks and 4 text blocks This is of course a purely hypothetical layout Nevertheless this will be used to place each content block in its desired position within the given template layout Also note that while the text blocks are incidentally numbered these numbers have no static reference to the final text content blocks that will be created This is different from the static template situation where the template content blocks were labeled and content modules were created for content insertion that were named by the same labels Even though the template above suggests the intent of the content in every template defined content position you will see later that during mailing assembly time that any content module can be placed into any template content block position So the template layout is more of a suggestion KEY CONCEPT It is up to the person creating the mailing to follow the template layout suggestion if they intend to make the end result look like the suggested template layout Page 3 of 41 Setting Up A Dynamic Template in OpenEMM 2013 Jim Dutton 03 13 2013 04 22 2013 For this document the following is the dynamic template being used lt html gt lt head gt lt meta content text html charset UTF 8 http equiv con
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