Take a few moments to read this guide to get the most out of MailList King:

1.  Configuring MailList King

When you first run MailList King you will be presented with the Setup Wizard to configure the main settings.   The two main ones are:

• Where will MailList King retrieve your mailing list messages?

One of the main features of MailList King is maintaining a list of people who want to receive messages from you.  To do this it automatically processes the email requests you receive from people wishing to add or remove themselves.  You need to advise where these messages will be found.  The easiest option is simply to have MailList King connect to your email software and read them from your Inbox (or other mail folder in Outlook), but advanced users may want to create an email account solely for mailing list messages and MailList King will connect directly to your mail server
 

• How will MailList King send your messages?

The other important feature is sending messages to your mailing list and MailList King offers a variety of sending methods to do this.  The easiest option is to have MailList King connect to your favorite email software and send them from there (as if you have sent them from there yourself) as it requires no configuration at all.  Advanced users may prefer to send via the mail server of your ISP/company (which is the fastest method), or directly to the recipient using the built-in SMTP Server (to avoid using your ISP's mail server and thus any limitations they impose).
 

Once you complete the Setup Wizard you may want to visit the Option dialog (File > Options) to configure other settings.

2.  Adding your Initial Contacts

You probably already have a handy selection of contacts to add to your list:

• In a spreadsheet, database or other program

If your contacts are located in another contacts or mailing list program you will want to export them to a file that you can import into MailList King.  Almost all programs will have a function such as "File > Export" or "File > Save As" which will allow you to output the contact list as a CSV, Excel or text file.

Once you have your contacts available in a compatible file, use File > Import to get them into MailList King
 

• From contacts in your email software address book

MailList King can automatically synchronize with Microsoft Outlook Contacts ("Home" > Mailing List > Sync with Outlook), as well as retrieve contacts from email software such as Outlook Express or Eudora ("Home" > Mailing List > Add from Address Book)
 

• From people who have e-mailed you

3. Managing your Mailing List

Now we have a mailing list, but in order for it to grow we need to allow users to join the list.  We also need to remove subscribers when they wish to leave or their email address is no longer valid.  Typically mailing list changes occur through:

• Mailing List messages

MailList King will automatically process any mailing list messages that are found in your processing folder.  A mailing list message is an email that contains a command (in the subject box for first few lines of the message), such as SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE.

Mailing List Command List

Notes:

- Commands are not case-sensitive.  E.g. Subscribe is the same as SUBSCRIBE
- Other synonyms can be specified in Options for subscribe and unsubscribe, such as join, add, remove, change, etc.  
- If you have configured MailList King to send out acknowledgements when users subscribe or unsubscribe, sending can be disabled for a message by adding "Silent" to the command, e.g. Unsubscribe john@email.com Silent
- The following Remote Admin Commands can also be used: ProcessResponse, ProcessRead, BounceSoft, BounceHard, BounceRemove

• Sign-up forms on your web site

Key to building a great mailing list is allowing users to sign-up for your mailing list on your web site.  You may have a simple "Specify your Email" box, a more sophisticated form that collects details on their language and areas of interest and other forms that allow subscribers to remove themselves from your list or update their email address.  These forms work by sending you an email detailing the submission and MailList King can process almost any web form submission message you throw at it.

You can enable web form processing under File > Options, Web Forms.

• Processing of Undeliverable Message Reports

As you will have experienced, when you send an email to an invalid address it will "bounce back" with a message detailing the failure.  When you send to a large mailing list you may get hundreds or thousands of these.  Some report messages are merely warnings, others indicate a defunct email address.  MailList King can automatically process all your undeliverable message reports and remove the member once satisfied that the address is invalid.

Processing of web form messages in your mailing list processing folder is already enabled.  You can configure it further under File > Options, Delivery Failure
 

4.  Understanding MailList King

Before we get much further, let me acquaint you with MailList King's main window.

Along the left-hand side of the window is a mode selector, which controls what is displayed in the main part of the window.

You may also want to read more on the toolbar and keyboard shortcuts.

5.  Sending to your Mailing List

There are a few other differences that should be highlighted:

• You can send a test or scheduled message by clicking the down arrow beside "Send Message"

• You can personalize your message with any member field, e.g. Dear %FirstName%, we appreciate the business of %Company%, etc.

• Click the Preview button to review the messages as they will be sent and statistics on message size and delivery time

• Style templates are available under the "Format" menu

• If you have created your own message or template in another program you can load it from the File menu

• You can edit, exclude or load recipients from a file by clicking the To button

• If your ISP imposes sending limits, you can have MailList King automatically reduce your sending speed

6.  Other Functions

Once you have MailList King up and running, there are a few other features you might want to take advantage of:

• Message Tracking: Determine which users respond to your message and how successful your mailing campaigns have been

• Acknowledgment Messages: You can create messages that are automatically sent when members subscribe and unsubscribe from groups

• Discussion Groups: Allow your group members to send to your mailing list

• Double Opt-In: Some countries require you to confirm all subscriptions to an email mailing list.  You can enable this under File > Options, Double Opt-In

• Subscription Errors: Select "Processing Errors" mode (under "History " in the main window) to review a list of addresses that were not subscribed due to an invalid email address or your blocking rules.  You can then edit, reprocess or delete the addresses

• Mailing List History: View a log of all mailing list activity under "Mailing List History" mode (under "History " in the main window). You can also view the History of individual members by selecting "Home" > Edit Member

Other Resources

See Also

• Help Contents
• Main MailList King Screen