New Feature: Email Deliverability Diagnostics Tool

There are cases when a customer, using a desktop email package like Outlook, Thunderbird, or Windows Mail sends a test email message, only to find that the email message is automatically routed into the Junk Mail folder rather than the Inbox. Many times, there is something in the content of the email message that is triggering the Junk Mail filter, and often times it is hard to isolate the exact content issue due to the black box nature of desktop spam filters.

JangoMail has introduced a Deliverability Diagnostics Tool, which will send variations of your email campaign to a given email address, so that you can see which emails end up in the Inbox versus the Junk Mail folder. Based on this, a customer can easily determine what factor of the email message is resulting in it being perceived as Junk.

What kinds of test email messages will the tool send?

You have the option of sending variations of a generic system email, and/or variations of your own email campaign. Each test will be varied, with open and click tracking turned on versus off, with a different From Address, with a different Tracking Domain, and other variances.

How do I use the Deliverability Diagnostics Tool?

If you are a new customer prior to May 5, 2009, you must turn the feature on in your account. Customers after May 5, 2009 already have the feature turned on.


Turning this feature ON will allow the "Delivery Test" button to appear on the Send Email page:


When you click the "Delivery Test" button, a popup will be launched asking you for your email address and the type of test(s) you want to send:


Checking the "custom" checkbox will send variances of the email campaign that you're currently working with. Checking the "generic" checkbox will send variances of a generic system message from "John Smith".

After choosing your test options and clicking the button, the test emails will be sent. Seven total emails will be sent, each with different tracking, from address, and domain properties to help you isolate which tests are going into the Inbox versus the Junk Mail folder. The subject line of each test email message will be labeled accordingly.


Summary:

The Email Deliverability Diagnostics Tool is just one more tool in JangoMail's arsenal of email delivery solutions. To further optimize your email deliverability, be sure to apply for the Sender Score Certified program and sign your emails with DomainKeys/DKIM and run your email campaign through the Spam Score tool. Additionally, most JangoMail emails are sent through Habeas Safelisted senders.

API/Web Service Enhancement: Two choices for error messages

Users of JangoMail's API / Web Service now have two choices for the format of error messages. Typically, errors thrown by the API result in a plain string, or a .Net exception for those programming on the .Net platform.

As a result of a request of a current client, you can now choose to have XML formatted errors instead. Because we anticipate that this feature will be rarely used, we have not added a screen in the web interface to toggle between the two settings. However, if you do wish to change your API error formatting, just contact Support and we'll make the change to your account for you.

Example of standard .Net-based exception:

JangoMailNamespace.InvalidEmailAddressException: Web Service Exception InvalidEmailAddressException: E-mail address is invalid.
at JangoMailNamespace.JangoMail.GetFailureMessage(Int32 UserID, String MethodName, Exception ex)
at JangoMailNamespace.JangoMail.SendTransactionalEmail(String Username, String Password, String FromEmail, String FromName, String ToEmailAddress, String ToHeader, String ContentType, String Subject, String MessagePlain, String MessageHTML, String RawMessage, String Options)
at JangoMailNamespace.JangoMail.SendTransactionalEmail(String Username, String Password, String FromEmail, String FromName, String ToEmailAddress, String Subject, String MessagePlain, String MessageHTML, String Options)

Example of XML-based exception:

Enhanced redundancy for transactional email marketing

Those clients using the JangoMail transactional email platform can now send their transactional emails with greater confidence, because we've added a layer of redundancy to the sending process for these transactional emails.

Previously, all clients were assigned a single email sender through which transactional emails were routed when calling the API method SendTransactionalEmail. Non Sender Score Certified clients would have their transactional emails routed through sender bombay.jangomail.com, while Sender Score Certified clients would have their transactional emails routed through castle.jangomail.com. But, if that single email sender was down, then calls to SendTransactionalEmail would result in an exception, due to the API being unable to transmit the email message to the designated sender.

Now, all users are assigned two transactional email senders on two separate networks, and if the primary sender is down, the email is automatically routed through the backup email sender.

This is another small step in our goal of building the most powerful, and easiest to use, transactional email messaging platform available. For more information on JangoMail's transactional email platform, see this web page.

New Feature: Only pre-process an email marketing campaign, but never send it

You can now set an email marketing campaign to pre-process only, and never actually send. Just check the box in the Miscellaneous section at the bottom of the Send Email page.


What is "pre-processing" anyway?

There are two steps to processing every campaign in JangoMail: pre-processing and sending. The pre-processing refers to generating a final recipient list, and assigning various email senders to the recipients based on configured rules specific to your account, like whether you're a participant in the Habeas Safelist or the Sender Score Certified programs. In generating the final recipient list, your original recipients are filtered for unsubscribes, bounces, and possibly duplicates. Pre-processing generates the final "send to" list for your campaign. Checking the above checkbox will make it so the "pre-processing" happens, but the actual "sending" never happens.

Why would anyone ever want to use this?

There are several reasons why this feature may be useful:

1. You may want to see what the final recipient list looks like, after all unsubscribes, bounces, and duplicates have been removed. This feature will allow you to see the final recipient list while not actually sending the email to the recipient list.
2. You may want to see how long JangoMail takes to do the pre-processing, so you can time your actual send in the future accordingly.
   

New Feature: Send personalized previews/test messages to a Group

We have expanded the functionality of the Preview/Save button on the Send Email page to allow sending a personalized preview message to an entire Group that has 100 members or fewer. Additionally, a designated Test Group will have a corresponding one-click "send" button on the Send Email page.

1. To designate a Group to be a Test Group, the Group must have 100 members or fewer, and you must check the box as shown below. Go to the Groups and Email Addresses tab, select the Group, and then click the Change Group Name / Test Group button.




2. Check the box and click the button. Now that the Group is designated a Test Group, go to the Send Email page. In addition to the Preview/Save button, you'll see another button for each Test Group in your account. Clicking one of these buttons will send an immediate test email to the Group indicated on the button.


3. Clicking the Preview/Save button will launch the popup as normal, but a dropdown will appear listing the available Test Groups.

New navigation tabs

After 8 years of the same, boring-beige navigation tabs, we've re-stylized them to look totally Web 2.0! We hope you'll find these new navigation tabs visually and aesthetically pleasing.

Regular JangoMail Interface

JangoMail for Salesforce Interface

Bug Fix: Mass email initiations will now work with foreign characters

Tonight we have deployed a bug fix that allows mass email initiations to be sent containing both HTML and Plain Message parts, where the message contains foreign language characters.

Prior to the bug fix, when sending a mass email initiation, if the message contained foreign language characters, the campaign would only be sent if the message was sent as a Plain-Text-only or an HTML-only email. If both MIME parts, Plain Text and HTML, were included, then the email campaign would error out.

Screenshot of a mass email initiation composed using Outlook Express, and the message contains Chinese characters. Outlook Express will send this with both Plain Text and HTML parts.

General Information:
A mass email initiation is an email campaign triggered from a desktop or other email client outside of JangoMail. For example, you can use Outlook, GMail, or Thunderbird to compose an email campaign, send it to your assigned @init.jangomail.com email address, and then have JangoMail send the campaign to your email list. For more information on this feature, see this tutorial.

New Feature: FTP your List import files

You can now FTP files to client.jangomail.com/GroupImportsAutoFTP/ and those files will automatically be processed and imported into a JangoMail List.

You may use any standard FTP client, such as FileZilla, CuteFTP, or even the FTP built into Internet Explorer.

The above screenshot uses the Windows Explorer built-in FTP utility to transfer the file Data.csv to JangoMail. In this example, if an Email List named "Data" already exists, then the email addresses will be imported into this List. Otherwise an Email List named "Data" will be created automatically.

FTP to client.jangomail.com using your JangoMail username and password, switch to the GroupImportsAutoFTP folder, and place any data file there. The file can be of any extension (.csv, .dat, .txt, or anything else), and you can set the row delimiter, column delimiter, text qualifier and other options under Settings --> List Management --> FTP List Import Handling.

Some technical notes about how the FTP List Import feature works:

1. JangoMail will examine your file name, and if a corresponding List exists, then the data in that file will be imported into that List. If a corresponding List does NOT exist, then a new List will be created. The name of the list will be based on the name of the file, but non-alphanumeric characters will be removed.
2. If your file has column names in the first row, those column names will be translated into appropriate List Fields. If your file does NOT have column names in its first row, then field names will be created following this scheme: Field1, Field2, Field3, etc. After the import is complete, you can change these field names to more meaningul names.
3. If your file has column names in the first row, JangoMail will look for a column called "Email" or "Email Address", or similar derivations, such as "E-mail" or "E-mail Address". It will be assumed that this column contains the actual email addresses. If your file does NOT have column names in the first row, JangoMail will look for the first occurence of an email address in your data file, and will assume this is the column containing email addresses.
4. Your file should not have the following field names: confirmed, modified, memberID, uniqueident, submission_date, and email_id. These are JangoMail-reserved words, and files containing these field names may have the fields automatically re-named to something else in the actual JangoMail List that is created, or the file may not process correctly at all, in which case an error email notification will be sent.
5. This feature is foreign language compliant, so you may FTP Unicode files.
6. You may also use a secure FTP client to transfer files.
7. You will receive one email notification when the file is actually detected by JangoMail, and you will receive another email notification when the file is done importing and the data is in your List. 
8. If you FTP a file, and that file name corresponds to an existing List, and the file does NOT have column names, the file will NOT be imported, and you will receive an email notifying you of the error.

New Feature: Quick File Upload

You can now quickly upload a file and have the data converted into a JangoMail Group. The Quick Upload feature is seen immediately after clicking the Groups and Email Addresses tab. If a Group does not exist that corresponds to the name of the file you upload, a new Group will be automatically created for you. The Quick Upload follows the same rules as the new FTP List Import feature.

You can now sort Groups by Date

Need to quickly see which Groups you've recently created? For those clients with lots of Groups, you'll be pleased to know you can now sort your Groups by date, instead of the default alphabetical sort. Just click the "Sort by Date" link at the top of your Group listing. And of course, if you change your mind, you can always toggle back to "Sort by Alphabetical".

JangoMail is on Twitter

We've decided to join the social media revolution and join Twitter. Please follow us at http://www.twitter.com/JangoMail. We will strive to make our tweets entertaining, witty, and informative!

New Feature: The "Update Only" option when importing into Email Groups

JangoMail now allows you more precise control over your Email Group Imports. In the Import Wizard, you now can check a box to tell JangoMail to update existing email addresses rather than add duplicate email addresses, if your imported data contains email addresses already present in the Group.

This is yet another way JangoMail provides complete control and flexibility over your data.

API/Web Service users can call either ImportGroupMembersFromData2 or ImportGroupMembersFromFile2 and set the "UpdateOnly" parameter to "True" or "False".

API/Web Service "Import" methods now support "UpdateOnly" setting

The two API methods ImportGroupMembersFromData2 and ImportGroupMembersFromData2 are updated versions of the older ImportGroupMembersFromData and ImportGroupMembersFromData methods:

ImportGroupMembersFromData2
Imports members into a Group from raw data. Specify whether to add all records or update existing records. Returns a string.

ImportGroupMembersFromFile2
Imports members into a Group from previously FTPd file. Specify whether to add all records or update existing records. Returns a string.

Version 2 of these methods allows the setting of the UpdateOnly parameter to True or False. Setting this parameter to True will cause the JangoMail Group Importer to only update existing email addresses and add new email addresses. Setting this to False will cause the Importer to add all email addresses in the imported data, even if the email addresses already exist in the Group.

New API/Web Service method allows creating Agency Sub-Accounts

JangoMail users who are Master Agency Account users can now create client Sub-Accounts via the API method CreateAccount.

CreateAccount
Creates a user account. Returns a string containing the User ID and Password for the new user account.

One of the input parameters is the SecretToken. If you are an Agency Account wishing to use this method, please contact our Support team for your secret token value.

API/Web Service "Send" methods now support "Template" setting

The following API methods have been updated such that "Template=True" or "Template=False" may be specified within the Options input parameter:

SendMassEmail
Sends a mass e-mail with a plain text and/or HTML e-mail. Returns a string.

SendMassEmailPrevious2
Sends a previously saved mass e-mail to a new set of recipients. Returns a string.

SendMassEmailRaw
Sends a mass e-mail, given a raw message including MIME parts and a MIME boundary. Returns a string.

Setting Template=True within the Options parameter will mark the email campaign as a Template, and will cause it to appear in the "My Templates" dropdown menu in the Send Email section of the JangoMail web interface.

How to Send Automated Birthday Emails

If you're storing your email list in a JangoMail Group, then you may wish to setup JangoMail to automatically send daily birthday emails. To do so follow these simple instructions:

1. Define Field: Make sure that your JangoMail Group has a field defined to store a person's date of birth. In the below screenshot, the field is called DOB.

2. Set DOB values: Make sure your Group members have a "DOB" value set. Use a standard mm/dd/yy format, as shown below.



3. Compose birthday email: Next, setup the email message that you wish to be sent on a person's birthday. Do this under the "Send Email" tab.



4. Filter your Group: Finally, do a "filter" on the Group pulling out just the members whose birthday it is today. Use the exact syntax shown below in the WHERE box:

Month(CONVERT(datetime, DOB)) = Month(getdate()) AND Day(CONVERT(datetime, DOB)) = Day(getdate())


4. Schedule and send: Finally, re-select the message you composed in step 2, put in the scheduling parameters, and hit Send. The scheduling parameters are set to send the email daily, at 3:01 PM, and a box is checked to re-query the Group every day, ensuring that every day, the email is sent to that day's birthdays, rather than the birthdays from the day we scheduled the email.


5. Check your work: You can see the recurring scheduled email you've setup under My Options --> Recurring Schedules:

Non IE browsers will no longer be able to switch to Simple HTML Editor

JangoMail provides two different HTML editors for composing email campaigns: the Simple HTML Editor and the Enhanced HTML Editor. The Simple HTML Editor was the editor we first provided when JangoMail was created, and it only works with Internet Explorer. In 2004, we introduced the option of a much more powerful Enhanced HTML Editor that works with all browsers. You can choose which HTML Editor you want to use under My Options --> Send Email Page.

Previously, a non-IE browser, like Safari or Firefox, a user could choose to use the Simple HTML Editor, and then on the actual Send Email page, an error would be displayed, often times confusing the user. To avoid this confusion, we have now made it so that when using a non-IE browser, you will not be able to select the Simple HTML Editor.

Additionally, if your account is already set to use the Simple HTML Editor, and you login with a non-IE browser, the Send Email section will default to the Enhanced HTML Editor.


Additional Information for Techies:

The Simple HTML Editor is ActiveX based, and therefore only works with Internet Explorer. The Enhanced HTML Editor is a Java applet, and is therefore browser-independent.

New behavior for "Forced Recipients" option

JangoMail allows users to specify up to ten email addresses in a "Forced Recipients" box under My Options. Using this option forces JangoMail to send a copy of every email campaign sent through the account to the addresses specified here.



Previously, these addresses would get filtered out of a campaign if these addresses were also on the account's Unsubscribe List or Bounce List for example. So previously, there were cases where these addresses did not receive a copy of the email campaign.

We have modified the behavior of this feature such that the addresses in the "Forced Recipients" box now override data in the Unsubscribe List, Bounce List, or any other filtering mechanism when sending a campaign.

Therefore, specifying email addresses in the "Forced Recipients" box will guarantee that every email campaign is sent to these addresses.

Group Importer Enhanced

We have deployed a fix to the JangoMail Group Importer that allows the record delimiter to appear in between a pair of text qualifiers, and for all data to be properly imported.

For example, if in an uploaded import file, the record delimiter is the "newline" character and the field delimiter is a "comma", and the text qualifier is a double-quote character, then data my look like:

EmailAddress,FirstName,CustomerFeedback
johndoe@yahoo.com,John,You guys are the best!
janesmith@gmail.com,Jane,You need improvement.
mikejones@hotmail.com,Mike,Thanks for your hard work

This data would always import properly, but if a particular value contained the record delimiter, the data would previously not import properly, even if the value was surrounded by the text qualifier. For example:

EmailAddress,FirstName,CustomerFeedback
"johndoe@yahoo.com","John","You guys are the best!
Thanks for all that you do."
"janesmith@gmail.com","Jane","You need improvement."
"mikejones@hotmail.com","Mike","Thanks for your hard work"

This time Record 1 has a longer CustomerFeedback value. Record 1 of this data has a "newline" in the middle of the CustomerFeedback value. Even though the entire value is surrounded by the text qualifier (a pair of double-quotes), previously, the entire value would not be imported. Now, with our Group Importer enhancement, this is now fixed. Additionally, should the field delimiter appear in between a pair of text qualifier characters, this situation will also be accommodated, as it has always been.

New layout for "Send Email" page coming this weekend

After years of adding new features to the main Send Email page of JangoMail, a new design has arrived to make using these features easier. We will be deploying the new Send Email page this weekend. Attached to this email message is a GIF screenshot of the new layout, showing the re-designed "Advanced Options" section.

Now, the items underneath Advanced Options have been categorized. Each category can be expanded and collapsed using the +/- symbols. Additionally, all categories can be expanded/collapsed at once using the "expand/collapse" links next to the title "Advanced Options".

Some noteworthy changes:

1. The Plain Text Message field has been moved to the top.
2. The Tracking options are now below the Plain Text Message section
3. The Mark as Template checkbox has been moved to the Miscellaneous section.

We hope this new layout will make this page easier and faster to use (click image to see full size):

Upgrade to Enhanced HTML Editor

JangoMail has upgraded the Enhanced HTML Editor to Version 6.6.2.6 of Ephox's EditLive! editor. Released on March 10th, 2009, this latest version of EditLive! fixes a number of bugs. For full details, click here.

Group Imports now support foreign languages

You can now import foreign characters into Groups using the "Import Members" function. Previously, foreign characters imported into Group fields would be garbled. But now, foreign characters are properly stored in Group fields.

Below is a screenshot where data, including Chinese and Arabic characters, will be imported into the Group "Customers":

In this example, the data is copied/pasted into the form, but you can also upload a data file containing foreign language characters.

Uploading Files Containing Foreign Language Characters:

If you upload a file containing foreign characters into a JangoMail Group, make sure the file is saved as a Unicode file, and NOT a UTF-8 encoded file. The below image shows how to save a file as a Unicode file in Windows Notepad (click image to see full size):




API/Web Service Reference:

The Group Import methods, ImportGroupMembersFromData and ImportGroupMembersFromFile have also been enhanced to support foreign language characters.

Bug Fix: CAN SPAM Footer now supports foreign characters

Today we fixed a bug that was preventing foreign characters in the CAN SPAM Footer from being displayed properly.

Now, if you include foreign characters in any of the fields under My Options --> CAN-SPAM Footer, those foreign characters will display properly at the bottom of your email campaigns.

JangoMail Has Upgraded to Newest Version of Ephox's EditLive! Editor

JangoMail has upgraded the Enhanced HTML Editor to Version 6.6.1.41 of Ephox's EditLive! editor. Released on March 3rd, 2009, this latest version of EditLive! supports inline editing for the ASP.NET integration of EditLive! and includes over two dozen bug fixes. For full details, click here.

Bug Fix For Inadvertent AOL Bounces

Bounces tend to come with the territory when sending out mass emails. But an unusual problem with AOL’s bounce reporting methods was causing some JangoMail users to find their own email addresses on their campaign bounce lists.

After detecting that an email address has been blocked one of their users, AOL typically alerts the sender to the problem via an email that looks something like this:

From: MAILER-DAEMON@aol.com
Subject: Mail Delivery Problem

Message: Your mail to the following recipients could not be delivered because they are not accepting mail from SENDER@jangomail.com jquest14

Due to the fact that the AOL message refers to the recipient by screen name (jquest14) rather than by the AOL user’s full email address (in the example above the AOL subscriber’s actual email address would be jquest14@aol.com), JangoMail’s bounce processor would occasionally pick up the only complete email address in the message: that of the sender. This error caused the bounce processor to relegate the JangoMail user to his or her own bounce list. To correct this problem, our bounce processor will now automatically add @aol.com to any screen name shown in an AOL MAILER-DAEMON delivery alert, and then send the AOL user to the campaign bounce list rather than the sender.

Subject Field Filter Added to Reporting Interface for Transactional Emails

JangoMail users taking advantage of our new SendTransactionalEmail API method can now filter their transactional emails by Subject, in addition to by Group ID, Group Name, Recipients, and the date when the email was Created. A drop-down menu allows users to choose from three Subject filtering options: starts with, ends with and contains.

Updates to JangoMail's Connect to Local Database Control

JangoMail has made three important updates to its Connect to Local Database ActiveX control:

1. Previously, in order to connect to an Excel database, the program required that the Excel document include a minimum of two rows of data. This issue has been resolved and the program can now accommodate Excel documents which include only a single row of data.

2. The drop-down menus where users select the type of database they wish to connect to JangoMail have been expanded to include Excel 2007 files (files ending in .xlsx) and Access 2007 files (files ending in .accdb).





3. Once a profile has been created in the Extract from Local Database utility and the user has indicated the type of database with which they wish to connect, they are prompted to hit the Connect button. In the past, with larger databases there was occasionally a lapse of several minutes between the moment when the user selected Connect and when the program completed the data upload. Now, thanks to an improved concatenation algorithm, the time required to upload even very large databases has been reduced to a few seconds.

Forward-to-a-Friend Form Now Available in Finnish

Inserting a "Forward-to-a-Friend" (FTF) link in your company newsletter and other e-marketing materials is a simple and cost-effective list-building technique that allows your email recipients to play an active role in your company's e-marketing efforts.

Clicking on an FTF link brings an email recipient to a new URL where he or she is then prompted to insert their name along with email addresses for up to ten friends who they believe might be interested in the products or services being promoted in the email. But if the email recipient doesn't speak English and the FTF message that pops up on their screen is not in their native tongue, how likely are they to use the FTF form? Obviously, the answer is “not very likely at all.”

In order to increase the odds of their customers using the FTF feature, one of our clients in Finland recently requested that we create a version of the FTF form in Finnish.



The resulting form, which can be used by any JangoMail user with Finnish-speaking customers, can be accessed by inserting the new hyperlink (http://x.jango7.com/forward_fi.asp?***uniqueid****) in place of the regular FTF hyperlink (http://x.jango7.com/forward.asp?***uniqueid****). Note that the link will only operate properly when it is sent as part of a JangoMail email message because only then will the ***uniqueid**** portion of the hyperlink be replaced by the recipient’s actual unique JangoMail identifier.

In addition to Finnish, foreign language versions of the FTF page should soon be available in French and other commonly-requested foreign languages. If you feel that your company would benefit from having the FTF form translated into your local language, please contact us. We want to ensure that every JangoMail client is making optimal use of this powerful, list-building tool—no matter where they live or which language their customers speak.

New Feature: Block-Resistant Embedded Images

For years now, finding a way to keep email clients from blocking images in HTML emails has been the Holy Grail of email marketing. No matter which way you approached the problem, the result was nearly always the same: an annoying red x placeholder where your company logo or the picture of your hottest new product should have been, requiring the recipient to click on a link in order to view the images.

JangoMail’s newest feature, block-resistant Embedded Images, will relegate most of those pesky little red x’s to the permanent recycle bin, and allow users to easily embed the content of HTML email images into their e-communications, thereby ensuring that those images are immediately visible to recipients when the email is opened―even when the email client is set to hide images by default!

To bypass image blocking, go to the Send Email page and scroll down to the Advanced Options section. Checking the box next to the new “Embed Images” field will automatically convert the image references in your HTML email into encoded embedded images and ensure that your company logo and product images are instantly viewable by any recipient using a desktop email program (e.g. Outlook Express, Outlook, Windows Mail, Thunderbird) and by those using a Web-based email program such as Gmail. It’s that simple!



Embedded Images do come with a couple of note-worthy caveats, though, including increased email size and additional bandwidth fees. Furthermore, open tracking data may be skewed, since open-tracking is often contingent upon a unique image being downloaded by the recipient’s email program.

 

But, for email marketers eager to replace those ubiquitous red x place holders with their company logo or alluring images of their newest product offerings, the drawbacks of block-resistant embedded images are easily outweighed by their obvious advantages: improved brand recognition, the ability to view email images even if the recipient's computer is off-line, and noticeably higher response rates.

API Reference
To send emails including embedded images using the API, call the SendMassEmail method and set EmbedImages to "True" or "False" using the Options input parameter.

New Feature: FTP Images and Files to Your JangoMail Account

JangoMail has expanded our Image Manager capabilities to support accepting images and other files (PDF, XLS, DOC, etc.) by FTP for addition to your account's Image Library.

Previously, users were required to use the Image Manager tool within JangoMail to upload images and files individually. This upload process copies the files to both our primary and backup server locations.

Now, you have a choice. You can always use the Image Manager tool to upload your files, but you can now also FTP your files directly to your account. This will greatly improve the convenience and speed with which you can work with multiple file uploads.

How do you get started? FTP your files to ftp://client.jangomail.com/Images/. Use your existing account username and password for your login credentials. Images saved to this location via FTP are automatically replicated to the second image server as well, retaining the redundancy we have always maintained.

Feature Update: Enhanced HTML Editor Upgrade

JangoMail had applied several upgrades to the Enhanced HTML Editor available for composing your emails. Previously, some users experienced difficulty with some table commands. The new updates include fixes for reported problems like:

• Documents with a table at the beginning made it difficult to then select the whole document.
• Deleting a table at the end of the document sometimes caused the editor to hang.
• Deleting table rows and columns at the end of the document caused the editor to freeze occasionally.
• Merging cells in tables with caption tags caused the editor to freeze

You do not need to do anything differently to use the updated Editor. If you are using the Enhanced Editor, the updates will automatically apply as the Editor loads within JangoMail.

API Update: New Option for SendTransactionalEmail

JangoMail has enhanced the new SendTransactionalEmail method to support our customers who may need to allow recipients to unsubscribe from marketing campaigns, but continue to receive transactional emails related to their accounts (confirmations, passwords, receipts, etc.), then we have enhanced the new SendTransactionalEmail.

Now, the SendTransactionalEmail method allows you to specify a parameter within the "Options" to handle this. Set "SkipUnsubCheck=True", to prevent JangoMail from first checking the address against your account's unsubscribe list and removing those who have unsubscribed from regular marketing campaigns. By default, if this parameter is not specified, "SkipUnsubCheck" is "False" and will continue to check for unsubscribes normally.

For detailed documentation on this method, go to:
http://api.jangomail.com/help/html/655d20ca-2164-c483-fb21-d3d0ee049155.htm

Update to DKIM Signatures on Outbound Email Messages

We have updated the DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) signatures that appear in outbound email messages sent from JangoMail.

Specifically, we are now using "v=1" instead of "v=0.5" and "q=dns/txt" instead of "q=dns" in the DKIM-Signature header.

These changes were made to comply to the latest RFC 4871 for the DKIM Base Specification, and so that JangoMail email messages pass the DKIM verifier on all major DKIM reflector services, including those offered by dkim.org, Sendmail, and Port 25.

Sending emails to these email addresses from your JangoMail account will generate a reply email showing the result of the DKIM verifier:

1. check-auth@verifier.port25.com (Port 25)
2. dkim-test@testing.dkim.org (DKIM.org)
3. sa-test@sendmail.net (Sendmail)

Prior to the change, JangoMail emails were failing the Port 25 verifier. Now with the change, JangoMail emails pass all 3 tests.

Feature Update: Connect to Database Supports Magic Quotes

For users connecting JangoMail to their MySQL databases via PHP, we have now modified our connection file to make JangoMail less dependant on the customer's local web server configuration.

Previously, users had to turn off a feature known as "magic quotes" before the extraction file would work. Now, JangoMail can make the connection regardless of the magic quotes setting. This makes establishing the initial connection simpler and more direct.

Our new code looks like:

Feature Update: Extract from Excel and Access 2007

JangoMail now has tools to help you use Extract from Local Database to connect to Excel 2007 and Access 2007 files. Now users of the most recent versions of these programs can make direct connection without exporting/importing.

To get started, go to the Extract from My Database page and click to Connect to Local Database. On that screen, you'll choose to Create Profile (experts only).



Then, you'll be able to create a name to save the profile and use the Connection String links to build the proper syntax for linking to your file. In the example below, we are connecting to an Excel 2007 file.



This prepopulates the Connection String box with general information and the name of a "placeholder" file for the "Data Source=" section. In the example, the file is at: c:\myFolder\myExcel2007file.xlsx.



You will replace the placeholder file path and file name with the true path and name of your existing file and modify the SQL Query as appropriate to generate the list desired.

JangoMail Updates: Interface Enhancements

We've implemented a few enhancements to make information a bit more "at your fingertips" when working with JangoMail.

First, we've enhanced Groups and E-Mail Addresses. Now, when you hover over a Group, you'll get a quick view of the attributes of that particular Group.



Once working within a Group, you can hover over a Group member to bring up the full address. This is super-helpful when the address is too wide for that column and cut off by an ellipsis.



Over in Extract from My Database, we've rearranged the main page to reduce scrolling. Now, you will be able to select from the three types of extraction in a horizontal, not vertical, layout.

New Option: Transactional Groups

To support Reporting for messages sent under the new SendTransactionalEmail API method, you can now specify Transactional Groups to store data on messages sent via the API. JangoMail shows Reporting for transactional emails sorted by Group so that you can see metrics on these messages combined together.

By default, all accounts come with a Default Transactional Group. When calling SendTransactionalEmail, the message becomes part of the "Default" group unless otherwise specified. All reporting for these mailings will be categorized as part of the Default Group.

If you have multiple types of transactional emails, then you will want to specify the Transactional Group to which the message belongs when you call the method. You can now setup Transactional Groups under My Options --> Transactional Groups.

For example, you can create a specific Group, like "Order Confirmations," and then specify that Group when calling the method, then you'll see Reporting on those messages combined together.

JangoMail Tip: Random Selection of Members

Giving a few subject lines a try before a big mailing? You need a quick and easy way to send to only a random sampling of your list.

JangoMail supports this need, whether you are querying your database directly (Extract from My Database) or selecting members from Groups stored within JangoMail.

The key is to add "order by newid()" to the end of the SQL query you are using to specify criteria for your mailing.

In a JangoMail Group, you would use the Filter and Send tool. From the main Filter and Send screen, Switch to the Advanced Query Editor. Now, you can set your message criteria, and add in the random selection. In the following example, we are selecting 5 random members of the Group, Web Customers.



When the Filter is executed, we will be ready to send to 5 members of this Group.

Users calling API method SendMassEmail for single recipient campaigns now auto-converted to SendTransactionalEmail

The following email message was sent out this evening to users calling SendMassEmail to send out a large number of single-recipient email messages:

-------------------

Today we made a change to your account involving how your email campaigns to single recipients are sent via the API. You are currently calling our API method SendMassEmail in succession to send a high volume of single-recipient "transactional" type email messages. Several days ago we launched a new API method, called SendTransactionalEmail, which is specifically designed for sending single-recipient messages. The change we made to your account, forces any calls to SendMassEmail to be converted to SendTransactionalEmail method calls, when the call to SendMassEmail is for a single email recipient only.

There are several reasons why we made this change to your account:

1. The SendMassEmail method has always been designed for sending email campaigns to a group of recipients at once. When calling this method, the system treats the campaign as a campaign going to a group of recipients and does processing involving de-duping the final recipient list, deleting invalid email addresses, assigning sending servers based on internal rule sets, and other steps to generate the final recipient list and personalize each email message. Even single recipient campaigns sent via this method take 30-60 seconds to send due to the pre-processing steps that take place with each email campaign. Additionally, when SendMassEmail is called, all campaign data is stored in your account, including the Subject, HTML Message, and Plain Text Message. Calling SendMassEmail thousands of times takes up a lot of space in our database.

2. The new SendTransactionalEmail method sends messages out over SMTP immediately upon the method call. Now emails will be sent 1-2 seconds after the method call rather than 30-60 seconds after.

3. The new SendTransactionalEmail method doesn't store the full message body in our database, since it sends the emails out right away over SMTP. Therefore overall system performance is greater and less storage is taken when single recipient emails go through this new method.

4. You'll now be able to see better reporting and statistics on single-recipient messages. With each individual call to SendMassEmail, each message shows as its own campaign in Reporting, making it difficult to assess what's happening across all of the messages together. Soon we will have an interface for Reporting on just transactional messages generated via SendTransactionalEmail. You'll be able to group different types of messages (Order confirmations, Welcome messages, Internal notifications, etc.), and see open-tracking and click-tracking statistics per Transactional Message Group.

Documentation:

The technical specification on the new method is here: http://api.jangomail.com/help/html/655d20ca-2164-c483-fb21-d3d0ee049155.htm

Here's a brief FAQ on the change:

1. Why did you set my account to convert calls to SendMassEmail to SendTransactionalEmail instead of letting me make the change in code myself?

We figured it would take our customers a while to make the code change on their own. And we didn't see any disadvantages of forcing the conversion to the new method. Furthermore, for our own benefit, we gain a lot of system preformance and database storage back by having single recipient emails go through SendTransactionalEmail rather than SendMassEmail.

2. What if I'm using SendMassEmail to send to Groups or recipients from a live web database?

Calls to SendMassEmail with Groups or live datasets as the recipients will not be altered. Only calls to SendMassEmail where a single recipient is specified are converted to SendTransactionalEmail.

3. Even though you're converting my method calls for me, should I still make the change in my code to SendTransactionalEmail?

Yes, you should. If you call this method directly, you'll be able to take advantage of Grouping and other features specific to this method.

4. Do I lose any tracking by using SendTransactionalEmail?

No, messages sent with SendTransactionalEmail still have open tracking and click tracking capabilities. The recipient is still checked against the unsubscribe and bounce lists before the email is sent. And the messages are still signed with DomainKeys and DKIM, provided your account has been setup to sign messages.

5. What if I want you to undo the change on my account and let me use SendMassEmail as before?

Sure, just let us know. We can't think of any benefit to doing so, but there are so many subtleties and different ways our customers use JangoMail, that it's possible we didn't think of everything. Just reply to this email or get in touch with us if you have a reason why you don't want us to force the SendTransactionalEmail method on you.

6. I don't see any of my messages in Reporting. How do I know my messages are being sent?

The reporting interface for transactional messages is still being built. It should be live under the "Reporting" tab by mid-this week. If you need reporting statistics beforehand, just let us know and we can manually query our database to show you what has been sent/opened/clicked.

7. I'm in the Sender Score Certified program. Will email messages sent via SendTransactionalEmail be sent through SSC-approved senders?

If you are in the SSC program, then yes, just like a regular email campaign, transactional email messages will also be sent through SSC approved senders.

One important difference with unsubscribes/bounces:

When calling SendMassEmail, if sending to an email address on your account's unsubscribe or bounce list, the method call is successful and during pre-processing that email address is removed from your final recipient list. When using SendMassEmail to send to single recipients, this would result in a campaign with 0 recipients.

When calling SendTransactionalEmail, an exception is thrown if you send to an email address on your account's unsubscribe or bounce list. Please be aware of this when writing your code or modifying your code to use SendTransactionalEmail instead of SendMassEmail. This change also is in effect for the accounts which we've put in the auto-conversion from SendMassEmail to SendTransactionalEmail.

New API Method - SendTransactionalEmail

JangoMail now has a method designed to help API users who are sending multiple emails to single recipients more smoothly. SendTransactionalEmail is designed for users who have JangoMail running as the engine behind their applications that send individually triggered messages to single recipients.

The new method allows for rapid processing of these single emails, while retaining full tracking for the mailings (Opens, Clicks, Unsubscribes, and Bounces).

We are completing our testing phase now. The reporting module for tracking transactional emails is still a few days away, but we're very excited with our early results and hope you will be too.

What does it look like? The input parameters are very similar to SendMassEmail. The key difference is that there is a "ToEmailAddress" parameter which expects a single email address.

The full method is at: http://api.jangomail.com/api.asmx?op=SendTransactionalEmail. Detailed documentation is at: http://api.jangomail.com/help/html/655d20ca-2164-c483-fb21-d3d0ee049155.htm.

For a full reference on the API, visit the API home page: http://api.jangomail.com/help/

Bug Fix: Member Counts Returned to Main Groups Page

After completing some recent enhancements to the Groups section, JangoMail once again shows counts of Group members on the main Groups landing page.

Groups will initially show as "Counting" while this process takes place, and will display their respective counts as the tallies come in from the database.

Update to Image Library: Host TXT, PPT, and PPS Files

Your JangoMail Image Library will now accept 3 additional file types for upload. Now you can upload files with .TXT, .PPT, and .PPS extensions for hosting with JangoMail.

Once stored, you may create links in your messages that reference the hosted files much as you would a PDF or other non-image file.

JPG and GIF files remain the only image file types that are recognized by the HTML Editor's Insert Image function because they are the file types that are viewable across most HTML-capable e-mail clients.

Other file types are accepted into the library for hosting. Our tutorial on linking to hosted files (PDFs and others) can be downloaded here.

Site Enhancement: New Features Page

Curious about everything JangoMail can do? Want to see videos demonstrating our features? We've just updated our main Features page with a more comprehensive list of our capabilities, video demonstrations, and enhanced pop-ups.

Make sure you stop by and ask us about anything you'd like to try:
http://www.jangomail.com/features_overview.asp