New to the community? Start here

Test AutoMessage before live, provide unsubscribe to users

Hi there,

I recently bought a Gold 1-yr package to WPMU dev. The two plugins I am interested in are Q&A and AutoMessage.

I am configuring AutoMessage now. I don’t see any options to test the emails (e.g. send test email to specific user) so we can check the formatting before they are made live.

I also don’t see a way to include an unsubscribe token to users. This is a real problem. Under EU Law any newsletters must have a way to unsubscribe which could open us up to legal dispute if users get annoyed with email after sign-up.

Can you assist?

Thu, 29 May 2014 11:09:51

PC
- WPMU DEV Initiate
- 6,409 pts: Hero points 23 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 1
Hey there Andrew,

Thanks for posting on the forums.

Welcome to the Community :slight_smile:

I am configuring AutoMessage now. I don’t see any options to test the emails (e.g. send test email to specific user) so we can check the formatting before they are made live.

Currently the only way to test it is creating a message and then adding a new user or a blog. We can request it as a feature to add a test message service to the plugin, that’d be really great.

I also don’t see a way to include an unsubscribe token to users. This is a real problem. Under EU Law any newsletters must have a way to unsubscribe which could open us up to legal dispute if users get annoyed with email after sign-up.

The plugin sends only the number of messages you create. So if that is the case, I’d recommend using Automessage only for welcome emails (which are sent via WordPress as well) and for any further newsletters, you should use our eNewsletter plugin : https://wpmudev.com/project/e-newsletter/ as that will allow you a better control on unsubscribe features.

Please advise if that’d work for you.

Cheers, PC
Andrew
- New Recruit
- 50 pts: Hero points 6 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 0
Ok, thanks for the info.

So basically the plugin is unusable for a professional website. No unsubscribe means I have to remove it immediately. No test means I have to wait 15 days 30 days (for my scheduled emails) to see if they work. Not great :slight_smile:

I will be uninstalling this plugin and seeking an alternative solution.
aristath
- Recruit
- 1,975 pts: Hero points 18,360 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 29
Hello again @Andrew, I hope you’re well today!

No unsubscribe means I have to remove it immediately

And why is that exactly?

An “unsubscribe” feature would make no sense in this plugin.

Subscriptions imply a recurring event. This plugin does not send anything recurring (like a newsletter does for example). These are one-off messages like a welcome email. I also live in the EU and there certainly is no regulation for one-off email messages.

Perhaps this plugin is not the feature you wanted?

Take care,

Ari.
Andrew
- New Recruit
- 50 pts: Hero points 6 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 0
Well according to the AutoMessage plugin description (and one of the reasons why I purchased a subscription to WPMU Dev), you can setup multiple messages to be sent a certain delay after an event, such as new user signup:

<img src=”https://wpmudev.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/buddydressautomessage.png”/>

So by definition if I setup a welcome email then tip/help emails at 0, 3, 5, 15, 25, 30 days it is sending multiple emails. Some users might get annoyed and want to unsubscribe.

There’s a list here of good practices when sending emails to prospects:

http://www.seqlegal.com/blog/10-things-you-should-know-about-email-marketing

One of them is providing a way to opt-out.

The ICO guidance (which of course is not itself legally enforceable) say that: “… you must comply with any opt-out requests promptly.”

http://ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/library/Privacy_and_electronic/Practical_application/direct-marketing-guidance.pdf

Since there is no way to opt out of AutoMessage repeated messages when you set up multi messages as above a time delay, it is not fit for purpose.
Andrew
- New Recruit
- 50 pts: Hero points 6 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 0
Also I should add, since there’s no way to test the message sent after say 30-days without leaving the plugin live it kinda doesn’t give me the confidence to use it.

Sorry, uninstalling
Tyler Postle
- Recruit
- 2,524 pts: Hero points 13,644 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 28
Sorry to hear this plugin isn’t what you are looking for Andrew!

I would suggest checking out our Mailchimp Integration plugin and using Mailchimp. That sounds like it could be more up the alley of what you were looking for!

As always if you have any further questions we are always here to help :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Tyler
William
- Syntax Hero
- 217 pts: Hero points 1,002 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 8
Dose this plugin still have no Unsubscribe or testing features? I agree with Andrew on this these should be standard features.

William
Sajid
- DEV MAN’s Sidekick
- 1,316 pts: Hero points 9,763 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 27
Hi PC,

Hope you are doing good today :slight_smile:

No, there is still no unsubscribe feature available in this plugin. Its a simple plugin to send out a welcome message when user register on your website. As suggested by my colleague Tyler, if you are looking something like that than you should try using Mailchimp Integration plugin.

Also, a friendly reminder, don’t post in old resolved threads like this and always start your own new topic. If a thread is related to your question than add the link of that thread in your thread for reference. This will also ensure that the old users would not get spammed with new post notification.

Take care and have a nice day :slight_smile:

Cheers, Sajid
John A.
- The Incredible Code Injector
- 510 pts: Hero points 451 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 5
The Automessage plugin does have an unsubscribe feature now. I didn’t test it, but the link is present in the emails.

If you want to preview your emails, here’s how:
1. In Automessage, add some User Level Messages (ULMs), setting the Message Delay option to “Send immediately”. If you already have some ULMs created, you can use those instead of creating new ones.
2. In WP Admin > Users, create a new user.
3. Back in Automessage, under each ULM, click to “Process” each message.
4. Check your email and review the sent messages.
5. Back in WP Admin > Users, delete the user you just created.
…

If your sent messages look good, you’re done. If you find errors in the sent messages, repeat the steps above until you are satisfied. Once you have the messages perfect, be sure to change the Message Delay setting for each ULM, so they don’t all sent immediately when a new user registers.
John A.
- The Incredible Code Injector
- 510 pts: Hero points 451 pts: Rep. points LEVEL 5
I see that it’s actually simple to re-process a message (ie, re-send it). Just FTP into your site and open the file at yoursite/wp-content/plugins/automessage/classes/class.user.php. At around line 200, comment out the block of code as shown below, then save the file.
```
//if($this->current_action( $type )) {

//    delete_user_meta($this->ID, '_automessage_on_' . $type . '_action'.$blog_id);

//    delete_user_meta($this->ID, '_automessage_run_' . $type . '_action'.$blog_id);

//}
```
Next, go to WP Admin > Users and create a new user for testing. Use an email that you have access to since the messages will be going to that address.

Then, to see how a particular message looks as an email, first set it to send immediately, then click to Process the message. You can click Process as many times as you need to.

When you’re happy with your work, simply undo the changes made to the class.user.php file, then reset your messages to their proper time intervals, and then delete the test user account.

Note: this should not be done in a production environment – any new (legitimate) users who register during your testing period will also get a message every time you click Process. And that would be embarrassing.

Need help fast?

Test AutoMessage before live, provide unsubscribe to users

Ready to get started?

Need help fast?

Ready to get started?

How do you rate me?

Thank you for rating your experience!