bulkmail|feature|5.5.2.0

The Bulkmail package consists of four major components:

What makes up the Bulkmail Package

• Bulkmail Job: you create a Bulkmail Job for each mail out that you wish to send. The Bulkmail Job contains the recipient list, a link to the content, and the Design to be applied to the content.
• Bulkmail Post Office: Bulkmail Jobs are sent via a Bulkmail Post Office. Each Bulkmail Post Office utilises a particular mail server (SMTP or Sendmail), and you can set the email headers and threshold settings, which determine the rate of bulkmail to send. You can configure multiple Bulkmail Post Offices to handle large volumes or multiple email streams, as required.

  Tip: The Bulkmail Post Office for your system should be configured by a System Administrator and only needs to be updated when the details of the mail server change.

• Bulkmail Manager: allows you to view all queued or currently running Bulkmail Jobs in the system and allows you to pause, resume or cancel these jobs. The Bulkmail Manager is the default post office for Bulkmail Jobs that are not children of a particular Bulkmail Post Office asset.

  Tip: The Bulkmail Manager for your system will be configured by a System Administrator and only needs to be updated when the details of the mail server change.

• The Bulk Mailer: this is the engine that runs in the background dispatching Bulkmail Jobs according to your required schedule. The Bulk Mailer is setup to run via cron every x minutes. When the Bulk Mailer detects a job that needs to be run, it will get the information it needs from the various Bulkmail Post Offices and Bulkmail Jobs, generate the content, and send the emails. For example to set up the Bulk Mailer to run every 15 minutes, you will need to create a cron entry as follows:

  */15  *  *  *  *  php /path_to_matrix/packages/bulkmail/scripts/run.php

  Tip: Bulkmail Jobs will not run if the Bulk Mailer is not set up correctly.

  In addition to the major components, the Bulkmail package also includes the following features:
• Bulkmail User: these are the users who will receive the Bulkmail Job. Bulkmail Users, however, do not have access to Squiz Matrix and cannot log in.
• Import Bulkmail Users: this tool allows you to import Bulkmail Users into Squiz Matrix via a CSV file.
• Bulkmail Subscribe Page: a subscription page that can be added to your web site. Users can enter their name and e-mail address on this page so they can receive the Bulkmail Job.