Can this system be used for unsolicited bulk e-mail (spamming)?

For example, if you wished to send one million e-mails using our system, it would cost over £20,000. The system was not designed as a SPAM tool, and it would be illogical for it to be used as such. This software has been designed as an online, value added service for a range of functions, including personalised opt-in marketing to clients and inhouse communication with colleagues, as well as private use.

Does the software CC (carbon copy) or BCC (blind carbon copy) e-mails sent to multiple recipients?

No, when sending, each newsletter is addressed and sent individually. This is much more effective. When people see a single stock phrase in the "To" field of the received e-mail, they usually associate it with SPAM.

Can I personalise the e-mails or use different subject lines?

Yes, we offer a range of personalisation functions. You can address the emails to individuals, based on fields you set up in datasets managed in the Manage Subscriber Info area. You can also personalise the subject with a data field representing each individual recipient, such as their name.

Can I do scheduled sends - choosing the time I wish my newsletter to be sent out?

Yes, scheduled sends are part of this software's functionality. They can be sent by hours and days, up to one month ahead.

My newsletter was sent out successfully, why hasn’t anyone received it yet?

This could mean that our servers are busy and you are in a queue of messages to be delivered – check. Alternatively, it could mean your emails are such large files that sending takes longer. Please check back in an hour, if it's still not sent, please contact us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Why do my subscribers get blank emails?

This is usually as a result of using absolute layers when designing an Email Flyer/Newsletter etc using either the editor or another HTML program. Absolute positioning doesn't work well in emails, because you're not sure of the mail size that will be appearing in your subscribers email client. We advise you not to use absolute position when designing your Emails. If you have in order to fix it you will need to click the edit HTML code at the bottom left hand corner of the editor and go through and delete all instances of the word . You may have to redesign your Email after these deletions.

Why do the images not show up in my emails?

The images are not embedded in the emails. The email contains HTML code that calls the image up from our server. For the images to load you need to be online and the images must have been loaded onto the Church Email server. For instructions on how to load images please view the help menu in the Manage Images Menu.

Can the recipient's name appear in the ‘To’ field?

The TO field has to contain an email address. If you want to add the recipient’s name, use our personalization tool.

Can I send out personalized emails?

Yes, Church Email allows you to personalize your emails and set up subscribe forms where your users fill in their details to populate sets of data that you can set up, with a choice in the type of information you wish to get from them. Go to Manage Subscriber Info and Create New (dataset). Full instructions are available in the help files. A small icon next to the subject line in the SEND area enables you to personalise the subject line.

Can I add attachments to my newsletters when I send them?

Yes - a download link to the file from your email will be almost the same thing as an attachment. It is also much more likely to get through corporate firewalls. In the editor position your cursor and then choose the Internal Link button (next to the table symbol). Upload your attachment to the Pictures folder - now select it in the list by clicking the 'Select'. Enter your link text (e.g. Download it here) and click OK.

How do I set up the auto-responder – the automatic email that clients receive when subscribing to my newsletter - to go out with an attachment?

This functionality is not available as yet. We are working on it. However, you can set up auto-responder text that your clients receive when they subscribe to your email, and when they unsubscribe.

Is there a limit to the size of my newsletter when sending?

Some email software freezes up when an email is too big. The limit, more a practical maximum, is 200 kilobytes. This is a very large file anyway, and we advise against sending so much data. 200 kb is 200,000 bytes, or about 25,000 words and 3,000 lines. This is without the pictures - remember that images are not embedded in the email, but exist externally, either in your folder or in a folder on a website. This means that your recipient must not only download 200 kb of (words and code) data, but also all the images. You are unlikely to endear customer to you or your product if you're subjecting them to that ordeal. We recommend that the size of a newsletter (words and code) does not exceed 70 kb, and that the newsletter links to a minimum number of small, carefully compressed images. There are many image editors on the market. Some, such as Irfan View (Tucows gives it a five cow rating) are freeware or shareware and are free or cheap to use.

Does personalization work with plain text newsletters?

At this time personalization only works in HTML and not in text-only emails. However, a work-around is to design a text-only e-mail using HTML, but choose a plain text font such as Times Roman. This way, you can personalize the e-mail as well as track clicks and other useful statistics. HTML contains code that communicates with our server to register these stats, whereas text-only e-mails do not.

How does personalization work?

Under Enhanced mode – Manage subscriber info, you can create your datasets there. Help files are available. You can personalise your 'TO' field and the SUBJECT, as well as a range of options.

Is there a cost involved in personalizing emails?

Personalization is one of many useful features that come free with Church Email.

Is the correct version of my newsletter (HTML or text)automatically sent to recipients?

Yes, this software is reverse MIME compliant and will automatically determine whether an e-mail client can read HTML. If it cannot, we will deliver the text version (a setting that can be turned on or off in your account settings).

Can you cancel an email once you have sent it?

Once an email has sent, it cannot be cancelled. To eliminate this possibility (discovering a mistake or sending to the wrong list) send a Test email to yourself, and double check that the mailing list, subject line and content are correct.