messageREACH Guide

The aim of this guide is to help you use messageREACH. It is organized by topic as follows:

Introduction
System Requirements
Security
Job Lifecycle
Preparation: Before You Send a Message
    - Plain Text
    - HTML
    - HTML-Lite  
    - Multipart/Alternative
    - SMS Text Message
    - Choose Delivery Format
    - Using Inserts to Personalize Your Message (Optional)
    - Providing Mailto: Links (Optional)
    - Pull File Types
    - Pulls with Passwords
    - Password Lifetime
    - Preparing Links for Pull Files (Optional)
Address List Creation
    - Sample CSV Email List
    - Sample CSV SMS List
    - Sample CDL List
List Services
Job Submission
    - Overview
    - Details
Dynamic Content
Pull Files: What Recipients See
Job Status
Activity Summary
Reports
Replies, Removals, and Removal Reports
Send-a-friend
Subscription Management
Customer File Store
Vacation Notice Processing
Address de-duping

Introduction

messageREACH distributes e-mail messages to as many recipients as you need to reach, thousands per message if desired. Following are a few of the key features of the messageREACH service:

• Ability to handle large files in multiple formats, sent to large lists of recipients.

• Choice of Character Set (including Western European, Chinese, Japanese, Korean).

• May include attached files and/or links to “pull” files, that is, files that can be downloaded or "pulled" from the messageREACH server at the recipient’s convenience.

• The message delivered to each recipient does not disclose the names or addresses of other recipients of the message.

• Provides interim and final reports on the status of various aspects of each job, such as to which addresses the message was delivered, or the reasons it could not be delivered to particular addresses. Also tracks information such as the addresses of recipients who retrieve your pull files.

• Bad addresses won't interrupt job progress; they are simply noted in your reports.

• Effectively handles remove requests from any destination that requests removal from further distributions.

• messageREACH jobs can also be sent via the intelliSEND Wizard, the FTP Input Agent, and the E-mail Input Agent. Please consult your salesperson if you would like additional information about these options.

System Requirements

For optimal performance, use either of the following Internet browsers to access messageREACH:

• Netscape Navigator® Version 4.5 or newer.

• Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 or newer.

To test whether or not your browser is correctly set up for optimal messageREACH access. Take this browser test to find out. Caution: the test logs you off messageREACH.

Security

Security refers to the level of Internet security in effect when you send your messages, attachments, and/or pull files to messageREACH. Security also refers to the level of Internet security in effect when message recipients download your pull files. For details on the latter, see Pull File Security.

File (and Message) Upload via messageREACH

You can send your messages, attachments, and pull files to messageREACH via either the normal or secure method, as described below:

• Normal - no encryption; files are sent using standard http protocol

• Secure - Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, files are sent using https protocol

Use either of the following Web addresses, as appropriate:

• For Normal uploads, access messageREACH via: http://www.messagereach.com

• For Secure uploads, access messageREACH via: https://www.messagereach.com

When encryption is enabled you will see the secure symbol (a closed lock icon) at the bottom of the browser screen. messageREACH will match the security level provided by your browser (40 to 128-bits).

Job Lifecycle

Job lifecycle covers all the phases of your job, from the time that you submit it through the time that it expires. The various phases are: Queued, Setup, Posting, Posted, and Completion. Each phase is described below.

I. Queued

When you submit a job into the messageREACH system, a job number is assigned and it is queued for the next phase, setup.

II. Setup

In the setup phase, messageREACH prepares your job for delivery as follows:

• Runs various checks to verify that all required information was supplied.

• Validates data to the extent that this is possible. Addresses, for example, must conform to standard e-mail address format.

• Cancels invalid, duplicate and blocked addresses. This information will be noted in your reports.

• Retrieves lists and User Profile specifications.

• Creates a basic template for the message, incorporating User Profile information such as text blocks.

• Adds the message body text or file.

• Adds the following, according to your job specifications:
  
  

  • attachments

  • pull files and pull links

• Generates errors regarding missing information, invalid data, or other problems that may arise.

III. Posting

In the posting phase, messageREACH creates an individual, customized message for every recipient. It then begins to send these messages to their Internet destinations.

Messages are customized as follows:

• Subject line and body text insert data is added, if any.

• A unique number is assigned in either the From field or the Remove block, ensuring that remove requests can be processed.

• To automatically track Pull file downloads, a unique URL is created for each recipient.

• The body text portion of the message is built, in accord with your User Profile settings and message body choices submitted with the job.

messageREACH then forwards each customized message to the Internet mail server that handles domain mail for the destination. Once every message is on its way to its target address, a posting report is generated, if you requested one. Posting information that appears in your reports is final; it does not change over the job’s lifetime.

IV. Posted

The job is considered posted after at least one delivery attempt is made to each address. Just because a message has been posted does not mean that it was delivered its final destination. It does mean it was delivered to a domain mail server for the recipient. However, it may then be passed to additional mail servers along the way to its target destination. A job remains in the posted phase until the job expires.

In the posted phase of the lifecycle, messageREACH does the following:

• Receives delivery confirmations (DSNs) if enabled. from the mail servers encountered on the way to each destination address

• Gets "read” confirmations (MDNs) if enabled in your User Profile and if they are returned

• Responds to and complies with all removal requests

• Handles any message replies by routing them to you

• Makes pull files available for download

DSNs

A Delivery Status Notification (DSN) provides confirmation that the message was received at each point along its route to the target destination. As the message is passed along, delivery status is updated according to the DSNs that messageREACH receives. (You can view DSN summaries in your detail reports if this setting is enabled in your User Profile.) Final delivery status is ultimately reached when the message expires and the DSNs indicate that either the recipient’s mail server received the message, or that delivery failed.

While DSNs are helpful, they can also be misleading. Multiple DSNs are frequently received for a single message. A delivery may appear to be succeeding over time, only to generate a final delivery status that indicates a delivery failure. This could occur, for example, if the recipient changed his/her e-mail address.

Similarly, temporary failures could suggest that delivery will not succeed, only to result in a successful delivery if temporary problem conditions (such as if a recipient’s mailbox is full) are resolved. A history of these varying statuses is not kept. An interim report only reflects the currently known delivery status, and this is only displayed if DSN reporting is enabled in your User Profile.

Sometimes, no DSNs are returned for a particular message, so status for that address is unknown. Finally, it is important to understand that DSNs can arrive out-of-sequence, suggesting that a problem exists when it does not and vice-versa. The good news is that mature Internet mail-handling practices and procedures will one day provide more certainty. Meanwhile, standards are evolving and the number of compliant systems increases every year.

Delivery

When messageREACH gets notice that a receiving domain has delivered the message to a recipient’s mailbox, the message is considered delivered to that destination. The delivery is indicated in your completion report. Delivery status is also included in your interim reports if DSN reporting is enabled in your User Profile.

MDNs

Once a message is delivered, it is difficult to know when or if this mail is actually read. In an attempt to get this information, messageREACH can request a "return receipt,” called a Message Disposition Notification (MDN). The purpose of an MDN is to return a notice when the recipient opens the message. However, responding to MDN requests is up to the recipient and/or the recipient’s mail provider. Either may choose not to approve the reply since some recipients consider it a privacy breach and mail domains often do not honor the request. Therefore, messageREACH does not request MDNs unless you specifically request them in your User Profile.

V. Completion

Your job is considered complete once its expiration date is reached. By default, jobs expire as follows:

For each pull file job that you submit, you can override the 14-day default if you wish. On the Job Submission form, select the number of days that pull files will remain accessible before they expire. To extend job expiration beyond 14 days, please contact messageREACH Customer Service.

Once a job completes, the following occurs:

• Pull files can no longer be downloaded. If a recipient attempts to retrieve a file that is no longer available, an error message indicates that the job has expired.

• A completion report is sent if you requested one when you submitted the job. NOTE: If you requested a report type other than a summary report, a CSV file provides the additional details. This file is attached to the basic report unless the CSV exceeds 1 megabyte. In this case, it is available as a pull file for 5 days after the e-mailed-portion of the report is delivered.

• Details on the completed job are added to your invoice.

• The job in its entirety is purged from the system 2 days after the job expiration time is reached.

• Once purged, you will not be able to resubmit the job. Also, you will no longer be able to get a report, even though the Status screen may display a listing for the job.

Preparation: Before You Send a Message

Preparing your message means you must decide which format or formats to use for the e-mail body of the message, as well as getting attachments and pull files ready. You can personalize your message by using inserts, you can provide mailto links, and you can create your own links for pull files. The following topics are covered below:

• Your Message: What Gets Sent?

• Message Body Preparation

• Using Inserts to Personalize Your Message (optional)

• Providing Mailto: Links (optional)

• Preparing Your Own Links for Pull Files (optional)

Your Message: What Gets Sent?

Messages sent via messageREACH, like typical e-mail, are encoded in MIME format. This means that they can include multiple types of data as attachments (binary, graphics, audio, video, etc.), and that they conform to the Internet standard for electronic mail.

Messages you send through messageREACH consist of message body text, supplied by you, and any attachments or pull files you include. messageREACH adds the following:

• Links to the pull files (unless you prefer to add the pull links yourself)

• "Header” or "trailer” information (a header typically includes your name, company, and telephone number; a trailer may be a disclaimer, or perhaps sender identification if a trailer is not used)

• Removal instructions (always included with every mailing). These instructions are usually positioned at the end of the message, but positioning can vary, depending on your User Profile setting.

messageREACH includes attachments in the order you added them when you submitted the job. Attachments are placed beneath the body text in a separate part of the message. (Depending on your mail program, they may appear beyond the text area of the message, but still within the message window.)

Pull file links are either positioned after the trailer text or ahead of the removal instructions at the end of the message. Alternatively, pull links are placed at locations you can specify, if you wish, in your message body text.

Message Body Preparation

The message body is the body of an e-mail message. That is, it is the plain text message or HTML file content displayed by the recipient’s mail program upon opening the mail item. The message body is located immediately after the To, From, and Subject fields.

messageREACH allows you to provide the message body in any of the following ways:

• Type message body text via a link directly from the messageREACH Job Submission form

• Send a previously-prepared plain text file

• Send an HTML-formatted file

• Send an "HTML-Lite" formatted file

• Use the intelliSEND wizard to upload the files

Although you can prepare a text file from the messageREACH Job Submission form, you will want to prepare most files in advance, especially if you are sending multipart/alternative. Follow the guidelines in the sections that follow.

If you will be using Dynamic Content to customize each message for each recipient, please read about formatting a Dynamic Content Message Body File.

Plain Text Files

Your message body text, like all text associated with your message, should belong to the same character set. On the Job Submission form, indicate the character set that you are using by choosing it from the Character Set drop-down list box. See Character Set for more information.

To create a plain text file, use a word processor and then save the file as a Text Only type of document, using the .txt extension. As a suggestion, you can use Microsoft Notepad or Wordpad to create the text; save the file as a Text Document.

HTML Files

Newer-style e-mail programs are capable of displaying HTML files in the message body. HTML is used extensively on the Internet. Unlike plain text, HTML lets you control text placement and elements such as a choice of fonts, colors, text styles, tables and underlining (underlining is NOT RECOMMENDED). HTML can also display images.

Creating HTML Files

To create an HTML file, you can generate a file with a word processor and then save it as an HTML type file. Use either the .html or .htm extension to identify the format as HTML.

Alternatively, if you are on a Windows platform, you can download the intelliSEND Wizard and use it to create HTML files. It lets you easily add graphics, pull files, attachments, clickTO's, and more. IntelliSEND requires: Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT 3.0 or newer, or Windows Me; Internet Explorer 5.0 or newer; 5 MB hard disk space; 16 MB RAM for Windows 95/98/2000; 32 MB RAM for Windows NT 3.0 or newer.

You can also use an HTML editor to generate HTML files. Information on this type of software—available in every price range—is available on the Internet. A search on "HTML editor” provides a good starting point.

See Placing Pull Links in an HTML File for information on adding pull links.

Including Images

Please see More Help: Adding Images to an E-mail Message.

HTML-Lite

HTML-Lite refers to a subset of HTML; it provides some of the features of HTML, but not all of them. AOL Version 5 and earlier supports the "HTML-Lite" features listed in the chart below.

Regardless of the HTML you may use in your messages, messageREACH correctly positions and formats removal instructions and a leader, trailer, or inserts, if you use any of these for your messages.

Similarly, pull file references can be placed in the text, HTML, and HTML-Lite message sections at the locations you specify. Alternately, they may be placed at the bottom of each section, or this feature can be disabled.

AOL's mail reader (Version 5.0 and lower) supports the following HTML tags, with some caveats as noted below:

Additional Notes:

1. The table above is neither complete nor a wholly accurate representation of the HTML supported by AOL.

2. Other standard HTML tags, including comments, are not supported by AOL version 5.0 and under. For example, if you add comments in the source HTML code, both the HTML tags and the comments, which look like this: <!— comments go here —> are incorrectly displayed to the user.

3. Forms and table tags are not rendered in AOL version 5.0 and under.

4. Tags for ordered (numbered) lists and unordered (bulleted) lists are not supported in AOL version 5.0 and under.

AOL versions 7+ support full HTML. However, there is no way to know which mail reader an AOL recipient is using unless you test. See more help. The same is true for CompuServe recipients with an address of the type *@cs.com.

Multipart/Alternative

Multipart/alternative means that instead of simply sending the message body in a single format, you can send it in multiple formats, Text and HTML.

Recipients of multipart/alternative only see the format that their mail programs can display, although some e-mail programs may display both the HTML and the text versions in different sections of the message. Multipart/alternative eliminates the need to create separate address lists for different users who have different mail capabilities.

If you include both a plain text and html version of your document, messageREACH will automatically generate the Multipart/Alternative message body for every delivery, except for the AOL and Compuserve US destinations. Those destinations will receive the HTML-Lite version (if available), or the plain text version, unless you specifically request the format using the "eformat" field.

Since HTML-Lite does not support tables, you may use workarounds—such as adding spaces in an HTML-Lite message to simulate column spacing in a table. However, such HTML-Lite oddities do not display as expected in true HTML-enabled mail programs. The spaces, in this case, would be removed. What appears to be a column format in an AOL mail viewer will not have the extra spaces in a true HTML reader. Therefore, be sure to provide an HTML version of your file for HTML-enabled recipients.

The chart below informs you of what each of your recipients will likely see, depending on the message body versions you send and the recipient's e-mail capabilities.

Plain text is the default alternative if the recipient's mail program cannot display either of the HTML formats. Sending multipart/alternative assures you that at least the text version of your messages can be read by your recipients. Sending HTML-Lite assures you that AOL users will still be able to see an HTML-style message.

When you create multiple versions of your message, the content can be similar or completely different for each version, depending on the information you need to communicate and how you want it to appear. For example, you might arrange information in a table for HTML-enabled users. However, you might simply list the information without using a table for other recipients since plain text and HTML-Lite cannot display table formatting. Or, keep the message body simple and send more complex pages as either attachments or pull files. See HTML and HTML-Lite for more information on these formats.

SMS Message Body Text

You can type your SMS text message right into the text box provided or you can cut and paste your message from a word processing program or a text editor like Notepad. You will see the number of characters in your message appear in the counter to the top right of the text entry box.

SMS text messages can be personalized using inserts.

The standard SMS message size is 160 characters. If your message is larger, it will automatically be broken down into smaller 160 character segments as needed. Each segment will be delivered to the recipient.

Choosing the Delivered Message Body Format

As explained above, messageREACH normally delivers the message in the input format (if only one format is input) or multipart/alternative if both plain text and HTML are input, and HTML-Lite to AOL and CS domains (if HTML-Lite is input).

While this covers most situations with completely readable results, it is not perfect because:

1. Multipart/alternative is larger than sending text or HTML alone
2. It forces HTML-lite to AOL and CS domains even for those destinations that have version 6 or 7 which can read full HTML. Such recipients can also read images, therefore giving you the ability to know the message was opened.

MessageREACH lets you choose the delivery format if your address list contains a field with the keyword of eformat. Valid values for this field are: text, HTML, HTML-Lite, default (or null - no value). For values of default (or null), messageREACH contines to deliver multipart/alternative to all address except the AOL and CS domains, and HTML-Lite to the AOL and CS domains. But for destinations with listed values of text, or HTML or HTML-Lite, messageREACH delivers only that format - again this assumes you have input all 3 message body types.

How do you know what format to deliver to each destination?

The best way is to ask each recipient what format they would prefer when they opt-in.

Using Inserts to Personalize Your Message

You can personalize the message body text — or any attachment or pull file that's in text or HTML format. By using inserts, each recipient gets a copy of the message (or attachment or pull file) with data inserts that were specifically tailored to that person. Note the restrictions in the chart below:

A line of text is limited to approximately 990 characters, the maximum line length that messageREACH can generate. Lines exceeding this limit may be truncated. Most e-mail readers normally wrap lines for the current screen size. Since inserts are included within each line, the 255 character maximum per insert is recommended. There is a 180 character maximum on inserts for pull files.

If you need more than 180 characters, you either need a new feature, or break the field into multiple inserts.

Where To Add Inserts

To add inserts to an attachment or pull file, add them directly to those files. To add inserts to body text, you can do so when you create the job or when you prepare your files to be included with the job, as follows:

• On the Job Submission form, click the Edit/Create Body Text button, then type the text message, including the insert numbers in the appropriate places. —OR—

• Create a plain text or HTML message body file that includes the insert numbers in the appropriate places.

How To Add Inserts

Insert numbers correspond to the numbered INS# data in an associated address list. (See Inserts for help on adding insert data to a list.) You can repeat insert numbers within the same message if you wish to position the associated text in multiple places.

Example

Enclose the insert number—preceded by the uppercase letter I (for "Insert”)—in parentheses, as in the following example:

I personalized this message to you, (I3), by using inserts. I am pleased to announce your 40% raise; your new salary is (I4). Congratulations!

You can add inserts wherever each insert is desired. messageREACH replaces the inserts with the corresponding data you defined in the list. For example, the recipient named Joy Baker might get this version of your message:

I personalized this is message to you, Joy Baker, by using inserts. I am pleased to announce your 40% raise; your new salary is $150,000. Congratulations!

Note that inserts affect line lengths; they may cause unexpected line breaks. Also, some mail programs may wrap text at odd points due to the way carriage returns are added by the sending or receiving system.

Providing Mailto: Links

Recipients cannot directly reply to you using their mail program’s reply feature (although messageREACH receives such replies and forwards them to you). Nonetheless, you have the option of providing a direct "mailto:” link within the message body text.

When a recipient clicks a mailto: link, their e-mail program displays a new mail item for composing a message. The destination address associated with the link automatically appears in the To: field, so the mail can be sent directly to you.

How to Create a Mailto: Link

The syntax varies, depending on whether you are adding a Mailto: link to a plain text message body or an HTML file. Follow the directions below.

Plain Text File

To include a mailto: link in a plain text message body, type "mailto:” followed by the complete e-mail address. Do not add any spaces between mailto:and the address. Do not underline the text; the recipient's mail program will do that. For example:

For more information, send mailto:me@mycompany.com

Most e-mail programs will correctly display the text as a link.

HTML and HTML-Lite

To include a mailto: link in an HTML or HTML-Lite message, type the entire <a href command that follows (see below), substituting your e-mail address for each instance of youraddress@somewhere.com:

<a href="mailto: youraddress@somewhere.com">youraddress@somewhere.com</a>

For example, using this syntax with an actual e-mail address may look similar to the following:

<a href="mailto: myaddress@work.com">myaddress@work.com</a>

It displays a link that looks similar to this: mailto: myaddress@work.com

Pull File Types

There are 3 different types of "Pull Files" that messageREACH can generate and report on. They are:

Standard Pull File
This is the conventional pull file that represents any file you want to give the recipient the opportunity to download via their browser rather than sending the file as an attachment. There is no restriction on the file type or file size. The syntax required in the message body is [pull name=filename.ext]. Each destination gets a unique web URL to pull the file. Each time a recipient clicks on the link to pull the file, this fact is reported separately in the detail or pull report.

Click-TO file
This is the standard link that redirects the recipient to your requested web location. This is reported separately on the detail or pull report. Each destination gets a unique web URL for each Click-TO address. Each time a recipient clicks on the link to visit that address, this fact is reported separately in the detail or pull report.

Job-level untrackable pull file
This is a link to the requested pull file, but the link is the same for every destination. MessageREACH can only report the total number of pulls for such files. The syntax required in the message body is [untrack-pull name=filename.ext]

Why use untrackable pull files?
Usually when sending HTML messages you will use one gif or jpeg image which is automatically pulled into the message when the recipient opens the message. This gives you the HTML open information. If you have additional images in your message, having separate tracking is a waste of space in the detail/pull files (2 extra columns for each file). Using the untrack-pull filename means these images will not appear in the detail/pull file, but will show the total pulls in the summary section. See Reports.

Preparing Your Own Links for Pull Files

(Optional) messageREACH automatically adds pull file links into your message body. The links are added at the end of the message, just before the removal instructions. However, if you wish, you may specify the link names yourself and position them at locations you indicate in your message body.

To specify link locations in a plain text message body, see Placing Pull Links into a Plain Text Message. You can specify both the link locations and the link text if you use HTML for the body; see Placing Pull Links into an HTML File.

Placing Pull Links into a Plain Text Message

Use the following syntax to specify pull file link locations in a plain text message:

[pull name=filename.ext]

messageREACH will complete the links for you when you submit the job. Do not use spaces on either side of the equal sign, i.e., between "name” and the equal sign or between the equal sign and your file name.

To add the file size to a link (if desired), use the following syntax:

([pullsize name=filename.ext])

• If you include the optional opening and closing parentheses for the file size, here is an example of what the recipient will see:
  Great File (367 Kb)

• 
  If you do not use the parentheses, the recipient sees this:
  Great File 367 Kb

Placing Pull Links into an HTML File

In addition to specifying the locations for your pull file links, HTML allows you to substitute your own link text for the pull file's URL path. (messageREACH adds the URL, but the URL can be hidden by your link text, if desired.)

The instructions vary for placing a pull link into the source code of an HTML file, depending on the software you are using. See the general guidelines immediately below. Then see the more specific instructions that follow, depending on the text editor or word processor you are using.

General Guidelines

Regardless of the application software you use to insert pull links, follow these general guidelines:

1. To ensure that your links can be easily read by your recipients, do not use spaces in your pull file names. For example, instead of my file.doc, use myfile.doc or my_file.doc. Otherwise, the spaces are automatically replaced with characters that your recipients will find confusing. For example, my file.doc produces my%20file.doc, which is less readable than my_file.doc
   
   

2. To specify the location of the pull file's URL reference within an HTML <a> statement, use the following syntax:
   [pull name=filename.ext].
   Do not use spaces on either side of the equal sign, i.e., between "name” and the equal sign or between the equal sign and your file name.
   
   

3. To add the file size to a link (if desired), use the following syntax:
   ([pullsize name=filename.ext])

   • If you include the optional opening and closing parentheses for the file size, here is an example of what the recipient will see:
     Great File (367 Kb)

   • If you do not use the parentheses, the recipient sees this:
     Great File 367 Kb 

To add the pull links to an HTML file, you can use an HTML text editor or other application software. Instructions follow, including how to use Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Outlook, Netscape Messenger, or Microsoft Word 2000 to add the links.

Adding Pull Links with an HTML Editor

If you know how to write or edit an HTML file, use the syntax in the following example to insert a link:
<a href=”[pull name=myfile.html]”>Download myfile</a> ([pullsize name=myfile.html])

When using the syntax above, replace myfile.html with the name and extension of your pull file. Then, instead of "Download myfile”, substitute the name of the file, or the specific text you wish to use for the link text.

If you used this sample link in your HTML body text (and submitted a pull file called myfile.html), the link text displays as follows in the recipient’s e-mail program:
Download myfile (1.76 Kb)

The file size, of course, depends on the size of the pull file; messageREACH will display the correct file size. Leave out the syntax for the pull size if you prefer not to display the file size to your recipients.

Adding Pull Links and Saving as HTML in a Word Processor or E-Mail Program

Adding the syntax for a pull file is essentially the same whether you are creating the HTML file in a word processor or e-mail program. The following instructions are general enough that you can apply the concepts regardless of the application you are using. However, the following steps are particularly appropriate if you are using Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Netscape Messenger, or Outlook Express Version 5. (Outlook Express users: Previous versions of Outlook will not create HTML; however version 5 is available free from Microsoft.)

Follow these instructions:

1. Create the body text in the application you choose. Ignore the To, From and similar heading fields if you are using an e-mail program to create the HTML file.
   Note to Outlook Express 5 users: In the Format menu, click the HTML selection to be sure it is active. It is active when a marker appears to the left of the selection.)

2. Add the link text to the body by typing the desired text wherever you want it to appear. This text will substitute for the pull file’s URL path. For example, you can simply name the file, or type additional text for the link such as: "Click here for the xyz file.”

3. Select (highlight) the link text by clicking the first character and dragging your mouse as you continue to hold down the mouse button.

4. From the Insert menu, choose Hyperlink (or simply "Link”). If you are using Word, you are asked if you wish to save the file before inserting the hyperlink. Saving the document at this point is optional; save it as a Word document if you wish. You will later save it as an HTML file.

5. In the link field—which may be labeled Insert, Link, Link to file, URL, or a similar name—type the link syntax as described in the General Guidelines section of this topic.

6. Click OK. The link text is displayed as an underlined hyperlink in the body text of your document.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 to create additional links.

8. Choose Save As (or Save As->File) from the File menu.

9. In the Save As Type field, choose the HTML option (or .html, or .htm) from the drop-down list. You may need to scroll through the list to find it.

This file is now ready to submit with your messageREACH job.

Address List Creation

This help topic describes address list creation and formatting. messageREACH lists contain the e-mail addresses of your recipients, and each list must be properly formatted. Although not mandatory, adding a reference (for example, a recipient’s name) to each address in a list helps you easily identify the recipients. A list frequently contains other information as well; see List Contents for details.

Currently, if you wish to submit a list at the same time that you submit a broadcast, the list must be in CSV file format (that is, Comma Delimited—also called Comma Separated Value). At other times, you can upload lists in either a CSV or CDL format. Details about both list formats follow.

CSV: A Database Export File

CSV format is used as a portable representation of information typically stored in a database. When you export data from a database, each row (each line) in the resulting CSV file represents one entry or record in the list. Cell data, that is, each field in a record, is separated by commas. Commas may be followed by spaces and/or tabs, but these are optional, and messageREACH ignores them. If a field includes a comma, the whole field must be surrounded with double quotes so that the comma is not mistaken for a field delimiter.

Most database software provides online help for saving information in CSV format. It is often as simple as selecting a .csv extension in the Files of Type field in a Save As window. However, the column headings must match those required by messageREACH so that your data is properly applied.

CSV List Contents

Your CSV file must use the column headings (field names) understood by messageREACH. They are described in the following chart:

Once exported from a database, a valid CSV file includes column headings on the first line, with corresponding data on each line beneath the column headings. (For more information on CSV and CSV export files, see Address List Creation.) The CSV column headings do not have to graphically align with the data that follows. However, the order of the data in each row must match the order of the columns. Also, the number of items on each line must match the number of columns. If a row has no data in a particular column, an extra comma must be used to indicate that the column has no data.

Sample Email CSV List

The sample CSV list displayed below consists of five lines. The first line contains the column headings for eight columns; the remaining lines contain the data for each column.

Here is the sample list:

Ref,Addr,INS_1,INS_2,INS_3,INS_4,INS_5,INS_6
JB,jbach@music.org,J.S. Bach,Z Systems,12 Fugue Blvd,Suite 1,Santa Fe,NM
Penney,Layne@xyz.com,Penney Layne,XYZ Company,101 Abbey Rd.,,London,England
Miles D,miles@daevis.com,,,100 Park Av,New York,NY,
Ruby Smith,rs@abc.com,ABC Systems,123 Main Street,Suite 100,"New York, NY",

The eight columns in this sample are as follows:

• Column 1: Ref

• Column 2: Addr

• Column 3-8: Insert data corresponding to INS-numbers 1-6.

Line 3 above begins with Ref column data: "Penney." Proceeding to the right on line 3, the Addr column has this data: "Layne@xyz.com", followed by INS_1, INS_2 and INS_3 data. However, there is no data for the INS_4 column (the data field between "Abbey Rd." and "London"). A placeholder—a comma—was added in lieu of the missing field data. This ensures that messageREACH puts the data that follows into the correct column. Therefore, "London,” correctly corresponds to INS_5, and "England" corresponds to INS_6 not to INS_4 and INS_5 respectively.

Similarly, on the next line, the INS_3, INS_4 and INS_8 fields have no data, so placeholders are added: the extra commas.

To include a comma within a single column of data, enclose the data in quotes as in "New York, NY" on the last line above. Notice that INS_8 on this line has no data—indicated by the placeholder comma. INS_7 contains both the city (New York) and the state (NY). "New York, NY" is enclosed in quotes since it includes a comma as part of the actual data. The quotes distinguish the comma used within this field from the commas used between fields of data. In summary, to include both New York and NY, with a comma in between, use quotes around the data as follows: "New York, NY".

At minimum, the CSV file must include columns for “TYPE” and “ADDR”. You should have the “TYPE” column filled with the text “SMS” if you are sending to a wireless device. If you are sending to an email address, the "TYPE" must be INTERNET.

The other column must be ADDR that either includes the SMS phone number or the email address.

The SMS phone number can include dashes (-); they will just be stripped out before sending.

The SMS phone number CANNOT include spaces or parenthesis.

It is important to note that the SMS phone number should be entered in the format required to dial based upon your locality. In other words, if the you are an US user and want to send to Europe, the SMS address would be configured like “01146xxxxxxx”. If you are a US user and you want to send to a US destination, the address needs to be configured as "215555XXXX". If the you are a European user, the SMS address would be configured as “001xxxxx” for international dialing.

The following is a sample csv file of a US-based list:

The following is a sample csv file of a mixed US-based list:

Please note:  If an e-mail address is entered with an SMS type setting, that entry will be ignored.

List Names

Follow these specifications when naming your lists:

• Use from 1 to 24 alphanumeric characters.

• The only valid characters are:

  • the letters of the alphabet, both uppercase and lowercase

  • the numbers from 0 to 9

  • _ (the underscore)

  • - (the hyphen)

• Case is insensitive, so there is no difference between LIST_A and list_a, for example. (Uppercase and lowercase are not treated differently by messageREACH.)

• No spaces or tabs are allowed.

• The name does not have to match your local list name, but it may help you keep track of your lists if you use the same name.

• Short list names usually result in fewer errors for senders who type-in their list names when submitting jobs.

The exclamation point " ! " and the pound sign " # " are reserved for a special use in list names. See List Names Preceded by " ! ” or " # ’ for more information.

List Names Preceded by " ! ” or " # ’

After you upload lists to messageREACH, you will notice that when you choose lists from the List Selector window, an additional character may precede the list name. messageREACH adds the character to distinguish between two types of lists: user-level or customer-level lists.

User-level list names are preceded by an exclamation point. For example, "!mylist” indicates that "mylist" is a user-level list. Customer-level lists are distinguished by a pound sign " # " preceding the list name. For example, "#myOtherList" indicates that "myOtherList" is a customer-level list.

Whether the lists you upload to messageREACH are automatically classified as a user-level or customer-level lists is determined by the list default in your User Profile setting. When you send jobs and type list names directly into the List field, you do not need to use a list prefix—unless you happen to also have (and wish to use) a user- or customer-level list that has the same name!

Inserts

Inserts allow you to customize your messages for each recipient. To do this, you enter specific data for each recipient to correspond with each insert number in a list. Then, when you create the message you wish to send, indicate the locations for each insert number. (See Using Inserts to Personalize Your Message for more information.) The insert numbers are replaced by the text you assigned for each recipient in the outgoing message.

Insert Character

Inserts should be based on the language your recipients understand. Choose from among the supported languages or character sets. See Character Set for more information. On the Job Submission form, indicate the character set you used.

When you send a message that includes inserts, the insert text is converted (if possible) to the character set you selected on the Job Submission form.

Comma Delimited (CDL) Format

A list to be uploaded via List Services may be in CDL format. This format displays each field enclosed in quotes and separated with commas. Each line has the same number of fields, with the first line containing the field name.

A example of a valid List CDL File is the following:

"Ref","Addr","INS_1","INS_2","INS_3","INS_4","INS_5"
"1","jsmith@aol.com","John Smith","ABC Systems", "123 Main Street","Suite 100","New York, NY"
"2","bob@abc.com","Bob Jones","ABC Company",,"101 Broadway","New York, NY"
"3","rgreen@revlon.com","Ralph Green","Revlon","100 Park Ave.","","New York, NY"

Note that for the record with Ref = 2 above, the INS_3 field is missing - there is no value between the commas.
For the record with Ref =3, the INS_3 field has a null value between the double quote (which is accepted).

List Services

List Services displays links for managing your lists. Open List Services from the List Services link in the left panel of the main messageREACH window. Then click a link to access the available list services described below.

Directory of Lists

The Directory of Lists displays the names of all your available lists. For information about a character that may precede a list name, see List Names. The Directory of Lists also provides links to list content and to the upload, download, and remove functions. You can do all of the following:

• Click a list name to view the list contents.

• Click the up-triangle icon to upload a copy of the list (which must share the same name).

• Click the down-triangle icon to download a copy of the list.

• Click the "X" icon to delete (remove) a list from messageREACH.

Note that the modification time reflects the date and time that the list was last updated.

List Display

List Display lets you view the selected list. The displayed list is organized into columns that correspond to your list headings.

1. List Name: Type the list name - the name you provided when the list was uploaded to messageREACH. (You do not have to enter a leading "!" or "#" symbol.)

2. Click Display.

Note: You can also view the contents of any list by clicking the list name in the Directory of Lists.

List Download

List Download allows you to retrieve a copy of a selected list from messageREACH. Downloaded lists are formatted in organized columns as described in the List File Contents section of this guide.

1. List Name: Type the list name - the name you provided when the list was uploaded to messageREACH. (You do not have to enter a leading "!" or "#" symbol.)

2. Enable the radio button that corresponds to the file type, either CSV or CDL.

3. Click Download.

4. In the Save As window, choose a location for the download file, then click OK. The file is downloaded to the specified location.

List Upload

Use List Upload to send address lists to messageREACH. Lists must be text files in either CDL format or CSV format. See List File Contents for file format information.

1. List Name - Type a name for the list you wish to store at messageREACH.

2. Insert Character Set - Specify the character set of your inserts.

3. Enable the radio button that corresponds to the file type, either CSV or CDL.

4. Enable the Strict Checking checkbox if you want messageREACH to validate that all rows have the same number of data fields.

5. File Name - Type the exact path and filename for the list you are uploading, or click Browse and locate the file.

6. Click Upload to send the file to messageREACH. You are notified regarding upload success or failure.

Once the list has successfully uploaded, you can use it for message delivery. (Indicate the list or lists you wish to use on the Job Submission form.)

List Removal

List Removal instructs messageREACH to delete the named list. Once deleted, the list is no longer available for use with messageREACH unless you upload it again.

1. List Name: Type the list name - the name you provided when the list was uploaded to messageREACH. (You do not have to enter a leading "!" or "#" symbol.)

2. Click the Delete the list button to remove the list. You are not given a confirmation notice; the list is simply deleted. You are notified regarding the success or failure of the list deletion.

Removal Report

Click this link, then enter an e-mail address for the report and click the button. A removal report will be sent right away.

Email Job Submission

The Overview section, immediately below, outlines the sequence of steps for sending a message (submitting a job) from the messageREACH Web site. Details about filling out the job submission form are located in the Details section that follows the Overview.

OVERVIEW

To access the job submission form if it is not already displayed, click the Job Submission link in the left pane of the messageREACH Web site. Then, follow the steps below to send a message. (See Details for more information about these steps.)

1. Check User ID

   Be sure your User ID is displayed to the left of the form. Some browsers and Internet servers may cache this page from a previous system user. Or, if your browser is Netscape Navigator(R) and you are accessing messageREACH through a proxy server, your ID may not appear at all. To resolve this problem, see "Why isn’t my User ID displayed...” in the messageREACH FAQ.
   
   
   

2. Provide one or more addresses (Lists, Local List, Additional Addresses) to which the message will be sent

   You must specify at least one address for your message; the address (or list name) is indicated in any of the first three fields on the form: Lists, Local Lists, Additional Addresses. The address can be one or more lists stored at messageREACH, one locally-stored list, one or more individual addresses, or any combination of the above.

   Note: If you are registered for Subscription Management, you will not see the above list boxes. Instead you will see a box to enter one or more subscription management query names, or you can use the browse button to view and select the query names. When using Subscription Management queries, you are not permitted to send to other lists or ad-hoc addresses. If you want to "test" a message to view its results prior to actually sending it to a query list, you should set up a "test" query that has for its selection, only your test addresses.
   
   
   

3. Indicate whether or not to Skip Duplicate Addresses

   Choose Yes or No to turn on or turn off duplicate-address processing. Choosing yes will cause duplicate email addresses to be skipped so those recipients will only receive one copy of the message. All other entries of the same address will show "DUP" in the posting column instead of "Post" indicating the message to this address has been discarded.
   
   
   

4. Optionally provide a Subject, Customer Reference, and/or Billing Code

   You can enter text for the e-mail Subject field for the out-going message. You can also enter a customer reference and/or a billing code.
   
   
   

5. Indicate whether or not to enable the automatic Send-a-friend feature

   Choose Yes or No to turn on or turn off the Send-a-friend feature. Send-a-friend provides recipients with a way to send a copy of your message to their friends, who may then opt to be included on your distribution list.

   If you change the drop-down box to YES, a send-a-friend link will be added at the end of the message text, before any trailer or remove block text. The send-a-friend link will be preceded by:

   Plain text version:
   "To send a copy of this message to your friend(s) click on the following link: URL Link"
   

   The HTML and HTML-Lite version:
   "To send a copy of this message to your friend(s) click here."

   Note: This is the automatic send-a-friend feature. You can insert a send-a-friend link anywhere in the message body, using your own introduction text by using the (mr_sendafriend) token. If you do, you should not change the drop-down box to YES - because then multiple send-a-friend links will be in the message body.
   

6. Indicate whether or not to enable the HTML Open Tracking feature

   This feature allows you to track whether an HTML recipient has "opened" your message or viewed it in the preview pane of the receiving e-mail software.
   
   
   

7. Provide text for the body of your message

   Click the Select Message Body Files button to choose one or more message body files, or click Edit Or Create Body Text to create a new text file. If you choose to send the body of your message in multiple formats (i.e., multipart/alternative), each recipient automatically sees an HTML version if their mail program can display it; otherwise, they see the plain text version if you have sent multipart/alternative. See Message Body Preparation for more help.
   
   
   

8. Specify Attachments and Identify Pull Files, Pull Security, and Pull Expiration

   Attachment files are delivered to all recipients with the message body. Pull files are not automatically sent; instead, the recipient can optionally download them from the messageREACH server. See Attachments, or (Pull) Files to be Stored for details.
   
   NOTE: You can use any combination of up to 290 attachments, pull files, and messageREACH Click-TO links in a single message. If you include links to images stored on the messageREACH server, be sure to count them as pull files.
   
   
   

9. Schedule Future Delivery if Desired

   Your message is sent right away if you leave the default "No" setting set to "No". Otherwise, choose "Yes" and indicate the delivery date and start time.

   Note: You should not schedule a job more than 24-48 hours in advance. The reason for this suggestion is that the job is prepared at input time for all the destinations, and put on hold until the scheduled time. If during this time, a recipient of a previous message asks to be removed, that address will be blocked for future messages, but not the one(s) already in the system that are scheduled for delivery.
   
   
   

10. Select Report Options

    Choose the types of reports you wish to automatically receive, if any.
    
    
    

11. Click Submit

    Your job is submitted to messageREACH when you click the Submit button.

DETAILS

Each of the fields on the messageREACH Job Submission form is described in detail beneath the corresponding field heading below. (See Overview for general information.)

• Lists

  Use this optional field to select address lists (stored at messageREACH) to which your message will be sent.
  
  

  DO THIS

  Work in the List Selector window as follows:
  
  

  1. Click Browse (located to the right of the Lists field). The List Selector window displays the names of your registered lists in the left column.

  2. Select a list, then click Add. The list name is copied to the column on the right.

  3. Continue this process until the names of all the lists you wish to use are copied on the right. (Select a list on the right and click Remove if you need to remove a list from the right column.)

  4. When you finish selecting lists, click OK.

  The selected list names, each separated by a comma, are now displayed in the List field on the form. The " ! ” symbol that precedes your list names is explained below in the List Names Preceded by " ! ” section.
  
  

  OR DO THIS

  In the Lists field, type the names of any lists you wish to use, choosing from among your lists that are stored at messageREACH. Separate each list name with a comma. Be sure to accurately type your list names.
  
  
  

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• Local List

  Optionally, you can select ONE list that is locally stored (for example, a list stored on your PC). The list must be in Comma Separated Value (.csv) format.

  DO THIS

  Click Browse (located to the right of the Local Lists field) to locate and select the file. After you make a selection and click Open, the list path is displayed on the messageREACH form.

  OR DO THIS

  In the Local Lists field, type the full path and file name for the .csv-formatted list.
  
  
  

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• Additional Addresses

  Optionally, you may add individual e-mail addresses to which your message will be sent. Typically, these destinations are not included in a list you are using. Additional addresses are often used in conjunction with address lists, but may also be used instead of a list. Note that you can not use inserts or passwords with additional addresses.
  
  For SMS users: You may also add individual SMS addresses. These are one-time use addresses that will not be added to your lists. These SMS addresses can be used in addition to lists or can be used instead of a list.
  
  You can enter in both email and SMS addresses in this area; the system will automatically send your message via the appropriate medium.
  
  Remember to format the SMS addresses based upon your local area. For example, If you are US customer and want to send to Europe, the SMS address would be configured like “01146xxxxxxx”. If you are a US user and you want to send to a US destination, the address needs to be configured as "215555XXXX". If the you are a European user sending to an international destination, the SMS address would be configured as “001xxxxx”.

  The SMS phone number can include dashes (-); they will just be stripped out before sending.

  The SMS phone number CANNOT include spaces or parenthesis.

  Please note: Do not use parenthesis in your SMS numbers. Inserts will not work with additional addresses.

  DO THIS

  Work in the Edit Address window by following these steps:

  1. Click Edit (located to the right of the Additional Addresses field).

  2. Type each address, one at a time, in the upper field. Click Add after typing each address, and the address is moved to the lower field. (Click Clear if you wish to clear all addresses from the lower field and start again; you can also select an address in the lower field and click Remove to delete it.)

  3. When the lower field displays all the individual addresses to which you want to send your message, click OK. The addresses are transferred to the Additional Addresses field on the form.

  
  

  OR DO THIS

  In the Additional Addresses field, type each address, separated by a comma. Include the complete Internet e-mail address. Deliveries cannot be made to an incorrect address.

  To edit, add, or delete addresses, open the Edit Address window, or make the changes directly in the Additional Addresses field.
  
  

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• Skip Duplicate Addresses

  This feature is an option which is controlled by your User Profile. If you wish to change this capability, please contact Customer Service.

  Select "Yes" if you wish the message to be sent only once per recipient, even if the recipient's email address appears multiple times in the address list(s).

  Select "No" if you wish the recipients to receive the message as many times as their email address appear on the address list(s).
  

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• Subject

  This optional field corresponds to the e-mail Subject field for the out-going message. Subject fields are usually displayed in the recipient’s mailbox before the mail item is opened. Enter the text to be displayed, up to 256 characters. The subject field cannot exceed one line of text.
  
  Note: Since "remove” in the Subject line indicates a remove request, do not include the word "remove” when you specify a Subject for your message!

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• Character Set

  This field specifies the character set for the text of your message. All text associated with your message, including the Subject, Body Text, inserts, and text attachments, should share the same character set.
  
  The following table shows the character sets supported by messageREACH, along with their corresponding Internet Standard names.
  
  

  CHARACTER SET	INTERNET STANDARD NAME(S)
  Western European (the printable ASCII characters used in the US, also known as Latin 1)	ISO-8859-1
  Chinese	Simplified (gb2312) and Traditional (big5)
  Japanese	EUC-JP and Shift-JIS
  Korean	EUC-KR
  Unicode (UTF-8 encoded) NOTE: Unicode is not supported for list inserts.	UTF-8

  
  
  
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• Customer Reference

  An optional customer reference ("cref") provides an easy way for you to identify a message if a problem arises and you must contact messageREACH Customer Service. You can also use this reference to help you locate your job when you initiate a status update. References are displayed in your reports, however they do not usually appear on your invoices. Typically, a c-ref consists of a word or brief description of the message contents. Up to 40 characters are permitted.
  
  
  

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• Billing Code

  An optional billing code is typically used for identifying the individual or department in your organization who sent a particular message. You can also use this code to identify your job for a status update. Billing codes are displayed in your reports and invoices. They can also be used on an invoice to sort and subtotal your jobs. Up to 180 characters are permitted.
  
  

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• Enable Send-a-friend

  To enable send-a-friend for any message, the keyword token (mr_sendafriend) must be present in each message body (or leader/trailer) or the Automatic Send-a-friend check off box must be set to "Yes".

  Send-a-friend provides recipients with a way to send a copy of your message to their friends. It preserves the original document formatting, avoiding common forwarding problems such as long/short lines and wrong format to AOL destinations. Messages delivered to such friends include a default or customized stored send-a-friend header explaining that the message is from the original recipient and any comments the original recipient added. The customized stored header can also be used to give the friends the opportunity, if they wish, to be included on your distribution list, by clicking on a link to your web site. The stored header information can be saved as plain text, html and html-lite. Friend recipients can also send a copy of the message to their friends.
  
  If this feature is enabled, recipients can send your message by clicking a link to a web page where they enter their name and the e-mail address(es) of friends. They can also add their own optional text message. messageREACH then delivers the original document to the friends, displaying the recipient's name in the From field. Since the recipient is not on your list, the Remove information is not included in messages sent by your recipients.
  
  The default send-a-friend leader is:
  This message has been sent to you at the request of [original recipients name]
  [original recipient's comments]
  
  A separate report on the friend deliveries is available (either a Summary or a Detail report). In accordance with our anti-SPAM policy, the addresses of the send-a-friend recipients are not disclosed unless those individuals choose to be added to your list. Select Yes or No to turn on or turn off the Send-a-friend feature.
  
  

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  HTML Open Tracking

  If you would like messageREACH to report on whether your HTML messages have been opened by their recipients, you will need to select an Open Tracking option.

  1. Choose either Top or Bottom and messageREACH will add a clear (transparent) gif image to the message body where you have specified to enable tracking.
     
     If you choose Top, the clear gif will be placed at the very top of your HTML document and may shift your message down by a few lines.
     
     If you choose Bottom, the clear gif will be place at the very bottom of your HTML document and will not shift your message.
     
     
  2. Choose None if you do not want to use open tracking.

  The summary report will indicate an "HTML Open" count for both unique opens by each destination and multiple opens by the same destination. The summary report will also show the percentage open rates. Note: If some destinations receive plain text or multipart/alternative (text and HTML) or HTML-Lite message body, the percentage open rate will be understated, since the rate is computed on all deliveries and it will not be known how many such destinations read only the plain text version. Only if all destinations are receiving only the HTML version, would the percentage open rate would be accurate. However, you can use the calculated HTML open rate to compare the open rate over a period of time through multiple broadcasts.

  The detail report will show columns for HTML opens, total count, unique count and time of first open.

  Note: If you are hosting your own images or if your document does not contain any images at all, you will want to select the Pull Report at the time you launch your job.
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• Message Body Files

  You can send the body of your message in multiple formats (i.e., multipart/alternative), or you can send it in just one format. If you choose to send multipart/alternative, your recipients automatically see an HTML version if their mail programs can display it; otherwise, they see the plain text version.
  
  

  • See Message Body Preparation if you need help preparing a message body file.

  • To simply create a text file now for the body of the message, see Create Body Text.

  To send an existing text file, or HTML, or multipart/alternative, follow the steps below:

  DO THIS

  1. Click the Select button to choose one or more message body files.

  2. In the Select Body Files window, select a file by clicking the Browse button adjacent to the file format (text, HTML, or "HTML-Lite"). For example, choose the Text Browse button to locate a previously-prepared plain text file; choose the HTML Browse box to choose an HTML file, or HTML-Lite to choose an HTML-Lite version of the message body. Note that each file must have the correct extension: .txt for text files; .html or .htm for HTML or HTML-Lite files.

  3. After locating the file and clicking Open in the dialog box, the file name and path are displayed in the Select Body Files Window.

  4. Repeat steps 1-3 to select each file version. Click on any of the upload buttons to upload all the selected files.

  5. The file path itself is now a link to the file; you can click it to view the file if you wish. Keep in mind when viewing a file in this way that your browser is displaying the file. The file may not look identical to a recipient's mail viewer rendering. (For text files, the link text may simply indicate that text has been typed-in versus displaying a file path. Also regarding text files, you can edit the file after clicking the link; or you can edit it by clicking the Edit button.)

  6. Note that a Delete "button" appears after each file is uploaded. This link can be used to undo a file selection.

  7. When you are done, click OK. You are returned to the Job Submission form where the files you selected are now listed in the Select Message Body Files list box. (You can still edit your choices if you wish by clicking the Select button again.)

  OR DO THIS

  Instead of (or in addition to) including one or more files, you can create a plain text file by clicking the Edit Or Create Body Text button; see below.
  
  
  

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• Edit/Create Body Text

  If you wish to simply send only a text file for the body of the message (or edit an existing file), follow these steps:
  
  

  1. Click the Edit/Create Body Text button.

  2. In the window that opens, type the message body text. Line wrapping is automatic in the recipient's mail reader. However, to control line wrapping yourself, you can enter line breaks in the usual way: with your carriage return key.

  3. Click Save when you are done typing the message.

  4. The Select Body Files window opens, indicating that you have typed-in text for the message body. Click Edit if you wish to modify this text, or Delete if you wish to delete the text.

  5. Click OK to send only the text version of your message. Otherwise, if you decide to include an HTML version, see the Select Message Body File instructions above.

  See Message Body Preparation: Plain Text Files for more information on preparing message body files.
  
  
  

  Message Body Inserts

  If you wish to use inserts in the message body, they may be placed in the message text (or text file) as in the example that follows:

  This is my message to you (I3), and I have included your name by using an insert.

  The insert was indicated by enclosing the uppercase letter I (for Insert) and the insert number in parentheses. If you use inserts, they correspond to the INS-numbered data that you would then supply in your lists. For more information on inserts, see Using Inserts to Personalize Your Message.
  
  
  

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• Attachments for Delivery with Message Body

  You cannot type directly into the Attachments field. Instead, follow the steps below.
  
  NOTE: You can use up to 290 attachments in a single message. However, if you are sending a combination of attachments, pull files, and/or messageREACH Click-TO links, the combined total is 290 per message. Links to images stored on the messageREACH server count as pull files.

  DO THIS

  Use Browse in the Select Attachments window as follows:
  
  

  1. Click Select. The Select Attachments window opens.

  2. There are 5 boxes to enter the attachment file names (including path), or use the corresponding "Browse" button to locate and select the file, then click Open. The path and file name are now displayed in the Select Attachment field.

  3. Click Add. This uploads the file(s) to messageREACH. (Depending on file size and speed of connection, this may take several seconds.) When the upload completes, the path and file name(s) are moved to the List of Attachments field. The attachment file name boxes are now empty.

  4. Continue adding file name(s) until all of the desired attachments are uploaded and listed in the List of Attachments field. To remove an attachment from this field, select the file and click Remove.

  5. Click OK. The attachments to be delivered with the message body are now displayed on the messageREACH form.

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• Pull Files

  You cannot type directly into this field. Instead, follow the steps below.
  
  NOTE: You can use any combination of up to 290 attachments, pull files, and messageREACH Click-TO links in a single message. If you include links to images stored on the messageREACH server, be sure to count them as pull files.

  DO THIS

  Use Browse in the Select Pull Files window as follows:
  
  

  1. Click Select. The Select Pull Files window opens.

  2. There are 5 boxes to enter the pull file names - or click the corresponding "Browse" button to select each pull file. Enter or browse up to 5 pull files at the same time.

  3. If you click on the Browse button, you can locate and select the file, then click Open. The path and file name are now displayed in the Select Pull File field.

  4. Click Add. This uploads the file(s) to messageREACH. (Depending on file size and speed of connection, this may take several seconds.) When the upload completes, the path and file name(s) are moved to the List of Pull Files field. The 5 boxes for additional pull file names are not empty.

  5. Continue to add additional file names until all of the desired pull files are uploaded and listed in the List of Pull Files field. To remove an attachment from this field, select the file and click Remove.

  6. Click OK. The pull files to be made available for recipient download are now displayed on the messageREACH form.

  OR DO THIS

  To upload pull files for recipients to download: Click Select. In the Select Pull Files window, type the complete path and file name into the Select Pull File field.
  
  
  

• Pull File Security

  Pull file security refers to the level of Internet security in effect when message recipients download your pull files from messageREACH. Choose an appropriate setting from the options described below:
  
  

  • Normal - no encryption; files are retrieved using standard http protocol

  • Secure - Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption; files are retrieved using https protocol

  The Secure setting provides at least the minimum encryption level specified in your User Profile. The file will not be accessible to potential recipients who do not have an updated browser capable of handling the level you requested. The minimum security level is 40-bit, which is the lowest security level provided by most browsers today in the US. If you request a higher security level for your pull files, such as 128-bit, potential recipients with less security will need to update their browsers to access your files.
  
  

  File Upload via messageREACH

  You can upload your pull files to messageREACH via either the normal or secure method, as described in the Security section of this document.
  
  
  

• Pulls Expire After

  Use the drop-down box to select the number of days during which recipients can request your pull files. messageREACH generates a completion report for you once the time expires. Recipients who request a pull file after the file's expiration date receive an error notice stating that the file is no longer available.
  
  
  

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• Pull Password

  Choose "Yes" if you want to require the recipients of your message to enter a password before they can view your Pull Files. If all users will enter the same password, enter the password in the Master Password fields. You must enter the password twice to ensure that it is correct. If recipients have individual passwords, you must include a "Password" column in your list.
  
  Note: The choice of Pull Password implies the use of Pull File Security.
  
  
  

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• Master Password

  If you set Pull Password to "Yes," you can enter a master password that all your recipients will be able to use to access your Pull Files. Enter the Master Password twice to ensure that you have entered it correctly.
  
  Note: These fields are disabled if you have not set Pull Password to "Yes."
  
  
  

• Password Lifetime

  If you use password pulls for multiple messages to the same destination - the recipient may complain about the necessity to enter the same password for each pull file. Password Lifetime is an option that can be stored in your profile. The profile value states how long the lifetime of the password should be - we suggest 24 hours. When this is set, the first time the recipient enters the password, a cookie is stored on his/her browser. The next time another message from you is sent to the same recipient, and the recipient clicks on the pull link, messageREACH checks for the cookie. If the cookie has not expired, messageREACH sends the file without requiring the recipient to enter the password.
  
  Note: The password is NOT stored in the cookie. Only messages from you to the same recipient will use the same cookie process. When the cookie expires, the recipient clicking on the link will again be requested to enter the password. Call Customer Service to set the Password Lifetime in the profile.
  
  
  

• Auto Pull Reference

  For normal pull files, leave the Auto Pull Reference set to Yes. When set to Yes, messageREACH automatically creates pull links (or it completes any that you may have provided).
  
  The only time you should set the Auto Pull Reference to "No" is when you are sending multipart/alternative and any of the following are true:
  
  

  • you have added one or more image pulls to an HTML file (in this case you want the image to be automatically downloaded). Reminder: if this is true, be sure to modify the image link in the HTML file, and select the image file(s) as pull file(s) on the Job Submission form. For details, see More Help: Adding Images to an E-mail Message.

  • you want to use different pull files for text versus HTML and/or HTML-Lite deliveries.

  • you have pull links in attachments or pull links in pull files.

  
  
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• Schedule Future Delivery

  If you want the distribution to begin immediately, skip this option.
  
  To schedule your message for future delivery, follow these steps:
  
  

  1. Click the drop-down box and choose Yes for a scheduled delivery.

  2. Click the Start Date boxes (one each for the month, day, and year) to set the date for the delivery to begin. If you do not specify a date, the current date is assumed.

  3. Click the Start Time boxes (one each for the hour, minutes, and time of day, i.e., AM or PM) to set the time to your local time zone. If you do not specify a date, the current date is assumed.

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• End Time (for SMS delivery only)

  All messages are immediately attempted for delivery (assuming the message is not set for scheduled delivery). If the recipient’s device is not available, the recipient’s SMS provider will continue to make attempts to deliver the message.

  If a message has not been successfully delivered and you would like to stop delivery attempts after a certain period of time, you can enter in an End Date and End Time.

  Please note that this feature is a function of the recipient’s SMS provider, not Premiere Global Services. We pass the informaton on to the various providers and it is dependent upon their adoption of the feature as to whether they will stop trying at the appointed time.

  1. Click the drop-down box and choose Yes to choose an end time.

  2. Click the End Date boxes (one each for the month, day, and year) to set the date for the delivery to begin. If you do not specify a date, the current date is assumed.

  3. Click the End Time boxes (one each for the hour, minutes, and time of day, i.e., AM or PM) to set the time to your local time zone. If you do not specify a date, the current date is assumed.

  4. If you leave the end date or end time field blank, it will assume no “end-time” and continue to try and deliver based upon the recipient’s provider.

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• Reports

  Note: The default email report is sent as plain text. However, an HTML version of the report is available. The HTML version uses tables, which may provide a more legible view of the data. Contact messageREACH customer service to request a change in the report to the HTML version.

  Select the types of reports you would like to receive. Your report options are as follows:

  
  

  Posting Report

  None	No automatic posting report. (If you choose this option, you can still get reports when you need them by clicking Status in the messageREACH window.)
  Summary	A report that summarizes known information about the job and its attachments or pull files. See Summary Report in the Reports topic for more information.
  Enhanced Summary	An enhanced report of summary information as a PDF or Excel file containing both results and a graphical representation of the results. Note: You must register for enhanced reports. See your salesperson for details.

  
  

  Completion Report

  See the Report Types in the Reports topic for a full description of the available report types.

  As above, an enhanced summary report is also available that contains graphical representation of the results.
  
  
  

  Send-a-friend Report

  Send-a-friend reports are simply Detail or Summary reports. They report on the new job created when recipients use the Send-a-friend feature to forward your message to their friends. In accordance with our anti-SPAM policy, the addresses of the send-a-friend recipients are not disclosed unless those individuals choose to be added to your list. The reference field in the detail report will contain the original destination information, or if this field was blank on the original list, the original email destination address will be displayed. Thus you can see which original recipient was responsible for each send-a-friend address.
  

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Pull Files: What Recipients See

This topic describes how recipients can access your pull files. Most modern e-mail software recognizes hyperlinks and properly displays the links to your pull files. The recipient then clicks a link to access the associated file.

When a pull link is clicked, the following events occur:

• The recipient is connected to the messageREACH site; their browser launches if not already running.

• Document availability is verified. If the job has expired, messageREACH displays an appropriate error message.

• Browser security settings are verified. If they do not match the required level of security, messageREACH displays an appropriate error message.

• The pull file is sent to the browser if the job has not expired and if the security settings match the requirements.

• Depending on the file type and the recipient’s software and configurations, any of the following may occur:

  • File opens within the browser

  • It may need to be downloaded. If so, a download link is displayed.

  • It may be possible to open it with a separate software application. If so, a dialog box presents the recipient with several options, including saving the file to a location the recipient chooses.

• The recipient address and file access time are logged and made available to you in your Pull and Detail reports.

Job Status

For job status information, access the messageREACH Status Request form by clicking the Status link in the left panel of the main messageREACH window. The Status Request form allows you to check the status of jobs currently in progress as well as those jobs that were completed within the last 60 days. Note: Although status is displayed for up to 60 days, the resubmit function is only available for up to 2 days after the job ends.

Report Parameters

You can select the activity period for the search. The period can range from any jobs submitted in the past hour to those submitted up to an allowed maximum number of days.

Report Filters

You can narrow a search by entering the billing code or the customer reference you assigned to the job (or enter both), or by simply entering the job number that was provided when you submitted the job. You can also specify the order of the display: from oldest to newest or the reverse.

After selecting the search parameters and/or filters, click the Submit Query button. A delay occurs while messageREACH searches for jobs matching your query. During busy periods, the query may take several minutes to complete.

Activity Summary

The Activity Summary form displays summary information for each job, whether completed or still active. It lists the customer reference, billing code, list names, number of items (destinations), when messageREACH received the job, when delivery attempts were started, the current job status, and the job priority you assigned. Finally, if the job is still active, the Optional Action column displays a Cancel link (which lets you cancel the job if need be). For both active jobs and completed jobs, a link to Resubmit the job is displayed. This link lets you resend the job.

Canceling Jobs

Clicking the Cancel link opens a confirmation screen. If you confirm that you want to cancel the job, a request is sent to messageREACH to cancel the job as soon as the request is received. If the deliveries have not begun (such as in a scheduled job where the start time has not been reached), then it is possible to cancel the job before any deliveries are posted. If the job has begun, you can only cancel the deliveries that have not yet been posted.

Resubmitting Jobs

The resubmit request form allows you to submit a new job based on an existing job. The new job will have the same message body text and attachments or pull files as the original job, but all other job options can be changed.

If a "Job Group" link appears in the Job Number column, you submitted the original request as a job group. The resubmit option is not available for entire job groups. However, you can resubmit any of the components (the "children" of the job group), by clicking the Job Group link. The individual jobs in the group are displayed, and you can then click Resubmit for each "child" job you wish to resubmit.

Reports

messageREACH reports include posting reports, interim reports, completion reports and CSV reports. In addition, the specific report types are: Summary, Detail, Pull, Exception, and Bad Address reports. All these reports are described in this help topic. Also covered is How to Get a Report, and an analysis of Report Content.

Send-a-friend reports are simply Detail or Summary reports. They report on the new job created when recipients use the Send-a-friend feature to forward your message to their friends. In accordance with our anti-SPAM policy, the addresses of the send-a-friend recipients are not disclosed unless those individuals choose to be added to your list.

NOTE: Removal Reports are covered in the Address List topic; these reports are accessed via List Services. An HTML version of the Summary section of the report is now available. Contact messageREACH Customer Service to request the default report template be changed to the HTML version.

Report Definitions

The following terms are used in connection with various report types:

Report Types

The basic types of reports are described in the chart below:

How to Get a Report

When you submit your message for delivery, you can request that reports are automatically sent to you. Otherwise, you can request specific types of reports on-demand, that is, at any time during the lifetime of your job. (See Job Lifecycle for job lifecycle information.)

Getting Automatic Reports

When you send a message for delivery via messageREACH, you choose whether or not you wish to automatically receive reports, and if so, what kinds of you reports you want. At the bottom of the Job Submission form, indicate which of the following you would like to receive:

• Posting report - Choose Summary; otherwise, you can choose None, and a posting report is not sent.

• Completion report - Choose from among the available report types, described in the preceding Report Types section.

• Send-a-friend report - Choose either a Detail or a Summary report. Both of these reports inform you about the new job created when recipients use the Send-a-friend feature to forward your message to their friends. (Be sure to enable Send-a-friend on the Job Submission form if you wish to use this feature.) Privacy dictates that the addresses of the send-a-friend recipients are not disclosed unless those individuals choose to be added to your list.

These reports are sent to the report destination registered in your User Profile.

Getting Reports On-Demand

You can get a report at any time during a job’s lifetime by clicking the Status link in the messageREACH window. The report is sent to the destination address that you specify.

Report Content

The e-mail body of a typical report is displayed below, followed by an explanation of each field. After that is a sample CSV file and a description of its data columns.

A Typical Report Body (HTML Version)

Displayed below is the e-mail body of a typical report. This report is labeled an Interim Summary Report, but all report types display the common information found here (except as noted). In addition, reports other than Summary reports provide the specifics you requested in an accompanying CSV file.

Report Body Explained (for plain text sample report)

The Posting Summary indicates a count for each status described below:

Posted - Delivery has been attempted at least once to the indicated number of addresses. Though some deliveries may have already succeeded, posted status more likely indicates that these messages are on their way to their target destinations. these destinations.

Cancelled - Invalid addresses; delivery is not attempted to these destinations.

Pend - Pending; delivery has not yet been attempted to these destinations.

Blocked - Recipient has requested removal from distribution; delivery is not attempted to.

Error - An error has occurred to these destinations.

The other report body fields are explained below.

  messageREACH Interim Summary Report (The report type you requested)

  Attention: Marilyn (Names the report requester if report was requested
  on-demand; otherwise, names Report recipient from User Profile)
  Job Number: 00015734 (A messageREACH-assigned job identifier)
  Sent By User: xsi/user_name (Identifies the user who submitted the job)
  Entered System: 04/27 14:54 EDT (When job arrived at messageREACH)
  Report Generated: 04/27 14:56 EDT
  User's Filename: F:\msgfile\body.htm (File name of message body
  if the body was not typed in.)
  Customer Reference: mycref
  Billing Code: mybillingcode
  Posting Status: DONE (DONE indicates the job is posted; other possible
  statuses: Pending, and In Progress)
  Subject: Here's the latest information

  Attachment File Summary: (Attachment information only appears if your job
  included attachments)

  File Name                        Size
  ------------------------------   --------
  att1.htm                              193
  att2.txt                              132

  Pull File Summary: (Pull information only appears if your job included
  pull files)

  Total pulls show the total number of pulls for the specified file, counting each pull
  even if multiple pull requests come from the same destination.  This can happen
  frequently for images automatically pulled into a message as it is placed in a
  preview pane in an email client. Unique pulls count only 1 pull event per destination.

                                    Total     Total    Unique   Unique
  File Name              Size       Pulls     Pull %   Pulls    Pull %
  --------------------   --------   --------  ------   -------  ------
  pull1.html                   68          4  133.33         3  100.00
  pull2.html                  201          2   66.67         2   66.67

  Total Pulls                              6                 5

  % calculations are based on the number of pull events divided by the total posted LESS soft/hard bounces.

  Note: Total pull percentages can be higher than the number of destinations for small
  lists, because of multiple pulls from the same destinations.


 

  Posting Summary:

                                   Percent
  Posted                 3          60.00
  Cancelled              0           0.00
  Pend                   2          40.00
  Blocked                0           0.00
  Error                  0           0.00
  Total                  5

  Of the 3 items posted, there are:
                                   Percent of posted
  Delivered              0           0.00 (Only appears if DSN is on)
  Assumed delv'd         3         100.00
  Soft/Hard Bounce       0           0.00

CSV

The CSV format provides a database representation of the addresses and information on which it is reporting. You can open this file using a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel. Otherwise, a text representation of the file is set up as follows:

• Each line of the file corresponds to a single entry or record.

• The fields in a record are separated by commas.

• Commas may be followed by a space and/or tab characters, but these are ignored.

• If field includes a comma, the whole field is enclosed in double quotes.

The first row contains the column headings. The headings as well as all the data values are separated by commas. No spaces are used between different comma-separated values, and commas are used as placeholders wherever data is not included in a specific column.

Sample CSV File Opened in Excel

The CSV part of the report can be viewed in a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel. There, it is formatted as follows:

Note that Read Receipt information is only displayed if your User Profile is set to show MDNs.

CSV File Information

As you saw in the example above, the CSV file organizes the job information into columns. These columns are similar for each report type; they are explained below, with the differences noted:

Item Number – A messageREACH-supplied count of each destination address, beginning with the number 1

Ref – A unique reference supplied by you for each address in the list; typically, it names the recipient to help you easily identify the recipient's address

Address – A message destination, that is, a recipient’s e-mail address or the name of a list to which the message was sent

Posting – A status indicating whether or not delivery is underway to this address. Possible posting statuses include:

• PEND – Pending posting

• POST – Successfully posted

• BLOC – The recipient has previously requested to be removed from sender's recipient list

• INVD – Invalid e-mail address; not posted

• CANC – Canceled; most likely you canceled some time after submitting the job

• CNVF – Delivery to the associated address was unsuccessful due to a character conversion failure. A conflict exists between the character set chosen for the message and the character set used for the list inserts.

• DUP – Duplicate address; Skip Duplicate Addresses was yes for the job and this address was a duplicate

Delivery Receipt – Displays an abbreviated representation of the most recent DSN activity that occurred (if any). Possible status indicators include:

• blank field – No DSNs received for this address

• SUCC – Successfully delivered (Information on successful delivery is only displayed if User Profile is set to show DSNs.)

• DLVD – Delivery confirmed by DSNs (Information on successful delivery is only displayed if User Profile is set to show DSNs.)

• NDLV – A negative DSN confirmed unsuccessful delivery attempt to this address

• BADR – Failed delivery; this is a bad address, a permanent error

• MBFL – Recipient’s mailbox was full; a temporary error; a future delivery attempt may succeed

• TBIG – Failed; e-mail size exceeds recipient’s maximum size allowed for incoming mail

• ERR – Failed for an unspecified reason. May be permanent or temporary error

Read Receipt – Displays an abbreviated representation of the most recent MDN activity that occurred (if any). NOTE: Information only displayed if your User Profile is set to show MDNs. Possible status indicators include:

• blank field – No MDNs received for this address

• READ – Read confirmation received; (mail was opened and receipt returned)

• DEND – Recipient denied (canceled) the MDN confirmation

• DELD – MDN unread and deleted by recipient

Total Pulls – Number of times the recipient downloaded the pull files. NOTE: Column only displayed if pull files were submitted.

One column for each Pull file – Each column header names a pull file if one or more were submitted with the job. The first file download date and time are included for each address unless a recipient did not download the file.

One additional column for each Pull file - starting with # – shows the number of pull events for each file. It is possible for this number to be greater than one. For example, for images automatically pulled into an HTML message, the pull event will occur each time the recipient opens the message, or the message is visible in the reader

Replies, Removals, and Removal Reports

What happens when a recipient uses his or her e-mail reply feature to respond to messageREACH e-mail? That is the subject of this help topic. Removal Reports are also covered.

Replies

When messageREACH receives replies that do not include the word "remove” in the subject line, the replies are automatically forwarded to you. They are sent to the e-mail reply address specified in your User Profile.

Remove Requests

Removal instructions are included for each recipient at the end of every messageREACH message. By following the instructions, recipients who no longer wish to receive mail from you (via messageREACH) will be blocked from further distributions. To do this, recipients can reply to the message by placing the word "remove” in the Subject line, or they can click the mailto: link, or click the Web link and follow the instructions.

messageREACH sends one additional message to the recipient confirming the removal. Most blocking takes effect by the end of the day that the request is received, or within 24 hours. Removal requests are honored whenever they are received—even if this occurs after the associated job expires.

Addresses for removal are recorded in a messageREACH "block” list. Block lists are associated with specific users. Therefore, a recipient can be removed from your lists, although the same recipient can continue receiving mail sent by another messageREACH user if that is their choice. (Please ensure that each recipient is indeed interested in receiving the types of mail you intend to send; also check the validity of a new address prior to using it.) If a recipient requests removal from your distributions and later agrees to be included again, messageREACH Customer Service will help you with the reinstatement.

A User Profile option allows you to receive copies of your recipients' remove requests if you wish. Note that each remove request will be copied to the e-mail address that you specify. This address can be different from the reply address.

Removal Report

Although recipients who request list removal are blocked from your distributions, you should also remove their addresses from your lists to help speed up your message processing and keep your costs down. A removal report includes a CSV file that provides the removal addresses and the corresponding time when messageREACH received each request.

To get a removal report, click List Services on the messageREACH site. Then click Removal Report, supply an e-mail address for the report, and click the button to send the request. Refer to the report when you delete these addresses from your lists.

Vacation Notice Processing

Vacation notice processing Some destinations use a function classified as an "Autoresponder" when they are out of the office or on vacation. Typically these email clients "reply" to every message received with a fixed text, such as "I am out of the office and will read my email on my return." This is meant to politely tell you that the message was received but will not be read or answered for a while.

When you send a broadcast to thousands of recipients, you could have dozens of such autoreplies. MessageREACH analyzes each reply, and if it finds such an autoresponder message, it does not forward them to your email mailbox.

NOTE: Not every autoresponder is recognized since there is no standard for such responses, so you may still receive a number of autoreply messages.