Send an Email
The Message sends within about five minutes after you click Send unless you scheduled it to send in the future.
Want to see who actually received your message? Go to Action Status. and check out the
Email - Message Tab
Create and format what you want to say in your email.
- 1 - Message Type
- Select how you want to send your Message, either by email or text. Note: If your system is not configured to send text messages through Twilio, you won't see the Email or Text Message options. You can only send an email.
- 2 - To
- If launched from a selection, the selected records group here. You can click the search icon to select additional records. Each individual receives a unique email and can't see who received the same Message.
- 3 - Recipients
- This list displays records related to Views for Sub-Pages associated with the selected Page. The selected View applies to the selection so you can further filter the records you send to. For more information, see Message Recipients.
- 4 - Send to Parents
- Select this check box to send the Message to the parents of the Recipients. A "parent" is any household member with the Household Position of "Head of Household" with a valid email address that is not inactive or deceased. It also includes any Heads of Household associated through Other Households with the Household Type "Non-Custodial Parent" unless the relationship is end-dated. If the selected Recipient is a Head of Household, they will not receive an email, nor will the other Head in their Household.Note: If the parent opted out of receiving bulk emails, they won't receive the Message. To include them, consider selecting the Include recipients who have opted out of bulk email option on the Advanced tab.
- 5 - Subject Line
- The subject of the Message. You must have a subject line to send an email.
- 6 - Formatting Options
- You can format the content of your message. This includes bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, numbered list, bullet list, indent, outdent, align left, align center, and align right. You can also create a link, remove a link, insert an image, toggle full screen, and view the HTML source of the message. Note: If you view the HTML source, be sure to switch it back to the text before you send your Message. Otherwise, everyone receives the HTML version of your email, which might be challenging to read.
- 7 - Insert Menu
- Click Insert to see the following options.
- Templates: Select a Template as a starting place for your Message. This list is organized based on the Template's Pertains to Page and the Page of your Recipient list. Any edits you make to a Template in the New Message Tool only apply to this specific Message and do not update the Template record. Users with at least Read level permissions on the Templates page can use Templates. Users can see Templates they can access based on the Template User and Template User Group fields on the Template record. For more information on using Templates, see Templates.
- Snippets: Include pre-written HTML text that you can reuse. For more information on using Snippets, see Snippets.
- Fields: Include different types of merge fields in your Message.
- With Contact Fields, you can personalize your Message for the Recipient. For example, the [Nickname] field automatically adds the Recipient's Nickname to the message.
- The From User Fields are like Contact Fields but they merge in values related to the Sender (the current authenticated User or delegated User) rather than Recipient. For example, the [From_User_Nickname] field automatically adds the Sender's Nickname.
- With Data Fields, you can add Page-specific data to a Message.
For more information on using these fields, see Contact, From User, and Data Fields.
- 8 - Send / Save
- Click the Send menu to make the following options available:
- Save as Draft: Saves a draft of your Message. To view drafts, go to tab, and select the My Drafts view.
- Send to Me: Sends you a copy of the Message to review before you send it to your Recipients. If you included merge fields, they use the first Recipient's information to give an accurate preview of what you're about to send. Files added as Attachments are included, but files added as Links are not included.
- Send: Sends the Message to the selected Recipients. If the Message doesn't have Contact Fields or Data Fields, the system removes duplicate emails. The system calculates the Send count that displays before removing duplicates. For more on this, see Duplicate Messages.
Email - Attachments Tab
Add files to send with your email.
On the Attachments tab of the New Message Tool, you can attach, resize, and remove file attachments. There is a 20 MB file size restriction per file. Additionally, the receiving systems (and possibly your sending system or SMTP server) may have smaller file size restrictions. If so, those restrictions may prevent your email from successfully sending.
- Attachment: Adds the file as an attachment to the Message. The file saves on the Message record.
- Link: Adds a bulleted list of links (one link for each attachment) to the bottom of the Message body. You can't see these links on the Message record inside the tool, but the file saves on the Message record. The recipient can click the link to open the attachment in their browser. The link pulls the attachment from your MinistryPlatform server.
When you add at least one attachment, a count of attachments displays in the badge icon on the Attachments tab. This icon also displays a count if a selected Template contains attachments.
Email - Advanced Tab
Manage details of your email or schedule it for later.
- 1 - From
- Indicates who sends the Message. If a SPoC granted a User rights to send on behalf of someone else, the From drop-down list includes additional names. For details, see Change the From or Reply To. Note: If there is a From Contact on a Template you use, the sender of the email must be a delegate for the system to use that value.
- 2 - Reply To
- Indicates who receives replies to the Message. If a SPoC granted a User rights to indicate someone other than themselves, the Reply To drop-down list includes additional names. For details, see Change the From or Reply To. Note: If there is a Reply To Contact on a Template you use, the sender of the email must be a delegate for the system to use that value. Because email clients often handle out-of-office messages differently than replies, these messages may return directly to the sender indicated in the From drop-down list.
- 3 - Schedule Send
- Schedule the message to send at a future date or time according to the authenticated user's timezone. If the user's value isn't set, the system uses the Domain timezone. You can schedule messages to send within the next six months, based on the Message Archival schedule. For steps, see Schedule a Message.
- 4 - Bulk Email
- If necessary, select this check box to include Recipients whose Contact records have Bulk Email Opt Out set to Yes. By default, this option is unselected and doesn't include these Recipients. For more information, see Opt Out of Messages. CAUTION: We recommend you only use this for very important messages that those who opted out must see.