Not Just for the Web: Cascade and Mass Email Messages

Not Just for the Web:Cascade and Mass Email

MessagesCascade User Conference

September 17, 2013

UCO Configuration Overview

Our Challenge

Distribution of Daily News

Daily newsletterStories submitted by the UCO communityCompiled by University RelationsEmailed to the UCO community

Original Solution

Centralities Mark I

Born in 2001Hand typed daily in OutlookArchives in a shared Outlook folderHad to be sent before the close of business

Centralities - 2001

Original Solution

Centralities Mark II

Created in MS WordSent as HTML from WordAdded brandingRepeated typos due to Word->HTML translationStill archived in Outlook folderStill sent before close of business

Centralities - 2005

Centralities - 2008

Centralities - 2009

Plan for a New Version

Centralities Mark III

User friendly creation and editing of messagesQueue for sending at any timeUniversity brandedAutomatically go out to multiple mailing listsOnline version and online archive

User-Friendly Editing

The Solution

Email Message Asset – The Message

Simple two-column HTML pageLeft column for a block of upcoming eventsRight column for contentBase URL setSimple workflow: Edit -> Publish Preview -> Publish Production“View on Website” link

Workflow

Centralities - 2013

The Metafile

Email Message Asset – The Metafile

Uses the asset ID as a unique identifierContains:

Send Date and Time Path to the HTML file All information for email headers

XML-based

The Metafile

The Archive

Published nightlySimple jQuery-based script to filter the links

The Solution

Production Server-Side Script

Rewrite URLs for hostname changeExtract email information from the MetafileCheck if already processedSend the emailFinal cleanup

Lessons Learned

TimingHTML and XML files are not published instantaneously or simultaneously

Protect People from ThemselvesMore automation equals less chance of user error

Future Plans

Revise the edit formPublish the archive from the WorkflowAdd loggingErrors emailed to our Service DeskExpand solution to other areas of campus

President’s Office Cabinet Notes

David J. Lodge

405-974-2691

http://technology.uco.edu

dlodge@uco.edu