Send Test Email

Before you generate a mass email, we recommend that you send a test email to yourself or others at your organization, so that you can verify the email contents and format.

Tip: Set up free email accounts with some of the most popular web-based email providers, such as Google, Yahoo, Hotmail/Outlook. Send a test email to each account to verify how your message appears for multiple email providers. Your email may vary slightly based on how each provider renders the HTML content. We also recommend viewing the email from a smart phone and in text only mode.

You can send a test email when you set up the communication template. The advantage of this method is that you remain on the template set up screen in eTapestry, so you can easily edit the template if your test email has an issue.

1. From the set up page for a communication template, click Email under Preview.

2. Enter up to five email addresses (one per line).

3. Click Send.

   If the template includes data merge tags, the test email will use information from your user account. If your user account doesn't have some information, then the default value or a blank appears for the field.

You can also send a test email when as you prepare to generate a mass email. Use this method after you previously confirmed that the template results are as you expect. The advantage of this method is that the test email is very similar to what your constituents will receive.

1. From Communications, click Manage Communications.

2. Under the communication category, locate your communication template and click Mass Email.

3. If your organization uses the Advanced Mass Email module, select Advanced Mass Email, otherwise click Basic Mass Email.

   Note: Drag-n-drop templates are only available through the Advanced Mass Email module. If you select to generate mass email from a drag-n-drop template, Advanced Mass Email will be the only option available.

4. Click Send a Test.

5. Enter up to five email addresses (one per line).

6. For an advanced mass email, we recommend you select Send a Spam Check to the First Email Address. Only the first email address that you entered can receive a spam check email.

7. Continue as though you were generating a normal mass email. You can even attach files if you have the Attachments module.

8. When you are ready to send the test, click Send.

   The test email includes a footer with shows your organization's name and address, based on the persona on the My Organization account, and a logo image to indicate that eTapestry produced the email.

   If you use advanced mass mail, the footer also includes the image for our partner company Delivera, and the opt-out, forward to a friend, and view as web page links.

   Note: The opt-out link is for testing purposes only. Test recipients can not actually opt-out.

   If you selected to receive a spam check, the first test email address receives an email from Lyris. Lyris rates your test email on several factors and sends a "grade" to indicate how "friendly" your email is. It help you avoid potential problems with recipients who have spam filters.

   Note: Lyris filters your message through Spam Assassin, an anti-spam program to determine whether your message has characteristics typical of spam email. Spam Assassin assigns your message points based on each failed spam test. The lower your score, the better your message. The higher your score, the more your message resembles spam. If your score is greater than 5, we recommend you edit your message.

   Tip: If you do not see the Spam Check email in your inbox, check your junk or spam folder.