iMODULES - Help - Email Marketing - Alumni

Email Marketing How-To Document 

November 2010

Email Marketing Admin Tools 

On the Email Marketing home page, click the arrow to 

expand the Admin Tools area. 

Admin Tools 

Global Email Settings 

Design Templates 

Saved Content 

Custom Lists 

Email Categories 

iModules - Client Proprietary Information 1 of 43





Enable the BCC option for emails. This setting allows 

you to have specific email addresses receive copies of all 

email marketing communications that are sent from the 

community. There is an additional option to have a copy 

of each email sent to the BCC addresses as soon as the 

Release Email step is completed. 

Enable BCC option - Check this box to enable the 

BCC option for emails. 

Add BCC addresses: Enter the email address 

and click Add. 

Send copy of email on release - Sends a 

preview email to the BCC list when the Release 

Email step is completed (before the email is 

sent to the distribution list at the scheduled 

time). 






Displays a grid of saved email design templates. 

Hover over the design template name to view a 

thumbnail picture. 

Click 

to delete a previously created email template. 


Saved Content 



Saved Content 

View saved content such as banners, images, text, etc. 

Click the plus sign to expand the list of saved content. 

Click on the name of the content to view it. 

Click 

to delete previously created content. 


Custom Lists 



Custom Lists 

Displays a grid of custom lists that were saved for your 

community and allows you to create new custom lists. 

Click on the name of the custom list to view it. 

Edit a Custom List 

1. Click on the name of the list. 

2. Make changes as needed. 

3. Click Save. 

Delete a Custom List 

1. Click to delete a list. 

2. Click OK to confirm. 

NOTE: A custom list cannot be deleted if it is 

associated with an email. 

Create a New Custom List 

1. Click Create a New Custom List. 

2. Enter the List Name. 

3. Enter or copy and paste the email addresses into the 

text box. Each address must be on a separate line. 

4. Click Save. 

NOTE: Any changes to this Custom List will apply to all 

other Draft and Released Emails utilizing this Custom 

List. 




Email categories are used to group emails according to 

subject and to allow members to opt-out of specific 

categories, so they only receive the emails they want. 

General Information is the default Email Category. 

NOTE: Super Admins and Communications Admins 

have the ability to create new email categories. 



Create an Email Category 

1. Click Create an Email Category. 

2. Enter the Category name and description. 

3. Click Create Category. 

4. The category will now be available in the Email 

Category dropdown when creating an email and in the 

Email Categories section on the Profile form. 

Edit a Category 

1. Click the to edit a category. 

NOTE: You will not be able to delete a category or 

change the category name after it is created. 

2. Make the necessary changes. 

3. Click to save changes. 

De-activate / Re-activate a Category 

Click to de-activate a category. The category will 

be moved to the Inactive Email Categories grid. 

The category will no longer be available in the 

Email Category dropdown when creating an 

email or in the Email Categories section on the 

Profile form. 

Click to re-activate a category. 

Opt-Out Report 

Generate a report for all members who have chosen to 

opt-out of specific email categories. Select the date 

range and categories for your report. 

Show Opt-Out activity from: Enter the date 

range for your report. Leave the date range blank 

if you want to see all opt-out activity regardless of 

date for the selected categories. 

Available Categories in this Community: Select 

the category or categories for your report. Use Ctrl 

or Shift keys to multi-select. 

Click Get Report. You'll receive the requested data 

in a .csv file which you can view and/or save. 

Import Opt-Out Preferences 

Import a .csv file of members who have chosen to optout 

of specific email categories in your community. 


File: Click Browse to find your opt-out file and 

select the file to upload it. 

This import process is set to run at :40 minutes 

after the hour. Typical run-time will be less than 2 

hours. 

Import File Format Tips: 

The file must be a .csv file. 

File must include 2 columns named: "Constituent 

ID" and "External_Database_Value". 

NOTE: Success and error logs can be found at Data 

Management > Import Member Data. Only Import 

Admins will have access to this area. 

Managing Email Preferences for a user 

A user's email preferences can be managed on the 

Subscription Management tab on the Edit My Info profile 

form. 

Only the "Active" Email Categories will appear on the 

Subscription Management tab. 

Check the box to subscribe a user to an Email 

Category. 

Uncheck the box to unsubscribe a user from an 

Email Category. 


Create a Custom Email 

Create a Custom Email 

(Creating an e-Newsletter Using the Custom Email 

Option) 

Custom Emails provide flexibility by allowing you to use 

multiple templates, reuse saved custom templates, 

reuse saved content, and let you bring in items from the 

online community to connect people to the site. Custom 

Emails can be sent on a one-time or recurring basis. 

The Email Checklist/Wizard will guide you through 

creating your Email. Each step will receive a green check 

mark when the step is completed. Click Next to save 

changes on each step or Save & Close to save changes 

and go back to the Email Home Page. 

1. Choose One-Time Custom Email or Recurring 

Custom Email. 

2. Email Details: Enter the Email Name, Email 

Description, From Name, Subject and Email Category. 

The Email Name will be pre-populated with today’s date 

and your name, but should be edited. 

From Email: This is the From Email address that 

will display in the email header, associated with the 

From Name above. This is a required field, and 

defaults to the email address on file of the admin 

creating the Email. 

Reply to: This is the Reply To address, the email 

address to which any users selecting 'Reply' in their 

email client program will send their reply email to. 

This is a required field, and defaults to the email 

address on file of the admin creating the Email. 

If you do not want to receive replies, 

noreply@email.imodules.com can be used for 

the "Reply to" address. Please be aware that 

any emails sent to this address will be deleted 

without notification to the sending user, and 

you will have no future access to the emails. 

NOTE: iModules will now be handling all 

kickbacks. 

Email Footer: Select an Email Footer from the 

dropdown list depending on the subject/audience of 

your email. Email Footers generally show the 

community name and address, etc. The default 

footer will be used if you don't make a selection. 

Contact Application Support to add additional 

footers. 

Email Category: Select an Email Category from 

the dropdown list depending on the 

subject/audience of your email. The default 

category is General Information. 


Email categories are used to group emails that are 

on similar subjects and to allow members to optout 

of specific categories (without unsubscribing 

from all emails), so they only receive the emails 

they want. 

NOTE: Email categories can be added/edited on 

the Email Marketing home page. Super Admins and 

Communications Admins have the ability to create 

new email categories. 

3. Click Next to save. 

4. Choose Template: For custom emails, you have the 

option to select a Layout and a Design Template or 

create a new template. 

NOTE: Once you choose the template you will not be 

able to change it. To change the template, you would 

need to cancel the current email and start again with a 

new template. 

5. Several Layouts and Design Templates are available 

to use. First, Select Layout (i.e., 2 Column, 3 Column 

with Header, etc.) and then Select Design Template 

(i.e., 2 Column with Header 50/50, 2 Column 30/70, 

etc.) from the thumbnails provided. Or, you have the 

option of creating your own Layouts and Templates. 

NOTE: Once the Design Template is selected and the 

user moves forward, Select Template is indicated as 

checked, and is grayed out / inactivated so that it 

cannot be navigated to again. You must create a new 

email to change the Template. 


7. Build Content: Use the various modules to add 

content to your email. 

8. Custom Content: Drag and drop the item from the 

left column under the Custom Content area over to the 

header section so you can place a banner image into 

your e-newsletter. 

9. A new page will load into the content editor. Click the 

Image Manager . 

10. Choose the image you want for the header and click 

Insert. 

11. Once you are back in the Content Editor, you can 

also include tokens (data fields) to allow for 

personalization by using the Token List dropdown menu. 

Below is a sample message with a token included. 

Welcome, ##FirstName##. Enjoy the latest news! 

Using the “FirstName” token will put a personalized 

greeting using the first name of the recipient on each 

email that is sent. 

12. Enter the body content of your email. 


13. Click Preview. 

14. On the next screen, there are options for Saved 

Content. 

Do not save Content for reuse 

Save Content for reuse 

Saved Content is a location where you can save your 

content to reuse it in the future. You can find Saved 

Content items in the following areas: 

Saved Content Editable: Users can make 

changes to Editable content after it is placed into a 

message. Examples: greeting or message body. 

Saved Content NOT Editable: Users cannot 

make changes to Not Editable content after it is 

placed into a message. Example: branded logos 

with special font and/or formatting. 

NOTE: Saved Content is also available on the Email 

Marketing home page under Admin Tools. 

15. Click Save Changes and Load Content. 

16. Forward to a Friend - Allows your members to 

forward the message on to someone else. (Tokens will 

be removed from the forwarded message as well as the 

Forward to a Friend link and any role based content.) 

17. RSS Feed: Drag and drop this optional content into 

the email if desired. 

Enter the URL you want to pull into the RSS Feed 

Module. Make sure you have the URL ready to 

paste into the spot provided. 

You can set a limit on the number of items to be 

pulled in. 

18. Click Load Content. 

19. Community Content: You are now ready to move 

Community Content into your e-Newsletter. 

NOTE - Community Content consists of items from 

your Online Community. Some examples of Community 

Content are Events, Class Notes, News, Donations, and 

Message Boards. This content is dynamic; therefore, it 

will change with each recurrence of the message without 

you having to do anything. 

Drag and drop Events into the e-Newsletter. 

The options for displaying events are shown. 

Make your selections, and click Next. 

Continue dragging and dropping other pieces of 

Community Content into your e-Newsletter. You 

can add numerous content pieces in any content 

area. 



21. Choose Recipients - Create/add/upload your 

distribution list using one or a combination of methods. 

Users can send an email to a total of 110,000 recipients 

using a combination of methods. 

Data Viewer – Create a query to retrieve the 

member information you need. You can now also 

upload a list of Member IDs to create the recipient 

list. There is a limit of 100,000 addresses that can 

be added using Data Viewer. (Please see the Data 

Viewer section for more information on using Data 

Viewer.) 

Data Viewer allows you to create a list of people 

who are in your system (and have valid emails). 

Upload Member ID csv/xls file (only available in the 

Email Marketing tool) See Data Viewer for more 

information on other options. 

In the Choose Recipients step of the Email 

Checklist, select Data Viewer. 

Select Upload Member ID csv/Excel file. 

(Files with the xlsx extension are not currently 

supported.) 

Click Browse to find the file and upload it. 

Click Next. 

Custom Lists – Users can create custom lists of 

recipients. Custom lists allow you to create a list of 

both members and nonmembers that you email on 

a repeated basis (or to create a member list that 

you cannot recreate with a query). 

Users can create a new list by entering the email 

addresses in the text box provided or select from a 

list of previously created lists. 

Email addresses can be typed in or copied and 

pasted from a text or Excel file. 

Each email address must be on a separate line. 

Only email addresses can be entered. First Name 

and Last Name cannot be entered using this option. 

There is a limit of 5,000 email addresses that can 

be added using this method. 

Email Address File – This feature allows users to 

upload a csv or Excel file of email addresses to 

create a recipient list. There is limit of 5,000 

addresses that can be added. 

An Email Address File allows your to create a list of 

members and nonmembers. If you include first and 

last name data in your file, you can use First and 

Last Name tokens, which members as well as 

nonmembers would see. Nonmembers would not 

see these tokens in a Custom List, as their data 

would not be in the system. 

The file must have the following column order: 

Email Address, First Name, Last Name. 

The First Name, Last Name are optional. 

A header row is not required. 

NOTE: Excel files with the xlsx extension are not 

currently supported. 

NOTE – To personalize your communication, you can 


use the Token List. 


23. Send Preview: Click Send to send a Preview. Send 

Preview allows you to send a test copy of your email to 

yourself (at the email address on file for the account 

under which you are logged in), and / or to any other 

additional addresses. For example, if you have an AOL, 

Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN or other non-academic or work 

email account, you may want to test how the message 

will look when received by your members who subscribe 

to similar mass market email services. 

Add recipients to receive the preview email and 

select the options whether to Customize email 

content based on Roles and/or Date. 

Customize email content based on roles: Click 

this box to view the email with content specific to a 

particular Community role. For example, you might 

want to see what the email sent to Students will 

look like. 

Customize email content based on date: Click 


particular date. For example, you might want to 

see what the email sent on a particular date will 

look like, as by that date certain News articles (or 

other dynamic site content) might have expired or 

become active. 

24. Schedule Email: Set the Date, Time, recurrence 

schedule (if applicable) and Time Zone for sending the 

Email. Emails will be sent every hour on the hour. For 

example if you schedule the email for 3:30, it will be 

sent at 4:00. 

Tip: Set your date into the future so your email 

doesn’t get sent earlier than you intended. You can go 

back later and change the date to send it out when 

you’re ready to go. 


26. Release Email: Verify the specifics of the email 

such as Email Name, From Name, From Email, 

Estimated number of recipients and the date for which 

the email is scheduled. Select Next or Save & Close to 

send the email to the specified distribution list. 

There is also an option to add the email to the 

Design Templates. 

An email cannot be sent until all parts of the 

checklist have been completed. 

27. The email will then be placed in the Released Email 

grid. You will have an opportunity to make changes to 

the email up until the time it is sent. To edit an email, 

select the name of the email, and choose Move to 

Drafts for Editing from the pop-up box. The checkmark 

by the Release Email step will be grayed out and you 

must send another Preview before the email can be 

released. 


Create an Express Email 

Create an Express Email 

Express Emails are great for quick, one time emails 

that generally are more text heavy and that don’t 

require a template. (There is no “preview” option in the 

content creation area for Express Emails.) 

The Email Checklist/Wizard will guide you through 

creating your Email. Each step will receive a green check 

mark when the step is completed. Users must click Next 

to save changes on each step or Save & Close to save 

changes and go back to the Email Home Page. 

1. Select Create Express Email. 

2. Email Details: Enter the Email Name, Email 

Description, From Name, Subject, and Email Category. 

From Email: This is the From Email address that 

will display in the email header, associated with the 

From Name above. This is a required field, and 

defaults to the email address on file of the admin 

creating the Email. 



email client program will send their reply email to. 

This is a required field, and defaults to the email 

address on file of the admin creating the Email. 


noreply@email.imodules.com can be used for 

the "Reply to" address. Please be aware that 

any emails sent to this address will be deleted 

without notification to the sending user, and 

you will have no future access to the emails. 

NOTE: iModules will now be handling all 

kickbacks. 


dropdown list depending on the subject/audience of 

your email. Email Footers generally show the 

community name and address, etc. The default 

footer will be used if you don't make a selection. 

Contact Application Support to add additional 

footers. 

Email Category: Select an Email Category from 

the dropdown list depending on the 

subject/audience of your email. The default 

category is General Information. 

Email categories are used to group emails that are 

on similar subjects and to allow members to optout 

of specific categories (without unsubscribing 

from all emails), so they only receive the emails 

they want. 







4. Build Content: Write your message in the content 

editor window. 


6. Choose Recipients - Create/add/upload your 

distribution list using one or a combination of these 

methods. Users can send an email to up to 110,000 

recipients using a combination of methods. 

Data Viewer – Create a query to retrieve the 

member information you need. You can now also 

upload a list of Member IDs to create the recipient 

list. There is a limit of 100,000 addresses that can 

be added using Data Viewer. (Please see Data 

Viewer for more information on using Data 

Viewer.) Data Viewer allows you to create a list of 

people who are in your system (and have valid 

emails). 

Upload Member ID csv/xls file (only available in the 

Email Marketing tool) See Data Viewer for more 

information on other options. 

In the Choose Recipients step of the Email 

Checklist, select Data Viewer. 

Select Upload Member ID csv/Excel file. 

(Files with the xlsx extension are not currently 

supported.) 

Click Browse to find the file and upload it. 

Click Next. 


recipients. Custom lists allow you to create a list of 

both members and nonmembers that you email on 

a repeated basis (or to create a member list that 

you cannot recreate with a query). 






Each email address must be on a separate line. 






upload a csv or Excel file of email addresses to 

create a recipient list. There is limit of 5,000 



members and nonmembers. If you include first and 

last name data in your file, you can use First and 

Last Name tokens, which members as well as 

nonmembers would see. Nonmembers would not 

see these tokens in a Custom List, as their data 

would not be in the system. 



Email Address, First Name, Last Name. 

The First Name, Last Name are optional. 


NOTE: Excel files with the xlsx extension are not 

currently supported. 

NOTE: To personalize your communication, you can 

use the Token List. 


8. Send Preview: Click Send to send a Preview. Send 

Preview allows you to send a test copy of your email to 

yourself (at the email address on file for the account 

under which you are logged in), and / or to any other 

additional addresses. For example, if you have an AOL, 

Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN or other non-academic or work 

email account, you may want to test how the message 

will look when received by your members who subscribe 

to similar mass market email services. 

Add recipients to receive the preview email and 

select the options whether to Customize email 

content based on Roles and/or Date. 

Customize email content based on roles: 

Click this box to view the email with content 

specific to a particular Community role. For 

example, you might want to see what the 

email sent to Students will look like. 

Customize email content based on date: 

Click this box to view the email with content 

specific to a particluar date. For example, you 

might want to see what the email sent on a 

particular date will look like, as by that date 

certain News articles (or other dynamic site 

content) might have expired or become active. 

9. Schedule Email: Set the Date, Time, and Time Zone 

for sending the Email. Emails will be sent every hour on 

the hour. For example if you schedule the email for 

3:30, it will be sent at 4:00. 

Tip: Set your date into the future so your email 

doesn’t get sent earlier than you intended. You can go 

back later and change the date to send it out when 

you’re ready to go. 


11. Release Email: Verify the specifics of the email 

such as Email Name, From Name, From Email, 

Estimated number of recipients and the date for which 

the email is scheduled. Select Next or Save & Close to 

send the email to the specified distribution list. 

There is also an option to add the email to Design 

Templates. 



The email will appear in the Released Emails grid 

until it is sent. 


12. The email will then be placed in the Released Email 

grid. You will have an opportunity to make changes to 

the email up until the time it is sent. To edit an email, 

select the name of the email, and choose Move to 

Drafts for Editing from the pop-up box. The checkmark 

by the Release Email step will be grayed out and you 

must send another Preview before the email can be 

released. 


Email Details 

On this page, provide the basic details of your email. 

Email Name: Provide a name for your email. Make sure 

it will help you identify the email later. 

Email Description: Provide a description of your email 

so that you and other admins will be able to identify the 

purpose and audience of the email from the description 

alone. 

From Name: This is the person / organization from 

which the email will appear to have come. 

From Email: This is the From Email address that will 

display in the email header, associated with the From 

Name above. This is a required field, and defaults to the 

email address on file of the admin creating the Email. 



email client program will send their reply email to. This 

is a required field, and defaults to the email address on 

file of the admin creating the Email. 


noreply@email.imodules.com can be used for the "Reply 

to" address. 

NOTE: iModules will now be handling all kickbacks. 

Subject: This text will appear in the subject line of the 

email. 

NOTE: The Community Name is automatically 

prepended to the Subject of all Email Marketing 

Messages as part of industry "Best Practices" to 

reduce the chances of Messages being marked as 

spam by email service providers and 

corporate/personal spam filters. 


dropdown list depending on the subject/audience of your 

email. Email Footers generally show the community 

name and address, etc. The default footer will be used if 

you don't make a selection. Contact Application Support 

to add additional footers. 

Email Category: Select an Email Category from the 

dropdown list depending on the subject/audience of your 

email. The default category is General Information. 

Email categories are used to group emails that are on 

similar subjects and to allow members to opt-out of 

specific categories (without unsubscribing from all 

emails), so they only receive the emails they want. 






Choose Template 

Choose Template 

Use pre-defined templates and layouts, or learn how to 

create your own in the Using Custom Templates and 

Layouts section. 

Using Pre-defined Templates and Layouts 

1. Create your email message using the Create Custom 

Email process and select Choose Template. 

2. Select a Layout. 

3. Select a Design Template. (The Design Templates 

that are available will change based on the Layout you 

have chosen.) 

4. Click Next to Build Content for your email (or choose 

Save & Close). 

Using Custom Templates and Layouts to Create a 

Custom Email Layout 


Email process and select Choose Template. 

2. Select Layout: Select the Legacy and Custom 

Templates layout. 

3. Select Design Template: Select Create Custom 

Template. 

4. Click Next. A blank content editor window will open 

up. 

5. The best way to create a consistent look for your e- 

Newsletter is to use a table. Click to put a table into 

your template. Set the size and shape of your table by 

highlighting the desired number of squares. The 

example we will use in this document is a 9-cell table (3 

rows and 3 columns). 

NOTE – You can also paste HTML into the editor. 

Select HTML mode (at the bottom of the editor window) 

and paste in the HTML. 

6. Once you have created your table, the content editor 

will display the following: 

7. Banner image: Now we will merge the top row of 

cells in our table so that a banner image can be 

inserted. 

Click the top left cell of the table so your cursor is 

located there. Right click your mouse and 

choose Merge Cells Horizontally. 

The cells are merged one at a time, so you will 

repeat the steps as many times as needed in order 

for the entire row to be one large cell. Follow the 

same steps to merge other cells in the table as 


well. You can also choose to Merge Cells Vertically. 

The top row is now ready for a banner image. Click 

the top cell, then Click (Image Manager) in the 

tool bar. Use the Image Manager to upload and 

insert an image into your email. 

8. Table and Cell properties: Select the table (it is 

selected when it has four white square “handles”). Right 

click the table and select Set Table Properties from 

the menu that appears. 

On the Table Properties tab, you will be able 

to: 

Set border colors - To set border colors, you 

will work in the Border area. 

Set the width of the table - Set a border 

width using the +. The box to the left of the 

border width allows you to access border 

colors by clicking on the dropdown arrow. 

Tip: It is recommended that the width of the 

table be set to the pixel width of the banner 

image you inserted earlier. 

Add background colors 

Choose the Cell Properties tab to select each of 

the cells and set the width for each one. Two 

different methods can be used to space the cells 

evenly across the width of the banner. 

Use the pixel width of the banner image 

divided by the number of cells so it is divided 

evenly. 

Set percentages for each cell. 

For example, the image used in this example 

is 610 pixels wide. The cells that do not 

contain the image would be set to 33%, 33%, 

and 34% - OR 203 pixels, 203 pixels, and 204 

pixels. Either method will serve the same 

purpose. 

9. Token List: Select tokens to personalize your email 

if desired. 

10. Click Next. 

11. Define the Layout: Click a content area to toggle 

its status between "Editable" and "Not Editable." Each 

content area defaults to Not Editable. 

The cell with the image is left as Not Editable to 

keep people locked out of that cell so the image 

cannot be changed or replaced. 

You will want to make most other areas Editable in 

order for admins to be able change the content as 

needed. To change from Not Editable to Editable, 

click on the cell. 


13. Now you can drag and drop content into the 

template to create your email. 


15. On the next screen, there are options for Saved 

Content. 

Do not save Content for reuse 

Save Content for reuse 


Saved Content is a location where you can save your 

content to reuse it in the future. You can find Saved 

Content items in the following areas: 

Saved Content Editable: Users can make 

changes to Editable content after it is placed into a 

message. Examples: greeting or message body. 

Saved Content NOT Editable: Users cannot 

make changes to Not Editable content after it is 

placed into a message. Example: branded logos 

with special font and/or formatting. 

16. Click Save Changes and Load Content. 

17. Choose Recipients: Choose the recipients for your 

Email. Click Next. 

18. Send Preview: Send a preview of your email. Click 

Send. Click Next. 

19. Schedule Email: Enter the date and time to send 

your email. Click Next. 

20. Release Email: Verify the details of your email. 

21. Add this email to Design Templates: Select this 

option to save the layout you just created. If you save 

the layout, you will be able to use it as a template for 

future emails. You will simply select it from the list of 

Design Templates when you create a Custom Email. 

22. Click Next or Save & Close to release your email 

and save it as a template. 

NOTE: Refer to Create Custom Email for more detailed 

help in completing your custom email. 


Build Content 

Build Content 

The Build Content step of the Email Builder allows you 

to customize the look and the content of your Email. 


Email process and select Build Content. 

2. Launch Skin Builder to customize the Layout if 

needed. 

3. Edit the text as needed. 

3. Drag and drop Custom Content and/or Community 

Content into your email. 

4. Click Next to move to the Choose Recipients step (or 

select Save & Close). 


Skin Builder 

Skin Builder 

The Skin Builder option allows you to customize the look 

of your email. The body and text colors are customized 

for each site. The Email Checklist/Wizard will guide you 

through creating your Email. Each step will receive a 

green check mark when the step is completed. Users 

must click Next to save changes on each step or Save 

& Close to save changes and go back to the Email 

Home Page. 

1. Choose One-Time Custom Email or Recurring 

Custom Email. 

2. Enter the Email Details. 


4. Choose Template: Select Layout (i.e., 2 Column, 3 

Column with Header, etc.) and then Select Design 

Template (i.e., 2 Column with Header 50/50, 2 Column 

30/70, etc.) from the thumbnails provided. 

NOTE: Once the Design Template is selected and the 

user moves forward, Select Template is indicated as 

checked, and is grayed out / inactivated so that it 

cannot be navigated to again. You must create a new 

email to change the Template. 


6. Build Content: Use Skin Builder and the various 

modules to create your email. 

7. Skin Builder: Select Launch Skin Builder. 

8. Base: By default, Skin Builder starts on this tab. This 

option allows users to set the options for the body of 

the email. 


Center Email Body – This option centers the email 

within the viewable area for a recipient. 

Body Color – Select the color for the background of 

your email. 

Main Table Width – 600 pixels is the 

default/recommended width for an email, but you 

can enter the desired width. 

Column Widths – Select the column widths for the 

table. Users can set the width using percentages 

(i.e., 30/70 for a 2 column table) or pixels (i.e., 

200/400). 

Allow other emails to copy this skin – Check this 

option to allow users to select this skin from a 

dropdown list. 

Click here to load an existing skin – Click this link 

to make use of a previously saved skin. The Load 

Skin window will open. 

From the Available Skins drop-down list, select 

the skin you wish to use and click Load. Click 

Save. 

The selected skin has now been applied to 

your custom email. You will have the ability to 

modify the loaded skin from the Custom 

Layout screen. 

9. Cell: The next tab allows you to set the options for 

individual cells (columns, headers, footers) in the email. 

Highlight the cell to select it and customize the settings 

for that cell. (The cell will change from blue to yellow 

when it is selected.) 

Font Family – Select the font for the cell. 


Font Size – Select the font size for the cell or leave 

as Default to use the default set for your system. 

Text Color – Select the color for the text. 

Cell Color – Select the color for the cell. 

Padding – Set the padding (in pixels) around text 

so that there is space between the text and the 

border of the columns/pages. 

Border – Select the style, color and width for the 

cell border. 

Align – Select how you like your Text to be aligned: 

Left, Right or Center. Leave as Default to use the 

default alignment set for your system. 

10. Link: On this tab you can set the options for the 

display of links. 

Link Color – Select the color for your linked text. 

Bold – Select this option if you would like linked 

text to be bolded. 

Underline (Default) – Select this option if you 

would like linked text to be underlined. 

11. Header 1, Header2, Header3 – This tab allows you 

to set the options for the headers used in the email. 

Font Size – Select the font size for the header or 

leave as Default to use the default headers set for 

your system. 

Text Color – Select the color for the Header text. 

Background Color – Select the Background Color for 

the Header. 

Text Align – Select how you like your Header to be 

aligned: Left, Right or Center. Leave as Default to 

use the default alignment set for your system. 

Bold – Select this option if you would like the 

Header to be bolded. 

Italic – Select this option if you would like the 

Header to be in italics. 

Underline – Select this option if you would like the 

Header to be underlined. 

12. Click Save to save changes. (Or, select Cancel to 

exit Skin Builder without saving changes.) 

13. Please see the instructions for Create a Custom 

Email to finish creating your email. 


Using the Content Editor 

Using the Content Editor 

There is a common Content Editor which is used in 

several places in your community. Examples of the 

Content Editor in various applications are shown below. 

Instructions for common functions of the Content Editor 

are included also. 

NOTE: Wherever the Content Editor appears you will 

have the following display Display Options: 

Preview with site colors - Displays the content using 

your site's style sheet and colors. 

Preview without site colors - Displays the content in 

black text on a white background. 

This option makes it easier to work with your 

content if, for example, your site style has 

light text on a light background, or dark text 

on a dark background. 

Content Editor Toolbars in Email Marketing 

Content Editor Toolbars in News 

Content Editor Toolbars in Email Marketing 

Pasting text from another document 

1. Select the text in the other document. 

NOTE: When bringing in content from outside the 

Content Editor, you should first put it into Notepad to 

remove all of the formatting. Then copy the text from 

Notepad and paste it into the editor. 

2. Click on one of the three paste buttons: 

NOTE: If you want to be sure all of the formatting 

removed from what you are pasting in, the best option 

is Paste plain text. 

Inserting images 

1. Click . 

2. The Image Manager window opens. Click Upload 

Image. The file size limit for images is 300KB and the 

acceptable file extensions are given on the upload page. 

3. Click Browse Files to select an image, and click 


Insert. 

4. The image will then display in the Content Editor. 

Wrapping text around the image 

1. Right click on the image so the Set Image 

Properties option appears. 

2. Click Set Image Properties. 

3. The Image Properties box will open up. Select 

the Image Alignment dropdown box, and click the 

dropdown arrow . You will have several options for 

image alignment. 

For example: 

Click if you want your image on the left and the 

text to wrap around it, 

Click if you want your image on the right and 

the text to wrap around it. 

Or, choose one of the other options as needed. 

4. Image Size: If you need to make the image slightly 

smaller or larger, use the Constrain option to keep it in 

proportion. For example, you can change the Width 

and then click Constrain to keep the Height in 

proportion. 

NOTE – this should not be used to completely resize 

your image! 

5. Click OK. 

Image Map Editor 

Use the Image Map Editor to add links or tags to specific 

areas of an image. 

1. Right click on an image. 

2. Select Image Map Editor. 

3. Click Create Area. Or simply highlight an area. 

(Select Rectangle or Circle to choose the shape for your 

area.) 

4. Click and drag on the edge of the area to make it the 

size you want. 

5. Click and drag it to move it to where you want it. 

The area you are working on will be highlighted and 

have a red circle by it. 

6. Enter a link and/or a comment that users will see 

when they hover over different areas of the image. 

URL: Enter the link that users can click on. 

Target: Enter the Target where users will go when 

they click on the link (New Window, Same Window, 

etc.). 

Comment: Enter a comment or tag for the area. 

7. Click Update Area. 

8. Add other areas as needed. 

9. Click OK to save. 


Back to top 

Creating a hyperlink 

1. Highlight the text that you want to be the link. 

2. Click . 

3. In the URL box, you can either type or paste in the 

URL. 

4. If you are linking the user to a location outside of the 

community, it is recommended that you set 

the Target to open in a New Window. You can select 

this from the dropdown. 

5. Click OK. 

Creating anchors (links within a document) 

1. Highlight the destination of the link (the area of the 

document referenced in the link). Generally it is the 

beginning of a paragraph or additional information on 

the same page. 

2. Click . 

3. Click . 

4. Enter a name for the anchor in the area provided. 

TIP - Enter a name which is easy to remember or is 

related to the subject of the link. 

5. Click OK. 

6. Highlight the text that will be the link. 

7. Click . 

8. From the Existing Anchor area, click the dropdown 

and select the name of the anchor you just created. 

NOTE: If the anchor you created does not appear in 

the dropdown, simply enter #anchorname (using the 

name of the anchor you created) as the URL. 

To link to an anchor location from another page or in an 

email, simply use the URL of your anchor (i.e., 

http://help.imodules.com/s/1062/index2col.aspx? 

sid=1062&gid=1&pgid=390#anchor). You can generally 

find the URL by hovering over the text that links to your 

anchor. Right click on the link, select Copy Link 

Location, and paste the URL in the desired location. 

9. Click OK. 

Creating email links 

The email link will open up a blank email with the To: 

address and the Subject already populated. 

1. Highlight the text that you want to be a link. 

2. Click . 

3. Click Email. 

4. In the Address area, enter the email address that 

the message should go to. 

5. In the Subject area, enter the subject that the 

message should have. 


6. Click OK. 

Back to top 

Using the Document Manager 

Use the Document Manager to attach a document to 

your email. A link to the file will appear in the email. 

1. Click . 

2. The Document Manager window opens. To upload a 

file, click Upload Document. The file size limit is 7MB. 

3. Click Browse Files and select the document. Click 

on the document and click Insert. A link to the file will 

display in the Content Editor. 

Using the new paragraph icon 

The new paragraph icon allows you to create new 

paragraphs which is helpful when changing the 

alignment for different sections of text. 

An example of how to use the icon to have a centered 

title and the remaining text left aligned is given below. 

1. Click . 

2. Type in the title text that will be centered. 

3. Press the Enter key. 

4. Click . 

5. Click to change back to left alignment. 

6. Enter the text that will be left aligned. 

Using the Custom Links dropdown 

The Custom Links dropdown will populate with the 

names of custom URLs created using LinkBuilder. 

The example given below assumes that some custom 

URLs have already been created. 

1. Highlight the text that will be a link. 

2. Click the dropdown arrow for the Custom Links area. 

3. The names of the custom URLs will be displayed. 

Click on the name of the URL that you want to use. 

Using the Format Stripper 

The Format Stripper will remove formatting from text 

you have pasted into the document. 

1. Highlight the text that has the formatting you want to 

remove. 

2. Click the dropdown arrow of the Format Stripper 

. 

3. The formats that can be stripped off are shown. Click 

on the format that you want to remove. 


Back to top 

Using the Token List 

The Token List displays the available tokens for your 

community. Tokens allow you to personalize the 

communication you send to your members. 

1. Click the dropdown arrow of the Token List. 

2. The list is alphabetized. Scroll down to the token you 

want to use and then click on it. The token will appear 

in the Content Editor. 

Content Editor Toolbars in News 

NOTE - The icons discussed below are not available in 

Email Marketing. 

Inserting Flash 

1. Click . 

2. The Flash Manager window opens. To upload a Flash 

file, click Upload Flash. The file size limit for Flash is 

300KB. 

3. Once the Flash file is selected from the Browse Files 

area, click Insert. 

Using the Media Manager 

1. Click . 

2. The Media Manager window opens. To upload a file, 

click Upload Media The file size limit is 5120KB and 

the acceptable files to upload are given on the upload 

page. 

3. Once a file is selected from the Browse Files area, 

click Insert. 

Back to top 


Choose Recipients 

Choose Recipients 

Create/add/upload your distribution list using one or a 

combination of these methods. Users can send an email 

to a total of 110,000 recipients using a combination of 

methods. 

Data Viewer – Create a query to retrieve the member 

information you need. You can now also upload a list of 

Member IDs to create the recipient list. There is a limit 

of 100,000 addresses that can be added using Data 

Viewer. 

Data Viewer allows you to create a list of people who 

are in your system (and have valid emails). 


recipients. 

Custom lists allow you to create a list of both members 

and nonmembers that you email on a repeated basis (or 

to create a member list that you cannot recreate with a 

query). 






Each email must be on a separate line. 



Multiple custom lists can be selected for building 

the recipient list 




upload a csv or Excel (xls) file of email addresses to 

create a recipient list. There is a limit of 5,000 



members and nonmembers. If you include first and last 

name data in your file, you can use First and Last Name 

tokens, which members as well as nonmembers would 

see. Nonmembers would not see these tokens in a 

Custom List, as their data would not be in the system. 


email address, first_name, last_name. 

The first_name and last_name columns are 

optional. 


List Builder will keep a running total of the number of 

recipients on your distribution list which gives you a 

handy verification tool for making sure you have pulled 

the correct list(s). 


Send Preview 

Send Preview 

Click Send to send a Preview. Send Preview allows you 

to send a test copy of your email to yourself (at the 

email address on file for the account under which you 

are logged in), and / or to any other additional 

addresses. For example, if you have an AOL, Yahoo, 

Hotmail, MSN or other non-academic or work email 

account, you may want to test how the message will 

look when received by your members who subscribe to 

similar mass market email services. 

Add Recipients: Add email addresses of people 

you wish to receive the preview email. 

Additional Comments: Add a note for your 

reviewers. 

Customize email content based on roles: Click 


particular Community role. For example, you might 

want to see what the email sent to Students will 

look like. 

Customize email content based on date: Click 


particular date. For example, you might want to 

see what the email sent on a particular date will 

look like, as by that date certain News articles (or 

other dynamic site content) might have expired or 

become active. 


Schedule Email 

Schedule Email 

Set the Date, Time, recurrence schedule (only applies to 

custom recurring emails) and Time Zone for sending the 

Email. 

Emails will be sent every hour on the hour. For example 

if you schedule the email for 3:30, it will be sent at 

4:00. 

Tip: Set your date into the future so your email doesn’t 

get sent earlier than you intended. You can go back 

later and change the date to send it out when you’re 

ready to go. 


Release Email 

Release Email 

Verify the specifics of the email such as Email Name, 

From Name, From Email, Estimated number of recipients 

and the date for which the email is scheduled. Select 

Next or Save & Close to send the email to the 

specified distribution list. 

There is also an option to add the email to the 

Design Templates for future use. 



The email will then be placed in the Released Email grid. 

You will have an opportunity to make changes to the 

email up until the time it is sent. To edit an email, select 

the name of the email, and choose Move to Drafts for 

Editing from the pop-up box. The check mark by the 

Release Email step will be grayed out and you must 

send another Preview before the email can be released. 

Email Author Admin Right 

This admin right will not have the ability to “Release” an 

email for sending. Using this right, clients will have 

greater control over their email communications by 

assigning the right for creating communications to 

certain employees, but limit the ability to release the 

email for sending to a more select group. 

The "Email Author" admin right allows the admin to 

complete all stages associated with creating an email, 

but they do not have access to release the email for 

delivery. 

If the Email Author admin also has the Member 

Admin right, then they will be able to see the "Send 

to Email Marketing" option on the last step of the 

Data Viewer flow. 

If the Email Author admin also has rights to 

manage Events, they will be able to access the 

Attendee List and choose "Send to Email Marketing" 

from Attendee List Admin Tools. 

Super Admins and those assigned to the 

"Communications Admin" right will retain the ability 

to release emails. 

NOTE: To remove a Communications admin's ability to 

release emails, they must be removed from the 

"Communications Admin" admin role/right, and the 

Email Author admin right must be added. 


Email Marketing Reporting 

Email Marketing Reporting 

Select Email Marketing Reporting. 

For additional help, you can click . 

On the Reporting homepage, you will see tabs for 

the different detail levels available. You will start 

out at the All Campaigns level. 

All Campaigns is the “top level” view of the 

emails. 

Campaign Detail shows information for a 

recurring email campaign. 

Message Detail shows information for a 

specific or one-time email. 

Tracking Detail is the most focused level and 

is the lowest level you can drill down to. 

All Campaigns 

More Actions for this Data: 

To Print Campaign Metrics, click . 

To Export Email Metrics to Excel, click . 

View Email Content: Click on the right side of the 

screen. If there are multiple recurrences of the message, 

then you must open up that email campaign (by clicking 

on the name of the campaign in the table) in order to 

see the option to view the message. 

View Campaign Detail: To view the detail report for a 

Campaign or Message, click the Campaign or Message 

name or the icon. 

Campaign Metrics Table 

The metric information in the table provides you with a 

“snapshot” of the success of the email. 

Campaign Name: This is the name of your Email 

Campaign. A Campaign is an email communication 

effort which may consist of a single one-time 

message (such as an invitation to Homecoming or a 

solicitation for donations) or multiple (recurring) 

messages (such as a monthly Newsletter). 

Messages Sent: This number tells you how many 

actual messages were sent out in the course of 

your mailing Campaign. In the case of a single 

one-time message, this total will reflect only the 

number of people who were sent that message. In 

the case of a recurring campaign, the displayed 

total will reflect the number of messages sent 

during the course of the entire campaign, with each 

individual message's total recipient list added to the 

overall grand total of campaign recipients. To see a 

breakdown of recipients for each message within 

the campaign, click the "Plus" sign (+) to the far 

left of the campaign's Name. 

Message Kickbacks: This number represents the 

total number of "kicked back" (returned) messages 

that were generated by the mailing. 

Delivery Rate: This number represents the 

percentage of your total sent messages that 

reached the intended recipients. The number is 

obtained by subtracting the total number of kicked 

back messages from the number sent and then 


dividing that total by the number sent. Thus, if 

250 messages were sent and 10 were returned, 

then 240 were actually delivered. By dividing 240 

by the original number sent, we discovery that our 

delivery rate for that mailing is 96%. 

Message Opens: This is the number of messages 

that the system detected was opened or viewed in 

an email program's "Preview Pane." (Please note 

that the actual number of opened messages is most 

likely significantly greater than the reported number 

of opened messages because of the sheer number 

of email programs that exist and the rapid 

proliferation and change of anti-spam and privacy 

technology. Each email program has a unique way 

of noting that a message has been opened, and 

many email programs and firewalls block the 

transfer of the data packets that our system uses 

to determine that a message has been opened, so 

this number should only be used as a rough guide 

to the success of your campaign.) 

Clicks: This number demonstrates the total 

number of in-message links back to the site that 

were clicked by readers. Clicks are tracked at both 

the Message and Campaign level. If John clicks on 

3 links in an email, Mary clicks on 4 and Dan clicks 

on 2, the total number of Clicks recorded for that 

message would be 9. 

Unique Clicks: This number represents the total 

number of unique member clicks that were 

generated within a particular message or 

campaign. Using the same example as above, if 

John clicks on 3 links, Mary on 4 and Dan on 2, the 

total number of Unique Clicks recorded for that 

message would be 3 - one for each unique member 

who clicked a link within the email. 

Unique Click Rate: The number of unique clicks 

divided by the number of messages delivered. This 

tells you relative effectiveness of your campaign / 

message in generating a click response from each 

recipient - i.e., a 22% Unique Click Rate means 

22% of the recipients of the email clicked on at 

least one link. 

Date Last Sent: This field shows you the date on 

which the message was sent, or the date on which 

the last recurrence of the message in the campaign 

was sent. Hover over the clock symbol to see the 

exact time the message or the last message in that 

recurring email campaign was sent. 

Filter: You can also check the Filter box beside an 

email(s) or use the Filter options on the left side of the 

page to only view certain emails. 

TIP - Check the boxes for the emails you want to view 

and then click the Filter box. 

Tracking Reports: 

You can see graphical representations of the data by 

using Tracking Reports. The Tracking Reports may be 

viewed as either a Pie or Bar chart. “Drag and Drop” 

Tracking Reports and Conversion Reports from the left 

portion of the screen into the areas labeled Drop Chart 

Here to Add. 


TIP – Click on a “slice of the pie” to get more 

information about that email or item. 

Other Tracking Reports available are: 

Top Campaigns by Actions 

Top Campaigns by Unique Clicks 

Top Campaigns by Clicks 

The Tracking Reports for Forward to a Friend are: 

Top Campaigns by Email Forwards 

Top Campaigns by Forward Recipients 

Top Forwarders 

NOTE – The Tracking Reports that are available will 

change slightly as you move to different detail levels. 

The same is also true for Conversion Reports. 

Top Campaigns By Actions report is based on the total 

number of actions (profile updates, uploaded photo, sent 

an Instant Note, registered for an event, made a 

donation) generated by each Campaign. 

If a Forward to a Friend link has been added to the 

outgoing message, then three Tracking Reports are 

available for information on the relative performance of 

campaigns, and also for finding out the members who 

are forwarding and who they forward to. 

Top Campaigns by Email Forwards enables you 

to judge what campaigns did best at generating 

these forwarding actions. 

Top Campaigns by Forward Recipients enables 

you to judge what campaigns did best by the 

number of people who received Forwards. 

These Tracking Reports enable you to drill 

down to find out how all of your campaigns 

performed by clicking on the 'Show All' icon. 

Drill down further in those reports to find out 

the members who forwarded, and to whom 

they forwarded. 

Top Forwarders is a unique Tracking Report that 

enables you to see which members are doing the 

most email forwarding, and to drill down to find all 

the members who have forwarded an email through 

the system. 

Conversion Reports: At the Campaign Summary level, 

these Conversion Reports provide a graphical view of 

which Campaigns were most successful for triggering 

specific member actions in the community. 

Clicking on a specific Campaign either in the chart 


section or the name of the Campaign, will bring up 

its associated Campaign or Message Detail Report. 

The Events, Donations and Dues reports are divided 

into two types - the number of transactions 

triggered by that Campaign, or the total number of 

dollars resulting directly from linking from the 

Campaign. 

The Profile Updates, Class Notes, Job Postings, 

Classifieds and Message Postings chart options 

provide reporting based on the number of times 

these actions were performed by recipients as a 

result of Clicks of this Message. 

9. Click to remove a chart from the grid. 

Back to top 

Campaign Detail, Message Detail and Tracking 

Detail 

1. To move to the Campaign Detail or Message 

Detail, you can either click on the name of the email or 

click on a “slice” of the pie chart. You will have Tracking 

Reports and Conversion Reports available to you at both 

of these levels. 

2. When you are at the Message Detail level, there are 

Tracking Reports available to you that will allow you to 

see member names. 

3. An example of what the Tracking Reports look like: 

4. In order to see all of the names of members who 

were sent an email, click on . This will take you to a 

screen that looks like this: 


NOTE - You are now at the Tracking Detail level. 

You cannot drill down any further to get even more 

detailed information. 

Click on the Member Name to view the member's profile 

page. 

More Actions for this Data dropdown: 

Select Print to view a printer friendly 

version of this report page with the Email 

Metrics table and any available Chart Reports. 

Select Export to .csv file to export these 

Email Metrics to Excel as a CSV file. 

Send to Export Member Data - Sends the 

list to the Export Member data function to 

allow you to create a custom report. 

Send to Email Marketing - Sends the list 

to Email Marketing (with the recipients list 

already loaded) to allow you to create an 

email. 

One-Time Custom Email 

Recurring Custom Email 

Express Email 

Create a Task - Sends the list to allow you 

to create a task for follow-up by the admin or 

assign to another admin. 

5. In order to move back to the Message Detail level, 

click Back. 

Back to top 


Email Kickbacks 

Email Kickbacks 

Kickback Reporting 

Kickback Admin 

Kickback Settings 

Kickback Reporting 

There are two types of email kickbacks that are 

generated by Internet mail servers - "Hard" and "Soft". 

Once an email of any type is sent to a member (Email 

Marketing, Update Mailer or Member to Member) and is 

answered with an initial Soft kickback message, the 

system will try to re-send the email every 5 minutes for 

3 days from the initial send request. This will overcome 

most delivery difficulties associated with temporary 

Internet / Network traffic reasons. 

Hard Kickback - A single (1) Hard Kickback 

automatically sets a member's "Email_is_valid" field 

to "False." This means that the member will no 

longer receive Email Marketing messages or Mailer 

Updates, nor can they be contacted by other 

members via email through the Community 

website. 

Soft Kickback - Once a member email address 

receives five (default setting) Soft Kickbacks, this 

will also result in the "Email_is_valid" setting being 

switched to “False”, which will prevent the member 

from receiving any community emails. In the case 

of a Soft Kickback, the reason for the kickback 

might have been a temporary problem, such as a 

full email box or a slow network, and therefore 

requires five occurrences before setting the email 

address to a False status for "Email_is_valid". 

NOTE: The number and type of Email Kickbacks are 

also dependent upon the configuration of the receiving 

(end-user) server, and are therefore not within iModules 

control. 

Generate a Kickback Report: 

1. Select Email Kickbacks. 

2. When searching your kicked back emails, you may 

choose to filter by Date, Name, or Email address. 

If you choose Do Not Apply Any Filters, all kicked 

back emails will be displayed. 

To refine your search, click the Apply Email 

Kickback Filters checkbox and use any or all of 

the related filters. 

Filter By Date: 

You can use the Date Range filters to search 

for Email Kickbacks within a certain time 

period. To do so, enter a Start Date, an End 

Date or a Start Date AND an End Date for 

your Date Range. 

If you enter only a Start Date, the 

search will include the selected date 

through the present. 

If you select only an End Date, the 

results returned will include all messages 


sent from that date back indefinitely. 

If you include a Start Date and an End 

Date, the results will only include 

messages sent during the specified date 

range. 

Filter by Name: 

To search by name, enter all or part of the 

name of the person for which you are 

searching in the Filter by Name text box. 

You may choose to enter the first name 

(such as "John"), the last name (such as 

"Doe") or the full name (such as "John 

Doe"). Only enter those portions of the 

name which you are certain are correct, 

however. If the individual's name is on 

file as "Jonathan Doe" and you enter 

"John Doe", it will not necessarily find 

him. 

Filter by Email: 

To search for a particular email address or part 

of an email address, enter it into the Filter by 

Email text box. 

3. Click Generate Report. 

4. You will see a preview of the Kickback Report. 

Review the list to see if any of the emails are valid. 

Select the checkbox by the email address to reset the 

system indicator so the member will continue to receive 

emails. 

5. Click Update to save changes. 

6. Click Export to create a file for you to download. 

7. Right click Download File to save the file to your 

local computer, or click on the link to open the file in 

your default spread sheet or text application. 

Email Kickback Admin 

As an administrator, you can avoid some member 

frustration by reviewing bounced email messages and 

error codes in the Email Kickback tool to make sure that 

soft kickbacks are not always flagged. 

Email flagged as invalid 

When a member whose email address has been 

flagged as invalid attempts to log in, he or she will 

be directed to a page where the only option is to 

provide an alternate email address for registration. 

Once that new address is provided, the member's 

profile will automatically be updated and the 

Email_is_valid status reset to True. 

If the member is uncertain as to why he / she is 

being asked to supply a new address or if the email 

address on file is valid but was temporarily 

unavailable (such as happens when a mailbox 

reaches its full capacity), he / she may use the 

provided email link which will send a notification to 

the assigned Email Kickback Administrator. If there 

is no assigned Email Kickback Administrator, then 

this message will be sent to all of the Community's 

Super Administrators. 

Best Practices 

As an administrator, you can avoid some 

member frustration by reviewing bounced 


email messages and error codes in the Email 

Kickback tool to make sure that soft kickbacks 

are not always flagged. For Example, if you 

note that the reason the email was returned 

was because the member's email box was full, 

you might want to reset the member's 

"Email_is_valid" field to "True" so that they 

will not have to enter a new address the next 

time they log in. 

Also, if a member contacts an assigned Admin 

regarding his / her account and ability to sign 

in with the email address on file, you can find 

the member's kickback record(s) and explain 

that the registered email address returned 

several "Soft" kickbacks or a single 'Hard" 

kickback (and give the kickback reason). The 

member can research what the problem may 

be with the address and help remedy the 

issue. 

Kickback Settings 

Kickbacks Settings enable custom configurations 

regarding when or if constituents' email addresses are 

set to invalid as a result of hard and/or soft kickbacks. 

NOTE: Super Admins and Email Kickbacks admins have 

access to the Email Kickbacks administrative tool. 

There are two types of email kickbacks that are 

generated by Internet mail servers - "Hard" and "Soft". 

Once an email of any type is sent to a member (Email 

Marketing or Member to Member) and is answered with 

an initial Soft kickback message, the system will try to 

re-send the email every 5 minutes for 3 days from the 

initial send request. This will overcome most delivery 

difficulties associated with temporary Internet / Network 

traffic reasons. 

NOTE: The number and type of Email Kickbacks are 

also dependent upon the configuration of the receiving 

(end-user) server, and are therefore not within iModules 

control. 

When a member whose email address has been flagged 

as invalid attempts to log in, he or she will be directed 

to a page where the only option is to provide an 

alternate email address for registration. Once that new 

address is provided, the member's profile will 

automatically be updated and the Email_is_valid status 

reset to True. If the member is uncertain as to why he 

/ she is being asked to supply a new address or if the 

email address on file is valid but was temporarily 

unavailable (such as happens when a mailbox reaches 

its full capacity), he / she may use the provided email 

link which will send a notification to the assigned Email 

Kickback Administrator. If there is no assigned Email 

Kickback Administrator, then this message will be sent 

to all of the Community's Super Administrators. 

Any instance of a Hard Kickback will cause a user's 

primary email address to be set as invalid. 

Setting for the number of Soft Kickbacks that will 

cause a user's primary email address to be set as 

"invalid". The choices are 3, 4, or 5 kickbacks. 


Hard Kickbacks 

A single "Hard Kickback" automatically sets a member's 

"Email_is_valid" field to "False." This means that the 

member will no longer receive Email Marketing 

communications, nor can they be contacted by other 

members via email through the Community website. 

Hard Kickback Codes - If the Kickback Error Code 

begins with a 5, it is considered a “hard” kickback. 

You should attempt to contact the member by a 

means other than email to try and get an updated 

email address. 

* 500 Syntax error, command unrecognized. Also 

command line too long 

* 501 Syntax error in parameters or arguments 

* 502 Command not implemented 

* 503 Bad sequence of commands 

* 504 Command parameters not implemented 

* 550 Action not taken. Mailbox unavailable. Not 

found, not accessible 

* 551 User not local, please try 

* 552 Exceeded storage allocation 

* 553 Mailbox name not allowed. Mailbox syntax 

may be incorrect 

* 554 Transaction failed 

Soft Kickbacks 

In the default iModules configuration, once a member 

email address receives five (default) "Soft Kickbacks", 

this will result in the "Email_is_valid" setting being 

switched to False, which will prevent the member from 

receiving any community emails. The difference is that 

in this case, the reason for the kickback might have 

been a temporary problem, such as a full email box or 

network slowness, and therefore requires five 

occurrences before setting the email address to a False 

status for "Email_is_valid". 

The iModules system retries sending an email every 

5 minutes for 3 days, before marking a particular 

email instance as "1 soft kickback". So the 

iModules system has attempted to send the specific 

email many times before counting a particular send 

as a soft kickback. 

Setting for the number of soft kickbacks that 

will cause a member's primary email address 

to be set as "invalid" 

Number of kickbacks - Sets the point at which 

soft kickbacks will invalidate a constituent's email 

address. The choices are 3, 4, or 5 kickbacks. 

Soft Kickback Codes - If the Kickback Error Code 

begins with a 4, it is considered a “soft” kickback. 

You can reactivate the member’s account and 

continue to monitor the Kickback Report. If you 

continue to see kickbacks, contact the member and 

ask him/her to provide an updated email address. 

* 421 service not available, closing 

transmission channel 

* 450 Requested action not taken; mailbox 


unavailable or busy 

* 451 Requested action aborted, local error in 

processing 

* 452 Requested action not taken, insufficient 

system storage

iMODULES - Help - Email Marketing - Alumni

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