Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]

What is PHPList?

PHPList is an opensource email list / newsletter manager written in PHP with a MySQL database. Africalist uses this backend to manage all our lists. It is an excellent and stable application which is being continually developed. If you need to manage many email lists and want total flexibility then we reccommend you setup your own version of PHPlist.

I sent a message but nothing appears to have happened?

When you create a new message, you have the option to [Save message as draft] or to [Send message to the selected mailing lists]. The "Send message" option does not actually send the message but places it in the send queue (This is to allow for sending at optimal low traffic times). If you click on the "Process queue" menu option then the message will be sent. Queued and Draft messages can be accessed by the "Messages" menu option. You can view,edit,delete,queue your messages from this page.

The number of members on my list has changed, why?

When you send email to your list, an unsubscribe link is always added. If the recipient does not want to receive email from you they can click on the link and be removed from the list. This all happens automatically. Conversely when people subscribe to your list via the link placed on your website, the number of list members will increase.

I cannot manually add more than one email at a time to my list, why?

To prevent SPAM only an Africalist employee can add multiple emails to a list and this will always be via an email invitaion to join the list. It would only take one rogue operator to blacklist the entire service! If you would like to add multiple email addresses then please send the data to us and we will add it for you after checking the origin of the email addresses (ie: hopefully not harvested by nefarious means!).

What are the best format and send settings?

Use the default settings (format="Autodetect" and send="text and html") as this will ensure that text only mail clients will still get a useful message. Be aware though that if you use HTML in the message body then this will not be stripped out for text only clients. "Text and html" does not mean that two messages are sent! Only that both formats are included in the message and the recipient's email client can choose which it prefers.

My URL links and email addresses in message are not working?

When you send the message in HTML format the email client expects links to be correctly formatted. For links use the following syntax : <a href="http://www.yourdomain.com">visible link text</a> ... and for emails : <a href="mailto:xyz@domain.com">visible email text</a>

My clients say the message is a mess of raw HTML, why?

When you send a message you have the option of sending HTML only, Text & HTML, or Text Only. The default message format settings are correct! The radio button appears to the right of what is selected and can appear misleading. This means that if you include HTML elements within the message input area and send as "Text only" then these HTML elements will not be interpreted and will be displayed as is. ALLWAYS CHECK HOW YOUR MESSAGE WILL LOOK USING THE TEST LIST BEFORE YOU SEND TO YOUR ACTIVE LISTS.

The unsubscribe links on my test message do not work correctly?

When you use the [Send Test Message] option, the email address used can be any address and as such is not associated with a member ID in your list data. This means that the unsubscribe links have no way of linking to a specific user and therefore will not function correctly. The test message option is intended only for verifying the format of the message. If you want to check the links then use the supplied test list with only one or two emails. The test list is inactive so that it is not visible on your subscribe page.

I selected the "requeue"/"resend" option for an old message but nothing was sent?

When you "requeue" or "resend" a message it is only sent to anyone who joined the list since the original send date of the message. Therefore if you want to correct a message allready sent you will have to create a new message.

I tried to create a new list but I cannot see it?

The "add a list" link at the bottom of the "lists" page appears to work but then you cannot see the list you created. We are busy fixing this bug. PLease contact us and we will make the list available to you.

The subscribe links at bottom of a client email goto the incorrect subscription page?

Each email address is assigned to one subscriber page. If that address belongs to multiple lists then the last page the member subscribed to becomes the assigned subscriber page. The member will still see all the lists that he/she belongs to. Unfortunately only the user ID is part of the link and not the subscribe page. This is an issue for future development.

Want to get going? Then Contact us and you will be emailing your client base in no time at all.