4HPlus! Newsletter Utility

Newsletters - Labels and Emails

Newsletter Labels Utility in 4HPlus!

The Newsletter Labels Utility is unique in that it is the only place in 4HPlus! that will pull together mailing and/or email data from the Member and Leader databases.

Click on [Goto] [Utilities] [Newsletter Labels]

Newsletter Labels screen

Allow Email Newsletter Option

There is a "background" selection process happening in the utlity, related to the [Allow Email Newsletter] check box on both the Members and the Leaders registration screens.

Members and Leaders who DO have the above box checked:

Will be included in Emails sent from this utility
Will NOT be included in mailing labels and/or mail merge files IF the [Remove Labels for Email Recipient] option is checked

Members and Leaders who DO NOT have the above box checked

Will NOT be included in Emails sent from this utility
Will always be included in mailing labels and/or mail merge files, regardless of the status of the [Remove Labels for Email Recipient] option

NOTE:

If desired, ALL Members and/or Leaders can be checked or un-checked to "Allow" newsletters in one step

Click on [Goto] [Members] or [Leaders]
Click on [Reports/Utilities]
Click on option desired

Selecting Options

There are a number of additional options to be selected in order to either generate mailing labels, a mail merge data file or email messages.

Radio Button Group	Options	Comments
Select Recipients	Members, and/or Leaders and/or Parents data can be included, depending on selections made here.	Parents data refers to data entered from the Member's registration screen, via the [Parent(s) Info] button
One Label Per...	4HPlus! will compare addresses for all options selected above (Members, Parents, Leaders) and generate only one mailing label or one mail merge record per option selected here.	It is suggested to use the one label per [Address] option, because it is easier to troubleshoot addresses that do not match. The [Family] option compares multiple fields - including phone, address and parent name.
Additional Filtering	This is one of the newer and more powerful options added to this screen!! This allows you to combine address data for Members, Leaders AND Parents, while additionally selecting addresses based on Clubs, Projects or Achievements.	The list is multi-selectable
Select Label First Line	Because there may likely be more than on member, leader and/or parent at an address, using an individual's name is not logical. This first line is also a field in a Mail Merge output file.	The last two options in the list are "dynamic", that is, they pull read data from the record and insert it into the first line. It is suggested to use the bottom option: [4-H'ers c/o (Parent/guardian)]
Label Sort	Simply choose the option you prefer
Send To...	The first two options, [Count] and [Screen] let you preview the data. The bottom two options direct your output.
Label Casing Print USPS Routing Bar Code on Label	Choose option as desired
Remove Labels for Email Recipients	This option will exclude recipients from the mailing labels and/or the mail merge file, IF they have an email address in the record, AND IF they have their [Allow Email Newsletter] box checked. See above for more information.

Count Option

If the[Count] "Send To" option is selected as part of the above options have been selected, click on [Process] to proceed

4HPlus! will proceed to anayze the data according to options chosen, resuling in displayed counts for each category

Counts

Screen or Printer Option

If the[Screen] or [Printer] "Send To" option is selected as part of the above options have been selected, click on [Process] to proceed

4HPlus! will then take you to a label template screen.

If printing, click on individual label cells to have them skipped, thereby utilizing partial sheets of labels

Click on [Process] to send the labels to the printer

Mail Merge File Option

If the[Mail Merge] "Send To" option is selected as part of the above options have been selected, click on [Process] to proceed
A pop up message will indicate where the output file is located

Mail Merge

The output file is a CSV file (Comma Separated Value) file, that can be opened by MS-Excel, MS-Access, or serve as a direct data source for an MS-Word Mail Merge operation. Note the following considerations:
- Excel
  - In the File>Open dialogue box, change [Files of Type] to [All Files (*.*)]
  - Choose [Delimited] when the [Text Conversion Wizard] start
  - Choose a [Comma] delimiter
  - View a demonstration video here
- Access
  - The file name extension must be changed from [.dat] to [.txt]
  - The import process will vary depending on the version, but look for the menu items "External Data" and "Import"
- Word
  - The file name extension must be changed from [.dat] to [.txt]
  - The mail merge process will vary depending on the version, but look under "Letters and Mailings" and when prompted for a data source, navigate to the above saved and renamed file

Email Option

To send e-mails, click on the button [Email Selected Recipients]

This will take you to the Email screen

Enter an email [Subject] and [Message Text

Attachments are not recommended to due to unknown software and connection speeds of the recipients

Additional Email addresses for the message can be added if desired

Additional Addresses

From the list on the left, select the recipients by clicking [All], then if desired, hold down the [Ctrl] key to de-select individual participants

NOTE:

If an address exists in the list more than one time, 4HPlus! will remove the duplicates and send only one message to any one email address.

Click on [Email Now] to send the messages
To check the success of the emailing, click on [Goto] [Main] [4HPlus Email Setup] and check the [Send Status] field

Status

NOTE:

For more assistance with 4HPlus! Email, check out this troubleshooting video

As an alternative to emailing via 4HPlus!, it is possible to use your regular desktop email client as follows:

Click on the [List Emails...] button
The resultant list will be unique (one per) that can be selected (click and drag your mouse over the list) and then copied to your Windows Clipboard [Ctrl-C] and then pasted [Ctrl-V] in the [BCC] (blind carbon copy) field of your email client
(Do not put all these addresses in the [To:] field of an email message).

List Emails