SML2′s archives has all new features and functionality. You can search old messages, resend anything you’ve sent, view delivery progress, force or stop delivery, and do just about anything else you’d need to do.

Aside from the request to bring back the visual editor to the message composition page, the ability to have more than one mailing list was overwhelmingly the most requested feature of SML2. SML2 allows you to create an unlimited number of mailing lists, each with its own set of options. Your members can belong to more than one list and when they do, they only receive one email when it’s sent to multiple lists that they belong to.

Fig. 1 - Add a list

Fig. 2 - Edit/Delete list

Fig. 3 - List data collection

Figure 3 shows the data collection page. In SML2, you can now have members supply additional data when subscribing to your lists. for example, you can ask them for their name, age, preferences, or any other form field. Creating data fields is a breeze and you can make the fields you create required for subscribing as well. You can even use the data fields in messages you send. SML2 creates special tags for your form fields that you can insert into a message. For example, you could send a message to a list and enter the text “Dear [[first_name]],” and SML will automatically merge the data for your members into your message.

All lists default to the owner address specified in your configuration file, however you can override that when creating a list. You can also close lists so that no new subscribers can join. lists can be duplicated and the HTML needed to create a basic subscription form is shown to you when you edit a list.

In today’s post, we’ll look at SML2′s new members area.

Fig. 1

At the top right part of the members area you’ll see two buttons – one for deadbeat cleanup and one for importing members. Deadbeat cleanup allows you to easily remove members who have bounced too many messages back to your server which would indicate a full or non-existent mailbox. Importing obviously allows you to import email addresses into any of the lists you have setup.

The main part of the members are is divided up into three parts. On the left, a listing of the mailing lists you have created, in the middle the list of members belong to the lists you select, and on the right is the detail of any member you select. You can also search for members in a jQuery powered auto complete list.

Members can be imported, deleted, confirmed and unconfirmed via the members interface. Note that the confirmation option is setup in your configuration file and not mandatory.

As I get closer to finishing up work on Simple Mailing List 2 (SML2), I thought I’d begin to post screen shots of what the interface will look like. Note that the look of the final application is subject to change, however it should be very close to what you’ll see here.

I’ll be releasing SML2 in beta form first to allow folks to test it and shake out the bugs. Once I feel that it’s been thoroughly tested, I’ll remove the beta moniker. And as always, SML2 will be free just like previous versions.

And now, onto the first round of screen shots. Today’s post will focus on the message composition screen.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

The three figures above show the new message composition screen. The first two figures show the screen if you have a single list, and the third figure shows the composition screen if you have multiple lists (lists listed down the left hand side). In figure 1, (A) shows the drafts link that allows to to load a draft of a previous image. (B) shows the toolbar that allows you to work with templates, drafts, attachments, and toggle the visual editor on and off. (C) shows the sent test message link which allows you to take the message you’re working on and send it to any email address before committing to sending it to an entire list. (D) shows the status and scheduling area.

Figure 2 shows the scheduling area once you select a delivery of later instead of now. Figure 3 simply shows the list of mailing lists down the left side of the composition area.

Drafts are automatically saved, however you can use the Save Draft button to force a save. The visual editor (TinyMCE) can be toggled on and off with one click and you can set your preference for default editor to the visual editor (HTML mail) or plain text editor in the SML configuration file. When sending an HTML message, SML will create a MIME message with an HTML email and a plain text email for those recipients that can’t read HTML messages.

If you’re composing a message and accidentally (or intentionally) leave the page, you’ll receive a warning about possibly losing work so that you don’t inadvertantly lose something you need.

You can upload multiple file attachments simultaneously (without a Flash uploader).

Finally, when sending messages to multiple lists, if a member belongs to multiple lists they will only receive the message once instead of once for every list they belong to.

Coming next, the members area.