Section 3
Using LISTSERV^® Maestro to Define an E-mail Job

Creating and sending customized e-mail messages with LISTSERV^® Maestro is a multi-step procedure. Some of the steps can be done at any time during the process of defining an e-mail job, and other steps are dependent on the completion of previous steps.

• A new job is started and assigned a title and ID number.

• The message is created and recipients are defined.

• Tracking is set up if desired.

• The sender of the message is defined.

• Testing takes place.

• The message is scheduled for delivery.

• Final approval is recorded, and when scheduled time arrives, the message is delivered.

• Tracking data, if requested,can then be retrieved as each message is received and opened by recipients.

3.1 Starting a Job

To begin creating a new e-mail job, click the icon Start New Job. The individual who initiates a new e-mail job becomes the "owner" of that job and has the rights to all of the different functions of the job from assigning a job title to final approval for delivering the message.

The first step to creating a new job is to assign it a "Job Title" and a "Job ID Prefix." A Job Title is the way individual users identify specific jobs by name. The Job Title can be composed of letters and numbers, and contain spaces. The Job ID is generated by the system to ensure each ID is unique and is used by the system to identify each individual job. Users can enter a Job ID Prefix, which appears before the system generated Job ID and is separated from it by a hyphen. Depending on the settings of the user’s account, the job ID prefix may already be set or limited to pre-set options. If a choice of job IDs has been pre-set by the system administrator, a pull down menu will be available instead of the "Job ID Prefix:" text box. Use the prefix to further identify jobs or perhaps group jobs for reporting or billing. For more on Job Titles and Job IDs, see LISTSERV^® Maestro’s online help or LISTSERV^® Maestro’s Administrators Guide.

Once a Job Title and Job ID have been assigned, they will appear in the upper left side of the screen on every screen that is associated with that particular job.

Figure 3 Start New Job Screen



A new job can be created one of two ways, by selecting the option button "choose all new settings," which means starting from scratch, or, by selecting the option button "copy contents, recipients, and sender settings from existing job:" which takes the settings from a previous job as the basis for the new job.

A new empty job needs to have the e-mail message defined as well as the sender and recipient information determined. A job based on a copy of an existing job can reuse a previously composed message, sender information, testing information and recipient information. Press OK to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen.

Copying an existing job can save time and effort by reusing messages and recipients lists. For example, a monthly newsletter would change its message each month but would be sent to the same recipient list. A new product announcement would contain the same message but could be sent to different recipient lists.

3.2 Defining a New Job

Once a new job has been created, the next steps are to define the recipients of the message and create the e-mail message itself (unless these components are being based on an existing job). Both of these operations must take place before defining the tracking data to be collected. Defining the sender and scheduling the delivery can take place at any time. The "Job Details" screen displays either a "Workflow" or a "Summary" diagram. These diagrams serve to guide users through the proper sequence of events for defining an e-mail job. Both of these displays chart the process of creating an e-mail job and contain links that allow each procedure to be edited.

The Workflow diagram is a visual representation of the process of creating an e-mail job. Clickable icons represent each of the steps, the order in which they must occur, and the status of each step. By clicking an icon on the Workflow diagram, the user opens up the area in LISTSERV^® Maestro that defines and edits that step of the e-mail job. After the definition or editing has occurred, the user will be returned to the Workflow diagram to select the next step.

The Summary diagram is a textual listing of the process of creating an e-mail job. To reach the Summary diagram, click on the Summary tab from the Workflow diagram. Each area of LISTSERV^® Maestro is listed in the left column, the status of the step is listed in the middle column and an Edit link is listed in the right column. Access to each function is obtained by clicking the Edit link. After the definition or editing has occurred, the user will be returned to the Summary diagram to select the next step.

The third tab at the top of the "Job Details" screen is called "Test Reports" and will only become active once an e-mail job had been completed through the delivery test phase. At that point, it becomes possible to run quick reports on the test messages containing tracked links for open-up and click-though events. For information on using the Test Reports functions, see Section 7.2 Delivery Testing for a Job.

3.3 Using the Workflow Diagram

This flow chart serves as a visual representation of the process of creating a new e-mail job. Clicking on each icon opens up the interface for defining the components or details of the job. As components are defined, the next steps for the job become available. For example, it is not possible to define tracking data for a job until the message and the recipients are defined.

Once all the components of the e-mail job are defined, they can be edited in any order from this screen or the Summary diagram. If an earlier step is edited, the later steps must be revisited. For example, if the recipient list is changed under Define Recipients the Delivery Test step will have to be redone. It is also possible to delete the current job from this screen.

Figure 4 Workflow Diagram on Job Details Screen



Icons on the Workflow diagram change appearance to signal the status of the step they represent. Icons that are not clickable represent steps that cannot be started until earlier steps are completed. Icons may also not be clickable for an individual, even though the step is available, because the user does not have permission to execute that particular step of the job. Permission to execute certain steps in an e-mail job is granted by the job owner (the person who initiated the e-mail job), or by the LISTSERV^® Maestro Administrator when the user’s account was set up. For more information on team collaboration, see Section 3.5 of this guide. For more information on individual user account privileges see Section 4.2 in the LISTSERV^® Maestro Administrators Guide.

The Change Job Info button allows the Job Title and Job ID Prefix to be changed and team collaboration roles to be defined.

3.4 Using the Summary Diagram

The Summary diagram has all of the same functionality as the Workflow diagram, but the information is presented in a different manner. The Summary diagram is most helpful in reviewing and editing aspects of an e-mail job once they have been defined. It is possible to delete the current job and to authorize the delivery of a job from the Summary diagram. Toggle between the Summary diagram, the Workflow diagram, and Test Reports by using the tabs near the top.

Figure 5 Summary Diagram from the Job Details Screen



Click on the Edit link adjacent to each function to enter or change existing settings. If the Edit link is not clickable, it will appear grayed out or a lighter color. This means that a preceding step has not been successfully completed or the user does not have permission to execute that step.

3.5 Team Collaboration

Once a job has been started and OK clicked, the Job Details screen opens displaying the Workflow diagram. At the top of this screen is the button Change Job Info that will allow the Job Title and Job ID Prefix to be changed. A Team Collaboration button becomes available if there are other account holders in the group. This function makes it possible to set up a team of people to collaborate on a job. From the Summary screen "Team Collaboration" is the bottom listing, and can be edited if the Edit link is active.

The owner of the job can choose team members and assign each person privileges to perform certain functions within that job. The job owner always has privileges to all the functions of his/her job and other users may not revoke these privileges. Other team members can have different responsibilities for different aspects of a job. People can also share responsibilities for the same aspects of a job.

Figure 6 Change Job Information Screen



Clicking Team Collaboration reveals other account holders in the job owner’s group. The job owner can choose the privileges to grant or revoke by clicking in the check boxes next to each account. To grant or revoke a certain privilege for all users, click on the corresponding privilege in the title bar. To grant or revoke all privileges for a certain user, click on the user’s name. To grant or revoke all privileges for all users click on Team Member in the top left corner of the table. It is also possible to copy permissions from another job by selecting the job from the drop-down menu. Click OK to save the settings.

Figure 7 Team Collaboration Screen



Separating responsibilities for different aspects of an e-mail job to team members with expertise in those aspects will help to ensure an effective message is sent to the right recipients and useful tracking data is collected. For example, a company wants to send new product information to clients and find out which clients opened certain links contained in the message. A team would be assembled to send out this message. The project leader would initiate the job in LISTSERV^® Maestro and become the job owner. The job owner would enlist an HTML expert to create the content of an HTML message, a marketing expert to determine the recipients of this message, and an analyst to decide the types of information to be tracked for a company report.