One of the final steps in the process of setting up a Recipient Warehouse – to collect, organize, and manage recipient data and email lists – is to provide people with access to the membership and list subscription areas. LISTSERV Maestro automatically generates URLs to all of the public pages of a dataset as each dataset and the lists within it are created. These URLs can then be used in links on the organization’s main web site or sent in an email message in order to invite members and subscribers to join. Subscriber access URLs can be found on the Recipient Dataset Details screen by clicking
Dataset >
Subscriber Access URLs. This opens the Quick Access screen and, from here, each dataset may have the following URLs defined:
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Login – Takes existing members to their membership page when they enter their email address and password. Members that have been added by the data administrator but do not have a password can enter their email address and request a password. Members that have forgotten their password can request a new one. There is also a link that brings people who are not members to the join membership area page.
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Join Membership Area – Takes a prospective member to the sign up page for the membership area (dataset). This URL is only available for datasets that are defined as “Open to everyone”.
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Subscribe to List [list name] – Takes a prospective subscriber to the list’s subscription page. Each list defined as “Open to everyone” in a dataset that is “Open to everyone” will have its own subscription URL.
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Click on each of the subscriber access URLs to view what the public pages look like. After seeing what the public sees, it may be necessary to go back and edit the dataset fields or list fields. If the automatically generated web pages are inadequate for your site, they may be customized.
The Customization wizard for the Subscriber Interface makes it possible for the data administrator to customize every page and email that a subscriber will see. This will make it easier for you to focus on your subscriber’s “touch points” and convey your organization’s message. This same customization can be applied to all of the pages related to a single dataset or you can customize each individual page. For example, text for some lists can be in English, and text for others can be in French, or the entire look and feel of the signup page for an individual list can be different from all other lists in the dataset.
Context-sensitive instructions guide you through the Customization wizard, describing each template, listing the placeholders used in each template, and showing you how each template relates to the others.
The Customization wizard maintains two versions of every template – a draft version and a production version. You are also able to test the draft version of the template, using varying conditions, before releasing it into production.
To access the Customization wizard, click Recipient Warehouse >
Datasets from the Toolbar. Click on the name of the dataset that you want to customize. The Recipient Dataset Details screen opens; click on the Membership Area Layout tab. If you have not customized your subscriber pages, then a general overview and introduction into the topic of membership area customization is displayed.
Note: If the subscriber pages are not customized, then LISTSERV Maestro will use the default setting for the visual layout and text.
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Supply a custom membership area header/footer – The header/footer is a common template which is (by default) shared by all pages that constitute the membership area; therefore, any changes to the header/footer will automatically affect all pages. Because of this, the header/footer is the ideal place to start the customization, providing a common layout for all pages.
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Select a page – In addition to the header/footer template, there are a number of other layout elements which can be customized. This link takes you to a list of all available layout elements.
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Note: The sections below only summarize the customization process. For more information, see the Interface Customization Manual or the online help.
The Supply a custom membership area header/footer link opens the Customize Page Layout screen. This screen allows you to preview the draft and production version for each layout element you want to customize for the dataset.
To customize the membership area layout for the dataset, click the Currently Customizing drop-down menu and select
Membership Area Layout. This layout is shown by default. To customize the list(s) in the dataset, click the drop-down menu and select list you want to customize (i.e. if you have a list named XYZ, then select
Layout of List XYZ).
The Customize Page Layout screen for the Membership Area Layout is divided into two panes. The left pane is where you select the page or template that you want to customize. The default is the Membership Area Header/Footer page. To change, simply click the drop-down menu and select a different page/template to work with. From this menu, you can also select to customize notifications, messages, or error text. Once you make a selection, the area below the drop-down menu displays the following:
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If you selected a template page, normal page, or a notification email, then a short description of the selected layout element is displayed.
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If you selected a message text for a message group, then a list of available message for that group is displayed. Click on one of the messages to select it as the layout element to customize/view. When you initially select a message group from the drop-down menu, the first message in the group is selected by default.
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If you selected an input validation error for an error group, then a list of available errors for that group is displayed. Click on one of the errors to select it as the layout element you want to customize (or view). For each error group, there is an Error Group Header/Footer option that defines a common opening and closing text that is shared by all of the errors in this group. This header/footer appears first in the list of errors for the group and is select, by default, when you initially select an error group from the drop-down menu.
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The right pane contains two tabs – the Draft Version tab and the Production Version tab. The production version is the version that subscribers, who access the membership area pages, actually see. The draft version, on the other hand, is not visible to the subscribers. This means that you can safely make any changes to the draft version without them becoming immediately visible. For example, you may want to customize one page after the other by editing their draft versions; but, you want to make the customized versions available all at once, after you have finished with all pages. Or, you may want to experiment a bit with the layout, without disturbing the actual production versions that subscribers see. Only when you finally deploy the draft version as the new production version will your changes become visible to subscribers.
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Deploy as Production Version – Click to deploy the current draft version as the new production version. This will make a copy of the current draft version of the selected layout element and write it into the element's production version, making this the version of the selected element which subscribers actually see. The draft version remains unchanged.
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Copy from Production Version – Click to make a copy of the current production version and use it as the new draft version. This will overwrite all current changes to the draft version. The production version remains unchanged.
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Reset to System Default – Click to reset the current draft version to the LISTSERV Maestro system default. This will overwrite all manual changes to the draft version and will reset it to its default. The production version remains unchanged.
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Header/Footer Template – The comment displays how many pages (in the dataset and its lists) that are currently using the header/footer template (i.e. pages that do not have a header/footer defined of their own but are inheriting the template). Click the Details link to view a detailed list of pages using this template.
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Any of the List Page Templates – The first comment displays if the template page inherits the header/footer template (see above) or if the header/footer is defined locally on the list page template. The second comment (below the first one) displays how many list pages are currently using the corresponding template (i.e. pages that do only define the layout of the actual list profile fields locally, but inherit the rest of the page layout from this template).
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Any of the Normal Pages – The comment displays if the page inherits the header/footer template (see above) or if the header/footer is defined locally on the page.
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Any of the Message Page Texts – The comment describes the currently selected message and the circumstances under which it is displayed to the subscriber.
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Any of the Input Validation Errors – The comment describes the currently selected error message and the circumstances under which it may occur. Also, unless the current message is already the error-header/footer of the error group, then it provides a link to select the error-header/footer for the current error group. By editing the error-header/footer, you can provide all errors in one error group with the same opening and closing texts.
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Additional controls may also appear, allowing you to simulate certain system states so you can verify their impact on the actual preview. These controls vary depending on the layout element selected, and only a few elements offer them. For information on these controls, please see the online help.
The Customize Page Layout screen for the selected list is divided into two panes. The left pane is where you select the list page that you want to customize. The default is the External Subscribe, Step 1 page of the list. To change, simply click the drop-down menu and select a different list page to work with. Once you’ve made a selection, a short description of the current list page is displayed below the drop-down menu.
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Deploy as Production Version – Click to deploy the current draft version as the new production version. This will make a copy of the current draft version of the selected layout element and write it into the element's production version, making this the version of the selected element which subscribers actually see. The draft version remains unchanged.
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Copy from Production Version – Click to make a copy of the current production version and use it as the new draft version. This will overwrite all current changes to the draft version. The production version remains unchanged.
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Reset to System Default – Click to reset the current draft version to the LISTSERV Maestro system default. This will overwrite all manual changes to the draft version and will reset it to its default. The production version remains unchanged.
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Various comments may also be displayed, giving further details about the current list page. All list pages consist of three parts – the outer header/footer, the page body, and the inner list fields. It is possible to customize each page on three levels.
Additional controls may also appear, allowing you to simulate certain system states so you can verify their impact on the actual preview. These controls vary depending on the layout element selected, and only a few elements offer them. For information on these controls, please see the online help.
Note: Previously, unsubscribing from a list required either logging in to the membership pages or clicking on an unsubscribe link in a message. New pages, which can be linked from any web page, have been added specifically for unsubscribing from lists without first logging into the membership pages. An example of this page is shown above, and can be customized to meet your needs.
To start customizing a subscriber page, click on either the dataset name or the list name (in the right pane of the Recipient Dataset Details screen), and then click the
Select a page link.
Once you’ve selected to customize a subscriber page for a dataset, then the Membership Area Layout tab refreshes and displays a list of all customizable layout elements. The layout elements are divided into three tables – Templates, Pages, and Subscriber Notification Mails. Each table lists the available elements and displays their current customization status:
If at least the draft or production version of a layout element is customized (or both), then either an equals or not equals sign is displayed between the two icons. This lets you know whether or not the current draft version is equal to the current production version. If both versions are not customized, then the equals-sign is not displayed because the two versions are the same.
If you have at least one layout element in the dataset where the draft version is different than the current production version, then the
Deploy icon allows you to deploy all these draft versions at once (either the ones in the dataset itself or all draft versions in the dataset and all its lists).
For some customization placeholders (that you can use on customized pages), it is possible to provide certain attributes that determine how each placeholder will be rendered on the final HTML page. For these placeholders, it is also possible to define which attributes shall be used by default (i.e. on all pages that do not define individual attributes for their placeholders). Click the
Profile-Placeholder Default Attributes link at the bottom of the Pages table to define these defaults. For more information, please see the online help.
If the customized versions of some pages are no longer compatible to the dataset, then the following additional icons may be displayed instead of the icons explained above:
If the customization of any page is currently incompatible to the matching dataset, then the tab also displays an additional notification message about this fact and contains a link to a page where you can view (and access) all incompatible pages.
Once you’ve selected to customize a subscriber page for a list, then the Membership Area Layout tab refreshes and displays a list of all customizable layout elements. The layout elements are divided into two tables – Pages and Matching Templates.
Note: The Pages table contains the actual layout elements that can be customized for the selected list, while the Matching Templates table contains the layout elements of the dataset that the list belongs to. However, since the list pages by default make use of these templates, the templates have been included for convenience.
If at least the draft or production version of a layout element is customized (or both), then either an equals or not equals sign is displayed between the two icons. This lets you know whether or not the current draft version is equal to the current production version. If both versions are not customized, then the equals-sign is not displayed because the two versions are the same.
If you have at least one layout element in the list where the draft version is different than the current production version, then the
Deploy icon allows you to deploy all these draft versions at once (either the ones in the dataset itself or all draft versions in the dataset and all its lists).
For some customization placeholders (that you can use on customized pages), it is possible to provide certain attributes that determine how each placeholder will be rendered on the final HTML page. For these placeholders, it is also possible to define which attributes shall be used by default (i.e. on all pages that do not define individual attributes for their placeholders). Click the
Profile-Placeholder Default Attributes link at the bottom of the Pages table to define these defaults. For more information, please see the online help.
If the customization of any page is currently incompatible to the matching list, then the tab also displays an additional notification message about this fact and contains a link to a page where you can view (and access) all incompatible pages.
