Email Enabled Blogs and Forums is an add on module that is available to customers. Please contact Sales@igloosoftware.com for more information.

Enabling a Blog:

In the Blog application hierarchy the Channel level is email enabled; once a blog is enabled users can create new articles or comment on an article.

Once a channel has been created an administrator can then "Edit" the channel to email enable it. In the example below the Channel for "Watercooler" is being email enabled. The email address can be chosen for the channel, in this case "watercooler@insidetheigloo.com". The address can be changed at any time but a warning message will appear informing the user that changing the address will affect users already using the old address.

Hints:

When a channel is emailed enabled a Hint appears at the bottom of the page informing all users of its unique status and providing the channel's email address. Also posts made by email will display a small indicating "email' icon so that users browsing the site know which items were posted by email.

Subscriptions:

The email enabled functionality is very much tied to subscriptions. Subscribing to an email enabled channel is by default instant; only instant notifications can be used to interact with community blogs. If a user changes the frequency of their subscription they will no longer be able to interact with the blogs through their notifications but will still be able to create new articles by email (example: a user could create a new email and type in the corresponding address instead of using the link in notification email.)

The instant notifications differ from the standard emails in that:

• the email has less html formatting
• the topic message is quoted in the email
• users can reply to the email and that reply will be added to the article's comment thread
• users can view the article which opens the article in browser window
• users can start a new article which opens a new email in their current client; email creates a new article in the appropriate blog channel

Starting a New Article:

To start new articles simply email the channel's address including the new article's name in the subject line and the post content in the email body. Other users subscribed to the channel will receive a notification that a new article has been added. Tip: send an email to the appropriate the email address, do not include other recipients in the TO field...other users will receive the notification via their subscriptions.

Commenting by Email:

Commenting to an article is done by replying to the notification; this ensures continuation of the same blog thread. Tip: everything in the notification email reply gets added to the post so it's best to delete everything in the email except the reply content itself (example: remove automatic email signature content and the original post content).

Listserv Etiquette:

For Email Enabled Features...

• Include a meaningful subject line
• Keep your messages brief
• Keep the text plain (don't use a lot of formatting)
• Trim all the irrelevant text out of your message (as a courtesy to the other members of the group to make the digest easier to read)
• Do not use automatic e-mail reply programs, for example:
  • If you're going to be away for an extended period of time, unsubscribe from the item while you're away and re-subscribe when you return

Related Topics:

• E-mail Enabled Forums