How to maintain a mailing list using WorldCast
This is an email that I sent to someone who needed something to manage a small mailing list. I have used Worldcast in the past so I wrote up this simple how-to.
Worldcast is a free (for non-profit use) or cheap for business use mail sending program.
How to maintain a mailing list using WorldCast
1. Create New Project
To create a new Worldcast project, start Worldcast and go through the Configuration Wizard. To complete the configuration wizard, you’ll need your name, email address, the format of email you want to send out (HTML is recommended), transport protocol (SMTP recommended), and SMTP Server.
The final question is whether you want to send the emails or just validate the email addresses. You most probably will want to send only.
At the end of the wizard, once you have entered all the information you have the option to import contacts from a file or type them in yourself. You can import or add addresses at any time.
Worldcast imports files in the comma seperated value file, or another worldcast file.
Before you import your first batch of users, you should check your settings by manually adding your own email address and sending an email to yourself.
2. Sending an Update to your Mailing list
When you have your list prepared you can enter your subject and body message in the supplied area. If you chose to send an HTML message then you will be able to use HTML message formatting.
You can insert any of the feilds (Firstname, Lastname, Email) into your email by clicking on “Message->Insert Field” and selecting the data that you want to insert into the email.
Once you have sent your email, or created your project, save your project for future use.
3. Managing Unsubscriptions
If a user chooses to unsubscribe from your list, open your project click on the status column for the email address which you want to unsubscribe and change the status to Unsubscribed.
4. Merging Lists
When you are ready to send a new Mailing, export a new version of your contact list and import it into Worldcast by clicking on “File->Import Recipients”.
The users will be imported into your system and then the system will ask if you want to check for duplicates. It is important that you remove the duplicate email addresses, this will maintain your unsubscription lists.