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Section 4 Creating Customized Newsletters
LISTSERV®, version 16.0
Customization Manual
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4.3 Fine Tuning the Newsletter
For those who are familiar with HTML, LISTSERV gives you the ability to expand your
limits and design profession-looking HTML newsletters that go above and beyond the
everyday standards.
Note: Any changes you make on this tab will be lost if you use the [Back] button.
The following fields are available at the top of the screen:
• Your Name – This field is automatically filled with the email address associated with
your user account. To change this, simply delete the email address and enter your
name as you wish it to appear in the From field of the email header of the
newsletter. The email address that will be used in the From field is the one that is
logged into LISTSERV and may not be changed.
• Subject – The subject line for the newsletter.
• Content-Type – This drop-down menu is read-only unless the advanced options are
activated (see below). If available, you can re-define the format of the newsletter.
To view and define the advanced options, click the [Show Advanced] button. The
following options are available:
• Charset – Use this drop-down menu to select the charset (character set) of the
newsletter. If your newsletter requires a charset that is different from the default
charset for LISTSERV (UTF-8), then you can use the drop-down menu to select the
matching one before you type or paste in your content. This selection will not
translate one charset to another. It is used to sync the charset of the original
newsletter with LISTSERV so that it can be encoded correctly for sending.
• RSS Abstract – Many lists allow subscribers to read postings through RSS feeds.
LISTSERV automatically creates RSS abstract from the text part of the message. By
default, LISTSERV uses a maximum of 500 and a minimum of 250 words for an
implicit RSS abstract. These default numbers can be changed either for the entire
site or on a list-by-list basis. However, this option also allows you to create explicit
RSS abstracts, which can be HTML or text of any length. To provide an explicit RSS
abstract, simply enter text here in the RSS Abstract text box. To use your text or
HTML part in its entirety for the RSS abstract, click the Use as RSS Abstract icon
next to either the Plain Text Content-Type or HTML Content-Type section; the
content will be automatically copied into the abstract text area.
• Attachments – Use the [Browse...] button to find your file on a local drive. Click the
[Attach] button to attach your file to your outgoing message. The attachment will be
listed in a table beneath the Attachments field. To delete an attachment, simply
click the [Delete] button associated with that particular item in this table.
Notes: Each list can have its own rules for accepting or rejecting messages with
attachments. The [Browse...] and [Attach] buttons will function regardless of
individual list settings. As a result, your newsletter may be rejected or stripped of its
attachment by the list. Be sure to check with the list owner if you have any questions.
Attachments can now be stored as a download instead of being distributed to the
list. For details, see the Web Interface User’s Manual.
