EZezine FAQs
Getting Started
About EZezine
Ezine Management
Ezine Composition
Ezine Statistics
Ezine Directory
EZeine Billing
How do I get started with ezine publishing?
- We welcome you to sign up for a free EZezine member account here. There is no obligation, and it will allow you to get a feel for using our hosting services.
- Once you've created your account, you can find our Quick Start Guide here.
- We also recommend the following resources:
- The EZezine Resource Pages: here you will find a number of articles and tips about ezine content, composition, publishing and promotion. It also provides a link to information about our ezine design services, should you be interested in our designers creating a customized ezine design for you.
Is EZezine blacklisted?
-
We welcome you to read about and check our blacklisting status at anytime here.
We have created and maintained positive relationships with just about every ISP since our birth, and we intend to keep it that way. We are actively whitelisted with: AOL, Hotmail, MSN, Juno, Yahoo, NetZero and many other ISPs. Occasionally we do run into a mistaken blacklisting problem with an ISP and we immediately remedy the situation. It is quite possible that EZezine has the highest deliverability rate of any bulk email service provider available for use.
I used the wrong name for my ezine, can I change it?
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You can change the name of an existing ezine, but it is not advised because it confuses subscribers among other tecnical issues that can effect your deliverability.
How do I import an existing list?
-
You don't. We do not allow the import
of existing lists. The primary reason for
this is that current anti-spam legislation
requires that both you as the publisher
and us as your host must be able to provide
digital proof of when and from where every
single subscriber opted-in. The only way
that we can reliably obtain this information
is via an opt-in form. We have many systems
in place to assist you in re-opting in
your list to your EZezine account. Please
refer to this
page for more info.
Why can't I change a subscriber's address if they ask me to?
-
This is for security reasons. Think of
it from the point of view of your subscribers.
Say a sub asks you to change their address
to an email address that isn't really theirs.
Suddenly some unsuspecting person would
get a copy of your ezine that they never
asked for!
We understand it is inconvenient, but if you explain to your subs that it is for their own security, we're pretty certain they will understand and in fact, be grateful that you are so protective of their information!
There are several ways that a subscriber can change their own email address, or you can assist them:
1) unsubscribe with old address and resubscribe with new.
2) create a subscriber account via the link in the footer of your ezine that says "change settings", or direct them to: ezezine.com. They will need to create a subscriber account using their current email address, then change it after logging into the account. Their subscriber account will also allow them to sub/unsub, put their subscriptions on pause if they're going on vacation, etc.
3) you can unsubscribe them and then send them an invitation via the "invite friends" function to their new address.
What is an RSS feed and how do I use it?
-
RSS feeds allow you, the publisher, to
create and send your ezine to your RSS
subscribers who have chosen to receive
your ezine via a news feed rather than
via email. The headlines are hyperlinked
to your archived ezine, so RSS subscribers
can read your full publication if their
feed reader does not display the full ezine.
There are really two sides to RSS feeds:
To receive RSS feeds, a person must have an RSS reader (news aggregator) and then subscribe to each feed they're interested in receiving.
Then, for an ezine publisher like yourself to send an RSS feed, there is nothing to do, it is automatic if you have rees feeds turned on which is the default setting. You can get the rss URL for your ezine on the ezine home (description) page.
Can I send in both text and HTML?
-
We do not convert automatically to text,
but we do send a link in all HTML ezines
that will direct text readers to an online
version of your ezine.
There's a couple of ways to go with this text/HTML option:
1) If you add the text/HTML option to your sub form:
a) when you queue a text version of your ezine, and continue to the send screen, you will see an option to send to your whole list or to text only subs.
b) when you queue an HTML version, and continue to the send screen, you will see an option to send to your whole list or to your HTML only subs.
In this scenario, yes, you will need to compose one of each version.
2) If you DON'T add the text/HTML option to your sub form, you can then:
a) send in plain text to your whole list or
b) send in HTML to your whole list.
In this scenario if you send an HTML ezine to your whole list, it will include a link at the top of your ezine that will direct folks to an online version that we have archived for you.
Do you offer templates?
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Yes, there are some featured templates to choose from and we are always adding more.
We do have a design staff that will be glad to build a custom template for you that you can then use with the EZezine system. If you are interested in these services, please contact us.
How can I use my own template with your system?
-
Using your own template is easy:
1) The designer who designed it for you ideally should train you in how to edit your content per issue. This will help to proceed.
2) Do NOT use Microsoft's Front Page or Word to compose your ezine. Both programs write very poor and proprietary HTML code that can potentially conflict with our software.
3) Create a new draft select text/html type and paste in your code, preview, save.
4) Once your draft is saved, you have options to send now, save as template, etc. Make sure to save it as a template if you want it to be available for future use. Drafts are temporary files that get removed eventually. 5) You can return to any saved drafts and templates from your member dashboard, drafts are saved for at least a month, templates are saved until you remove them.
Why is there an 'abuse' link added to my ezine?
-
The abuse link is automatically included
in every issue of every ezine and isn't
optional, regardless of your level of membership.
We include this link to offer your subs
an alternate way of immediately opting
out.
Many times, the reports are merely due to a subscriber forgetting that they subscribed to an ezine. So, when they click the abuse link in an ezine they are taken to a page that reminds them where and when they signed up for the ezine. If you'd like to walk yourself through the abuse report link procedure, you can subscribe yourself to your account, actually send an ezine and then click through.
Why is there an 'on-line' archive link added to my ezine?
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Some subscribers, while few and far between,
cannot receive HTML in their email client.
By including this link, we are offering
your subscribers one-click access to an
on-line HTML archive of your ezine. This
link is automatically included in your
HTML ezines and cannot be removed.
Will my CSS conflict with the EZezine system?
-
No. As you compose your ezine and click
the preview screen you may notice a conflict.
However, you will find a link on this preview
page to preview your ezine without EZezine's
CSS. Click this link to see what your ezine
will look like without EZezine's CSS interfering.
What is the difference between a soft/hard bounce?
-
A soft bounce is a temporary inability to deliver to a subscriber. Some
common reasons for soft bounces are full mailboxes, temporary suspension,
etc. These subscribers are not removed from your subscriber lists. A hard
bounce is a fatal bounce. Some common reasons for hard bounces are an
inactive email address, the inability to forward from a primary email
account to a secondary email account ('relaying denied'), and email rejection
due to your ezine's content being marked by the incoming server as spam.
Hard bounces are removed immediately from your subscriber lists.
What is the "report this bounce" link for?
-
Pro-active bounce management is one of
the major factors in keeping EZezine whitelisted
with the major ISPs. Naturally we can't
manually review each bounce. Your bounce
stats are there for you to help us discover
inaccurate bounces. If you find a bounce
that you feel was in error, just click
the link next to it that says 'report this
bounce.' Our support staff will then research
the bounce and either re-activate the subscriber,
or let you know why we cannot (e.g. hard
bounce). Please do not report hard bounces
to us as we will not reactivate these subscribers.
Please see the FAQ directly above on soft/hard
bounce distinctions for clarification.
Why can't I see the emails of unsubscribers?
-
If someone has unsubscribed
from your publication, we're pretty certain
on this end that they no longer want to
hear from your publication. As such, for
the privacy of the individual who has unsubscribed and subscriber confidence,
their email address will not show up in
your statistics.
Do you offer open rate and click through stats?
-
We discourage this, incoming mail servers frown upon
them, often sending email to junk bins or
refusing delivery, We do not condone spying
on your subscribers and that's exactly
what these stats are. Rather we encourage
you to establish trusting relationships
with your subscribers based on the quality
of your ezine content and offerings.
- For "open tracking" we insert a small barely visible graphic into your ezine in the bottom right, opens show up in your your server stats for "open tracking".
- For "click tracking" your links are replaced with a small URL that redirects through our server to collect statiscics, then sends them to the original URL you defined. Links show up in your stats for "click tracking".
Given this, if you would still like to spy on your subscribers, you are welcome to add these types of tracking mechanisms through your ezine options. Please turn them off as soon as possible if you are done with a tracking campaign.
Which subscription forms are my subscribers coming from?
-
These statistics are available at our
Pro-package membership level and above.
They are called "referring urls statistics"
and can be found in the stats area of your
control panel.
How do I get listed in the EZezine ezine directory?
-
Every ezine is welcome to list in our
directory. You will find more information
about this under 'ezine options' in your
control panel. Since we want only active
ezines in the directory, here is the algorithm
we are using to list our publishers' ezines:
1) Public directory listing is turned on
2) You have sent within the last year
3) You sent to 20 or more subscribers on the last send
Your ezine will not show up in the directory unless you meet this criteria.
What is EZezine Live?
-
EZezine Live is a real-time feed of our members'
ezines and the directory of public ezines. We have added this feature for
several reasons including driving more
traffic to your ezine and increasing your
visibility on the search engines. This
is an exciting new feature that we hope
will help your subscriber lists grow! Naturally,
if you don't want to use this feature you
can always opt out of it.
To opt out of having your ezine content published at EZezine Live, simply turn off access to your public page via "Ezine Options" in your control panel.
How do you calculate the monthly limit on sends?
-
The best way to explain this is by example:
Say you have 50 subscribers, you can send up to 4 times per month without exceeding your send limit (50x4=200). The same holds true for our paid membership send limits, just with higher send counts. If you have more than one ezine in your account, the send count is cumulative.
Do you offer payment options other than PayPal?
-
PayPal is our primary means of accepting
payments for our upgraded membership packages.
Through PayPal, you can easily set up an
automatic monthly billing subscription
which will continue until you cancel it.
If you wish to pay directly by check or money order, we do require a year's payment in advance. Please contact us if you would like to utilize this option
I cancelled my account, why am I still getting billed?
-
Per our Terms of Service you are required
to cancel your own PayPal billing subscription
with us if you no longer want to be a paying
member of EZezine. To do this, login to
your PayPal account and cancel your billing
subscription. This should prevent any further
billing.
If you can still log in you can go to "Upgrade Account", then click the cancel subscription button to cancel payments.