Newsletters – MailPoet

I spoke about a Websites prime reason for existence being to “communicate”. One of its methods to do that is by sending Newsletters to followers. Lets take a closer look at how we can make that happen.

First we need a Plugin that gives your WordPress site the ability to create and send Newsletters. There are many options to choose from that are both free or paid. I personally would suggest starting with a free plugin before commiting to a commercial one you may later not like.

Most Newsletter plugins can be categorized as “Freemium”. This means they have a free version that can be upgraded to a Premium paid version giving extended functionality. There is a wide difference between plugins vendors as to how much functionality comes in their free versions. 

Personally I like MailPoet as a good allround Plugin. It offers a solid selection of options that make its free version versatile and very suitable for most peoples needs. The upgrade to the paid version offers additional templates and MailPoets’ inhouse mail servers for high volume mail outs. That said – the free version works perfectly well using the system we set out in “G Suite-A Tool worth considering”

Download MailPoet here or type it into the search box in Plugins>Add New in your Admin backend.

Select MailPoet version 3…….

Recent Post Widget with Thumbnails

Dynamic content is continually updating as you create new posts and offers.

Your new Posts automatically appear at the top of your frontpage (Blog).

But people need to be able to see the older content as it no longer shows high on the front page. 

But you need an Archive page where people can access previous material

WordPress ships with a Widget to display a Blog archive. Place the Widget in a sidebar, it will show a list of recent posts from previous months.

Clicking on a month will open a wordpress generated page showing all the posts for that month. Just the basics.

There is a template in WordPress core that groups the posts by month.

It then displays  a page for the selected month when clicking the widget.

It will not show in your list of pages in the backend.

Neither will it show a thumbnail image. It will be somewhat boring.

Dynamic content – it is important

 

Dynamic content sites vs Static content sites

I think you understand what you like and what you dislike about websites you visit when you are on the net.

Generally there are two styles of sites. Some are called “Dynamic’ and some are called “Static”.

The most interesting sites are “Dynamic”. These are sites which are continually offering new material.

They regularly have new posts. This is dynamic content. Always fresh things to see.

WordPress sites are very good at supporting this Dynamic nature.

Originally created as a blogging framework, the default setup for the frontpage is set to latest posts.

Each time a visitor returns, they will see your latest work or Posts. Each time it will be a new experience. People like new experiences.

Again this is Dynamic Content.

This is why WordPress is so successful. People see something new each time they come.

Static content sites

Yes there are parts of these sites that are also static.

These would include information that does not change very often.

Obviously things like an ‘About’ page that describes you or your sites purpose.

Generally the “vision statement” for your site would be consistent and “Static”.

These would probably not change much or often.

A ‘Contact form’ or page would also fall into this same category.

WordPress Tutorials slideshows

For ease of access, I have created a series of WordPress Tutorials as PowerPoint presentations.

I often find people like to work through a tutorial as they perform the recommended actions on their website.

This can sometime be awkward if the source is a YouTube video or post on another site.

Starting and stopping videos each time you want to enact one of the recommendations.

Often the autoplay gets in the way, or the video restarts at the beginning…..urrrgghh.

Another common problem with the video is often the presentation speed of the audio. 

Also strong accent can mask important words or comprehension.

For those who get frustrated in that way, try these slideshow presentations.

They are also compatible to view in Google Slides.

Clicking any of the links below will open them in a new browser window.

From there you can download and use on your desktop to guide you through each process as you work on your website.

WordPress Tutorials

First time Login

This Tutorial guides you through your first time on your new site.

It gives you a general tour of the layout and where to find everything.

Having completed this tour you will have a better understanding of what makes up a WordPress website and how to work with it.