Sending normal file attachment
The optional file attachment function can increase your OpenEMM’s usefulness for mailings quite considerably. It allows you to provide recipients with further information over and above the newsletter text. You could, for instance, send out vouchers or price lists by way of a file attachment.
This effective feature also offers a target group function: Mail attachments can be set according to target groups, and different recipient groups can be sent any number of different files. You could even create a personal file name for each recipient.
1. | In order to append a file to your mailing, you must start by selecting the mailing. Click on the Mailings button in the navigation bar and click on the required mailing in the overview. In the mailing details, open the Attachments tab. |
2. | In the entry dialog, enter file name and directory of the required file attachment into the Attachment input field. It is usually easiest to use the Browse button to call up the Windows file selection dialog. Select the file you want to send and click on Open. The browser inserts the complete file directory into the field. |

Fig. 3.29: After choosing a file name and a target group, you store your selection in the OpenEMM by clicking on the Add button.
3. | The entry field Attachment name is used to define a name for your file attachment. In our example, the original name pricelist.pdf will be used. |
4. | The Target group drop-down list is used to set which recipients are to receive the attachment. Since you may define any number of attachments for each mailing, you can easily specify different attachments for different target groups. |
5. | By clicking on Add, the selected file is appended to your mailing. Underneath the entry dialog, the OpenEMM now shows a list with all defined file attachments. |

Fig. 3.30: The pricelist.pdf file has been defined as a file attachment for the mailing.
6. | The attachments list gives several interesting details. The MIME type (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) tells you what sort of attachment you have selected. When sending out a mailing with a text attachment, this will be characterized as text/plain. Our example uses a pdf file as an attachment, so the MIME type is application/pdf. Any HTML elements included will also be shown here.
There is also a difference between the Original size and the Size in email. The reason is that the software converts the file attachment into a send able format (ASCII-Format) which is about 30 to 40 per cent larger than the original format. |
7. | Again, you have the option of defining a Target group for this attachment. If you are sending out several attachments, this does make it easier to assign an attachment to a different group later. In our example, you leave the original settings. You must, however, remember to tell the system to Save any such changes. |
8. | As soon as all data have been entered to your satisfaction, click on Save to tell the system to store your data. If you want to delete the attachment again from the mailing, just click on the Delete button. |
9. | To define further file attachments, call up the entry dialog again and click on the Add button. |
Please note: You must remember to check your file attachments for size in order to take recipients’ band width into account. Although many people now have broadband Internet connections, you should also consider recipients who make do with much slower modem connections. These recipients will not be very happy if you send out large files requiring long download times. For successful mailings, you should try and keep the size of file attachments under 100 kb to 300 kb.