Manage Lists

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Contents 1 Overview 2 Email Lists 2.1 Creating an Email List 2.2 Importing Subscribers 2.3 Adding Subscribers 2.4 Data Capture Form 2.5 Reply Message 2.6 Add Action 2.7 Add Timed Reply 2.8 Additional Questions 2.9 Create Custom Opt-in Email 2.10 Auto Responder 2.10.1 Adding an Auto Responder 2.10.2 No Delay 2.10.3 Fixed Delay 2.10.4 Scheduled Delay 2.10.5 Weekdays Only 2.11 Editing/Deleting Auto Responders 2.11.1 Deleting 2.11.2 Editing 3 SMS Lists 3.1 Keywords 3.2 Creating an SMS List 3.3 Capturing Data 3.4 SMS Catch-all 3.5 SMS Reply Message 3.6 Actions 4 Multiple Lists 5 Editing and Deleting Lists

Overview

Lists are where all of your data is stored in the Sign-Up.to system.

A list can hold data that you've imported from another source as long as it is saved as a CSV file. You can also add features to a list to allow you to capture new data through web forms and by SMS. Everything is controlled through the list settings and features described in this section.

To create a new list simply click on the folder you want to add the list to and select the type of list you want to create (to create a new folder you can click on the top blue bar).

Each list type has different features and stages to go through to set up:

• Email Lists
• SMS Lists
• Multiple Lists - this type combines the options of SMS and Email lists

N.B. Excel Spreadsheets saved as a CSV file are to be used when uploading the data. Any other type of file will not work with the Sign-Up .to system.

Email Lists

Email Lists let you easily manage email addresses you have captured.

Use this list type when

• You want to manage an email list
• You want to capture data through a web form
• You want to store a lot of information for each subscriber

You can also add online data capture forms to particular lists which will build up your subscriber profiles when they submit their information. Within these lists you can also set additional survey questions that will appear when users subscribe via the form you have created.

Creating an Email List

Create an Email List by selecting the 'Email List' option from the add list menu (using the button next to the relevant folder). You will then see a screen with the following options:

List Name: This is the list name which you will see in the Capture section.

Requires Subscriber Verification: If you select this option it will NOT add the subscriber to the list until you have verified their subscription.

Use Custom Subscriber Profiles: If you select this option any custom fields that you have created will be displayed as part of the subscription process.

Profile Information: These are the standard data capture fields, you can choose whether each option is mandatory, optional or not displayed – these settings affect any forms that you build for this list.

Additional Questions: You can choose to ask up to 10 extra questions to ask subscribers when they complete the subscription form, select the number you want to ask from the menu.

If you opt to set additional questions then the next step you will see will ask you to specify the question types and the text to appear. You can select from the following question types:

• Single Line – allows a single line of text as an answer
• Paragraph – allows a paragraph of text as an answer
• Tick Box – a tick box (on/off)
• Drop Down – a drop-down menu from which users can select a single answer from a number of options
• Multiple Select – a menu from which users can select multiple set answers from a number of options
• Guide Text – not a question type, this allows you to insert extra text in between questions

You can choose whether each question is optional or compulsory and set default answers if required.

Once you have created a list successfully you will be given three options to choose from. You can either create a subscription form, create a reply message or import data.

If you click the button without choosing any of these options you will be taken back to the 'capture tab' where you will see your list. You can then add any of these features to it whenever you are ready.

Importing Subscribers

If you select to you will be taken to a screen where you need to accept our warning message and then browse for your CSV file to import.

As long as everything is in order with the CSV file you will see this following message.

You can then check the progress of this import on your 'Home Tab' (at the bottom right hand corner).

If there are any incorrect headings being used within the CSV file you will provided with a sample of the data and drop down lists to select the correct heading required. You can also exclude any data not needed by selecting the 'Don't Import' option.

The correct headings will need to be selected for the import to be successfull. If the headings are correct to begin with then this stage will not be needed. You can check the correct standard heading to use for subscriber profiles here: Standard Data Fields.

If you have additional subscriber profiles to import you will need to add these to your account prior to the import. See Subscriber Profiles for more information.

Adding Subscribers

You can also add subscribers manually to a list by using the Subscribers link next to the relevant list on the main capture tab page and selecting 'Add Subscriber'.

Each email address to be added will have to be entered individually so if you have more than 10 to add it maybe worth creating a CSV file to import as this will be quicker.

If you have more data to add for this individual subscriber you would have to add them first and then use the 'Subscriber Manager' to search for their record. It is here that you can use the button to see the different options for that subscriber record. You can select 'edit subscriber' to add/edit further data fields for them.

Data Capture Form

With Sign-Up.to you can create data capture forms for your website with no programming. The forms can be tailored to match your site and will automatically verify data and add it to your lists. Each form is linked to a list and the list settings are used to create the form.

You can create a form for a list either as part of the list setup process (see above) by using the 'Add Form' link next to the relevant list once it has been created.

After a form has been created you can edit it at any time, and you will not need to change the form link, even if you change the list the form is linked to. You can also have multiple forms for a list.

When setting up a new list there are 3 stages and several options.

Stage 1 - This specifies the initial form settings and appearance.

Name: give the form a name so that you can identify it.

Additional Lists: you can select up to four other lists to allow subscribers to opt-in to when completing the form.

Header and Footer: you can upload .jpg or .gif graphics to sit at the top and bottom of the form. Try to keep the file sizes of these images as low as possible so that the form loads quickly.

Set Colours: You can set the colours of each element of the form to match your website. You can either enter a hexadecimal colour code (usually supplied by your web designer) or you can click on the colour palette icon and select a colour by clicking on it.

You can also specify the font and the text size for all text elements on the form.

To preview your settings click the 'Preview' link.

When you are ready, click to continue.

Stage 2 - Here you set the text that appears at each stage of the form, this text will help guide users through the process. Which steps users see will depend on whether they have already subscribed to a list on the Sign-Up.to system and set a password, or whether they are a new subscriber. Where each text item appears is explained on the form.

If a user has already set a password then they will be prompted to enter this so that they do not have to re-enter any information; otherwise they will just complete the form as normal.

When you have set the text press to enter the final stage.

Stage 3 - Here you can access the web link for your form. You will need to place one of these links on your website to allow users to access the form so that they can complete it.

Click the button to return to the main Capture screen.

N.B. If you need to view the links to the form after you have finished creating it you can view them by going to the Edit link next to the relevant form and selecting 'get form links'.

Reply Message

A list reply message is sent to a subscriber when they complete the subscription process.

You can add a reply message when you create a new list by using the button (see above) or by clicking on the Options link next to a relevant list once it has been created.

You can only have one Email Reply Message for a list and this will be sent as soon as the subscription process has been completed.

For the reply message you can set the email address and name the message comes from, the reply email address and the text and HTML versions of the message. The HTML message needs to be entered as HTML code.

N.B. If you do not have HTML knowledge you can use the Editor in the 'Create Tab' to create the email. You can then copy the HTML code, which is created within the 'source tab' (see below) and paste it into the HTML version for the reply message.

When you have saved your reply message you can send yourself a preview copy by clicking on the preview icon next to the message name.

Add Action

Actions can be added to a list which will allow you to select the subscriber details expire after a certain amount of time. This is when subscribers subscribe to a form and you can then expire their details after a certain number of days. You can also expire their details to another list if you only wanted to keep them on the original list for a particular period. You must swith on the list expiry feature in the 'Edit' section on the CP before this option becomes available.

Add Timed Reply

The is an extra feature that can be added to your account, please contact sales or call 0845 6444184 to get further information.

Timed replies can be added to any list that has a data capture form created for it. These timed replies allow you to send particular campaigns a number of days after the subscription date.

You can use the button next to the relevant list and select 'Add Timed Reply'.

To create a timed reply you will have needed to have created the campaign before hand. You can then select the relevant camapign and select when you want this message to be sent after the subscription date. You can also select whether you want the message to be sent on weekends or not.

Once these campaigns have been scheduled you can track their results by going to the 'Timed / Auto Responder Campaigns' section within the Track tab.

Additional Questions

You can add new questions to a list using the 'Add feature to list' menu and selecting 'Add a question'.

You can then enter the question text the user will see and select from one of the following question types:

• Single Line – allows a single line of text as an answer
• Paragraph – allows a paragraph of text as an answer
• Tick Box – a tick box (on/off)
• Drop Down – a drop-down menu from which users can select a single answer from a number of options
• Multiple Select – a menu from which users can select multiple set answers from a number of options
• Guide Text – not a question type, this allows you to insert extra text in between questions

You can choose whether each question is optional or compulsory and set default answers if required.

Re-ordering questions

The order that questions appear under your list is the order that subscribers will be asked them during the subscription process. You can re-order questions using the arrows next to each question.

Create Custom Opt-in Email

When you create a data capture form a default opt-in message will automatically be sent to confirm the subscribers subscription.

If you want to create a custom opt-in message you can click the Options link and then 'create customer opt-in email' to do this. Once this has been created any subscriber to that list will be sent this custom email in place of the systems default one asking for confirmation. They will only be added to the list once they have followed the link that is provided within the email.

N.B. If you do not have HTML knowledge you can use the Editor in the 'Create Tab' to create the email. You can then copy the HTML code, which is created within the 'source tab' (see below) and paste it into the HTML version for the reply message.

Auto Responder

Auto Responders are fully tracked, one-off campaign messages that are sent to your new subscribers as soon as they sign up (or with a delay if desired). They can be used with Email, SMS or Multiple lists. The Track section will show all results from the Auto Responders that have been sent.

When a subscription is received and an auto responder is found, the delay will be calculated and scheduled immediately, in the outbound responder queue. It will be sent when the delay date/time has passed.

Responders will be queued through all mechanisms that create new list subscriptions, apart from the Import process.

So that includes all the following areas:

• Data Capture Forms
• API Subscriptions
• Add Subscriber
• Target Subscriber By Action
• Expire Lists
• Subscriber Application - opt-in only.

N.B. If Opt-in is required, a responder will only be queued once a subscriber has completed double opt-in and only if verification isn't required.

If Verification is required, a responder will only be queued once a subscriber has been verified.

The responder campaign will need to be created first; when a responder is 'added' to the list a previously constructed campaign must be selected.

Adding an Auto Responder

To add an auto responder click on the Options link and select to 'Add Responder' from the bottom of the list.

There are a number of options available with these Auto Responders which will help you to send targeted campaigns to subscribers at the relevant time and date that you select. You can see these options below.

When creating an Auto Responder you need to give it a name, select the Responder Campaign and then select which option you would like.

No Delay

If No Delay is selected then the selected campaign will be sent straight away after a subscription is received.

This is the default setting when an Auto Responder is created so if this is not changed this will simulate an instant 'reply message'.

The other two options you can select are either 'Fixed Delay' or 'Scheduled Delay'.

 Example: Responder A is set-up to be sent with no delay. The subscription is received on Saturday @ 13:30 (1:30pm), the responder is
 immediately sent to the subscriber. 

Fixed Delay

With a Fixed Delay you can select how many days/hours you would like the selected message to be sent after the subscription is received. You can choose to set either or both of these parameters, but at least one will need to be set.

'd' days, 'h' hours after subscribing.

Example: Responder B is set-up to be sent with a delay of 0 days, 1 hour. The subscription is received on 
Thursday @ 13:45 (1:45pm), the responder is queued to be sent on Thursday @ 14:45 (2:45pm).
0 days and 1 hour later.

Example: Responder C is set-up to be sent with a delay of 2 days, 5 hours. The subscription is received on
Thursday @ 15:55 (3:55pm), the responder is queued to be sent on Saturday @ 20:55 (8:55pm).

Scheduled Delay

The Scheduled Delay allows you to select the number of days you would like the message sent and whether you would like it to be received at a particular hour of the day. Again you are able to set either the day or time of the delay but at least one must be present.

'd' days after subscribing, @ 'h' hours.

Example: Responder D is set-up to be sent at a delay of 0 days after subscribing, at a scheduled time of 15:00 
(3pm). The subscription is received on Friday @ 15:45 (3:45pm), as the scheduled time specified is now
in the past, the message will be advanced to the next day, Saturday @ 15:00 (3pm).

Example: Responder E is set-up to be sent at a delay of 0 days after subscribing, at a scheduled time of 05:00 (5am).
The subscription is received on Sunday @ 02:10 (2:10am), as the scheduled time specified has not passed, 
the responder is queued to be sent on Sunday @ 05:00 (5am).

Weekdays Only

There is an option to select 'Weekdays Only'. When selected, delayed messages that fall on either a Saturday or Sunday will automatically be advanced to Monday. Time will not be adjusted and the time of the original subscription will be used. If a "Scheduled Delay" has been used, the scheduled hours h will be applied.

'on' or 'off'

Examples by selected delay

• "No Delay"

Example based on Responder A above:

 "Responder A is set-up to be sent with no delay. The subscription is received on Saturday @ 13:30 (1:30pm), the responder is
 queued to be sent straight away."
 
 With "Week Days Only" enabled, the above example would be advanced to Monday @ 13:30 (1:30pm). As explained above, time will NOT
 be adjusted.

• "Fixed Delay"

Example based on Responder C above:

 "Responder C is set-up to be sent with a delay of 2 days, 5 hours. The subscription is received on Thursday @ 15:55 (3:55pm),
 the responder is queued to be sent on Saturday @ 20:55 (8:55pm)."
               
 With "Week Days Only" enabled in the above example, the responder would've instead been queued to be sent on Monday @
 20:55 (8:55pm). As explained above, time will NOT be adjusted.

• "Scheduled Delay"

Example based on Responder E above:

 "Responder E is set-up to be sent at a delay of 0 days after subscribing, at a scheduled time of 05:00 (5am). 
 The subscription is received on Sunday @ 02:10 (2:10am), as the scheduled time specified has not passed, the responder is
 queued to be sent on Sunday @ 05:00." 
        
 With "Week Days Only" enabled, the above example would have been advanced to Monday @ 05:00 (5:00am).

There is no limit to the number of Auto Responders that may be added to a list.

Editing/Deleting Auto Responders

The selected delays of a List Auto Responder can be edited if need be. They can also be deleted from a list if required. You can use the Edit or Delete link accordingly.

N.B. The editing of the actual Responder sent to subscribers can only be edited before a Responder has been sent. As soon as a Responder is sent then you will have to create a new Responder and delete the old one from the list.

Deleting

Deleting a Lists Auto-Responder will retire any entries from the responder queue.

N.B. A Responder campaign within the 'Create Tab' can only be deleted if the List Auto Responder setup has been removed. If this is not the case you will be shown a message explaining that the Responder cannot be deleted as it is associated with a List Auto Responder. See Deleting Responders

If any subscriptions are removed from the list, any Responders due for that subscription will be retired from the queue.

Editing

If any delay with the List Auto Responder is edited, any change will take affect immediately, affecting any messages that are already queued with delay rules.

Example taken from Responder C above.

Example: "Responder C is set-up to be sent with a delay of 2 days, 5 hours. The subscription is received on Thursday @ 15:55 (3:55pm),
the responder is queued to be sent on Saturday @ 20:55 (8:55pm)." 
 
If this Responder is edited on Friday @ 12 noon to a Fixed Delay of 1 day, 2 hours then the subscription received on the 
Thursday @ 15:55 (3:55pm) will now receive the email on Friday @ 17:55 (5.55pm) instead.

SMS Lists

This list type is used when you want to capture information through SMS messages. It lets you set up a keyword on a UK shortcode or international mobile number and then process incoming text messages containing this keyword to subscribe mobile numbers to the list, send back messages and perform other actions. With this list type you can store only mobile numbers and the contents of the incoming message.

Use this list type when:

• You want people to subscribe to a list by SMS
• You want an incoming SMS to trigger a specific action (sending a reply message, forwarding the message to an email address, charging the user via premium SMS etc.)

Keywords

Keywords are words contained in text messages which allow the Sign-Up.to system to determine what to do when a message is received.

Your account has a main keyword which all incoming SMS messages must begin with. You can view this keyword on the home page of your account.

When you create an SMS list, you specify a list keyword which allows messages to be routed to that list, the list keyword comes after the main keyword in messages that users text in. Therefore, in order for a user to text in and trigger the actions on your SMS list they need to text in [MAIN KEYWORD] [LIST KEYWORD] to either 61211 (UK) or +447624802887 (International)

Creating an SMS List

Create an SMS List by selecting the 'SMS List' option from the Add List menu (click the icon on the folder you want to add the list to).

You will then see the screen below with the following options:

List Name: This is the list name which you will see in the Capture section.

SMS Keyword: This is the keyword that you want users to text in to subscribe to this list. When users text in they will need to send your main account keyword followed by a space and then the list keyword you specify here. The system automatically enters an SMS Keyword which can be amended later if you do not know which keyword you would like to use for the list.

Additional SMS Keywords: You can set other keyword which will also trigger this list – useful for misspellings of the main keyword, for example. You can enter multiple keywords separated by commas.

Store Incoming Message: This will store any incoming messages that you receive. The information can then be exported into a CSV file. When yuo go to export the data you will see it displayed like the image below and will need to highlight 'SMS Message'.

Requires Subscriber Verification: If this option is selected any subscriptions to this SMS list will need to be verified by you.

When you press you will be shown exactly what users need to text in to trigger this list. You can then choose to create a reply message or import CSV file. After you have created the list you can also add actions by clicking the Options link next to the list name.

Capturing Data

SMS lists automatically store the mobile number that each incoming message was sent from (the mobile number is subscribed to that list).

You can also chose to store the contents of the message after the list keyword - useful for competitions or comments where you expect users to text in more than just the keyword.

No other data can be captured.

SMS Catch-all

The SMS Catch-all list is automatically created for all accounts with SMS features enabled. This list stores all incoming SMS messages which begin with just the main keyword for your account but do not match any list keywords.

You can set up reply messages and actions for this list in the same way as for normal SMS lists.

SMS Reply Message

An SMS Reply Message can be set to be sent back to a number that has just subscribed to that list. This can be done by clicking on the Options link and 'Add reply message' to the relevant SMS list.

Actions

SMS List Actions allow you to specify actions to perform when an incoming SMS message is received by a list.

You can add an action by clicking the Options link for an SMS list and selecting 'Add action'.

There are six actions you can perform:

• Email message contents:

This allows you to forward the received message to an email address you specify.

• SMS message contents:

This allows you to forward the message on to a mobile phone that you specify. You will be charged 1 SMS credit for each forwarded message. Enter the number in international format (i.e. 4472345678912)

• Send only to new subscribers to this list:

• Post message to URL:

This option allows you to forward incoming SMS messages directly to a script on your own servers using an HTTP GET request.

• The GET parameters passed are:
  • 'from' - Subscriber mobile number
  • 'network' - Sign-Up's internal network identifier
  • 'message' - MO message
  • 'log' - Log id of the returned custom registration message. If no custom message was sent/created for this list the parameter will still be passed, however, it will have no value.

The call to your script will look like this:

http://www.client-url.com/inbound.php?from=447956583543&network=261&message=This%20is%20the%20mo%20message&log=123043

The message will be urlencoded before submission.

• SMS email registration: If a subscriber text in their email address after the keywords this can then be added to an 'email list' you wish them to be subscribed to.

• Expire list subscribers: If this option is ticked then the subscribers details will be removed from this list after the amount of days you specify from when they had subscribed. You can also select to expire the subscribers details to a specific list if you wish.

Multiple Lists

This list type combines the features of email and SMS lists – so you can accept subscriptions through web forms and by SMS.

Use this list type when:

• You want to allow people to subscribe to the same list online and by SMS

N.B. All features available to Email and SMS lists are available for multiple lists, please refer to the sections relating to these list types for assistance.

Editing and Deleting Lists

You can also edit the list name or the folder it is within after it has been created. This can be edited by using the Edit link next to the list. Here you can also select to put subscriber profiling on which will add any subscriber profiles set to the forms attached to that list. Subscriber verification can be selected for a list which will allow you to verify any subscribers that may subscribe to that list through a form. This then gives you more control over who is added to your lists.

You can delete any lists you have created by selecting the Delect link but you must be aware that once this list is deleted it CANNOT be recovered. If you still want to have a copy of the data then make sure you export the list before deleting.