phpList manual
Introduction
System overview
Welcome to the phpList Manual! This first chapter will explain what phpList is used for and give...
Case studies
Below are six examples of how phpList is used, including a small business, a large business, a ci...
About this manual
This manual has been written by the phpList community documentation team, individual volunteers, ...
GDPR
Using phpList for compliance with the GDPR This chapter provides an overview of features and fun...
Basic usage
Logging In
The first thing you do to use phpList is log in. This chapter assumes that you already have an in...
Adding your first subscribers
This chapter will explain how to make a list of email recipients, called subscribers, and how to ...
Composing your first campaign
In this chapter we will talk through composing and sending a very basic email campaign, which con...
Sending your first campaign
Once you have composed your HTML message, you are ready to move though the tabs (highlighted in r...
Basic Campaign Statistics
Now that you have sent your first campaign, it's time to take a look at your campaign statistics....
Growing and using complex lists
Understanding Subscribers and Lists
It is important to understand the nature of Subscribers and Lists in phpList. What is a subscr...
Creating your lists
In phpList you can organize your subscribers into lists. You must have at least one list. You ma...
Adding Subscribers (to Lists)
There are three main ways to add subscribers to your phpList installation: copy and paste a li...
Creating a subscribe page
A subscribe page usually consists of a short form that a visitor to your website can fill out to ...
Setting up your List Categories
When you have more than a handful of lists you will need to organize them into categories. You wi...
Using Attributes
phpList is pre-configured to deal with some data about your subscribers, for example email addres...
Using placeholders
A place holder is a word in square brackets, for example, [FIRSTNAME] or [UNSUBSCRIBE] which...
Targeting your campaigns
In this example, Ethical Pets are sending out a campaign about a special offer on dog treats. Th...
Designing and assessing your campaigns
Templates
The templating system in phpList is designed to create a workflow that keeps things simple for th...
The footer
The phpList footer Is an active feature of the software, not simply a description of a desig...
Creating a template
Creating your template There are lots of ways to create your template. You could Design and...
Advanced templating
More template placeholders This chapter contains additional details that may be useful for a des...
DIY: Super Simple Template
We have made a very basic template for you to use. You will also need A version of your logo o...
Subscribe page design and configuration
Subscribe page is the name of the page where your subscribers can join your lists. You can have a...
Advanced Campaign Statistics
This chapter covers The statistics menu Drilldown by campaign into clicks and/or opens Domai...
Installing and upgrading
Installing phpList manually
This chapter explains how to manually install phpList. You may wish to install it using an automa...
Automatic updater for phpList
Provides an easy, automated, web-based update mechanism for phpList installations. Usage The ph...
Installing using an auto-installer
Softaculous, Fantastico, etc If your web provider offers Softaculous, Fantastico or other simila...
Configuration: verify settings
The configuration process starts after installation when you see this screen: This chapter dea...
Upgrading a manual installation
You should upgrade your phpList installation frequently. By keeping up-to-date you can take advan...
Upgrading an auto-installed installation
Auto Installer Upgrade. Providing you have used your web based auto installer (Softaculous/Fanta...
Common Installation Errors
Possible Errors Error 500: The .htaccess file must be present in the lists/ directory and must ...
Modifying Administrator Permissions / Subadmins
The administrator (You – throughout the guides) is responsible for managing an individual instanc...
Sending
Methods of Sending (Browser, Cron, Command-line)
Setting up phpList for sending is a complex topic, there are many (many) variables, most of which...
Setting up your Cron
What is cron Cron is a time based task scheduler on Unix-like operating systems. For more inform...
Scheduling
In the campaign workflow you will find the scheduling tab. If you want to send a campaign straig...
Sending a web-page
To send a web page rather than a message to your subscribers, log in to your phpList admin pages,...
Sending plain text
phpList always generates a plain text version of your campaign, which is then included in the htm...
Bounce Management
Introduction to bounce management Whenever an email is sent via the internet, regardless of the ...