Is there any way to load or import emails into a distribution list? Having to enter each email one at a time is painful, especially when there are hundreds!
Hello,
if the recipient is stored in your contacts you can simply drag&drop the contact (or select numerous contacts at once) into the Distribution list.
Regards,
Olivia
The problem is, I create a list of emails from a database program. This list is in a text file one email per line. It may have up to 150 emails. These emails will not be in the contacts. Unless there is a way to import from this text file or copy/paste, it would take far too long to put them in one at a time.
Hello,
can you export the emails to a CSV file, perhaps?
You can easily import CSV files to eM Client (Menu>File>Import>Import contacts from .csv file) into their own separate Folder, then create your Distribution List and drag all the contacts from this folder into it.
Regards,
Olivia
Re: “You can easily import CSV files to eM Client (Menu>File>Import>Import contacts from .csv file) into their own separate Folder, then create your Distribution List and drag all the contacts from this folder into it.”
Does this create distribution lists or separate contact items? I have a similar list — one email address per line — and the thought of having to create a distribution list from it the long hard way is extremely unappealing.
What should be the format of this CSV file? How many fields? If all you have are the email addresses (and if that’s all you need for a particular distribution list), how many blank fields are needed in precisely which positions in each record?
Are these things documented on the eM Client web site?
For now I will make a small shell or Perl script that reads the text file and puts the email addresses into the clipboard. Then I’ll just paste them into the TO or BCC field of a new message. Of course it would be better to have them all in a distribution list.
Hello Mike,
each line will be input as separate contact item.
A standard CSV file created in Excel is fine, you dont need any blank fields, just one mail address per line.
Regards,
Olivia
Re: "each line will be input as separate contact item.
A standard CSV file created in Excel is fine, you dont need any blank fields, just one mail address per line."
CSV being comma-separated values, then this wouldn’t be a file in actual CSV format — it’s only one field per record and without commas. So it’s a text file with the extension “.csv”. It won’t require Excel, but only a text editor.
(And yet, during an import process, the import wizard does care about how fields are separated — so this is an ambiguous situation. Strictly speaking, the file itself might not need any fields [or empty fields], but the program appears to care about fields.)
I attempted it with a text file having the extension “.csv” and one address per line. After selecting the .csv file in question, I saw an Import dialog with all of the new addresses displayed. I created a new “Test” folder within Local Folders/Contacts and used it as the destination.
And when I opened the Contacts dialog again afterward and looked for Local Folders/Contacts/Test , the newly imported addresses were nowhere to be seen. Folder “Test” appeared to be empty. I went up one level to “Contacts.” It contained a number of addresses that weren’t related at all to the ones I had just tried to import. I have no idea how those unrelated addresses got there, and no idea where the newly imported addresses went.
The Contacts and distribution-lists features need a significant “re-think” and redesign. Having once been a tester at a software company, permit me to suggest some potentially sobering usability testing:
Find some people who are only slightly familiar with the program. They shouldn’t have experience yet with working with its Contacts features. Give them minimal instruction on the kind of process I just went through and observe what happens. The goal is to find the “pain points” and then try to understand how to minimize or eliminate the pain.
Following initial program setup I ended up with contacts all over the place, some of them in a strange condition (fields empty — why, I don’t know). The DL feature remains a bit mysterious and as the above procedure shows, produced a kind of baffling result. I realize that UI design is trying, time-consuming, and expensive. But in my opinion this is a situation where it’s worth taking the time and expense to simplify, clarify, and improve the user experience.
Hello Mike,
yes, we do test our program with users who have not seen our program before.
You can use the comma separated values to import contacts with more information (name, surname, email, etc.) - the contacts are still going to be ONE PER LINE.
I mentioned Excel because, for most users, that is the easiest way to create a CSV file.
I had no problem importing a CSV file with this structure:
email
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
In this case, 4 contacts were created in a specified folder, each containing ONLY the mail address.
If you want to import data with more information, it can be like this:
first,last,email
Marian,Chandler,[email protected]
Jared,Newton,[email protected]
Derrick,Bowman,[email protected]
Gene,Gregory,[email protected]
You will need to specify which column is which, but in the end, 4 contacts with First, Last name and email address will be created.
I have no idea how what you describe could have happened. If you wish, I can check your file if you send it to [email protected] with a link to this thread.
Regards,
Olivia
I would like my clients to purchase EmClient to be able to send reminders to hundreds of people each month. Is there a way to automate sending a different message to each person using some api or script? Is a programming API available for doing this? I normally use SQLite for this sort of thing, but importing in any format is possible using CSV, XML, etc. I do not want users to have to copy and paste hundreds of people and sending the same message to everyone if it can be avoided.
eM Client has a mass mail feature, which allows you to individualize each email using variables like name or salutation.