Turbo-Mailer - Documentation (2024)

Mass E-Mailer and Email List Processor

Contents

• Installation
• Manual
  • 1. Bulk Mailer
    • Tutorial: The 1st Mailing
    • User Interface
    • Email Address Format /
    • Embedding Images in HTML Mails
  • 2. List Processor
    • Tutorial: List Processing
    • User Interface
    • Formula API
  • 3. Other User Interfaces
  • 4. Command Line Usage
  • 5. FAQ / Trouble Shooting

Installation and usage of Turbo-Mailer is mostlyself-explaining.

After running the installer and starting up Turbo-Mailer, theexample addressfile example_addresses.txt is alreadypre-loaded into the To: Address List of the Bulk Mailer Page,which is the main GUI portion of Turbo-Mailer.

The email List Processor Pageis the second partof Turbo-Mailer. Some example address lists are already set up in theList Processor after installation.

Note: Turbo-Mailer can be controlled by command line(batch runs)

1. Bulk Mailer

The Mailer pane in TurboMailer lets you edit the SMTPconfiguration, the mail subject& text body the To: address list (recipients) and some importantoptions. As a first test you maydelete the initiall dummy/test email addresses from the recipients listand insert some of your own emailaddresses, where you would like to send the first test email to.

User Interface / Mailer Page

SMTP Server

The address of your SMTP server (and optional port).
Examples.: smtp.mydomain.com, smtp.my.org:2525

All known SMTP servers are supported. Most SMTP serversfrom ISPs need a login authentication with user and password. Some SMTPserversrequire to reconnect after a certain number of mails. In that case setthe Mails/Blockproperty below the Send button for block-by-block transmission.

From Address

Format : name@server.dom
or : "Display User Name"<user_name@server.dom>

SMTP user / SMTP password (optional)

Your login information for your SMTP server. Leave thesefields empty if your (intranet) SMTP server doesn't need/support login.

Reply Address (optional)

Enter a email address where recipients should replay to(instead of "From Address"). Leave empty if your "From Address" is okfor replying to it.

Auto-Dial intern

Check this option and select a RAS Network for internetdial-up, in case you want Turbo-Mailer to auto-dial and close the RASautomatically after email transmissions are complete.

TO: Address List / Open File / Save / Add/ Delete

This list area displays the current target address list(recipients of your email message). This list can also containadditional personalizationcolumns which can be referenced with %1%, %2% in your mailtext/html orsubject, or with %-1%, %-2%.. to even inserted un-escaped HTML snippetsfromsuch columns. See also Address list line format.
A new address list ( simple list with one address per line / table /CSV file / TAB CSVfile ) can beloaded to this list area by pressing the "Open File" button or "Menu/File/Openaddress list" or by file-drag-drop or by pressing the "<<TO-LIST"button in the List Processor Page)
You can also copy&paste a list or table from Excel using theWindows clipboard.
The TO: list contents are permanent throughout shutdown &re-opening of Turbo-Mailer.

Send ..

Press this button to start sending out the messages after aconfirmation.

BCC Bulk

Activate this checkbox in order to enable the BCC Bulking.
BCCBulking: Many email address are targeted with one SMTP email transferusing the blind-carbon-copy method. This reduces network traffic to theSMTP server (but not behind that server).Messages with personalization variables (%N%) are never BCC bulked.
In the BCC Bulking options dialog you can set the common "TO:" displayname, the "Maximum number of BCC addresses per email transfer". Youcan also hide the BCC address list completely from the mail header.

Mails / Block

Activate this checkbox and set a maximum number of mails (N)per block, ifyour SMTP server doesn't like too much email transfers to be sentduring one SMTPconnection. Thus TurboMailer establishes a fresh connection to the SMTPservereach N mails. This option can be mixed with Multi-threaded (parallel)SMTP.

Max Threads

Activate this checkbox and set a maximum number of parallelconnections inorder to optimize transmission speed. This option exploits theavailable bandwidthmostefficiently and is especially helpful, when email addresses are checkedlive byan SMTP server ( which slows down simple serial processingdramatically). MultipleSMTP connections are possible on most SMTP servers today.

HTML Message

Check this checkbox if you want to transmit HTML emailcode.
Note: You can use the "Edit HTML" button for editing your HTML mailusing a WYSIWYG HTML editor.
Note: You can configure a non-default HTML editor inMenu/Config/Settings.Installing Mozilla/Netscapeisrecommended, when you don't have another professional HTML editorinstalled on yourcomputer.

Subject / Text Body

Enter your email message here. Or load it from a .eml / .txt/ .html file. Or drag-drop a file to this area.

Attachments / + / -

Add attachment file using the + and - Buttons.
Note: Embedded HTML images (local URL's) are automatically attached tothe email. You don't need to add them explicitly as attachment.

Edit HTML / Refresh

Edit your HTML mail message with an WYSIWYG HTMLeditor.

Press the "Refresh" button for importing a HTML mail textrepeatedly after changing and saving it in your HTML editor. The"Refresh" button can only be used after a first "Edit HTML" cycle.

Note: You can configure a non-default HTML editor inMenu/Config/Settings.Installing seamonkey/Mozillaor "Kompozer" isrecommended, when you don't have another professional HTML editoralready installed on your computer.

Preview

Press this button in order to preview your HTML or textemail message. In case of personalization columns: The preview isrendered using the first email address of your current TO: List

Email Address Format

The email address format throughout the TurboMailerapplication is ::

name@server.domor "Display Name"<name@server.dom>

Address List & Table format

An address list file or table (e.g. copy & paste fromExcel) foruse in Turbo-Mailer contains one email address per line and optionallyadditional personalization columns.

Format Examples & Explanation

• Simple example address list:

  # this comment has no effect (this not an email address)
  name1@domain1.dom
  name2@domain1.dom
  name3@domain1.dom
  name4@domain1.dom
  ...
  

• More complex address list file / table example withpersonalization columns:

  # this comment has no effect (this not an email address)
  "Nice Name1" <name1@domain1.dom>; Nice Name1; Personal Message 1 for you; personal_code123_1
  "Nice Name2" <name2@domain1.dom>; Nice Name2; Personal Message 2 for you; personal_code123_2
  "Nice Name3" <name3@domain1.dom>; Nice Name3; Personal Message 3 for you; personal_code123_3
  "Nice Name4" <name4@domain1.dom>; Nice Name4; Personal Message 4 for you; personal_code123_4
  ...
  

• A '#' character starts a comment line => no effect
• Each other line / row should contain a valid emailaddress as first element. Format as described above in Email Address Format; Plus optionalpersonalization column data as described next ...
• Afterthe email address additional personalization/code columns can be added- in files: separated by TAB character (TabSV) or by the ';' semicoloncharacter (CSV).
  Those extra columns can be referenced from your mail message by %0%(email address itself), %1% (2nd column), %2% (3rd column), %3%...; or by %-1%, %-2%.. (negative column number) to even insertedun-escaped HTML snippets from such columns.
  You can copy&paste a table from Excel through the Windowsclipboard to the ACCU or to the To: address list. Usethe paste toolbar button or Ctrl-V
  
• Turbo-Mailer log files (successful and refused emailaddresses) are themselves address list files according this format.

Mail Text / Subject /Attachment Personalization

The text of additional personalization fields(columns) in an adress list files can be rendered into the mail text orsubject or attachment filenames - in order to "personalize" the mail.
The column variables are like: %0% (=email address itself), %1% (2ndcolumn), %2% (3rd column), %3% ...
Columns which are not present in the list/table end up as empty stringin the message.
HTML Mail: Column numbers referenced with a minus sign in front end upas raw HTML code insertion (HTML/XML format escaping bypassed).

Example of a email subject and text with variables forpersonalization:

Subject: Personal Newsletter Weatherforecast for %1%
Text:
Hello %1%,
nice weather today.
Today's personal message for you is: %2%
Regards, Dr. Weatherman
PS: this mail was sent to %0% - newletter ref = %-3%.

(Note: the last negative variable %-3% would insert plain HTML snippetsin HTML mails without escaping HTML-characters; No difference to %3% intext mode mails.)

The resulting email for this example and address list below(first address) will be:

Subject: Personal Newsletter Weatherforecast for %1%
Text:
Hello Mister A,
nice weather today.
Today's personal message for you is: abc
Regards, Dr. Weatherman
PS: this mail was sent to aa@bb - newletter ref = personal_code123_1.

Example address/personalization list file for this message:

#Example address list (CSV file)
aa@bb; Mister A; abc; personal_code123_1
cc@dd; Mister B; def; personal_code123_2

Or copy&paste a table like this via the Clipboard fromExcel:

• In Excel press Ctrl-A to select all lines; and pressCtrl-C to copy
• Click into TurboMailer's To: Address List (Recipients)and press Ctrl-V for pasting;
  (Or press the Paste address list button in the toolbar)

Attachment File Personalization

Attachment files can be personalized by adding an attachmentfile name like personal-attachment-%3%.gif .The filename part %3% is then replaced by the same scheme as with textor subject (4th table column in this example).

HTML Mail

HTML Mail transfer is switched on by the checkbox "HTML Mail"inthe Mailer main window.

HTML Mail can be edited in code view mode or in WYSIWYG (whatyou see is what you get) view mode : Checkbox: HTML View.

By default a auto-generated plain text version of a HTML mailistransmitted together with the HTML format - consistent with MIMEstandards. This setting can be changed inMenu/Config/AppSettings/HTML_Mail

How to set a manually edited plain text version for HTML Mails

A manually edited plain text version for a HTML Mail can beset -overriding auto-generation from the HTML version. This can be done byputting the plain test versioninto aspecial HTML comment "MIME_PLAINTEXT" somewhere inside the HTML code ofthe message -like this:

<html>
<head>
<title>A HTML Mail with manually edited plain text version</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello!</h1>
<p>This is a HTML mail.</p>
<img src="icon.png">
<p>Thanks for reading.</p>
</body>
<!-- MIME_PLAINTEXT:
Hello!
This is a manually edited plain text version of this HTML mail.
Thanks for reading.
-->
</html> 

Embedding Images in HTML Email

Embedding images in HTML emails is easy: Turbo-Mailer embedsall local images in yourHTML message (image links to local files on your computer)directly into the emailas internal attachment automatically when the email is sent. Imagelinks toimages on a server (<IMG SRC="http://...">) are sent unaltered.Best testfor correct results with some of yourown test email addresses and email viewers (sophisticated HTML isdisplayeddifferently in different email readers).

Generating a new HTML mail from scratch:

• New Mail: Press the New Mail tool bar buttonor select Menu/File/New Mail.
  
• Select HTML Mail: Check the HTML Mailcheckbox above the "Subject" Field in order to tag the message as HTMLMail.
  
• Use internal HTML Viewer/Editor: Check the HTMLView checkbox and hit the Edit button next to HTML View in order to get additional controls for editing HTMLdirectly inside TurboMailer.

  or / and :
  

• Use an external HTML editor): Press the "Edit HTML"button on bottom-right of Turbo-Mailer (or Menu/View/HTML Editor)for editing the current message body in a WYSIWYG HTML Editor. You areasked to first save your (empty) message in a file. Its recommended todo this: Thus your HTML code has a definite home folder on your harddisk and you can insert local embedded images with relative pathsconsistently.

  The HTML editor can be configured in Menu/Config/Settings. Mozilla,Netscape, Dreamweaver and Frontpage are found automatically byTurbo-Mailer and offered in a drop-down list. The default HTML editoris the built-in editor of Internet Explorer (IE; version >= 5.5 ) -which is not recommended.Installing Mozillaor Netscape isrecommended, when you don't have another professional HTML editorinstalled on yourcomputer.
  

• Edit: Just edit your HTML template file locally withyour configured HTML editor. Use simple relative or absolute file pathsto your local images for embedding those images to the email.
  
• Preview: Press the "Preview" Button:on bottom-right of Turbo-Mailer (or use Menu/View/Preview) in order tocheck your HTML message.
  
• Auto-Embedding: All locally linked images areembedded on-the-fly by Turbo-Mailer when the emails are sent out. Besttry for correct results with some of your own test addresses. When alocal image is not found during transmission you'll get an errormessage and transmission does not take place.
  
• Non-Local Images : URLs of absolute web linkedimages on a server ("http(s)://...") are leftunchanged. Such images are not embedded.
  Note: It is recommended to keep bigimages and attachment files on a web server in order to reducebandwidth consumption

Generating a HTML mail from an existing HTML file:

• Load: Drag-drop (or open) the HTML file intoTurbo-Mailer and edit the subject. Turbo-Mailer thus knows the homedirectory of the HTML code for finding relatively linked local(embedded) images.
  
• "Edit HTML" Button: You can also press the "EditHTML" button on bottom-right of Turbo-Mailer for editing the currentmessage body quickly in a WYSIWYG HTML Editor. The editor can beconfigured in Menu/Config/Settings. Default is the built-in Editor ofInternet Explorer (IE; version >= 5.5 )

Here is an example HTML code of an email body with 2 locallysourced images, which are (unlike src="http://..." web images)auto-embedded as implicit attachment by TurboMailer. The firstimage is source-linked relatively (to the folder of the documentmy_html_mail.html). The second image is source-linked with an absolutepath:

[ File C:\www-edit\my_html_mail.html ]
<p>Hello %1%,</p>
<p>This is a picture:</p>
<p><img border="0" src="images/acrobat.gif" width="32" height="32"></p>
<p>This is %-2%: 
<img border="0" src="file:///c:/www-edit/images/logo.gif" width="32" height="32"></p>

Result:

Further Annotations / Bulk Mailer:

Log Files are stored as processed_YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.log in thedirectory of the list file or in theTurbo-Mailer directory + optionally refused_YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.log incase some emails are immediately refused by theSMTP server

Keyboard Bindings for the Recipients List Displayand ACCU ListDisplay: Ctrl-A = SelectAll, Ctrl-C = Copy, Ctrl-V = Paste, Shift-Up/Down ORMouse-Shift/Ctrl-Click =Mark Range

Threaded SMTP offers improvement of transmission speedthroughmultiple parallel SMTP paths. This option exploits the availablebandwidth most efficiently and is especially helpful,when email addresses are checked live by an SMTP server (which slowsdown simple serialprocessing). MultipleSMTP connections are possible on most servers. You can set the maximumnumber ofparallel SMTP connections (default=5) in the appropriate field belowthe "Send"button. Block-by-block transmission may be mixed withthreaded SMTP. In that case the Mails/Block setting is themaximum numberof mails transmitted on one connection path while Max.Threadsconnectionpaths may exist in parallel.

2. Email List Processor

The List Processor (2nd pane in TurboMailer) allowesto compute lists of email addresses. Lists can be imported, combined,filtered, ... and computed by advanced formulas (see TurboMailer API).

The core object of the List Processor is the ACCUlist: Allcomputational results, clipboard pastes (paste button in the toolbar)andSetACCU-buttonresults go into the ACCU. The ACCU content maybe transferred to the RecipientsList with the Set Rec. List button in order to proceed withsending out mailings with the Mailer.

A set of email lists is managed in User Lists. To eachlist a short name(SN) is assigned (can be changed). The SN of a list can be used in theformulas to reference a list.

Formula processing is a core feature in Turbo-Mailer's ListProcessor.The formula API is continuously expanded. Functions range fromstripping/recomputingemail address toscanning text/html files for email addresses or scanning newslettersubscriptionnotification emails out of MS Outlook. See the API below.

User Interface / List Processor

ACCU List / Read File / Add / Delete

This is the address list display ("Accumulator"), whichholds the current result list of formula computations or the result of"Set ACCU" actions. You can load the ACCU from file or add / delete /edit (double-click) the addresses in the ACCU. You can also paste alist/Excel table from the windows clipboard.
The ACCU list itself can be referenced in formulas as "ACCU" (e.g. "ACCU+mylist")
The ACCU contents are permanent throughout shutdown & re-opening ofTurbo-Mailer.

<< Set TO: List

When pressing this button, the ACCU list is transfered tothe TO: list (recipients of your message) of the mailer.

<< Set ACCU

Press this button to transfer the (join of) current selecteduser list(s).

TO:

Press this button to transfer to ACCU and TO: list of themailer in one step.

>> Store List

Store the current ACCU content as a new user list on disk.

Up / Down

Move the current selected users lists up/down in the listdisplay

User Lists / Add / Delete / Refresh

Displays the current set of on-disk user lists. Each listhas also a short name (SN). The SN (e.g. "mylist") of a user list canbe used in computational formulas (e.g.: "mylist+otherlist"), in order to reference this list.

Formula / Execute

Enter a list computation formula (see API) orselect a template from the drop-down list.Press the Execute button for running the formula. The result will bedisplayed in the ACCU list.

Turbo-Mailer Formula API:

List Operators
	| (OR)	Example: aa | ACCU
	concatenates lists but avoidsduplicates
	& (AND)	Example: aa & ab
	computes list: items of firstlist where address (column 0) is contained also in the second list
	+ (PLUS)	Example: aa + ACCU
	concatenates lists withoutavoiding duplicates
	- (MINUS)	Example: aa - log1
	computes list: items of firstlist where address (column 0) is not contained in the second list. Thusyou can remove certain addresses from a set. This operator is forexample useful to subtract a log-file list from partial transmissionsor a "rejection list" from a list.
	[<start>:<end>](SLICE)	Example: ACCU[0:7]
	take subset of the address list(for example the first 7 emails)
List Member Functions
	.also_in( other_list )	Example: aa.also_in( ab )
	items which are contained(completely identical) in both lists. (Similar to & opterator)
	.not_in( other_list )	Example: aa.not_in( ab )
	items from first list which are(in complete form) not in the other list. (Similar to
	.lower()	Example: aa.lower()
	converts all item strings tolower characters [A-Z] --> [a-z]
	extract_addr(self,column=0, get_addr=True, get_name=False, xcolumns=-1)	Example:ACCU.extract_addr(get_name=True)
	extracts the pure email addressand/or the pure display name of a complex email address ("UserName" <username@server.dom>). By default it preserves all(xcolumns=-1) extra columns and stores the 1 or 2 extracted columns asfirst column(s).
	.randomize()	Example: ACCU.randomize()
	mixes the list orderrandomly
	.strip()	Example: ACCU.strip()
	removes duplicate emailaddresses and empty lines and comments from a list
	.columnstrip( [number_of_columns[,startcolumn]])	Example:ACCU.columnstrip()
	takes out columns [startcolumn.. startcolumn + number_of_columns] from the list. For example aa.columnstrip(1) takes cuts out only thefirst column (=email address) from a list with additional info-columns(separated by TAB or ; ). .columnstrip is a short-cut for a special form of .xformat
	.xsort( [cmpfunc] )	Example: ACCU.xsort())
	sorts the list alphabetically.The optional cmpfunc sets other sort criteria like: - reverse sorting (Python like skript syntax): ACCU.xsort(lambda a,b: -cmp(a,b) ) - sort on the length of the email address string: ACCU.xsort( lambda a,b: cmp(len(a),len(b)) ) cmpfunc can also be a regular expression pattern, withzero or one result group like: - sort on the domain name : ACCU.xsort( '@(.*)' )
	.sortdom1()	Example: aa.sortdom1()
	sorts according the domain nameof the email addresses. This function is a short-cut for .xsortand appropriate cmpfunc
	.sortdomL()	Example: ACCU.sortdomL()
	sorts according to the lastpiece of the domain name (.com, .uk, .de, ...). This function isa short-cut for .xsort and appropriate cmpfunc
	.xfilter( pat )	Example: ACCU.xfilter('@[aA].*' )
	finds items matching a regularexpression pattern 'pat'. ACCU.xfilter( '@[aA].*' ) would get allemails where the domain name starts with an 'a'.
	.xformat( fmt , [l1[,l2 ... ]] )	Example: ACCU.xformat('"%1%" <%0%>' )
	reformats a list file - withpossibly changed column ordering,. Can compose full-name emailaddresses or can even mix columns of multiple lists (of samelength). 'fmt' is the format string. The column variable identifier is %column[:fileindex]%. 'l1','l2',... are short names of optional other list files who shouldhave the same shape and length. (missing rows result in empty strings) Other examples: aa.xformat("%1%;%0%")# exchanges column 0 and 1 aa.xformat("%0%; hello ; %3:1%",ab) # mixes column 0 of list aa with column 3 of aband insertes a constant string aa.xformat(' "%1%" <%0%>;%1%; %2%' ) # composes full-name email addresses and preservescolumns
	.xformat_by_email(fmt , [l1 [,l2 ... ]] )	Example:ACCU.xformat_by_email(' "%1:1%" <%0%>')
	reformats a list file - usingcolumns of other lists entries with same email address. 'fmt' is the format string. The column variable identifier is %column[:fileindex]%. 'l1','l2',... are short names of optional other list files who contain(some of the) same email addresses. Missing entries result in emptystring insertions. Further example: rejlist.xformat_by_email("%0% ;%1:1% ; %2:1%", fulllist) mixes email address (column 0) of list rejlist with column 1and 2 of list fulllist - using entries with same address.
	.xreverse()	Example:ACCU.xsort().xreverse()
	reverts the order of theemails
	.xremovedups(pat=".*@([^>]*)")	Example:ACCU.xremovedups(".*@([^> ]*)"):
	removes duplicates from thelist using a regularexpression (group 1) to identify a special part of the address. Theexample above (which uses the default regex pattern) would keep onlyone (the first) address for each domain name. Note: ACCU.xremovedups( "(.*)" ) is equal to ACCU.strip()
Functions
	ScanOutlook(<outlook_folder>,<subject_pattern>, <email_pattern>)
	Example: ScanOutlook("inbox/newsletter_in","*Newsletter*","Email:\s*([\w.+-]+@[\w.+-]+)")
	Scan email text bodies in an MSOutlook folder and search for an email address pattern (and foroptional fields), extract one email address per mail. This is forexample used in order to bulk extract addresses from subscriptionnotification mails'. email_pattern is a regularexpression, which must return one or more groups containing theaddress and optional info columns: for example the ([\w.+-]+@[\w.+-]+)part of the example above extracts the email address. the \s* in theexample above matches any whitespace. If no address pattern is found anemail body, the scanner jumps to the next email body, thus not breakingon 'empty' mails. In case of more groups in the regular expressionthose groups are rendered into additional 'personalization' columns(separated by ; ) of the result table. The subjectpattern matches with unix/dos wildcards ( * ? ). Use"*" for scanning all email in the folder. The outlook_folder name is as displayed in your Outlook GUI.The Inbox is alway accessible with inbox/... . Subfolder namesare separated with slash / . The above example scans my extract the adress from thefollowing example mail in the folder "newsletter_in" folder: Subject:Subscription Notification Text: This is a subscription notification mail for Project XY. Email: test@nowhere.xyz
	ScanOutlookSenders(<outlook_folder> [,excl=<exclude_email_pattern>])
	Scans sender addresses of allmails in this Outlook folder.
	GetOutlookAddresses(<adressbook>)	Example: GetOutlookAddresses("PersonalAddress Book")
	fetches all email addressescontained in an Outlook (MAPI) address folder
	SplitList(<listname>, <items_per_list>[, <resultfilespattern>])
	Example: SplitList(ae,1000,"splitresult%05d.txt")
	Splits a (big) list intosmaller pices with max. items_per_list items in each list. The result_files_patternmust contain a %s or %05d ... which is replaced with the start indexnumber of the first email of each result list like: splitresult00000.txt splitresult01000.txt splitresult02000.txt ... The first partial list file is returned as new ACCU content. (The restof the files may be drag-droped from the Windows Explorer to the UserLists Set in Turbo-Mailer.)
	ScanFiles(<path_pattern> [,<pa_email>[,n_emails_per_file]] )
	Example: ScanFiles("C:/files/*.txt","([\w.+-]+@[\w.+-]+)")
	Extracts all email addressesfrom a set of local files specified by wildcards ( * ? ). The regularexpression may contain one or more groups. In case of more groupsthose groups are rendered into additional columns (separated by ; ) ofthe result table.
	ODBCSelect(<db_path>,<SQL_select_statement>)
	Example: ODBCSelect('myaccess','SELECT email from table1') ODBCSelect('mydb/user/passwd','SELECT email,name from table2')
	Fetches email (and othercolumns) data lists from ODBC-connectable databases using SQL-SELECT. Hint: you can setup databases like ACCESS-files etc. for SQL-queries byadding them to the Windows Database Sharing Setup (DSN). See WindowsControl Panel / Administration / ODBC.
	Write to feedback@xellsoft.comfor new suggestions.

(the Formula API maybe extended in future Turbo-Mailerupdates. Check thisdocument online from time to time to be informed)

3. Other User Interfaces

Dialog Menu/Config/Settings

• HTML Mail: Send also a text version
  When checking this option, a text-only extract of the HTML message isinserted in the mail. Thus the mail can be displayed by non-MIME &non-HTML email readers
  
• HTML Editor: Editor call
  Set a startup call for your favorite HTML editor here or select atemplate call from the drop-down list. The dummy-call "IE>=5.5" usesthe HTML editor of the MS Internet Explorer (version >= 5.5), whichis available on most PC's. If no other good editor is installed on yoursystem, it is recommended to install Mozilla or Netscape.
  
• Block-by-block SMTP transmissions: Number of seconds
  Set the number of seconds to wait between block-by-blockSMTP transmissions

4. Command Line Usage:

Turbo-Mailer can send out mails by using the command line(batch mode). Thedefault settings (SMTP, auto-dial, ...) have to be set up in the GUIbeforeusing the command line.

Examples:

turbomailer_con.exe -atest_addresses.txt

turbomailer_con.exe -t mail.eml -atest_addresses.txt

turbomailer_con.exe -f "From Addr <from@adr>"-r reply@adr -t mail.eml -a test_addresses.txt

Syntax:

COMMANDLINE SYNTAX
Usage/Windows: turbomailer.exe [OPTIONS] [FILES]
Usage/Console: turbomailer_con.exe [OPTIONS] [FILES]
OPTIONS:
-a listfile : Address list file (one address per line or CSV/TabSV table file)
 with extra personalization columns.
 WHEN THIS OPTION -a IS USED, TRANSMISSION STARTS AUTOMATICALLY !
-t message_file (.eml, .html, .txt)
 : The mail message / template. Files ending in .html or .htm are
 treated as HTML. Messages beginning with "Subject:.." and
 double newline like "Subject: 
\n\n"
 define a mail subject.
 Otherwise commandline option -s  is required.
 HTML: References to local image files automatically create
 embedded attached images in the mail.
-s subject_text
 : The mail Subject. Enclose subject with spaces in quotes like: 
 -s "My Subject"
 A subject can also be defined in the message_file (-t).
 An error is raised, if there is no subject at all.
-f from_address
 : your "From:" email address
-i att_path : Inserts an explicit attachment file into the mail.
 This option can be used multiple times for multiple attachments
-r reply_address
 : address where recipients shall reply to 
 ( instead of  )
-v SMTP_server
 : the SMTP server and optional port
-y : use secured SMTP with SSL after TLS
-u SMTP_user : The SMTP server user-ID for authentication
 Default: No authentication
-p SMTP_pwd : The SMTP server password.
 It is asked interactively if not present but "-u" used
 An asked password can be stored (encrypted).
-b mails_per_block
 : Reconnect to SMTP-server after each  transmissions.--block-delay n : Sleep n seconds before sending next block (see "-b") -z max_treads : use  parallel threads for transmission.
-x x_mailer_tag
 : mail software name to put in the mail header
--bcc bcc_address 
 : Use BCC bulking method and take bcc_address as common display
--bcc-n n : Set max. number of mails for one BCC transmission.
--bcc-show : Put BCC addresses openly into the mail header
--msgid : Message-ID created by TurboMailer
--printmime : Display the MIME body of the last transfered mail item
--encoding enc
 : Set the encoding for the input message.
 Tries to use the UNIX "recode" filter for uncommon transfer 
 encodings. ( Debian Installations: "apt-get install recode" )
 Example:
 turbomailer_con.exe --encoding greek7 -t mail.gr7.txt
 Default: Locale encoding
--utf8 : UTF8 unicode encoding for message file (= "--encoding utf8")
 Example:
 turbomailer --utf8 -t mail.utf8.txt
 Note: UTF8 files with BOM header will be recognized auto
--license : The license key will be asked and stored
--simulate : simulation mode without really transfering mails
-c : Don't ask confirmation for sending
-l loglevel : 3=default 2=print no individual addresses on console
-h / --help : Display this help
FILES:
*.eml : Email/Template files; contain: subject, text/html, attachments
*.lst / *.txt : Recipients list files
*.ptm : TurboMailer Project files (settings + mail + recipientslist)
Examples:
 turbomailer(_con).exe --simulate
 turbomailer.exe -a recipients.txt -v smpt.mailserver -s "My Subject" -t mail.html
 turbomailer.exe -v smtp.gmail.com -y -t mail.txt -u xy@gmail.com -f xy@gmail.com

Note:

The Linux version of TurboMailer provides an advanced command lineinterface : LinuxCommand Line Syntax.

5. Turbo-Mailer FAQ / Trouble Shooting

" SMTP Setup for a Google Mail(@gmail.com, @googlemail.com) account "

• In the Google Mail account manager (online) you have toenable SMTP & POP:
  The switch is typically found like: GMAIL Account / Edit Labels /Forwarding and POP / 1. Status / Enable POP
• Access this GMAIL account at least once sucessfully by aPOP download using a POP email client (your normal email clientsoftware). Only after doing this, sending through SMTP may also bepossible.
• Settings in TurboMailer:
  • SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com
  • From Address: YOUR_NAME@gmail.com
  • Or From Address with display name: "YOURDISPLAYNAME" <YOURNAME@gmail.com>
  • SSL checkbox: ON
  • TLS checkbox: ON (SSL after TLS on port25) or OFF (direct SSL on port 465)
  • SMTP user: YOUR_NAME@gmail.com (completeemail address!)
  • SMTP password: YOUR_PASSWORD
  • Max Threads Checkbox: OFF / ON (try thisoption only after success without this option)
  • Notes: -

" SMTP Setup for Hotmail/MSN/Live.com(@hotmail.com, @live.com) account "

• Settings in TurboMailer:
  • SMTP Server: smtp.live.com:587
  • From Address: YOUR_NAME@hotmail.com
  • Or From Address with display name: "YOURDISPLAYNAME" <YOURNAME@hotmail.com>
  • SSL checkbox: ON
  • TLS checkbox: ON
  • SMTP user: YOUR_NAME@hotmail.com (completeemail address!)
  • SMTP password: YOUR_PASSWORD
  • Max Threads Checkbox: OFF (multi-threadedtransfer may not work with this email provider; try this option onlyafter success without this option)
  • Notes: first transaction may fail with errorlike "(550, '5.3.4 Requested action not taken; To continuesending messages, please sign in to your account.')"; In thiscase log-in through web interface, then retry with TurboMailer

" SMTP Setup for Yahoo Mail (@yahoo.com/ @yahoo.de / ...) account "

• Enable the SMTP & POP transfer in the account of thisprovider if appropriate
• Settings in TurboMailer:
  • SMTP Server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com /smtp.mail.yahoo.de / ...
  • From Address: YOUR_NAME@yahoo.com
  • Or From Address with display name: "YOURDISPLAYNAME" <YOURNAME@yahoo.com>
  • SSL checkbox: ON recommended (optional)
  • TLS checkbox: OFF recommended (optional)
  • SMTP user: YOUR_NAME (only ID; not completeemail address!)
  • SMTP password: YOUR_PASSWORD
  • Max Threads Checkbox: OFF (multi-threadedtransfer may not work with this email provider; try this option onlyafter success without this option)
  • Notes: see also Yahoo POP3 and SMTP Settings and Instructions for Popular Email Providers

" SMTP Setup for GMX Mail (@gmx.net ...)account "

• Enable the SMTP & POP transfer in the account of thisprovider if appropriate
• Settings in TurboMailer:
  • SMTP Server: smtp.gmx.net
  • From Address: YOUR_NAME@gmx.net
  • Or From Address with display name: "YOURDISPLAYNAME" <YOUR_NAME@gmx.net>
  • SSL checkbox: ON recommended (optional)
  • TLS checkbox: ON (optional)
  • SMTP user: YOUR_NAME@gmx.net (complete emailaddress!)
  • SMTP password: YOUR_PASSWORD
  • Max Threads Checkbox: OFF/ON (try thisoption only after success without this option)
  • Notes: -

" SMTP Setup for otherpopular email providers "

• Check the "SMTP settings" docs of this provider. Test withyour normal email client software first. Use same settings inTurboMailer.
• Possibly the special details for your provider can be foundeasily in this list.

" Where to look if mails seem tobe nottransferred successfully ? "

In case of seemingly non-transferred mails there are 3places to check:

A) Are certain addresses "refused" directly by the SMTPserver? Do you get immediate error messages by TurboMailer?

• Youshould see a short transfer statistics in the info message box, whichTurboMailer raises immediately after end of mail transfer.
• Navigateinto the 'log' folder besides your saved mail message file (or fromMenu/File/ExplorerDataFolder), and check the latest refused_*.log filesand the processed_*.log files for your transfer job.
• Adresses in the processed_*.log (text) are correctlytransferred to and accepted by your SMTP server.

B) Do you get bounce mails / error messages sent to yourFrom / Reply-to address which you are using for your mailing?

C) Check the spam filter folder(s) of your recipient testaddress(es).

If after some 6 hours you don't get the information aboutthe "leak" in any of those locations (which usually also tells you thereason of stop) then this would indicate an odd configuration problem:

• Your From / Reply-To adress may be invalid
• Your SMTP / email server system could be incorrectlyconfigured / contain a bug.

Regarding From / Reply-To adress: Is your From-address foryour mailings compatible with your SMTP server? Some SMTP serversrequire the 'From' address using the same domain name as theSMTP-server name or even fit the SMTP user account. In such cases youcannot use arbitrary/fantasy 'From' addresses with many simple SMTPaccounts.

Yet if there is such kind of problem, then you should inmost cases get an immediate 'Refused' (check the refused logs asmentioned above).

Possible causes for spam classification / rejection:

• Your SMTP server may be black-listed / dynamic
• You may need to use a proper From address in the mailings(see above)
• You may need to set/change the "X-Mailer" tag in Menu/Config/ApplicationSettings (best use a personal unique name like "YOUR_ID News"for this tag)
• Your mail subject and/or content as it may 'score'regarding typical Bayesian spam filter probabilities.
• Check the hints of the spam filter or in the rejectionmessages.

" How do I add images and attachments to my mailings ? "

• HTML: See Embedding images in HTML email
• Text/HTML: Add the images/files as attachment inTurbo-Mailer
• For bigger bulk mailings you should put images on a webserver and use absolute web-links to images and files.
  Example: Add server hosted images in HTML like :
  <imgsrc="http://www.myserver.com/images/mypicture.gif">
  Link to a download in HTML like:
  <ahref="http://www.myserver.com/data/myfile.zip">Dowload File</a>

" How many mails are transmittedper minute ? "

• This depends on your internet connection and SMTP serverspeed. TurboMailer itself is not a bottleneck regarding transfer speed.
• You can however try to use multi-threaded SMTP to exploitbandwidth best: Set&Activate the Max. Threads field forexample to 5 in the Mailer pane of TurboMailer
• Speed Example: if you send mails with 2000 Byte length andyou have a 1MBit/s internet connection to your SMTP server and yourSMTP doesn't cause extra delays, then you can transmit about 1000000 /8bit / 2000 * 60s/min = 3840 (personalized) mails max. per minute
  (no BCC: bundling option in use)

" I get an error like 'getaddrinfo failed', 'connectionaborted' etc. "

• you do not have a proper internet connection at all
• check if your browser works on the internet.
• check if your ordinary email client software works with thesame SMTP address & settings like TurboMailer!?
• ensure,that your firewall lets pass TurboMailer through on port 25 (non-SSL,SSL after TLS), and/or on port 465 (SSL without TLS) - or at whateverspecial port (like 1234) which you use explicitly (SMTP server like:smtp.someserver.dom:1234).

" My SMTP Mail Server doesn't allowmore than N mails ? "

• your server may have a limit for the number of emailstransferred within a certain time frame
• try the feature "send in blocks"; e.g. values like 10, 20or 90; also try to use a "Delay" between blocks
• try the BCC bundling option of TurboMailer
• try the multi-threaded transfer option (parallel transfer)of TurboMailer
• try to split big email address lists in smaller parts (SplitList function in TM's ListProcessor)and send the part with a time delay
• you may need a more capable SMTP server / account type

" I get (nearly) all target addresses refused from my SMTPMail Server(refused list long) ? "

• Maybe try to set a non-empty X-Mailer tag inMenu/Config/Settings/X-Mailer Tag. Compuserve for example is known torequire the X-Mailer tag. Best use a presonalized X-Mailer Tag like"YOUR_ID News"
• Your SMTP server doesn't like something in your mails
• The target addresses may in fact be invalid
• Most SMTP servers want you to use really your correct'from' address for your SMTP account.

" My SMTP server doesn't accept the mails for transmission?"

• Typically you get an SMTP Error with a Error Code and shortdescription of reason.
• ExampleError: SMTPDataError: (550, '5.3.4 Requested action not taken; Tocontinue sending messages, please sign in to your account.')
• An overview/explanation of error codes and reasons is forexample found here: SMTPError codes

" My SMTP server doesn't allow to log-on? "

• Try to use the SSL login feature (SSL checkbox right to theSMTP Password in the main mailer page of TM). MSN mail is known torequire SSL/TLS log-on.

" How to email to an address list viaSQL SELECT query (MySQL/Linux, ODBC/Windows) "

• On Windows in the TurboMailer GUI there is a functionMenu/Tools/ImportAddressListFromODBCSQL. Follow the instructions andenter the access path like odbc_export_table/user/password and the SQLSELECT query at the appropriate fields. The relevant table needs to beexposed via the Windows ODCB Manager (Windows Control Panel).
• Linux / MySQL batch example:

  echo -n '#' > adr.txt
  mysql testdb -B -u root -p -e "SELECT email,name FROM subscriptions WHERE ch='goodnews'" >> adr.txt
  tmailer -a adr.txt -t msg.txt -s "Test Subject"
  

• On Windows you can use the turbomailer_con.exe (commandlineversion) in a similar manner like the Linux 'tmailer'