WWMail - Windows 95 Internet Mass Mailer  v 2.20
Contents

WWMail - Windows 95 Internet Mass Mailer  v 2.20

Overview:

WWMail is an Internet mail client.  Unlike other Internet mail programs, WWMail is designed with just one thing in mind:  Making it easier for you to mail the same message to multiple email addresses.   For the most part, most email packages allow you to send the same message to many addresses only through the "CC:" or "BCC:" method.  While this is all well and good, it's a bit of a pain in the neck, what with the need to enter all those addresses, figure out who goes where, etc.

You need not do that any longer!  With WWMail, you just 'point' the software at an existing address file, press SEND, and the program does the rest.  It doesn't matter if there are 10, 100 or  even thousands of addresses on your list, WWMail starts at the top of the list, starts emailing the message (and attachments), then lets you know when it's finished.  Simple!

Getting Started

Email Address Files

The Main Window

The Message Window

The Attachment Window

What Do I Need?

Registering - Contacting WizardWare

Planned Revisions


The Message Window

The Message Window is where your message goes.  You can type your message into the window, just as if you were using a word processor, or you can open an existing text file with the OPEN button.  After opening an existing text file, it will appear in the Message Window.

This message may then be edited and/or rearranged as you please.  Just remember that you're sending email over the Internet.  There's really no way to tell what program your recipients are going to use to receive the email, or what kind and configuration of computer they have.  So be conservative with your spacing arrangements.

The Attachment Window

The attachment Window is where you'll see a graphical representation of the file(s) you may attach to your email message.  There are two basic ways to attach files : 1) Click on the "Attach" button, then select the desired files, and 2) Use a "Drag and Drop" program such as the Windows 95 Explorer, and just "Drag" the desired files into the window.


The Main Window

After adding your preferences in the getting started window, the main window is where all the action takes place.  This is where you'll review or enter your message in the Message Windowthen select whatever files to attach (if any), and start the multi-mailing process by clicking on the SEND button.

"To" Field:  For testing purposes, you can enter a specific email address here.  If WWMail finds an entry in this field, the address file  will be ignored and one message will be mailed to the address you enter.

"Subject" Field:  Enter the subject of your message here.  It will appear in all the message's "Subject:" header.

"Attachments" Field: A file or list of files that will be sent along with your message to all the recipients in your Address File.  You can either type in the file and path name, specify them as a command line argument, or use the "Attach" button.

Send Button:  Pressing this starts WWMail emailing your message to everyone on the selected address list.

Cancel Button:  Click on this guy to stop the mailing.

Attach Button:  Select the file(s) to attach to your message.

Setup Button:  This brings up the SETUP dialog window.  Your configuration settings are entered here.

Exit Button:  Exit's WWMail


Email Address Files

An Address File is the source of email addresses that WWMail will read from when sending your messages.  This is a plain text file, the kind of file created with the DOS Edit program, most word processors, or exported from a program like Excel or dBase.

This address file needs to be in a specific format : One email address per line, with no spaces or blank lines.  Pretty simple huh?  An example of an address file would look something like this:

tom@netcom.com

. . .  more addresses here . . .

karen@myserver.com

The address file can be just about anywhere on your computers hard drive(s) that you like, and it can be called anything you wish.  Most users prefer to have several address files, each with a different name.  That way, a variety of email groups can be maintained with very little effort, and no risk of mixing up the groups.

The name of the address file is configured in the SETUP dialog window.  If WWMail does not find that file, or if there is not one specified, WWMail will try and use a default address file called MAILLIST.TXT  from the default directory.


Getting Started

WWMail is VERY easy to configure. Click on the small SETUP button to bring up the setup dialog window.  The only things you need to set up are:

SMTP Server:  This is your Internet mail server, it's usually something like "mail.server.com".  If you don't know what your mail server is, contact your Internet service provider.

Email Address:  The Internet email address you want the messages to "come from",  In other words, the address in the messages "Reply To:" section.

Name:   This is the name that will appear in the "FROM:" section of your messages.

Log File:  This is a text file that will log all the activities occurring during email transmission.  Things like : Time taken to transmit, successful transmission, time sent, whatever errors might occur, etc.  If you don't want a log file to be created, just leave this field blank.

Address File:  A list of email addresses that you want your message to be sent to.  WWMail will read the addresses from this list, then send your message (and attachments) to all of them.  The file is a simple text file, with one email address per line.  A  portion of the list might look like this:

bills@mci.net

bobk@msn.com

sally123@aol.com

You may either type in the address file path and name, or use the BROWSE button to find it.   If this field is left blank, WWMail will try to use a file called MAILLIST.TXT in the default directory.

Encoding:  Internet mail uses some fairly complicated technology to transmit messages.  For the most part, we don't need to worry about it.  Unless you have a very specific need, just set this to "MIME".

Character Set:  Once again, unless you have a good reason to do otherwise, set this to "US-ASCII".

- OPTIONS -

Time Out:  The Internet is a very busy place.  Because of this, WWMail will sometimes 'time out' while trying to send a message to your mail server.  If this happens often, you might want to set this Time Out value to something above the default, which is 60 seconds.  Setting the value to 90 or so usually results in successful transmissions, but takes a bit longer to send your messages.

Request Return Receipt:  Some Internet mail servers will send you an email receipt when your email is delivered.  If you'd like to receive them (when possible), check this option.  If receipts are not available, no errors occur, you just won't get a receipt.

Send Via BCC:  If you're interested in sending your email as fast as possible, try checking this option.  It will send the messages in "batches" of 1 to 200 email addresses in one transmission.  Generally, this results in considerably increased speed with no compromise in mail delivery.

BCC Increment:  This controls how many messages will be send in a BCC "batch".  Generally speaking, setting this from 75 to 150 yields the best results.  Experiment with different settings to determine the best one for your particular mail server.

That's It!  Press OK and you're all set!  Your entries will be saved in a file for future usage or modification.


ASCII

The American Standard Code for Information Interchange. An almost universal standard for text formatting on personal computers.


What do I need?

All that's needed to send multiple email with WWMail is :

A computer and modem

An Internet connection with an SMTP mail server (ask your provider)

A file of email addresses (Address File)

Windows 95 or NT Operating System


Registering - Contacting WizardWare

Why should you register this software?   What are the benefits of registration?

WWMail is distributed under the Shareware method.  This gives people a chance to 'try before you buy'.  With Shareware, everyone gets as much time and usage of the program as they wish to evaluate it's features and size it up to see if it suits their needs.

Shareware (like WWMail) sometimes has some of it's features limited or delayed.  Often, the program will remind you to register it every 4th or 5th use, just as an added incentive.  Normally, the shareware versions of software are quite functional, with added or enhanced features available upon registration.  Shareware is normally MUCH less expensive than commercially packaged software, mainly because the enormous expense of packaging, marketing, shipping and so forth, are greatly reduced by the Shareware method.  Many Shareware programs are technically superior in performance and features than their commercial cousins.

If you choose to register WWMail, you'll be encouraging the development of even greater quality software such as this.  Not to mention, that you'll receive the following benefits:

No pausing after every 5 email messages are sent.

The Tag Line at the end of each email message will be removed.

Enhanced features, such as: 'Savable' messages in the Message Window, more configuration features for customization.

Greatly reduced rates on upgrades and other WizardWare software.

Should you decide to register this software, just click on the Register button when it pops up, or email support@wizardware.com.


Planned Revisions

In response to the considerable feedback  we've received, several major enhancements are in the final design phase:

Email Merging, much like mail merging.  This will allow custom greetings, heading and salutations to be sent to each recipient.

Embedded Symbols, these will facilitate the even further customization of your email message to each person it goes out to.

Email Reception, what the heck, you might as well have the software check for incoming email addressed to you.