list help

[lesplan]

Hello there


I'm a fairly new user in Canada, but I'm starting to use MBM for all of our list management.

I have about 25 separte files that we use to send out notifications for our monthly education newsletter The reason there are so many is because some schools want the elementary version, others the secondary version, some want both, some are full year subscribers, some are half year subscribers, some want English only, others want the French version, etc. etc. etc. (Each pdf file on our website has a different pasword, so I need to keep the lists/data bases separate.)

What I'm not understanding is the 'List' saving and options in MBM. I have read all of the help info, but there is not much there. Can anyone tell me where I can look?

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[stanbusk]

What problem do you have?

 

[lesplan]

I'm not really understanding how the 'list' works.

In all of the other applications I have, if you open a file and make any changes, the program will ask you if you want to save the changes when you close. In Emerge, (the program I was using) it was the same -- open a file and make any change (to the letter, the settings, or a name on the recipient list) and Save on closing.

MBM is somehow different, and none of the help files explain how. It seems that sometimes you have to save the file two times after you have made changes -- once to the list, and once to the file. This is the part that I don't understand. What I am really worried about is changing or overwriting some other list in another file. Shouldn't there be just 'one' save???

Also, I don't know if its related, but I lost a boatload of data today. One file that we have had a list of over 400 subscribers. I opened the file, made one or two small changes and saved. When I went to open the file again later, it only had some 250 recipients -- everything after the letter 'M' had vanished!!!!
.
Luckily I have been making frequent backups (since this is a new program we are using) and we did not lose any data.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Also, on a related note, most applications open to the last page that you were working on (ie usually where the cursor is). MBM always opens to the letter, even though most of the time it is the recipient list that was open when the file was closed. This is a minor irritant - but I'm not trying to be picky.

 

[stanbusk]

It seems you are confusing the lists (aka list manager) with the documents. With MaxBulk Mailer you have the possibility to save the list assigned to a message to the document (including delivery status), that way you can open back the document with the recipients associated to it (without the need to reselect a list). The list manager however lets you create lists and reuse them. Documents are saved wherever you want, lists are saved to a specific directory in your Document folder. So, if you open a document, write some text, select a list, modify that list and close, the list manager will ask you if you want to save the list you have selected and you have modified, then MaxBulk Mailer will ask you if you want to save the document.

So you don't save the document or the list two times. If you read the confirmation dialogs you will find out. Now, if you just create a document, modify it, select a list and try to close, you will be asked only if you want to save the document. The list manager has not detected any changes to the selected list.

Once you understand the concept you will find how powerful and handy it can be, believe me.

About the loss of data, I guess you did something wrong. Perhaps you were asked to save the list and select not to do so. My recommendation is, use the List Manager! Save your lists using the List manager, press the 'Save button' on the right of the list pull-down menu when you make changes to your lists and you will be OK. Don't reuse documents with lists built-in, documents are not intended to do that.

 

[lesplan]

Thanks for the info Stan. After reading this (and working with the program a bit) I understand better. Its strange that this is not explained in the HELP info.

But, it still is unclear for me in one respect. We have a network of computers in our office, and we have two registered copies of MBM. For most of the month, the files sit on the main server computer where they are updated as need be, but when we need to notify our customers about a new issue, I copy the files to my computer, update the info (as needed re passwordand make any other necessary changes to our subscriber list), send the emails and then copy the files back to the first (main) computer.

What I don't understand is this:

If the file is called 'Notify' and I make a list for that file called "List 1" on computer #1, then I copy the file to my computer, make changes to the file and to the list (and re-save as "List 1" which list will be activated when I copy the file back to the first computer?

Will I not lose the changes I made to the list while it was on my computer? This is what I don't understand and I am scared of losing data this way.

Can you please advise????

Eric

 

[stanbusk]

When you copy back the file to first computer you will overwrite the list there. By the way, are you movind the files from the '~/Documents/Maxprog/MaxBulk/Lists' folder directly?

 

[lesplan]

Stan

I'm just moving the actual files -- not the lists in the

'~/Documents/Maxprog/MaxBulk/Lists'

folder.

I haven't set up any lists and am just moving files back and forth betwen the two computers AND (so far ) this seems to be working OK.

This is the way I would prefer to use the program.

Am I playing with fire?

Also is this also a back-up issue? Most users will only archive the MBM files, and not the lists if these are buried on the hard drive. If there was a catastrophe, and the MBM files were copied onto a new computer, would all the data and lists appear on the new machine?

Thanks

 

[stanbusk]

There is no problem doing that until Finder asks if you want to overwrite an existing file. It is when you have to know what you are doing.

About backups, it is a good idea to backup your home folder or at least the Document folder regularly. If you lose that folder you will lose MaxBulk lists. MaxBulk saves its data in the '~/Documents/Maxprog/MaxBulk/' folder. This is not a backup but real data.