Dear Xequte Software User,

 

The good news is that MailList King v5.0 is out!  This update is the most extensive MLK development since v1.0 and has a feature list as long as my arm and twice as hairy.  This is particularly good news for me as I can finally get some sleep and reacquaint myself with my children, Bart and Lisa (wait, that doesn't sound right...)

 

For the next seven days we are offering a special discount for those who do not qualify for a free upgrade to v5.  See below for further details.

 

Unfortunately the release of free updates to DVD PixPlay, Smart Pix and MegaView has been pushed back, but we hope to have those out in time for next month's mailer.

 

 

 

Regards

 

Nigel Cross
Xequte Software
nigel@xequte.com
www.xequte.com

 

 

 

* MAILLIST KING V5.0 RELEASED

 

MailList King allows you to manage and communicate with a mailing list from your own computer.  V5.0 is a major upgrade that incorporates over 300 changes and improvements. 

 

Here is a list of the top twenty-five:

 

1. Now supports multithreaded SMTP sending for blazingly fast delivery of messages.
2. SMTP Server is now significantly more reliable with automatic reattempting of message delivery and an optional final delivery via standard SMTP.
3. New validation function allows you to check the validity of all addresses in your mailing list (without needing to send a message)
4. New relational database structure for more efficient database storage and offering many new fields, including when users were last sent messages, how many messages they have been sent, fax, domain, etc.
5. Custom fields can now be created to match your own database requirements. All fields, including custom ones, can be used to personalize messages to recipients
6. Now offers "Tasks" which allow you to automatically retrieve addresses (for adding/removing to/from the database or processing as undeliverable) from Outlook folders
7. Now offers "Auto-responders": automatic sending of messages to recipients based on incoming e-mail
8. Can now export members to Outlook as contacts (with member's groups specified as Outlook categories)
9. MLK now automatically determines a user's country from their e-mail address and allows you to block particular countries from joining your list
10. Completely redesigned statistics dialog offering more concise information, including compiling data over days/weeks or months and easier navigation by time or group
11. Can now use the Outlook/Outlook Express stationery files directly within MailList King and create your own HTML templates
12. Optionally allows tracking of read messages, so you can determine which users actually open your mailers and how many they read
13. A list member's entire history can now be viewed (when they subscribed, sent messages, received messages, etc)
14. Many new pre-built filters, such as users who have not been sent a message since.., users whose addresses have not been validated, as well as a user specified filter
15. More control over individual groups, including blocking users from joining or sending to particular groups, and assigning descriptions to groups 
16. Sorting is available on twelve fields (even if the entire database is not cached) including domain, TLD, country, etc.
17. Many improvements to styling and UI layout including the use of graphics in tabs and drop down lists, and Outlook 2003 folder glyphs
18. Completely redesigned the importation functionality to automatically detect the formatting of imported files and provide easier mapping of import fields
19. New Optimize database function offers a variety of functions to compress and optimize the database for speed and efficiency
20. Outlook Categories can now be used as groups when importing Contacts from Outlook
21. Can now import and export to Microsoft Excel format
22. Can now create an auto-processing rule to forward all messages in specified outlook folders to groups in your mailing list
23. New message editing options allow users to edit the HTML source or plain text source of a message, as well as edit the message in an external HTML editor
24. New GroupInfo command allows users to access information on a particular group (or all groups) in your mailing list (optional)
25. Can now automatically send out reminders to users who do not confirm their opt-in or opt-out requests

 

Complete Change List: http://www.xequte.com/maillistking/changes.html

 

More info and download: http://www.xequte.com/maillistking/

 

V5.0 is a free upgrade to all users who purchased after 15 May 2004 (a new key will be emailed to you in the next 24 hours).  Other registered users can upgrade at:

 

Upgrades:  http://www.xequte.com/maillistking/upgrade.html

 

 

 

* MAILLIST KING UPGRADE OFFERS

 

For seven days we are offering a 20% discount on all MailList King upgrades and holding the v4 price for new purchases of MLK Pro.  The discounts are only available from:

 

 

 

 

* PROGRAM TIPS

 

- MailList King: Importing custom fields into your mailing list

 

With version 5 you can now add your own fields to your mailing list database and even use them to personalize your messages.

 

You can easily create and edit new custom fields by selecting a member and choosing Edit>Edit Member on the menu.

 

However if you have a large database it may be quicker to batch create custom fields in a spreadsheet program (such as Excel) and then import them into MLK.  As an example, let's say you wanted to add some text to the bottom of each of your messages that is custom to each user.  Here is a procedure you might use to assign the custom fields to existing users in your mailing list:

 

1.  Export the addresses that you want to add custom fields to (using File>Export>Export to File)
2.  Open the file you exported in a spreadsheet program such as Excel
3.  On the header (top) row specify each of the custom fields you want to add, let's add "Custom_Message"
4.  Under the "Custom_Message" column add the custom text for each user
5.  Save the file (and close Excel)
6.  In MLK, select File>Import>Import from File and browse to the file
7.  Click the Map Fields button and ensure that for the "Custom_Message" field you specify the "Add as Custom Field" option
8.  Click OK to import the file (as the users are already in the database, MLK will simply add the updated data to the user's record)
9.  Create a new message using List>Send Mail to List
10.  Insert your custom field by clicking the Personalize button on the message editing toolbar and selecting "Insert Custom_Message Field"

 

- Smart Pix/MegaView: Adding a date based name to your files

 

Images that are retrieved from a digital camera typically have meaningless names such as DCM000432.jpg.  When you retrieve images from your camera using Smart Pix or MegaView it will offer to give a more meaning full name, including the batch insertion of the date and time the image was taken (using the date embedded in the camera fields of the image ).

 

However if you are new to Smart Pix/MegaView or use your camera software to retrieve images you may have many images that still have unmemorable names.  For these you can use the batch renaming functionality to add a more meaningful name to them.  To this:

 

1.  Select the files that you want to rename (using Ctrl or Shift to select multiple files)
2.  Click File>Rename on the menu
3.  Select the "Batch Rename" tab
4.  Specify how the files should be rename (optionally choosing text, date, time, number, etc)
5.  Click OK

 

- Diji Album: Adding your own commentary to albums

 

If you have a microphone you can easily add a spoken commentary that will playback as each page is shown:
1. Go to the page of your album where you want to add a commentary and select "Insert>Sound>Record Now" from the menu
2. Click the "Start Recording" button and speak into the microphone
3. When you have finished speaking, click "Stop"
4. Click "Play" to listen to the recording.  If you are not satisfied with it return to step 2
5. Click Save
6. Right click the sound button that was added to your page and choose Properties
7. Check the "Auto-play" box and click OK
 
To preview the effect, select Edit>Preview in View mode from the menu

 

- DVD PixPlay: Creating a slideshow that auto-plays on a PC

 

You can create a slideshow CD/DVD that automatically displays when it is inserted into a computer CD drive as follows:
 
1. Open/create a project and click the "Create CD" button
2. On the format step of the wizard select the final option of "MPEG"
3. On the next step ensure the "Include Autorun Files" option is checked
4. Click Next to burn it to a blank CD or DVD disk.

 

Note: You can specify the MPEG format to use, which will control the size of the output video and the MPEG type. If you want the disk to also be playable by DVD players you should select one of the VCD compliant options (VCD, SVCD, etc). However many DVD players cannot playback a solo MPEG file.

 

For a specialized solution for creating PC slideshows you might want to look at Diji Album: