Total Access Emailer Product Guide
Instruction Guide for Sending Emails from Microsoft Access
Thank you for your interest in Total Access Emailer: the most popular
email program for Microsoft Access. We are pleased to provide this Product
Guide to assist your evaluation. We think you'll quickly agree that Total
Access Emailer will significantly improve your ability to communicate with
your contacts from simple messages to personalized emails with contact
specific data and reports.
The contents of this document are organized as follows:
Additional documentation is included with the Total Access Emailer
product, including a printed User’s Guide and context sensitive online help
system which is included in the free
trial version.
Microsoft Access is the world's most popular database. Many
databases store contact information on customers, prospects, members,
employees, friends, guests, etc. which contain email addresses.
Being able to easily send regular and special
emails to these people would improve
communications and service, especially if custom
emails could be sent with data and reports from
Access for each recipient.
Unfortunately, Access and Office do not make it easy. In Access, sending
emails to a list is cumbersome, especially with the limitations Office/MAPI
confirming each email. Customizing emails for each recipient is also
challenging, and considerable work is required if you want to add
attachments, send Access reports, or include data for each recipient.
Fortunately, Total Access Emailer is available. While there are
many email programs out there, only Total Access Emailer is
specifically designed for Microsoft Access:
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Total Access Emailer runs within your Access environment and launches as
an add-in to support ADP, MDB, and ACCDB (for Access 2007)databases.
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It understands the Access tables, queries/views in your database.
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The user interface is a Wizard that is compatible with the design and
behavior of Access.
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Email blast settings are saved automatically in your database so they
can be edited, copies, and resent in the future. An unlimited number of
email blasts can be created.
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It supports your database security settings automatically. No special
login is needed because it runs within your Access environment.
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A programmatic interface in VBA lets you add email blasts to your
applications so your users don't even need to know Total Access Emailer
is running in the background.
The messages can be customized and filtered the way you expect within
Access:
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Your subject and message can reference fields in your data source to
customize each email (reference them in brackets like: [FirstName]).
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Use Access reports to design your HTML or text emails and send them.
These can be filtered for each recipient and can include totals,
calculated fields, sub-reports, etc.
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HTML files sent as emails automatically include embedded graphics which
don't need to be sent as separate attachments.
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Embed or attach data from tables and queries, and filter them for each
recipient.
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Attachments can be files, data in Excel files, report snapshots, etc. In
Access 2007, you can send output in PDF and XPS formats.
Features are included to let you maintain and audit trail and verify your
emails are correct before you send them:
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Audit trails can be maintained to update a date field in your table
showing when the email was sent, and/or a separate table containing all
the emails sent.
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With audit trails, email blasts that stop before completion can be
restarted where it stopped.
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Emails can be previewed on screen, in tables, or sent to an email
address you specify before you send them to your contacts.
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Multiple email blasts can be sent together.
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Email blasts can be scheduled to be sent at a later time.
To prevent email viruses, Outlook/MAPI makes it practically
impossible to send multiple emails programmatically. Users either have to
manually confirm messages or run very slowly.
Total Access Emailer avoids this problem by using SMTP rather than
Outlook. This is fast and efficient. You can even specify the FROM email
address of your messages, which can be different from your Outlook address.
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SMTP is used to let you send emails without interruption.
Total Access Emailer is compatible with any machine or software that
has SMTP capabilities, including Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook,
Outlook Express, etc. The product help file includes instructions on
configuring your own SMTP server on a computer running Windows 2000
or Windows XP, if you don't already have one set up.
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SSL (Secure Socket Layer) support is included for secure
servers
The result is a simple way to create and send professional emails
customized for each contact:
How it Works
Total Access Emailer is designed specifically for Access and has an
intuitive, easy-to-use design. Tightly integrated into Access, it runs as an
add-in and includes an interactive, Wizard-like user interface, making it
easy to customize your email blasts right in Access. Choose any table or
query/view in your database, specify the email field, and you’re ready to
contact everyone in your list.
Email blast settings are automatically saved for reuse such as monthly
newsletters or late notices. Easily send the email again, or edit it with
your latest message. The email blast specifications (not your contact data)
is stored in a set of small system tables in your database. Store an
unlimited number of email blast settings and share them with your team.
As a Microsoft Access Add-In
Open the database containing the email addresses or a database linked to
the tables, and use the wizard-like interface to create email blasts. Total
Access Emailer opens as an add-in from the Microsoft Access, Tools, Add-ins
menu. In Access 2007, it's under Database Tools, Add-ins ribbon.
Programmatic Interface for VBA
The Professional version of Total Access Emailer includes a VBA function
to run email blasts programmatically from your database. Easily add the
power of email blasts to your Access applications without your users even
knowing the program is there.
Royalty-Free Redistributable Runtime Library
The Professional version of Total Access Emailer includes a small
executable (TAERun.exe) that that can be distributed royalty-free to let you
include the programmatic interface and distribute it to your users. They'll
be able to send the email blasts you've created at the touch of a button or
event.
Runs as an Access Add-in
When Total Access Emailer is launched by the add-in, its Main Menu
appears. Use it to set up and manage your email blasts. The grid shows the
list of email blasts you have created. Click on a row to select one, or use
the right-click menu to sort and filter the list just like any Access
datasheet.
Main Menu of Total Access Emailer
From the Main Menu, you can select an email blast and press Send to run
it. Use the New button to create a new one, or select an existing email
blast and click the Edit button to display the settings editor. The Settings
Editor is where you configure your email blast.
Setting Email Blast Specifications
Email blasts are specified in these sections:
The Basics tab contains the initial settings for the email blast:
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Description: The
descriptive text for the email blast. This text is displayed in the list on
the Main Menu, and helps you identify this email blast in the future.
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Data Source with Email
Addresses: The table, query, or view containing the email addresses.
Fields in this data source can also be referenced in the email subject and
message to customize each email. The fields can also be used to filter the
embedded objects to include data specific to each recipient.
TIP: By creating a query for records with a blank value in an email sent
field, this lets you send emails to new records. The Audit feature of Total
Access Emailer can fill the sent field with the time the email was sent, so
the next time the blast is run, those records are not part of the query.
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Field Containing the
Email: The field in the table or query that holds the email addresses.
Emails are sent to the email address specified in each record of this field.
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Message Subject: The
subject line which can be customized by referencing fields in your data
source to give your message a personal touch and sense of importance the
first time your recipient sees it.
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Message Format: The
format used to send the message: Text Only, HTML Only, or Text and HTML.
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Message Options: The
options used to send the message: Priority, Sensitivity, Request a Delivery
Receipt, or Request a Read Receipt.
The Addresses tab specifies the email address options:
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FROM Address: The
FROM address of the email lets the recipient know who sent the email. This
can be one email address or it could be in a file that's shared by multiple
email blasts so you can just change it in one place, or a field in your data
source so each recipient could get a different from address.
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TO Address Options:
Emails can be sent individually to each email address or in bulk with one
message for many email addresses. Total Access Emailer also includes a
special feature to avoid sending duplicate emails when using the Bulk email
options.
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Optional Settings:
Regardless of whether you choose Standard or Bulk email, you can optionally
include email addresses to receive a Cc or Bcc. For each email that goes
out, a copy is sent to the email address specified.
Three tabs are available for creating text messages. There is no specific
definition for what should be included in the text header, body, or footer—you
can decide what works best for you.
In many cases, you may not need to separate the message into multiple parts,
so you only need to use the Text Body, but if you want to use the same header or
footer on multiple email blasts, we make it easy for you.
For instance, you may want a legal disclaimer at the end of each message.
Rather than specifying it for each message which makes it difficult if you need
to modify it, you can point the footer to a text file and control it there.
The message sent is the combination of the text specified across the three
tabs.
Text Body
Starting with the Text Body, you can specify the message you want to send.
If you select the Use Field References option, you can refer to
fields in your message using syntax like [FirstName], and Total Access
Emailer will automatically substitute the value of that field from your data
source in that person's email. You can refer to as many fields as you'd
like. A Can Shrink option is available if you want references to
empty field values to not create blank lines, similar to the way CanShrink
works in Access reports.
These options are available for specifying your email text message:
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Text: The text you want to email.
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File: Refer to a text file with the contents for your message.
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Field: Refer to the field in your data source with the message to
send. This lets you create specific messages to each recipient.
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Embedded Object: This opens a separate form that lets you specify
data from a table, query or report that becomes your message. The data can
be filtered on a field or fields in your data source so each recipient gets
their own data.
Text Header
The text header is similar to the body, without the embedded object option.
This is ideally used when you may want to repeat the same header for multiple
email blasts. When the email is sent, the Text Header is the part of the message
the proceeds the body and footer.
Text Footer
The text footer is the last part of your message and follows the header and
footer. This is ideally used when you may want to repeat the same footer for
multiple email blasts.
Note that the three text tabs are not available if the Message Format is set
to HTML Only on the Basic tab.
Total Access Emailer lets you send emails in HTML format to support rich text
messages with multiple fonts, styles, and graphics. Provided your recipient can
read HTML messages, they'll see very nicely formatted emails.
Similar to the text options, you can use field references in your HTML text
to add data from your data source in each message.
These options are available for specifying your HTML email:
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Text: The text you want to email. You can type this in or import
it from an existing file. The Preview HTML button lets you preview the
message in your browser.
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File: Refer to an HTML file with the contents for your message.
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Field: Refer to the field in your data source with the message to
send. This lets you create specific messages to each recipient.
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Embedded Object: This opens a separate form that lets you specify
data from a table, query or report that becomes your message. The data can
be filtered on a field or fields in your data source so each recipient gets
their own data.
Embed Access Reports as your HTML Message
Total Access Emailer lets you embed Access reports as your HTML message. You
can literally use the power of Access reports to create your HTML emails.
Simply create an Access report with the complex calculations, totals,
sub-reports, etc. that you want. Test it by exporting it to HTML format to
verify it works, then embed it in your email. You send the same report to
everyone or filter it for each recipient so they only get their own data.
Total Access Emailer lets you send emails with as many file attachments as
you want. Use the same files for everyone, or send a unique set of files to each
recipient:
The Attachment tab offers these options:
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None: Do not include attachments.
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Files: Specify one or more files to attach.
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Field: If you want to send different files to each recipient, your
data source can include a field with the list of files to attach.
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Embedded Objects: In addition to attaching files, Total Access
Emailer lets you embed Access tables, queries/views, and reports as
attachments. These attachments can unfiltered to send every recipient the
same embedded object, or filtered to be customized for each recipient (e.g.,
send recipients only their own invoices). Files can be formatted as text,
HTML, RTF, Excel spreadsheets, or report snapshots.
In addition to the other source options, Total Access Emailer can embed
Access tables, queries/views, and reports for the following sections:
- Text Body
- HTML
- Attachments
Specify the object type and name to embed:
Filtering options let you send each recipient a subset of the embedded
object:
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No Filter: Every recipient gets the all of the data/object
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One Field: Specify the field in the data source and embedded
object that match, similar to the way master and child link fields work
for subforms
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Multiple Fields: specify the set of fields which need to match
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Advanced: Specify an expression that links the data source with
the embedded data/object.
For Attachments, additional options let you specify the output format which
may be in text, HTML, Excel, rich text (RTF), and report snapshot formats. If
HTML format is specified, an HTML template file may be used to set the styles,
colors, etc.
For Access 2007, if you've configured Office 2007 to support PDF and XPS
output formats, Total Access Emailer 2007 can attach Access reports as PDF
or XPS files to your emails. Emailing each recipient their own Access report
as a PDF file was never easier!
More information on
Emailing Microsoft Access Reports
Total Access Emailer includes optional auditing features to track when you
sent an email to each recipient. Audit information can be stored in a date/time
field in the data source or in a separate table:
- Audit Field: The Audit Field is a date/time field in your
data source that gets updated when Total Access Emailer sends an email
to the record’s email address. If the option to clear this field before
the email blast is selected, there is the ability to restart the email
blast if it doesn't complete due to a problem such as a power failure,
network crash, etc.
- Audit Table: Instead of or in addition to modifying your
existing table with an Audit Field, you can store audit information in a
separate table. This can include complete details of when the message
was sent, to whom, and the message itself.
Total Access Emailer automatically tracks statistics of your email blast and
displays it on the Statistics tab:
- This Email Blast's Historic Statistics: The overall history
of the email blast when it was first sent, the number of times it was
used, the total number of messages sent, and the last time it was
finished.
- Last Email Blast Statistics: The last time this email blast
was sent.
- Creation and Modification Information: The creation and
modification time of the email blast settings and who did it.
Before sending an email blast to your recipients, it’s critical to test
and verify your message. Total Access Emailer includes a powerful Preview
feature, which makes it easy to check your email blast before sending:
You can specify the number of emails to preview then where to send it:
- Screen: Emails are displayed on screen.
- Table: Emails are sent to a table you specify.
- Email Address: Emails are sent to a specified email address.
This could be your regular email address or your address somewhere else
(e.g. Hotmail, gmail, Yahoo, etc.), if you want to see how it appears
there.
Verify the emails appear correctly and contain the correct data before
you send it to the actual recipients.
After verifying that your messages preview properly and ensuring that
your data is up-to-date, you’re ready to send your email blast! To start
sending, select the email blast you want from the Main Menu and press the
Send button.
By default, an email blast is sent to your entire list. If the email
blast has an Audit field that is cleared with every email blast and the last
time it ran, it did not finish, you have the option to restart the email
blast where it stopped.
The Email Blast Selection form displays a brief description and
statistics of your selected email. You can either send the selected email
blast, or choose several email blasts to send one after the other. This is
ideal if you have email blasts that need to go out consecutively, or use
multiple data sources for related email blasts.
You can send the email blast now or schedule it for a later time. When
the email blast is complete, you can view the results on screen, or print a
report for your records.
Total Access Emailer is available in two versions:
- Standard Version for end users who do not need the
programmatic interface or redistribution rights. It includes all the
interactive features of Total Access Emailer.
- Professional Version includes the Standard Version, plus a
programmatic interface to allow power users and developers to
programmatically add email blasts to their applications (for instance, a
button that launches an email blast or a system that continuously checks
for certain criteria before triggering an email blast). This version
also includes a royalty-free Runtime License that allows the
distribution of applications with the programmatic interface to send
emails to people who do not own Total Access Emailer. Complete details
of the Runtime License are included in the License Agreement.
The Professional Version of Total Access Emailer includes a function
to run email blasts programmatically from your database. Easily add
the power of email blasts to your Access applications and have them
run at the touch of a button or event.
Any email blast created by the Settings Editor can be added to your
application with a simple function call to our library. This example sends
email blast #25:
TotalAccessEmailer(25,
False, "", "", True, True)
Here's more information on the
Sending Microsoft Access
Email Blasts Programmatically using VBA.
Table Driven Email Systems
With the programmatic interface, you can easily add table driven emailing
systems within your Microsoft Access applications. More details in
Creating a Continuous Email Service in
Microsoft Access.
Total Access Emailer is created by FMS, the world's leading developer of
3rd party products for Access. Total Access Emailer is part of the
award-winning family of FMS Access add-ins and the Professional Version is
part of the Total Access
Ultimate Suite.
Total Access Emailer is available as separate versions for each version
of Microsoft Access.
100% Guarantee
FMS guarantees Total Access Emailer will pay for itself. You'll be
delighted with its power and ease of use. Quickly discover how improved
email communication with you contacts generates results. If you are not
completely satisfied with Total Access Emailer, return it within 30 days for
a complete refund.
Total Access Emailer is available now and can be purchased with
electronic software download (ESD) and physical delivery of a CD and
professionally printed 110 page user manual.
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