Frequently Asked Questions
Total Access Emailer offers integrated email blasting directly within
Access letting you leverage the power of Access tables, forms, reports,
macros and code, to send personalized emails to everyone on your list.
Here are some common questions:
Pre-Sales Questions
Initial Use Questions
Advanced Features and Tips
Pre-Sales Questions
Total Access Emailer is an Access add-in, and is Access version
specific. For example, Total Access Emailer 2007 only works as an add-in
with Access 2007.
However, Total Access Emailer works with databases in any format that is
supported by the specific version of Access. For example, Total Access
Emailer 2007 works with MDB databases that are in Access 2000 format or
later, ADPs, and ACCDB files, provided that the database is opened in Access
2007. Similarly, Total Access Emailer 2003 works with databases that are in
Access 2000 or Access 2002-2003 format while running Access 2003.
The following versions of Total Access Emailer are available:
Each version of Total Access Emailer can be purchased as Standard Version
or the Professional Version. The Standard Version is designed for end users.
The Professional Version includes the Standard Version, plus a programmatic
interface and Runtime License to
distribute applications that use the
functionality of Total Access Emailer. This enables your end users to
execute Total Access Emailer blasts without having to purchase a license of
Total Access Emailer.
Check the
Product Compatibility Chart for version information for all of our
products!
Yes! Download the
Trial Version to review Total Access Emailer
before you buy it. You can create and send up to 50 emails at a time from
email addresses stored in your tables. Email settings created with the Trial
Version are preserved so that you won't need to recreate them when you get
the retail version.
Also, remember that all FMS products come with a 30-day
money back guarantee, so you can
buy with confidence!
The Standard Version is designed for end users, and includes the Total
Access Emailer add-in program.
The Professional Version includes the Standard Version, plus:
- A programmatic interface that lets you send email blasts from your
VBA code. For instance, you can tie a macro or button on a form to a
specific email blast and let Total Access Emailer run in the background
without you or the user launching the add-in.
- Runtime License to
distribute applications that use the
functionality of Total Access Emailer. This enables your end users to
execute Total Access Emailer blasts you've created without having to
each purchase a license of the Total Access Emailer add-in. Your
end-users do not receive the add-in which lets them create and design
their own email blasts.
Yes. Total Access Emailer includes the ability to embed tables,
queries/views, and reports directly in your email messages and attachments.
Easily filter the data so each recipient receives their own information
based on fields in your data source.
The simplest result is using data from a table or query to send each
person their set of records like a list of invoices, tasks, etc.
The most powerful feature is using the Access report generator to create
sophisticated HTML messages. Any Access report you create can be exported to
HTML, which you can now filter and email to each recipient. Leverage the
power of Access reports to create emails that are nicely formatted with
complex data, lots of detail rows, groupings, summaries, and even
subreports.
For more information, refer to the "Embedded Objects" topic in the help
file.
No. Total Access Emailer does not limit the number of email messages that
can be sent at one time. Your list of emails can be an unlimited number of
records in your table or query.
However, there may be limitations beyond Total Access Emailer. Sending a
large number of email messages in a short period of time may overload your
mail server or affect network performance. Additionally, your mail server
may be configured to limit the number or size of emails that can be sent in
a particular period of time.
To prevent these problems, Total Access Emailer includes options to pause
between messages to slow it down. This may be important if you are sending
many emails, large messages, large graphics, and/or attachments. Refer to
the "Send Options" topic in the help file for additional information.
No. Total Access Emailer uses an SMTP server to send emails, and works
independently of email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, etc.
Total Access Email does not interact, interface or interfere with any
specific email client that you have installed. The computer running Total
Access Emailer may (but does not need to) have Microsoft Outlook, Lotus
Notes, or other email clients installed.
For more information on SMTP servers, see below.
Yes. Total Access Emailer supports sending messages through mail servers
that require authentication, as well as servers with secure socket layer
(SSL). Refer to the "SMTP Settings" help file topic for details.
No. Total Access Emailer only sends emails. It does not receive emails or
process emails such as removal and unsubscribe requests.
In general, removal and unsubscribe requests should be handled by a web
site that interacts with your mailing list database. The email message you
send using Total Access Emailer could include a link that references this
your website, which would include instructions for the recipient to
unsubscribe from your email list.
No, because these are not Internet email formats. Total Access Emailer
supports the Internet email formats of plain text or HTML.
Rich text messages can be converted to HTML by using an HTML editor such
as Microsoft FrontPage or Dreamweaver, then sending it with Total Access
Emailer in HTML message.
When creating an email blast, use the "HTML Tab" and it's help topic for
additional information.
No. Total Access Emailer is designed to send unique, personalized emails
to a list of contacts, and it does not offer faxing capabilities.
It does, however, offer the ability to attach files such as Access
reports and embed filtered Access tables, queries, and reports which may
eliminate the need to fax.
No. If your email has links in it, Total Access Emailer does not track
the number of times the link is clicked. Total Access Emailer only sends the
email out, but does not track what happens when the user receives it.
Your website can provide hyperlinks to track the number of times a link
is clicked or visited. Total Access Emailer can then send an email
containing the links for your web site to track.
Initial Use Questions
The Total Access Emailer is an Access Add-in program. To start the
program, open your database, and select it from the Database Tools ribbon in
Access 2007 or the Tools, Add-ins menu from the Access 2003 or earlier.
Refer to the "Starting Total Access Emailer" topic in the help file for
more information.
To avoid the security limitations of Outlook and MAPI (which prompts the
user for every email that is programmatically sent), Total Access Emailer
lets you use an SMTP server to send emails. Total Access Emailer bypasses
email clients such as Outlook or Lotus Notes, and uses an SMTP server
directly so your emails are sent without interruption. You can use an
existing SMTP server or set one up yourself.
There are many providers of SMTP accounts that you can use. For
instance, if Exchange uses SMTP. If you purchase Internet access from
home, your provider usually offers an SMTP server.
For instance, if you have an AOL account, AOL offers SMTP
instructions
here.
If you have email with Google Gmail, you already have an SMTP server
available. As long as you abide by their terms and conditions, you'll be
able to send emails through their SMTP server using your Gmail address
as your From address.
Just specify the settings under the Total Access Emailer Options
button, SMTP Settings tab.
Google Gmail SMTP Server Settings
- Connection Type: SSL
- Mail Server Name: smtp.gmail.com
- Logon: your gmail account (myname@gmail.com)
and password
- Port: 465
The information was verified when written, but could change at any
time. Let us know if it's incorrect.
Your SMTP server must be configured to allow relay. For security, you
should limit access to specific IP addresses with authentication.
If you do not have an existing SMTP server that allows relay, Windows
2000, XP Professional, and 2003 include it for free and make it easy to
setup. See the topic "Installing an SMTP Server" in the Total Access Emailer
help file for full details on how to install and configure an SMTP server
from your Windows 2000, XP Professional, or 2003 CD.
Additionally, many Internet service providers (ISPs)
offer an SMTP server that can be used by their customers.
Contact your ISP for details.
Note: Windows Vista does not include an SMTP service that.
Click here for more information.
FMS does not host an SMTP server, but Windows 2000, Windows XP
Professional, and Windows 2003 include the ability to install an SMTP server
for free. Additionally, many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer an SMTP
server that can be used by their customers. Click here
for information about installing an SMTP server.
Note: Windows Vista does not include an SMTP service that.
Click here for more information.
No SMTP service is installed or included
with Windows Vista. In order to use Windows Vista as your
mail server, you must separately install an SMTP service.
Refer to the following MSDN article for more
information:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms172485.aspx
Do I need to enter a user name and password?
Not necessarily. The user name and password are required for mail
servers that require authentication. Not all servers require
authentication. If your server does not require authentication, leave
the user name and password fields blank.
If you're not sure whether your server requires authentication,
please contact your system administrator, or the administrator of the
mail server that you are connecting to.
What port number should I use for my mail server?
Use the port number field to specify what port to use to establish a
connection with the mail server.
The default port number for most SMTP/ESMTP mail servers is port 25,
or 465 for servers that require SSL. By default, Total Access Emailer is
configured with the default port number (25 or 465, depending on the
connection type). If your mail server uses a different port number,
change the value in Total Access Emailer to match your mail server.
Do I need to enter Firewall settings?
Enter the firewall settings if the computer goes through a firewall
to get to the SMTP server. These settings do not refer to a server
firewall, but to a local firewall.
Otherwise, leave all firewall settings blank, and set the firewall
type to "None".
Advanced Features and Tips
Total Access Emailer automatically embeds local graphics referenced by
your HTML email message.
If you want to send the graphic file with your email message
(something you have to do if your graphic files are on your local hard
disk), reference the file without a path or use a relative path. That
is, avoid the http:// or file:// syntax and just reference the graphic
directly:
<src="c:\MyGraphics\mygraphic.jpg">
Be sure to use the full directory path.
If you don't and use Total Access Emailer's add-in form to enter the
HTML text in your email blast, the graphic reference is relative to the
folder where Total Access Emailer is installed. This can create a mess.
A better solution is to create your HTML message as a file in a folder
with its graphics, then simply reference that file from your Total Access
Emailer email blast settings.
Your HTML emails can include graphics. To minimize the size of your
emails, the graphic files can be stored on a public web site and referenced
in your email. This eliminates sending the images to each recipient, and
allows it to be loaded when the recipient opens their email.
Simply have your HTML code reference the image with a complete URL:
<href="http://www.fmsinc.com/mygraphic.jpg">
Total Access Emailer recognizes the explicit file reference and does not
include the file in your email.
Total Access Emailer includes a Microsoft Access add-in
Wizard that lets you interactively create and launch your
email blasts. The Professional Version includes a runtime
library and VBA function to let you launch your email blasts
programmatically. This can be tied to an event like a button
click, a macro, or as part of your other VBA code.
More details are available in
Sending Microsoft Access Email Blasts Programmatically (VBA)
Yes. With the Professional Version of Total Access Emailer, you can
easily create a table driven system to send emails you add as records to
a table. Add records with the From, To, Cc and Bcc addresses, the
subject, message, and attachment files (if any), and off it goes.
You simply need to have an instance of Access running that checks for
new records posted to the email table.
See
Creating a Continuous Email Service in Microsoft Access using Total
Access Emailer for more details and a sample database.
This issue occurs if you are attempting to
reference an OLE object (graphic) in the body of
your email using HTML code and the syntax for
the embedded object is not correct.
Please note that some WYSIWYG HTML generators (WYSIWYG is short for the
phrase "what you see is what you get") auto-generate HTML code which may not
always insert the correct path location that you are using to store you
graphics (i.e., public HTTP path locations verses local drive path
locations). We have managed to confirm that Microsoft Word and Microsoft
FrontPage are two programs that may insert incorrect path locations when you
save the HTML code.
The following example below demonstrates a sample of HTML code that
Microsoft Word generates which does not work if you are attempting to
reference a graphic file that is located within a local drive path:
<Link rel=Edit-Time-Data href="FileName_files/mygraphic.bmp">
..where "mygraphic.bmp" is the name of the graphic file that you are
looking to display.
You can tell that this is not correct by doing the following test (you
can see that the same issue occurs in this case):
-
Paste that code in a new text
document.
-
Change its extension to html.
-
View the HTML file in your browser.
To resolve this issue, please try referencing your graphic using the
following syntax in order to get it to display:
---< Begin Code >---
<html>
<img border="0" src="C:\MyPath\MyGraphic.bmp">
</HTML>
---< End Code>-----
..where "MyGraphic.bmp" is the name of the graphic file you are using.
The above example assumes that you have this graphic file located within
the local drive path of “C:\MyPath”
This situation may occur when the IIS-enabled machine (your Total Access
Emailer mail server) and your internal mail server are positioned behind the
same network firewall using NAT (Network Address Translation). In this case,
your IIS machine may have not correctly resolve the internal IP address of
your mail server through DNS, and consequently cannot establish an SMTP
protocol connection. As a result, emails sent to internal users will fail in
delivery by the internal IIS server.
Please review the following suggested options to resolve or work around
this issue:
- Set up Total Access Emailer to use your Microsoft Exchange
Mail Server itself as the SMTP server.
- Position your local desktop or a dedicated SMTP Server
outside of your internal network. This can be accomplished by
using a DMZ connection on your firewall (if so equipped) or by
attaching to the public (unprotected) side of your firewall.
Total Access Emailer lets you create email blast settings that let you
run it over and over. The Standard Version lets you interactively select the
email blast, press the send button and out it goes. Or you can schedule it
for a later time (say end of day) and Total Access Emailer waits until that
time to launch it.
Get the Professional Version of Total Access Emailer
For situations where you want to send the same email
blast on a regular schedule (every night, once a week, once
a month, etc.), you should get the Professional
Version to avoid launching the email manually. The
Profesional Version includes a programmatic interface that
lets you use VBA to launch an email blast.
Easily create a procedure to run an email blast, then
launch it when you want. It can be tied to a button's
OnClick event, after running other tasks, etc. You can also
create some VBA code that waits for a certain time to then
run the email blast. This requires Access and your program
to be running at all times.
If you create a macro to invoke your procedure through
the RunCode command, you can launch the email blast from a
Windows command line that loads Access, opens your database,
and runs your macro. You can then run that from a scheduling
program outside of Access.
By itself, Total Access Emailer does not offer a way to send a message on
repeated schedule. That's because Total Access Emailer is an Access add-in
and runs within the context of Access and your database.
Total Visual Agent Schedules Microsoft Access Events and
Other Database Chores
Our
Total Visual Agent program
is a scheduling program built specifically for the needs of
Access developers and system administrators. It quietly runs
in the background waiting for the next event, executes it,
then waits for the next event. It can launch a macro on any schedule you want. Events can be scheduled one time, hourly, daily,
weekly or monthly. In addition to launching macros, Total Visual Agent also
performs system administrative tasks such as database compacts and backups
on a regular schedule. It can run as a standalone program or as a Windows NT
service. A free demo
version is available for download.
Yes there is. FMS offers
Total Visual Agent to run
Microsoft Access macros using a Windows NT service (this is
a new feature of Total Visual Agent 2007). First, using the
Programmatic Interface (available with a purchase of the
Professional Edition of Total Access Emailer), create a
procedure that runs one or more of the Emailer blasts that
you previously created using the Total Access Emailer Add-in
interface. Then, create a macro and assign this procedure to
it. Finally, you can fire off this macro using any one of
the scheduling options available within Total Visual Agent
(i.e., one-time, monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly).
To ensure that your mail server is configured properly and Relay is
enabled, Total Access Emailer sends a test message to a known email
address at FMS (taemailersample@fmsinc.com).
Your network or mail server security may not like this.
Fortunately, Total Access Emailer allows you to customize this email
address:
- Create an ASCII text file called Temail.txt containing the name
of the email address you would like to use.
- Put the file in the folder where Total Access Emailer is
installed (or the location of the Total Access Emailer runtime
library).
Total Access Emailer will now use your email address for the Relay
test. This must be a valid email address and Relay must be enabled on
your mail server for this test to succeed.
If you reference the Total Access Emailer runtime
library, you may encounter this compile error:
Your Microsoft Office Access database or
project contains a missing or broken reference to the file
'htmlmls61.ocx' version 1.0.
To ensure that your database or project
works properly you must fix this reference.
But when you look under Tools, References from your VBA IDE, all the
references are valid. What's going on?
The error is actually a problem in the Total Access Emailer library
file (the runtime MDE or ACCDE).
The reason this problem occurs is that your machine:
- Does not have Total Access Emailer installed on it, or
- Total Access Emailer's ActiveX control is not registered
properly.
To fix this, just install/reinstall Total Access Emailer.
If you are distributing your database with the runtime library to
non-Total Access Emailer owners, you can't simply copy the runtime
library file to the user's machine. Make sure to follow the
"Distributing Total Access Emailer" instructions in the help file. For
Access 2007, simply run the TAERun12.EXE file on the machine. There's a
similar file for other versions of Total Access Emailer.
Main Total Access Emailer Page
