Introduction

Continue exploring Artshell's features: today, we will guide you through setting up your account to send newsletters to your clients and users effortlessly.

Building a solid mailing list and presenting a professional image to your users begins with creating an effective subscription form. Artshell allows you to create this form directly within the software and link it to your website (or even include it in your email signature or social media bio) via a simple URL, eliminating the need for a dedicated section. Subscribers to your newsletter through this form will automatically be added to your Contacts section in Artshell.

Additionally, effective communication management involves understanding how your contacts are responding to your newsletters, which is where contact status comes into play.

Newsletter subscription form

Before customizing your newsletter subscription form, ensure you have: 

• Verified the email address from which you will send your newsletters.
• Added the link to your privacy policy in the Privacy & Policy field within the Settings panel ().
• Included a disclaimer message for the sender's email.

Step 1: Enable the subscription form

Click the  icon, select Newsletter subscription form, then toggle the switch to expand the section and begin customizing your form.

Step 2: Customize style and layout

Click on Style & Layout to personalize the form's design: you can add your logo, change text colors and fonts, customize the button text, and set the link it redirects to. In this section, you can also write a thank-you message that will appear to users upon successful registration.

Step 3: Set the subscription tag

Click on Structure & Data to define the subscription tag (e.g., #newsletter_subscription).

This tag is automatically assigned to all contacts who subscribe to your newsletter via the form and will be visible in the contact's profile within the Contacts section.

Step 4: Insert the Privacy Policy link

If you've already added the privacy policy link in the Settings panel, this field will likely be pre-filled. If not, enter it manually.

Step 5: Copy the subscription form link

Click on Subscription Form Link to copy the link to your customized form.

Contact Status: Active, Bounced, Inactive, and Unsubscribed

In Artshell, contact profiles are closely integrated with the Email and Newsletter section. Each contact has a status, indicated by a graphic symbol, representing their eligibility to receive communications.

Below is an example showing where the status appears in a contact's profile (in this case, Active):

When you add a new email address in the Contacts section, the system automatically sets the status to Active, considering it ready to receive emails and newsletters. However, the status may change based on the contact's interaction with your communications .

Why is status important?

When sending communications to a large number of contacts (via All contacts, Tags, or Lists), the email status acts as a filter, determining who will actually receive the emails. 

The possible email statuses are:

Active ()

The default status when a new contact is added with an email address. The system sends emails and newsletters to active addresses.

Bounced ()

These are email addresses that are formally correct but rejected by the recipient's server. The system automatically excludes them from subsequent sends.

Bounced email addresses typically have one or more of the following conditions:

• the email account has been closed: the address is no longer active.
• the inbox is full: the address has reached its storage limit.
• temporary errors not related to syntax: the address has an error that isn't due to syntax.

Inactive ()

A valid address that no longer receives communications.

It can be because the address:

1. It has automatically become inactive.
   
   An email address becomes inactive when it doesn't interact with your communications: Artshell changes a contact's status from active to inactive if they haven't opened 20 consecutive emails. This can also happen if the user's inbox hasn't been opened for a long time: Artshell "deactivates" the contact to avoid sending emails to unused mailboxes.
2. It has been manually inactivated.
   
   If you click the  symbol, it changes to an empty circle (). This action is useful if a single contact has multiple email addresses and you don't want them to receive the same communication at each address.

To enable or disable the inactive status, click the  symbol to change it back to a checkmark (, Active status). If a contact is inactive, the system will NOT send them newsletters, even if they're included among the recipients of a communication. However, you can send emails to inactive addresses if it's a single email (the address is the only recipient).

Unsubscribed ()

These are addresses of users who have chosen to unsubscribe from your mailing list by clicking the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of all emails sent via Artshell.

A unsubscribed contact:

• Is not deleted from your Artshell account but remains in your address book with the unsubscribed status.
• Can receive individual emails if they're the only recipient.

Click the boxes to expand them and see the answers to the questions:

Searching contacts by Status

Thanks to the search system in the Contacts section, you can filter contacts by their email status using the search syntax: click the  icon at the top, choose the is: operator, and then select one of the conditions: active, bounced, inactive or unsubscribe.

Conclusions

You're now ready to build your mailing list and send engaging newsletters to your subscribers. Remember, a well-crafted form is the first step toward effective communication.

Regularly check your contacts' status to ensure your emails reach those genuinely interested in your content. This not only enhances your reputation as a sender, but also helps you comply with anti-spam regulations. Below you can read our tips on how to prevent your communications from going to Spam:

• Advanced email configuration and tips (DNS and spam)
• Analytics