Note: You can find the latest version of this page online by going to the 'Settings/Register' tab from within DTR, or go to http://www.siliconwold.com/dtr/help.htm
1) Before you even get started, remember to set some message rules on outlook express,
or other email software, so that your normal email reader doesn't read and delete the
emails before DeskTopResponder has a chance!
2) There are 3 types off Account
a) Host accounts.
b) Header Match accounts.
c) Order Accounts.
The demo version comes with 1 account of each type. Upgrading to say 20 accounts give you 20 accounts of each type.
What is an 'account' ?
Basically you need 1 set of accounts for each AutoResponder you make. You need 1
host account for each distinct mailbox you interrogate. You need 1 'Header Match' account
for each different set of matching criteria. If you are processing orders, then in
addition you need 1 'Order Account' per product code.
Getting started.
Using DTR is easy, even though there seems to be a bewildering amount of knobs and buttons. Just follow this step by step guide, and you will be up and running in minuets.
There is no install program as yet, so just unzip dtr.zip, and it will create a dtr\ directory and some subdirectories. If you unzip it to c:\ you will get the following directories.
c:\dtr\
c:\dtr\data\
c:\dtr\data\ord_filt\
Make a shortcut to desktopresponder.exe and you're done.
When you run DTR for the first time, it will create a new set of accounts for you.
Go to the settings tab and set up your dial-up settings. If you have 'Always on' internet, you can probably leave both boxes unchecked, as long as you set your modem to automatically re-dial if the line is dropped.
Setting up a 'Standard AutoResponder' with no delayed emails.
1) First fill in the info on the Host tab, this will set up your first Host
account. Make sure 'Account status' is set to active. The standard ports for POP3 and SMTP
are 110 and 25 respectively, and they should not need changing.
Press 'Save Edits' to commit your settings to disk.
2) Now go to Header Match accounts
Most important, select the host account to use under 'Check email headers sent to ISP
account:' (if you are using the unregistered version there is only one to choose from) Set
'Account Type' to be 'Standard AutoResponder'
Give the account a name, and set all the matching details. If you set all three to IGNORE,
then ALL emails will be captured, so don't do this on an important email address. The
matching does a case insensitive 'string contains' match. so if an email had in its
subject line "the hippy hippy shake" then "py hi" would work, so would
"hippy" so would "the hip". As an anti-spam measure, DTR will not send
emails unless [MY_EMAIL] is valid.
Now it's time to pen your email reply. First make sure that 'Total number of emails in the series' is set to 1, and delay is 0.
The To: line will already be set to [RETURNPATH], because you chose 'Standard
AutoResponder'. Set your subject line, type in your letter, and you're set. You can press
the example key to see an example with all the keys you can use.
3) If you need to send an attachment, click 'Add...' As a general rule 1MB is the most you
should ever send, but 500K or less is better. Any more than this is considered rude!Make
sure
'Send Reply' is checked.
Press 'Save Edits'
4) Send your self a test email using the button provided, then press 'Check email now' on the 'Main Menu' tab which starts the mail loop and checks immediately. WARNING, it will then check every 10 mins. unless you press stop.
When you send test emails to your self with all header matching set to IGNORE, you have
to be careful not to end up in an endless loop where more and more emails are created and
replied to. If this happens, you can get rid of them by un-checking 'Send Reply', which
will cause them to be downloaded and deleted from your server, but not replied to. To help
stop endless email loops, there is a check box on the host tab labelled 'Prevent infinite
email loops'. This should always be checked.
Setting up a 'Standard AutoResponder' with delayed follow-up emails.
One of the most useful properties of DTR is that it can be used to send delayed follow up emails, after the initial email. Simply follow the steps as above, but before starting, set the 'Total number of emails in the series' to the total amount you want to send, then select the email you want to edit, and set the delay (in days). It is vital, that if you do not wish to be accused of SPAM, that you set the [BLOCK_ME] field, and include [BLOCK_ME] at the end of each email. For [BLOCK_ME] to work it should be either the same email address as [MY_EMAIL], or if [MY_EMAIL] is a 'catch all' email address, it can be another name before the @ sign. Here is an example of how to use the [BLOCK_ME] tag.
To unsubscribe. please click on the following link:
[BLOCK_ME]
DTR will translate this into something like this:
To unsubscribe. please click on the following link:
mailto:block@myemail.com?subject=UNSUBSCRIBE_MACC0#customer@emailaddress.com
Always test your AutoResponder series by emailing it from another account, as if you were a 'real' customer, and make sure you can unsubscribe. For test purposes, you can set all the delays to be '0' then, once you are satisfied, set them to the proper amount. Don't forget to press 'Save edits'
Setting up Digital Delivery/Credit Card Order processing.
The real power of DTR is in its ability to handle emails from credit card merchants.
Here's why:
Getting Started
1) Go to the 'ISP Host' tab and make sure that the ISP Host account you are going to use has the Error email addresses set up so that you can receive notification if DTR gets an order it can not fully process.
2) Chose live mode or test mode (this is only has effect for digital delivery).
Press 'Save Edits'
3) Set up a 'Header match account' much as above, but first select 'Digital Delivery' .Make sure it only matches emails that come from your Credit Card merchant account provider. DTR was originally built around 2checkout.com, so here is an example that would work for you if your 2checkout order confirmations came to sales@acme.com
[SUBJECT] sales receipt
[RETURNPATH] service@2checkout.com
[FOR/TO_ADD] sales@acme.com
Notice that we use [RETURNPATH] and not [FROM_ADD] because 2checkout set the From address to be your address and not theirs!
4) Set up all the other 'Predefines'
Press 'Save Edits'
5) Go to the 'Order Code acc' tab. The main difference in philosophy here is that we are going to reply, not to the sender of the email, who is of course 2checkout.com, but the person who's email address is contained in the email. Thus by default the 'To: address' should already be on [CUST_EMAIL] which is a place holder for the email address DTR extracted from the merchant's email. It does the data extraction by using an order filter. Click 'Load order filter' and choose '2chkout-invoice-style-demo.flt' if you have put 2CO in demo mode and you are using the invoice/donation routine. If you are not in demo mode, use 2chkout-invoice-style.flt. If you are using 2CO's 'built in shop' then use 2chkout-shop.FLT.
6) Now set the [PROD_ID] to match the order code you are expecting in the email. If you set it to [MATCH_ALL_CODES] then it will reply always match. The matching is a case insensitive substring matching so you only need to put a portion of the order code in, if you want generic matching. i.e:
If you have order codes:
DRESS_RED
DRESS_BLUE
SHIRT_GREEN
And you enter: DRESS_
DRESS_RED
DRESS_BLUE
Will match, and an email will be sent, but SHIRT_GREEN will not match.
If you are a registered user, you can set up another account with
SHIRT_
Thus when a shirt is ordered, it will not match the first account, but will be caught
by the second. if it fails to match any of your accounts, an error email will be sent to
you.
When you become an advanced user, you can go to 'Order Filter setup' and create your own filters for almost any credit card merchant.
7) Now it's time to pen the email. Press the example button to see the different tags you can use. Set a password in the 'Password control' box if you need one, or load in a list of passwords. This is simply a list of passwords with a <CRLF> at the end of each one i.e:
FRED
VENUS
XPoi98
qPikO
If you use [PASSWORD] in your email, DTR will simply insert what ever you have typed as your password. If you use [PASSLIST], DTR will take the next password from the password listing file, each time it replies. When it gets to the last one on the list, it jumps back to the start. You can force it back to the start at any time by pressing 'Reset PassList counter'
8) If you need to send an attachment, click 'Add...' As a general rule 1MB is the most you should ever send, but 500K or less is better. Any more than this is considered rude!
Press 'Save Edits'
9) Now you're all set up. So just send your self an order email, press 'Check Email Now' and you should see DTR respond. If it does not, go to 'Main Menu', look at the header lines of the received email, and check that they match the ones in your 'Header Match account', make any necessary adjustments, click 'Save Edits' and press 'Check Email Now' again.
If you want to add delayed follow ups, use the same procedure as outlined for a 'Standard AutoResponder', but this time using the 'Order code accs' tab. Don't forget to add the unsubscribe. link.