How to test your email newsletter before you send it (BV2004)

I'm not sure about you, but before I send an email to several thousand people, I'm a little nervous. So, I always double and triple check. Here is a quick way to test it out.

Overview
We are going to create a test email list and send an email.

Creating a new list

• Log in to the administrator
• Click on the People tab
• Click on Mailing Lists in the left hand navigation
• Here you will see the page with all of your email campaigns.
• At the top you can add new lists. In the bottom section, you can click to edit or send your existing emails.
• Since we are creating a testing account, let's set up a new account.
• In the top box labeled "List Name" type in the name of your list. Example: Testing
• Place a check in the box labeled "Private". This will make sure all of your customers will not see your testing area.
• Click on the New button. This will save the list and refresh the page. You will now see your new email mailing list below with an asterisk beside it. The asterisk notes that it's private.
• Click on the Edit button next to your list.
• In the right hand section of the page, look for the section titled "Select Users to Add"
• Make sure the drop down says email.
• Type in your email address in the box to the right and click on the "Find" button.
• When your email address shows, put a check in the box next to it.
• Just to the right, click on the "add">
• Click on the "Save Changes" button towards the top.
• Next we'll see how to test.

Sending the Email

• You should be on the Mailing list page now
• Find your testing email list
• Click on the yellow "Email" button. This will take you to a new page.
• If you are sending an HTML email, click on the radio button titled "HTML"
• Type in your from address
• Type in your subject
• Now, simply copy in your text or HTML.
• Now, click on the Email button to send the email. You should receive an email within a minute or two.
• After testing several times, follow these same steps to send your email to your entire mailing list of customers.

How to change your BV Commerce Theme bv2004

These are the instructions on how to change your theme in BV Commerce. Changing your theme will reflect a new look on your entire website. Don't forget, if you have customized your theme, those customizations won't be reflected in other themes.

If you would like to make small adjustments to your theme, for seasonal changes (Christmas), then we recommend copying your existing theme, and changing the new one. This way, you can use it each year. A discussion on that is in here too.

How to change your theme

1. Log in to the administrator
2. Click on the settings tab
3. Click Themes in the left hand navigation. This will list all of your themes. Note, the theme names are the same as the theme directory names in your BVThemes directory located on your server.
4. Click the select button next to the theme you wish to use.

If you want to create a new theme and have it list here, here's how to do it. Note, you will need FTP access to your site to complete this task.

1. First step is to obtain a copy of a theme you would like to use.
2. Using your FTP software, log into your site.
3. Browse to the directory labeled BVThemes
4. Here, you will see all of your themes you are using.
5. Download one of the directories.
6. On your local machine, change the name of the directory.
7. Make any edits you wish whether it's stylesheet changes or graphic changes. The stylesheet is called styles.css and will be found in the directory you just downloaded.
8. To allow your new theme to show up on the website, upload your newly named directory.
9. When you go back into the administrator as described above, you will now see your new theme.
10. If you would like to use your new theme, simply click the select button next to your new theme. Instructions were given above.