Sending newsletters is one of the most important functions of OCM.  In fact it is the basis of the communication.  Most owners are busy with their lives, problems and their own work.  They do not all have the time and luxury of being able to login to the website to discuss or review issues.

So the best way of keeping everyone informed throughout the year is via the newsletters.

It is easy and it allows provides everyone with the information they need in one simple email that should take you no more than 15 minutes a month.

step by step guide for sending a newsletter

Select the Recipients. You can select who is going to receive the newsletter.  Your selection is:  Owners, Committee Members, Tenants, Registered Users, Administrator, President, Vice President and even Web Master.

Track Recipients (registered newsletter). If you wish to keep a list of all those who received the email and have it registered, then tick the box.  Please note that independently of this box after sending each newsletter you will receive an email notification that lists all those who have received it and all those who could not receive it because of no email or other issues.

Subject. Enter the subject of the message.  Please note that the subject of the email will get translated as well, but once translated you are given the option to check and change it.

Message Your message box is currently text only.  A good newsletter should be well punctuated and spell checked.  If you have foreign nationals in your community and depend upon the translation service of the newsletter then keep your sentences short and well structured.  Long sentences, bad spelling and use of difficult vocabulary will all result in a bad translation.

Translated Newsletter

When you click NEXT the translation process may take 20 seconds to 1 minute.  You will then be taken to a page where the translation is presented in TAB format.  Click on each flag and you will see the translation in that language. We suggest you check the translations, even if you don’t understand that language.

Always check the translation at least against one other language to make sure that it has translated as, at times, due to server load, some translations do not complete.   If this is the case, click BACK, redo translation (ie. click NEXT) and check again.  Report all problems to support@urbytus.com.

Sending Newsletter

Once translation is complete, you are also provided with the option of attaching a file.  At the moment only one file is allowed to be attached and the maximum upload size is 15MB.

Check everything and click SEND

When you have finished sending a newsletter, as the sender you will receive a communication list, which will provide a list of all those people to whom the newsletter was emailed and also a list of those who did not have an email address or had selected specifically to receive all communications by post.

Registered Newsletters

All newsletters marked as registered are kept in OCM.  That is to say that the message is not sent out with the email.  The recipients each will receive an email notifying them that there is a message in their community inbox and that they must login to be able to view the message.  This login will ensure that you can track which users have read the message and those who have not.  All registered newsletters have the icon    next to them.  Click on this icon an you will be able to view the list of all owners who have read and those who have not logged in as yet.

Newsletter History

All newsletter are kept in the Newsletter history always available from the user menu > owner.   Newsletters that have been sent without requiring registration can always be deleted, but All registered newsletters have the registered icon  next to them are protected and cannot be deleted.

The newsletters are group by year and can be viewed.  You can send a copy of the newsletter to yourself or any other email address.