Quick start guide: from installation to your first campaign

Welcome to MailerPress. This guide takes you from installation to your first sent campaign in eight short steps. Each step links to a detailed article if you want to know more. Everything here works with MailerPress (free), except the items marked MailerPress Pro.

Lost track of what’s left? Open MailerPress > Dashboard and click Setup Guide. It lists the same steps with a progress bar and a button for each one: set up the sender identity, connect a dedicated email service, create a contact list, add contacts, send your first campaign, create an automation and enable double opt-in.

1. Install MailerPress and run the setup wizard

1. Install and activate MailerPress from Plugins > Add Plugin.
2. The setup wizard opens. In about three minutes, it saves your sender, lets you create tags, connect a sending service, choose your subscription pages and turn on spam protection.
3. If MailerPress finds MailPoet or Newsletter data on your site, the wizard also offers to import it.

Skipped a step? You can change everything later, as shown below, or restart the wizard from MailerPress > Settings > General with Restart Setup Wizard. See How to Install the MailerPress Plugin.

2. Check your sender

The sender is the name and address your contacts see in their inbox.

1. Go to MailerPress > Settings > General, section Email senders.
2. Open the default sender to edit its From name, From email and optional reply-to fields. To save other identities you can pick per campaign, click Add sender.
3. Click Save settings.

Make sure your sending service (step 3) has verified this sender address. See Customize the default sender name and email address.

3. Choose how your emails are sent

By default, MailerPress sends with PHP Mail, through your web server. That is fine for a test, but not for a real newsletter: your emails may land in spam or never arrive. Connect a dedicated sending service instead (a company specialized in delivering email, such as Brevo or Mailgun):

1. Go to MailerPress > Integrations > Email Service Providers.
2. On your service’s card, click Configure and enter the credentials it asks for. MailerPress (free) offers Custom SMTP, which works with the server details of almost any email provider. MailerPress Pro adds direct connections to services such as Brevo, SendGrid, Amazon SES or Mailgun.
3. Turn on the Enable toggle, then click Set as primary provider.
4. Open the card’s Actions menu and click Send test email to check the connection.

To compare the services, see Choose your email sending service. MailerPress sends campaigns in batches (small groups of emails at a time). To match the pace to your service’s limits, see How to Change Your Sending Frequency in MailerPress.

4. Create a contact list

A list is a group of contacts. You send each campaign to one or more lists.

1. Go to MailerPress > Audience > Contact Lists.
2. Click Add a list, enter a name and save.

See Manage Your Contact List.

5. Add your contacts

Go to MailerPress > Audience > All Contacts, then pick the method that suits you:

• Add a contact: create contacts one by one. See Manage Your Contacts.
• Import contacts: import a CSV file (a spreadsheet saved as plain text, which Excel or Google Sheets can export). See Import and export contacts.
• Coming from MailPoet or Newsletter? Use MailerPress > Tools > Migrations. See The MailerPress Tools page.
• To turn your WordPress users into contacts automatically (MailerPress Pro), see Synchronize WordPress Users with MailerPress Contacts.

Only send to people who agreed to receive your emails.

6. Add a subscription form to your site

To collect new subscribers, add the Subscription Form block to a page, a post or a template part (such as your footer), and choose the list that new subscribers join. See How to Insert a MailerPress Form in the Block Editor. With a page builder, see Adding a MailerPress Form with Your Page Builder, Elementor or Bricks Builder.

Two settings protect your list:

• MailerPress > Settings > Sign-up Confirmation: new subscribers confirm their address by clicking a link in an email before they receive your campaigns. This is called double opt-in. See Enable sign-up confirmation (double opt-in).
• MailerPress > Settings > Spam Protection: a honeypot (a hidden field that only bots fill in) and rate limiting (a cap on sign-ups from the same visitor) block fake sign-ups. See Security & Spam Protection.

7. Create and send your first campaign

A campaign is an email you send to your lists.

1. Go to MailerPress > Campaigns and click Create Campaign.
2. Choose Visual Editor (recommended) and click Next.
3. In Basic Info, enter the Campaign name (only you see it) and the Subject, then select at least one list.
4. In Template, choose Start from scratch, Choose a template or Use a previous campaign.
5. Check the summary in Review and click Create Campaign. The email editor opens.
6. Design your email, then click Preview & Send.
7. Click Send a test to receive the email in your own inbox first.
8. Click Send now, or turn on Schedule for later, pick a date and click Schedule sending.

For details, see Create an Email Campaign and How to use the MailerPress Editor. To greet each contact by name, use merge tags (placeholders replaced by each contact’s data when the email is sent): see Personalizing Emails with MailerPress Merge Tags.

8. Follow the results

• MailerPress > Campaigns shows the sending progress and statistics of each campaign. See Manage Your Email Campaigns.
• MailerPress > Dashboard summarizes opens, clicks, unsubscribes and audience growth. See The MailerPress Dashboard.

Going further

• Send emails automatically, such as a welcome series: Create Automated Email Workflows.
• Send your latest posts by email: Send your latest posts automatically by mail.
• Review every option: MailerPress settings reference.
• Campaigns stuck in the queue? WordPress cron (the built-in task scheduler that sends your batches) may not be running: see How to Set Up a WordPress Cron Job from Your Server.