About E-Mail

TroopWebHost provides a complete solution for troop communication.

When you enter a scout or an adult into the troop roster, you can enter two e-mail addresses and an SMS address.

When members log on to the troop web site, they can keep their e-mail addresses and SMS address up to date by going to My Personal Information from the My Stuff menu.

By default, all members have the ability to compose an e-mail to be sent to all or some of the other troop members.

E-mails can be pre-addressed to the members of a patrol or a crew, or to everyone who signed up for an event.

You can also define E-Mail Groups and then send e-mails to any one of these groups.

Messages can also be sent to the members of a Dynamic Subgroup.

You do not have to be logged on to your site to send e-mails to your troop.  E-Mail Relay Addresses can be used to send messages to your entire troop or the members of dynamic subgroups, from any e-mail client (as long as the sender's address belongs to a member of the troop.)

You can view all of the messages you've ever sent from the site, and all the messages you've ever received from the site, on the troop website.

Adult leaders and site administrators can view all e-mails sent using the troop e-mail system.  This will not include messages sent via E-Mail Relay Addresses, which are not logged in TroopWebHost.

Site administrators can configure an Automated Newsletter that will be automatically generated and e-mailed to all troop members on a regular basis.

Site administrators can also configure e-mail settings that control how messages will be sent.

Any questions?



Send E-Mail

Select Send E-mail from the E-mail menu to begin creating an e-mail.

The Subject is the title of the message that will be displayed in each recipient's in-box.  This is the only portion of the message that will go out in an SMS text message, so if you are sending this message to SMS be sure the subject line has enough information to be meaningful.

Click the Browse button to add an Attachment to your e-mail.  This can be any kind of file or document that is on your local drive.

Attachments are uploaded to the troop web site.  Your e-mail will contain a link to the attachment.  You may have up to three attachments on each e-mail.

Please be aware that e-mail attachments, once they are uploaded to the server, are accessible to anyone who knows the URL of that file.  You should never use this function to send a document that contains confidential information.


The body of the message is composed using a full-featured text editor.  You can add special formatting by using the controls at the top of this section.

Hover your cursor over any of the controls to view a tool tip describing its function.  From left to right, they are:

You can insert photos into your message by dragging them into the message editor window.  You can then resize the image by dragging its lower right corner.

In the lower right corner of the editor window you'll see a Restore button.  This allows you to view previous versions of the message you have composed with this editor.

If you accidentally lose your message you may be able to use the Restore button to bring it back!


You may choose to send to E-Mail addresses or SMS addresses, or both, by clicking the appropriate radio button below the message editor.

Click the Send To Parents Of Selected Scouts checkbox to send a copy of this e-mail to the email addresses of the parents of any scout you selected as a recipient.

The default value for this selection, along with other settings that will affect all e-mails sent from the site, may be set by your site administrator in the Configure E-Mail Settings page.


Click on the checkbox next to the name of each troop member to whom you wish to send this message.

Notice that there is a checkbox in the header row of this grid.  If you click on that box it will select ALL of the members of the troop.  If you click it again it will un-select all members.

Here's another tip:  like all data grids in TroopWebHost, if you click on the column heading it will sort the list based on the contents of that column.  Click again and it will sort in the reverse order.


When you are ready to send this message, click the Send button. You'll find the Send button at the bottom of the page, as shown below, in addition to the one that is directly above the recipient list.

If you selected a large number of recipients there may be a significant wait before you see the e-mail confirmation page.  Please do not hit Send a second time as this may cause your recipients to receive two copies of the message.



Send E-Mail To Any Group

TroopWebHost makes it easy to send messages to a group.  From the Patrols page you can send a message to the members of a patrol.  From the Dynamic Subgroups page you can send a message to the members of a dynamic subgroup.  In similar fashion you can send to the members of an E-Mail Group or a Venturing Crew.  You can also send an e-mail to the participants of an event, or send an invitation to the undecideds.

The Send E-Mail To Group page on the E-Mail menu lets you send a message to any of these groups, starting from one convenient page.

As shown below, it lists all of the different types of groups to which you can send a message, with a button next to each group name to initiate the message.


E-Mail Relay Addresses

You don't have to be logged on to your TroopWebHost site to send a message to members of your troop.

E-mail Relay Addresses can be used from any e-mail client to send messages to all active members of the troop, or to the members of any dynamic subgroup.

This feature can only be used by members of your troop, and only from e-mail accounts that are currently listed on their membership record.  Moreover, the sender's e-mail account must pass DKIM authentication to allow the message to be relayed.  These restrictions are essential to preventing these addresses from being used by spammers.

Also, please note that any email sent via email relay must contain a subject line.  Messages sent with a blank subject line will fail.


There are two types of e-mail relays:

Do not distribute these e-mail relay addresses to people who are not members of your troop, as they will not work for anyone whose e-mail address is not associated with a troop member.  So, for example, do not give these addresses to your BSA district office or to your charter organization, as they will not work for them.


Messages send via E-Mail Relay Addresses are not logged by TroopWebHost and will not be displayed in your In Box or in your My Sent E-Mail page.



Quick Text Message

It's easy to send a text message to your unit by going to E-Mail → Quick Text Message, as shown below.

Enter your message in the first field, then select the desired group of recipients.

The Event will default to the event currently in progress.  The drop down list is purposely limited to events that are currently in progress or will start in the next seven days.  It only contains events that at least one person has signed up for.

If the event list is empty, you can still select "All members" to send a text to everyone in your unit.

Click Send to send your message to the members meeting your selection criteria who have an SMS address on their membership record.



Maintain E-Mail Groups

There may be groups of members within your troop to whom you frequently wish to send e-mails.  For example, your scoutmaster corps, the troop committee, or the senior patrol leaders.

You can make this easy by creating E-Mail Groups.

Select Maintain E-Mail Groups from the E-Mail menu.  This will bring you to the page shown at right.

Click Send E-Mail to begin composing an e-mail to this group.  When you get to that screen, you will see that all the members of this group were pre-selected.


Click the Add a New Item button to begin creating an Email Group.

As you can see, Email Groups are very simple.

First, make up a name for the group.

Then select all of the members of that group by clicking on the checkbox next to their names.

Finally, click Save & Exit to save this group.


You do not need to create Email Groups for patrols.  The Patrols page has a button that will let you send an e-mail to all members of a patrol.

Also note that you can send an e-mail to all members of a Dynamic Subgroup, which can include one or more e-mail groups.

You can send a message to any kind of group from the Send E-Mail To Group page.


My E-Mail

Each member of your troop has their own E-Mail Inbox.  

Go to E-Mail → My Inbox to view all of the messages that were sent to you using an email function in the website, such as the Send E-Mail function.  You must have at least one valid email address on your membership record to receive email messages in your Inbox.  Users who do not have an email address on their membership record will not see any messages in their Inbox.

The Inbox will not contain any system-generated messages, such as the automated newsletter or event reminders.  It will not contain any messages that were sent using an email relay address.

 

The most recent messages will appear at the top of the list.

Click the View button to see the details of the e-mail, including a list of the recipients.

Click the Reply button to compose an e-mail to the sender and the recipients.


 

You can view all of the messages that you've sent to other members of the troop by selecting My Sent E-Mail from the E-Mail menu.

Click the View button to see the details of the e-mail, including a list of the recipients.

Click the Reply button to re-send this message or forward it to other members.

Click the Delete button to delete an e-mail that you have sent.  This will not retrieve the e-mail from the recipients, but it will remove it from the troop database.

 


View All E-Mail

Those members of your troop who have the Adult Leader or Site Administrator roles will be able to view all e-mails sent using the troop e-mail system.

Select View All E-Mail from the E-Mail menu to see a page like the one shown below.

Click the View button to see the details of the e-mail, including a list of the recipients.

Click the Reply button to compose an e-mail to the sender and the recipients.

Click the Delete button to delete an e-mail that you have sent.  This will not retrieve the e-mail from the recipients, but it will remove it from the troop database.



Reply All

There are several ways to reply to an e-mail that was sent from your troop's website.

If the e-mail message contained a Click Here to REPLY ALL link, clicking on that link will take you back to your troop's site.  You will need to log on if you aren't already, and then it will take you to the page shown below.

You will also find a Reply button on any page that lists e-mail messages, such as:

The Reply function may also be used to forward a message to a different group of people, or to re-send a message you've sent before.

The Subject line will be filled in from the previous message.

You may attach up to three additional attachments.

The body of the message will contain the contents of the previous message, including links to attachments in those messages.

If you send the message to SMS addresses, only the subject line will be included.

Check the Also Send To Parents Of Selected Scouts to send copies of this message to all parents of scouts selected on the list.

Everyone who received the previous message will be pre-selected on the recipient list, but you can remove and add recipients as needed.

Click Send to send this reply.



My E-Mail Delivery Status

You may at some point see the following message appear at the top of every page.

This indicates that the system is having trouble delivering messages to one of your addresses.

For some users, this happens because they clicked on the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of a message that was sent from the site.

Clicking on that link takes you to a page that allows you to unsubscribe, which prevents the system from sending any future e-mails to that address.

Other possible reasons you may stop receiving messages include:


You can find out exactly what's going on by selecting My E-Mail Delivery Status from the E-Mail menu.  This will take you to a page like this.

This shows you each of your addresses that is being blocked, along with an explanation and a recommendation for how to remove the blocking.

If you are being blocked because you accidentally unsubscribed or reported a message as spam, you can remove the blocking by clicking the Resume Sending button.

This will not cure a Permanent Bounce, although it will allow the system to try sending another message to that address.  If that message fails, this address will once again be blocked.

If you have a Permanent Bounce, the first thing you should do is check the spelling of your e-mail address.  If it is not spelled correctly, go to My Personal Information and correct the spelling.

If the e-mail address is spelled correctly, you may need to contact your e-mail service provider to find out why messages from this site are being blocked.  If possible, ask them to add TroopMail@TroopWebHost.org to their "white list".


Once you've removed the blocking, this page should look like this.


Blocked E-Mail Addresses

While we make every effort to ensure reliable e-mail delivery for messages sent from your site, there can still be problems from time to time.

You can manage these issues by selecting Blocked E-Mail Addresses from the E-Mail menu.

This page lists all of the addresses that are currently being blocked.

One common cause of blocking is when users click on the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of a message that was sent from the site.

Clicking on that link takes you to a page that allows you to unsubscribe, which prevents the system from sending any future e-mails to that address.

Another cause is when a user reports a message as spam, or moves it to their spam folder.

If the user accidentally unsubscribed or reported a message as spam, you can remove the blocking by clicking the Resume Sending button.  Then you may want to let the user know what happened, so they don't do it again.

This will not cure a Permanent Bounce, although it will allow the system to try sending another message to that address.  If that message fails, this address will once again be blocked.

If you have a Permanent Bounce, the first thing you should do is check the spelling of the e-mail address.  If it is not correct, you can fix it by updating the corresponding membership record at Membership → View / Maintain Members → All Active Members.

If the e-mail address is spelled correctly, you may need to contact the e-mail service provider to find out why messages from this site are being blocked.  If possible, ask them to add the following domains to their "white list":



Remove Blocking In Gmail

If you have a Gmail account, you may find that emails from your TroopWebHost site are being automatically routed to a folder that you would not expect.  The best way to prevent this behavior is to configure your Gmail account as shown here.

Log on to your Gmail account and click the Settings icon in the upper right corner, then select "Settings" from the menu it displays.

On the Settings page, click on "Filters and Blocked Addresses".

Then click "Create a new filter".

In the From field type:   TroopMail@TroopWebHost.org

Then click "Create filter".

On the next page, check the following boxes:

Then click "Create Filter".

This should make it easier to find your TroopWebHost emails in the future.



Automated Newsletter

Newsletter The system can automatically generate an electronic newsletter that is personalized to each member of your troop.

This can be scheduled to go out once a week, every other week, or every four weeks.

Your newsletter can contain:


Set Up Your Newsletter

Set up your troop's newsletter by going to Site Configuration → Automated Newsletter.  You must be a Site Administrator to have access to this page, or have a role that is authorized for "Maintain Automated Newsletter Settings".

As shown above, this allows you to set various options that will control when your newsletter is sent and what it will contain.

The first checkbox, Automatically Send Newsletter To All Members?, turns the newsletter function on or off for your troop.

The Newsletter Frequency determines how often the newsletter will be produced.

The Day of Week and Time of Day control when the newsletter will be produced.   Note that the time of day is in the Eastern Time Zone.

The Newsletter Start Date is the first day you want the newsletter to be sent.  If you want to change the schedule of your newsletter, be sure to set this to the next date it should be produced.

Include upcoming events this far into the future will determine the number of events and meetings that are included in each newsletter.  If you would like to exclude certain types of events (like meetings) from being included, uncheck the Display in Newsletter field on the Event Types page for that event type.

Include past transaction going back controls the section that lists recent monetary transactions for the current recipient.

When members of your troop reply to the newsletter, their reply will go to the address specified in Newsletter Reply To Email Address.

Click Save or click on one of the other tabs to save your choices.


Sections

You can further customize your newsletter by clicking on the Sections tab.  This will bring up a page that looks like this:

You can change the order of the sections by dragging a section to a different position on the list.  You can also use the arrow keys to move the sections one position at a time.

Use the Delete button to remove a section.

Click Add Section to add a section that was previously removed.  This button will only appear if you don't have all of the available sections included.

At the bottom of the page you'll find a description of each section.


Trial Run

Click the Test tab to set up a trial run so you can see how the newsletter will appear when it goes out to your troop.

The newsletter program runs once an hour.  If you check the Send Me A Test Newsletter box, it will send a set of newsletters to your primary e-mail address the next time it runs.   It will uncheck the box after it completes the trial run.

The Size of Newsletter Test option determines the number of newsletters to be included in the test:


You must click Save to initiate the test run.


Opting Out

Any member of your troop who does not want to receive the newsletter may opt out by going to My Stuff → My Personal Information and checking the checkbox below the e-mail addresses.


Newsletter Output



This sample will give you an idea of how your newsletter might appear.

If your troop has created a banner image for your web site, that image will be displayed at the top of the newsletter.

There will be a link to your troop's web site at the top of the page.

It then shows each section of the newsletter, in the order that you specified on the Sections tab.

The newsletter is designed to look good on a smart phone, but it will also display nicely on a large screen.



Configure E-Mail Settings

Select E-Mail Settings from the Site Configuration menu to display the page shown below.

 

If you check the box Default Value for Email CC Parents Option, then the Send To Parents Of Selected Scouts option will be automatically checked when any member of your unit opens the Send E-Mail page.

The system transmits a separate copy of each message to each recipient you select.  When the recipient receives the message, they cannot see who the other recipients were.  You can have the system add a list of the recipients to the end of each message by selecting one of the options from List Recipients In Email Message.  Select "List all recipient names" to add a list of all recipients; select "List all recipient email addresses" to include their e-mail addresses in addition to their names.  This does not affect messages that are personalized to each recipient, like current balances or the User IDs and Passwords email.

You can select the Include Reply All link on all e-mails option to insert a link in every e-mail that will take the recipient to a page where they can see who the other recipients were and send a reply to all of them.

The sender's name is always displayed as the "From" name on the e-mail.  If you select the Insert the unit name in the FROM name option the system will prefix the sender's name with the name of your unit, like this: "Troop 999 - John Wogenstein".   If this option is enabled, you may specify your own unit name - rather than the unit name generated by the system - by entering a value in the Unit Name for FROM Name In Email.

You can guarantee "Two Deep Leadership" on all e-mail communications - including all e-mail relays (see below) - from the site by selecting two adult leaders to be automatically copied on all messages in the drop down boxes for Send Copy of All Emails To.  This will not include messages that are personalized to each recipient, like current balances or the User IDs and Passwords email.

 

E-Mail Relay

 

You can send an e-mail message to all active members of your unit without logging on to your site, using the E-Mail Relay capability that you can configure in this section.  This capability can only be used by members of your unit who are authorized to send email from the site, and only from email accounts that are registered on their membership record.  This limitation prevents email relay addresses from being abused by spammers.

To enable this option, put a checkmark in the box for Email Relay Enabled To Send To All Active Members?.  This will allow you to send a message to the address shown on the next line as the Email Relay Address To Send To All Active Members.  This address is your site name followed by "@twh.email".

Please note: disabling this e-mail relay option does NOT disable e-mail relays that you set up for dynamic subgroups.

For This Relay Address, Send Messages To lets you determine whether this type of relay message is sent to email addresses, SMS addresses, or both.  This setting does not apply to dynamic subgroup email relays.

Allow Reply All To All Relayed Email will allow the recipient of any relayed e-mail - including those sent to dynamic subgroups - to use the REPLY ALL button on their e-mail client to reply to the same relay addresses, plus anyone else who was copied on the message.

List Recipients On All Relayed Email determines the type of recipient list, if any, that will be included at the bottom of any relayed e-mail, including those sent to dynamic subgroups.

 

Click the Save button to save your changes.

 


E-Mail FAQ

Some members of my troop are not receiving troop e-mails. How can I fix this?

First, go to the Blocked E-Mail Addresses page on your E-Mail menu to see if this address is being blocked.

Blocking can occur for a number of reasons, including

This page will allow you to resume sending messages to an address that is being blocked.  However, if the e-mail service provider is blocking messages from your site, you may need to contact them directly to correct the problem.

A common cause of blocking is that the e-mail address is not entered correctly.  Once detected, this can be easily fixed by updating the corresponding membership record.

If you don't see the e-mail address on the Blocked E-Mail Addresses page, ask the troop member to check his "spam" and "junk" folders.  Some e-mail clients may accidentally drop the troop e-mails into one of these folders, or this user may have created a rule that caused this to happen. There should be a way for the user to indicate that this type of e-mail should not be considered spam.

Some people have e-mail clients that are set up to require a verification process before accepting any e-mail addresses from a new account. Please advise them to bypass this process for e-mails coming from TroopMail@TroopWebHost.org.


Why do all troop e-mails come from TroopMail@TroopWebHost.org?

This is part of our strategy to avoid spam blocking.

Many e-mail service providers will compare the domain name of the sender's e-mail address to the domain name of the site from which it originated.

If they detect a mismatch - for example, an e-mail coming from TroopWebHost.org where the sender's e-mail address is JSmith@AOL.com - the service provider may decide that this e-mail is spam, and block it from going to any of its subscribers.

By making the From address always be a TroopWebHost.org e-mail address, we avoid this type of spam blocking. This is done automatically by the e-mail system.

We do include the actual sender's e-mail address in the Reply To attribute of the e-mail message. That way, when you click the Reply button on your e-mail, it should address your reply to the original sender.

Do not try to send e-mails to TroopMail@TroopWebHost.org. This is a dummy e-mail address. It will not deliver messages to any members of your troop.


Can we set up an e-mail address that will be automatically forwarded to all members of our troop?

Yes!  E-Mail Relay Addresses allow you to send messages to your troop from any e-mail client, as long as the sender is a member of the troop.


We created a dynamic subgroup for our scoutmaster corps, set it up as an e-mail relay address, and posted it on our home page to provide the public with a way to contact our leaders.  Scouters from other troops who've tried to send us messages using this adddress tell us it doesn't work, but when we test it, it works just fine.  What's up with that?

E-Mail Relay Addresses can only be used by members of your troop.  Our relay program checks to see if the sender's e-mail address is present on any active troop member.  If it isn't, it will send a bounceback message to the sender telling them that the address was invalid.

This is essential to prevent these addresses from being abused by spammers.