Organize And Streamline Cooler Email: Simplify Your Control Panel

Software systems are like cars. They need regular checkups and maintenance in order to run well. Here we're going to go over a couple points and things you can do with your Cooler Email account from time to time, or as a habit (depending on the type of activity), in order to make it work more smoothly for you.

All of these points have to do with managing your Control Panel, which is the default screen you see after logging into CE.

Basically, the more lists you have, and the more editions you have, the more difficult it is to manage your account. Additionally, performance suffers... pages take longer to load and searches and form elements take longer to complete. So let's look at what can be done to clean up and maintain.

1. Archive Old Editions

You don't have to keep old editions that you're not managing anymore in your face. But neither do you need to trash them. Really simple solution: archive them.

The archive button is located at the top right of the control panel, above all your lists (and below the tabbed menu). Once there, you'll be taken to the archive manager:



You simply choose to make an edition "Active" or "Archived". You can archive and de-archive at your leisure. Just remember to hit the "Update Archive" button before you're done.

2. Delete Unsent And Incomplete Editions

Some editions you archive, and some you don't need anymore. Especially for editions that were never sent or those that were simply used in development of final editions, there's no sense keeping them around. You can Delete them via the Control Panel, using the buttons to the right of each edition.

3. Name Your Editions According To An Alphanumeric Pattern...

... That is, of course, if you want them sorted in your control panel, per list. (Many chapters have only one list.)

One of the drawbacks in CE is that for each list, editions are sorted in only one way: alphabetically.

If you have more than just a couple active editions, you may want to see these in an easy to search order. This also goes for other areas of the CE system where editions may appear in a list to choose from.

The good thing is that you can rename Editions anytime. (You can't rename Mailing Lists, but you can rename the Editions.) To rename an edition, simply edit it, and look for the field that displays the Edition Name. Change and save!

You can pattern your Editions in anyway you see fit... a common way is to do it by date, in format YYMMDD (2 digits for each date, no matter what, starting with year and month).

Here's an example of a list with editions named and sorted in this format:


Hope this helps you to get thru CE faster, easier, and more pleasantly. Surf on.