SES Pro empowers you to manage your own email campaigns and newsletters with unlimited Ajax-powered signup forms. The default plugin settings are optimized for quick implementation, and provide options to help you configure and customize global functionality. Shortcode attributes may be used to customize local functionality, so each signup form operates exactly as required. To get started with SES Pro, follow this quick-start guide.
Installation
Installing SES Pro is simple:
- Download a zipped copy of SES Pro from Plugin Planet
- Unzip and upload the
/ses-pro/folder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory - Visit the WordPress Plugins screen in the Admin Area to activate the plugin
- Visit the SES Pro settings to activate the license and configure options
Usage (Short Story)
- To configure basic options, visit SES Pro ▸ “Settings”
- To add a form to any post/page, use the shortcode,
[ses_pro] - To customize the form, you can add attributes to the shortcode
- To manage subscribers, visit “Subscribers”
- To customize form style, visit “Form Styles”
- To create an email to send to your subscribers, visit “SES Email” (located in its own submenu)
- To send an email to your subscribers, visit “Send Email”
Usage (Long Story)
Activate
Visit the SES License screen, where you will acitvate the plugin license.
Explore
Then take a tour of the SES Pro settings, where you will find the following screens:
- Settings – choose options for JavaScript, Google Fonts, Subscribers, Custom Fields, and SMTP settings
- Form Styles – choose and customize form styles, including full control over shortcodes, JavaScript, and CSS
- Subscribers – manage your subscriber list with tools for adding, editing, deleting, importing and exporting
- Send Email – slick three-click interface for sending your finely crafted emails to select subscribers
Compose
Lastly visit “SES Email” to create, customize, and manage the emails that you will send to subscribers:
- Works just like the regular WP Post Editor, only you use it for crafting awesome emails
- Select the email format, plain text or HTML, from the Email Options panel
- Select the mail transport protocol, Mail, Sendmail, or SMTP, via the Email Options panel
- You can add attachments to the email via the Media Library
- If you set a featured image, it will be included automatically
- To add custom CC/BCC recipients, add custom fields, ses_email_cc/ses_email_bcc
- To add attachments, you have three choices:
- Add an attachment via the Media Library by attaching any file to the SES Email
- Add an attachment via Custom Field named ses_attach, with the file URL as the value
- Add an attachment by setting a Featured Image for the SES Email (image file only)
Summary
Now that you are familiarized with the plugin, it’s time to put it to use:
- Configure your options via SES Pro ▸ Settings
- Add a form to any post or page using the shortcode,
[ses_pro] - Customize the form by adding attributes to the shortcode
- Once some subscribers have signed up, you can manage them via the “Subscribers” screen
- To customize form styles, visit the “Form Styles” screen
- To create an email to send, visit “SES Email” (located in its own submenu)
- Send an email to select subscribers via the “Send Email” screen
Display a Signup Form
Here are the different ways that you can display an SES Pro form anywhere on your site:
- To add the form via shortcode, use
[ses_pro] - To add the form via widget, add the
[ses_pro]shortcode to the default Text widget that is included with WordPress - To add a form via theme template file, use the following tag:
<?php echo ses_pro(array('style' => '1')); ?> - Alternately, you can add a form via theme template file with:
<?php echo do_shortcode('[ses_pro]'); ?>
Tip: best practice when adding a template tag is to check first if the function exists, for example:
<?php if (function_exists('ses_pro')) echo ses_pro(); ?>That way, your theme page will continue to work even if/when the plugin is disabled.
To go further with SES Pro, continue with the SES Docs.