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BigSender Administrator Guide
On First Launch
The BigSender Configurator
BigSender is easy to install because, after uploading to the server where your website is hosted and invoking in your web browser, BigSender's screen on "first launch" is the BigSender Configurator.
From the BigSender Configurator, you set preferences for how BigSender is to manage your list and it also lets you adjust BigSender's appearance to work seamlessly with the look and feel of your website.
The more than 60 options and settings presented to you in the Configurator may seem intimidating at first, but this screen is what puts so much flexibility in BigSender... However, for nearly all the options and settings, you don't need to change many settings if you like the defaults provided for you as a convenience.
There are five fields, however, that must have your input before your BigSender Configurator profile may be saved, as identified below:
License Key
Administrator's Name
Admin Email
Error Email
Test Email
After providing the answers to the questions above and modifying any other settings you desire, you simply click the "save settings" button at the top or bottom of the BigSender Configurator form.
BigSender will then check all the settings for validity and, if something isn't quite right, will return an error message(s) along with the BigSender Configurator form so you can fix the error and re-attempt to save your settings.
Once your settings are accepted by BigSender, you are logged in as an administrator and taken to the BigSender user interface with your dubscriber gorm.
How does it work?
The BigSender Configurator lets you customize many aspects of BigSender's performance and appearance – without any programming or coding!
When you click the "save settings" button, here's what happens automatically "behind the scenes" before you are taken to the BigSender user interface:
BigSender saves your Configurator settings as a separate reference file on the server.
BigSender validates your Configurator settings to make sure BigSender will function correctly with your new settings. If a setting hasn't been properly set, the BigSender Configurator form will be returned to you with a note at the top of the page indicating the nature of the problem and suggestions for how to correct it. (Read below if the error message indicates the settings file could not be written.)
BigSender zaps your previous browser cookie for admin login.
BigSender saves your settings in a hidden file on the server.
BigSender creates your mailing list source file if it doesn't already exist.
BigSender creates your Message Archive directory if it doesn't already exist.
BigSender validates your POP server settings if you completed the Automated Bounce Manager settings.
BigSender logs you in as an administrator if you've selected the username:password Security Method. A cookie is then written to your web browser that keeps you logged in for the amount of time you selected or until you manually log out.
BigSender will now reference your new Configurator settings. Click the "settings" button among the admin controls in the subscriber form to change your Configurator settings any time.
What if my Configurator Settings Won't Save?
After clicking the "save settings" button, the Configurator may be returned to you with the message, "Sorry the BigSender Configurator settings file /home/web/cgi-bin/.bigsender.txt could not be written for an unknown reason."
The most likely cause is the /cgi-bin/ directory's permissions or properties are not sufficient to allow BigSender to write the Configurator settings file to that directory.
On a Windows server, you must change the properties for that directory to read/write/re-write/delete/execute.
On a Unix/Linux server, you could chmod that directory to 755, 775 or 777 using AdminPro, FTP or Telnet. Failing that, you could also try:
- Be sure the BigSender Configurator interface is in your web browser first.
- Use Note Pad, SimpleText, Style or other text editor to create a text file called .bigsender.txt (yes, the file begins with a period).
- Type 1; (the number 1 followed by a semicolon) and a line return in that text document and save it.
- Upload the .bigsender.txt file to your /cgi-bin/ directory and chmod to 755, 775 or 777.
- Click the "save settings" button in the BigSender Configurator. Most of the time, that will do the trick!
If your server wouldn't permit BigSender to create the .bigsender.txt file, you will likely need to repeat the Windows or Unix/Linux procedure above for creating and setting properties for the two directories for the Message Archive and your list source file.
Security tip: upload a blank file named index.html to any new directories you create. Some webservers will display the content of a directory if it does not contain an index document.
Following the above steps will get you up and running quickly. However, feel free to contact us any time for assistance – included in your BigSender license.
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