If you’re new to Newsroom, this is your starting point. It covers the first-time setup and the smallest possible workflow — sending one email to one list — so you can get a feel for the platform before tackling bigger things.
Before you send anything
A handful of setup tasks need to happen once:
- Configure your sender — see Configuring senders and Newsroom settings. You need at least one allowed sender email before you can send anything.
- Set up your first mailing list — see Mailing lists and contacts. Lists can be manual or rule-based; for a quick start, a manual list with a few test addresses works.
- Confirm a template exists — Newsroom ships with default templates. You can use one of those for your first campaign without creating anything new.
Your first campaign
- Go to Newsroom → Campaigns → New campaign.
- Give it a name (internal — recipients don’t see it).
- Pick a sender from the dropdown.
- Set the subject line.
- Pick a recipient mailing list (use your test list).
- Pick a template or start from blank.
- Click into the editor and design the email. See Designing campaign content.
- Preview — send a test to yourself first.
- Send — or schedule for later.
The campaign goes out. After a few hours, the report shows opens, clicks and bounces — see Reviewing campaign performance.
Your first newsletter issue
If you publish a regular newsletter rather than one-off campaigns, the workflow is different. Go to Newsroom → News Items → New issue. See Newsletter issues overview.
Issues are multi-section, multi-contributor publications — best for a weekly or fortnightly school newsletter. Campaigns are best for one-off emails.
Importing your existing contacts
If you’re migrating from Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor or another tool, you’ll want to import your existing contact list. See Importing and syncing contacts.
Most schools also have contacts flowing in from their SIS — student records create contact records automatically, so an all parents mailing list builds itself.
Common pitfalls for newcomers
- Sending without testing. Always preview and send-to-self before pressing the big Send button on a real list. Once a campaign is sent, it can’t be unsent.
- Wrong sender. Double-check the sender email — using a personal address rather than the school address looks unprofessional.
- Wrong list. It’s easy to pick the wrong mailing list. Confirm the recipient count before sending.
- Too-frequent sends. Recipients unsubscribe if they get too many emails. Plan your cadence.
Next steps
- Browse the Campaigns category to learn about templates, scheduling and replication.
- Browse the Lists category to set up proper audience segmentation.
- Read Newsroom Overview for the full module map.