Our WordPress users have filed over 100 support requests since we launched in late 2011. A few questions, plenty of feature requests, some bugs and lots of love.
4000 downloads later, very few people ask how the plugin works. This sort of validates our initial design. Phew.
We went through 6 versions of wireframes, each time simplifying the logic, the buttons, the labels. This process continued while in development.
The final product looks 75% like the wireframes. My partners, Ben, Jonathan and Adrien, are coders focused on usability. A rare breed.
It’s faster to install WordPress than a newsletter plugin
Newsletter plugins are daunting. You need to configure big time. Learn new concepts and funny words. Add forms. Import users. Get the email design right (easy with Wysija!). Teach your coworker or client on how to use it. Boost their moral because they got discouraged creating their first newsletters… and then you think: Why the hell was the site faster to setup then that goddam newsletter plugin?
Picking the right emailing solution is one big decision you don’t want to back peddle on. This is why we were hungry for feedback.
Did users stick with us or perform the costly U-turn? It appears that people are jumping on the bandwagon. Our business is now focused more then ever on delivering free and premium goods, as requested.
Features we get asked for right now
Most people who’ve asked for features highlighted the importance of keeping Wysija simple. They’ve already been through install-newsletter-plugin-hell. Or they want to keep their own attention deficient clients of their backs.
Here’s what most people wished they’ve found in our plugin when they installed it:
- Support for first name and last names. This will come in February. Custom fields will come later.
- Auto newsletters, aka email alerts à la Feedburner. March!
- Editing the “Unsubscribe” link in the footer of the newsletter. Upcoming version.
- How to save or edit themes. We’re working on a theme repository. Behold.
- Two-column layouts. We won’t do those. Here’s why.
- Drag & drop custom post types in visual editor. This needs further planning.
- Editing the widget’s style. We wrote a little guide for that.
- Adding a subscription form outside WordPress. This will coded in the spring when the tulips are blooming.
- Redesign the confirmation pages for subscription and unsubscribe. If you know a little coding, it’s easy.
- View sent newsletters in their own pages, outside the admin. This is coming up.
Priorities might change along the way, so do delivery dates, be aware.
How about you? What do you like, dislike or want to see in Wysija?
This post has hlpeed me think things through
How about adding a filter for the post type on the article selection query? when you search for articles to drag in the newsletter you are composing? Sometimes people use custom post types just for differentiating admin sections, and this way they could easily add the support.. Excellent code by the way. One of the best plugins I tried.
Sergio, we’ll include custom post type soon. It’s a question of time, and a little bit of patience!
Can you tell us when? It is a major issue.
When will this be released
Editing the “Unsubscribe” link in the footer of the newsletter. Upcoming version.??
Oh yes!
I must be stupid : i do not manage to use the drag and drop module to create the content of the nexletters :
- It’s partially hidden by the World Press Menu bar,
- I just can’t drag any element or edit the design (currently “The Messenger Pigeon’s Tale” :))
Please help !!
Gwen, open a ticket on our support site. We’ll be glad to help you there!
Hay, we love you, and are just starting to use WYSIJA, and I hate to be the bad news barer, but there is a flaw in your logic for single column layouts vs two column layouts. And it’s a big one.
Here is the flaw (you may want to sit down) … The font size is the same on mobile phones as any other newsletter – super tiny!!!
Normal emails are big and readable with fewer words per line. Your single column version is not. That is not only bad, it’s really bad. Here’s why:
Zooming in is a pain, and I rarely do it. There is more to grab my interest on the two column versions, so I’m more likely to zoom.
Worse, if I try to scroll WYSIJA, lines hang off the screen – the text doesn’t fit to screen, so zooming is a waste of time (and very frustrating).
Finally, your format reminds me of infusionsoft emails, who got blacklisted.
Please respond to this, because we love everything else, but your format really needs some help (not just us, but our clients think this).
I sure hope I’m wrong, or that I’m missing some format option because this may be what causes us to make a U-Turn.