Using the standard bulletin editor, you can create a general or topic bulletin.

  • General Bulletins - You create these from the Bulletins pages in the left navigation menu. General Bulletins are best used when sending an email to multiple groups of subscribers. These bulletins might be sent to multiple topics or segments.
  • Topic Bulletins - You create these from a Topic page. For example, you would send a topic bulletin to notify all subscribers of your "Sports and Recreation" topic that the spring schedule for intramural activities is now available online.

The type of bulletin you create mainly impacts the template used for that bulletin. In addition to the layout and starting text for a bulletin's content, a template might pull in other default settings, such as a from address, footer, header, etc. For more information about the defaults set in a bulletin template, see Setting Default Bulletin Templates.

Creating a Bulletin in the Standard Bulletin Editor

To create a general bulletin:

  1. In the left navigation menu, click Bulletins.
  2. Click Create Bulletin.
To create a topic bulletin:
  1. In the left navigation menu, click Topics.
  2. In the Topics list, click the topic for which you want to send a bulletin.
  3. In the Topic menu on the right, click Bulletins.
  4. Click Create Bulletin.

Editing Your Bulletin

The Create Bulletin page is separated into several areas:
 
 To create your bulletin content in the Email Message section:
  1. Select a From address. If there are not multiple From Addresses set up, you may be unable to edit this field.
  2. Enter a short, descriptive Subject that will easily identify that the bulletin is from your organization. As a best practice, try to keep your subject line to 8 words or less. Note that curly braces: { and } can cause sending issues when included in subject lines, so these are not allowed. If curly braces are included in your bulletin subject line, you will receive an error message prompting you to remove these invalid characters. 
  3. Click the plus sign next to the Header field to expand the header section. The header can include text and/or graphics that support your organization's branding. For more information about this section, see below.
  4. Use the Body section to create your bulletin content. 
  5. If you want to attach a file to this bulletin, do so in the Files section by clicking Add Attachment.
  6. Use the Footer section to make any changes to the default footer. Learn more about the Footer section. 
  7. If you have multiple footers set up for your account and you want to select a new one, do so in the Choose Different Footer drop-down menu.

Composing your Bulletin Header, Body, and Footer

The standard bulletin editor offers icons and menus for working with your bulletin content. To see a tooltip describing what any function does, hover over the icon.

Edit Functions

When editing content, you can cut, copy, paste, and paste content as text, which strips out any formatting, leaving just the content. From the Edit menu, you can also Undo/Redo change and use Find and Replace functionality.

edit functions on the text editor toolbar including the cut, copy, paste, and paste as text

 Format Functions

Common formatting options include styling selected text (adjusting font size, family, color, decoration, or making text bold, italics, superscript, etc.), choosing alignment of a text block, making lists, or surrounding content with HTML <div>, <pre>, <blockquote>, or <p> tags.

You can also navigate to Formats > Headings to apply heading levels to your text, which is very helpful in breaking your content into sections for easier navigation. And if your changes get out of hand, select Clear Formatting from the Format menu to strip your content, leaving bare text.

insert functions on the standard bulletin editor toolbar

Insert Functions

You can insert images, files, horizontal lines, and hyperlinks into your content. From the Insert menu, you can also turn selected text into an anchor tag; then hyperlink to that place in the content. For more information about anchor tags, see Adding Anchor Tags to Bulletins.

insert functions on the standard bulletin editor toolbar

View Functions

Use the viewing options to see blocks, invisible characters, and the HTML source code of your content. You can also preview this section to see how it will appear to subscribers.

view function icons on standard bulletin editor

Table Functions

Tables help you to organize your content—especially if you want to put text in multiple columns. From the Table icon or menu, you can create a table, add rows or columns, merge and split cells, and adjust the table properties—like border style, thickness, and color, cell spacing and padding, or background color.

table icon on the standard bulletin editor

Bulletin Content Tips and Tricks

  • You can use macros in your subject line, header, or bulletin body. For more information, see Using Macros in a Bulletin.
  • The Autosave feature lets you work on your bulletin without having to remember to save your changes. With Autosave on, if you lose Internet connection, you won’t lose all your work. To make sure the feature is enabled, scroll to the bottom of the page and select the Autosave check box.
  • Preview and test your bulletin prior to sending it to your subscribers to ensure that your content will appear as you intend. For step-by-step instructions, see Testing Your Bulletins.
  • If you would rather create and edit your bulletin in HTML, you can do so directly from inside govDelivery. In the Header, Body, or Footer section, click the HTML button to open the HTML source editor. Within the HTML Source Editor, you can compose your bulletin in HTML format.