Topics (or subscription topics) are used to organize your information in govDelivery. When you create a topic, the public can subscribe to updates about that topic. Adding a new topic and assigning it to a category allows the topic to appear on the Quick Subscribe Page. Assigning an administrator to a topic allows them to create and send bulletins to the people subscribed to that topic.
Creating a New Topic
To add a new topic:
On the Account Area Toolbar, click Topics.
Click Create Topic.
Complete the Create Topic form. Items marked with * are required. Fields are described below.
Click Save to save your changes.
Topic Fields
To set up your new Topic for success, fill out as many of the Topic fields as possible. Only the first three fields are required, however filling out the rest of the Topic information will allow your Topic to be dynamic and more engaging in a variety of ways. Note that fields displayed will vary based on options enabled for your account. The available Topic fields are:
Name - Name of the topic. This should be descriptive enough that subscribers and admins can clearly identify the topics: e.g. "Department of Education – Jobs".
Short Name - The Short Name is the topic name displayed within the hierarchy tree of categories and topics for subscribers and admins, allowing topics to be named more concisely. For example, if the category name is "Department of Education", the Short Name field allows the topic under this category in the hierarchy tree to be shortened to "Jobs" as opposed to the longer topic name "Department of Education - Jobs" to avoid repetition.
Code - A code is systematically assigned by govDelivery. This code can be changed by an administrator to anything that benefits their organizational purposes.
Description - Description of the topic. This is optional, but recommended. Topic descriptions can be seen by subscribers on your organization's subscription pages, giving them more information about the updates they'll receive.
Visibility - Set the topic's visibility:
Listed topics are visible to any user via the Quick Subscribe page.
Unlisted topics are visible only to administrators logged into govDelivery. Potential subscribers can be sent active subscribe links to unlisted topics.
Restricted topics are not visible to anyone on public pages, and subscribe links are not active. Typically restricted topics are used for internal communications.
Subscription Restore - Enable this setting for the ability to restore previously deleted subscriptions. It also allows you to see why subscribers were deleted. For more information about this option, see Moderating Deleted Subscribers. If you do not see this setting and would like to use it, contact our Support team by submitting a new request at the bottom of this page.
Subscription Approval - Enable this setting to approve subscriptions before a subscriber can successfully sign up for a topic or category. This helps you protect your subscriber list (and deliverability) by preventing spam email addresses from being added. For more information about this option, see Subscription Approval and Moderation. If you do not see this setting and would like to use it, contact our Support team by submitting a new request at the bottom of this page.
Subscription Restrictions - Enable this setting to be able to limit which users can subscribe to certain topics. For more information about this option, see Subscription Restrictions. Note that when you set a restriction, it is inclusive, meaning that you are restricting your subscribers TO whatever criteria you set (for example, a certain domain).
Wireless Alerts Enabled - Enable wireless alerts for the topic.
Send by Email Enabled - Enable to allow your administrators to send bulletins from their local email client (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, etc.). For more information, see Send By Email.
RSS Feed Title - The title for the topic's public RSS feed.
RSS Feed URL - The URL for the topic's public RSS feed.
RSS Feed Description - A short description of the topic's public RSS feed.
Page Watch Enabled - Enable Page Watch to automatically watch for content updates and notify subscribers of updates.
Page Watch Type - Select the type of content you want to monitor with Page Watch. For more information, see Page Watch.
Page Watch URL - The URL of the web page to be monitored by Page Watch for this topic.
Number of Page Watch Results to Save - Set the number of Page Watch results that are stored in govDelivery. By default, govDelivery saves the last 10 Page Watch schedules. Note that govDelivery saves the last (specified number) of changes, non-changes, and errors for each Page Watch URL.
Page Watch Schedule - Select a Page Watch schedule. See Page Watch Schedules for information on creating a new Page Watch schedule.
Watch Tagged Content - Enable govDelivery to only watch particular sections of a web page by tagging content.
Page Watch Content Block Code - A code used on your webpage to indicate what content govDelivery should watch.
Bundle Page Watch Messages - Set to "yes" to send all Page Watch messages for a time period in a single email. Set to "no" to send all Page Watch messages in individual emails.
Page Watch Auto-Send - Enable Page Watch to automatically notify your subscribers when your web pages are updated.
Adding a Topic to a Category
After creating a new topic, you need to add the topic to a category or the topic will not display on the Quick Subscribe page. When you create a new topic, you are prompted to assign the topic to the category. To assign a topic to categories or to modify the categories assigned to a topic:
On the Account Area toolbar, click Topics.
On the Area Option toolbar, click Categories.
Select one or more categories.
Click Save.
Tip: If you're creating multiple topics, you might find it easier to assign topics to a category after all topics have been created. You can add multiple topics to a category at once in the Category settings. For more information, see Modify Topics Associated with a Category.
Adding or Modifying Administrators for a Topic
Once you have created a topic and added it to a category, you will need to assign an administrator to that topic. This allows them to communicate with and manage the subscribers of that topic. To modify a topic's administrator(s):
On the Account Area toolbar, click Topics.
Select the topic you want to modify.
On the Area Options toolbar, select Administrators.
A list of all administrators for the account displays. Select the account, group, or topic administrators that you want to assign to the topic.
You can print or export a list of all your topics, with the subscriber count for each, its visibility, and page watch settings. To do so:
In the left navigation menu, click Topics.
Do one of the following:
Click PDF to save the list as a printable PDF.
Click CSV to save the list as a spreadsheet.
Deleting a Topic
In the left navigation menu, click Topics.
Select the check box next to the Topics(s) that you want to delete.
Click Delete Topic(s).
A warning dialog box appears. Click OK.
Conducting a Topic Audit
It's important to make sure the topics you offer for subscriptions are active and relevant for a few reasons:
Too many old and ignored topics can clutter up your subscriber sign-up pages, making it harder for citizens to choose subscriptions.
Citizens subscribed to a topic that never gets updates might think you've forgotten about them--or forget that they ever subscribed and question how you got their contact information if you ever do send them content.
As a best practice, we recommend routinely auditing your topic list. When you find old or neglected topics, you can delete those topics--preferably after suggesting other subscriptions to those subscribers.
You can find older topics that haven't had any email sends recently by viewing the Topic & Category Report.
In the left navigation menu, click Reports.
Click Topic & Category Report.
Use the Start Date and End Date fields to set the time period for which to run the report, for example, the past three months.
Go to the Topic Details tab.
Use the Bulletins Sent this Period column to find any topics that haven't had any recent updates sent to subscribers.
Tip: If you have a large list of topics, it might help to export a CSV of your topic list so you can filter it by the Bulletins Sent this Period column. To do so, click CSV above the list.
Deactivate those topics so new subscribers can't sign up by doing the following for each:
In the left navigation menu, click Topics.
Click the name of the topic.
Set the Visibility field to Unlisted.
Suggesting Another Topic to Subscribers
Citizens who signed up for an old topic might still be interested in receiving updates and content from your organization. Before you delete an old topic, send a bulletin to its subscribers, suggesting that they might like another topic subscription.
Tips:
If you're trying to move subscribers over from multiple inactive topics, you can use the same message text for each bulletin. Just use the macro so you don't have to type each topic's name. If you do, make sure you're sending bulletins for each topic separately.
You can get sign-up links for another topic by going to that topic's Snippets page and copying the Link Code field.
Saving a Topic Subscriber List
Before you delete a Topic, keep in mind that when you delete a topic, the only way to access its subscribers will be to export a CSV from the Address Report section located on a bulletin specific Recipient Details page. If your subscribers are only subscribed to the Topic you wish to delete, keep in mind that you are only deleting their subscriptions to that topic and not the Subscriber Profiles. When you delete the topic, if any it subscribers have no other subscriptions their addresses will still be stored in your account, but they will in effect be "orphaned," having no subscriptions associated with their profile. You can save a list of these subscribers before deleting the topic if you're worried about losing the contact information.
