Simple Tricks for Mailchimp Users

Hey guys,

First, a shoutout to everyone who finds this on my blog: y'all are eavesdropping on my email to people responsible for one of the world's greatest freedom festivals, Libertopia!  Come join us if you can!

I am expecting to be invited to go meditate in the desert for ten days without interacting with other people and I'm VERY EXCITED about it!  I might not get invited, but my intention is that I do.  If it works out as I intend, I will be incommunicado for ten days during which you'll want someone else to write copy and send newsletters.  Here is a list of the little tricks I use to make the process easier:

1. To make a new one, visit "campaigns" and use the drop down (which will NOT appear until your mouse is in the row for that campaign) on the right side to select "Replicate"
   
2. Click "Edit Design" in the Content section of the next page to change the contents.
3. Click something in the left pane (it's a preview of the newsletter) to put the editable version in the right pane (which I'll call the Edit pane).
4. Do NOT be alarmed that the links in the preview pane don't do anything.  That is by design.  When it goes out, they will work.
5. Double click an image in the edit pane to make changes.  You'll get TWO steps, the first is to "Insert or Edit Link", but once you clear that window, you'll be able to resize it or (click "show image style options") move it to the left or right, center it, adjust the space between the text and the image, or add a border.  BUT you can't change the image here.
6. If you want to use a different picture, delete that one (click it once and then press DEL or backspace) and click the "picture" button in the toolbar (the sixth one).  If you want to pull an image off the Internet, you can click the down arrow next to "Upload" and select "Import from URL".
7. If you don't mind complexity (I thrive on it) you can fix some peculiarities by clicking the second to last button ("<>") to view the HTML.  At least in Firefox, the cursor is not always where it appears to be, so I usually just CTRL-A (select all) and CTRL-V (paste) it into a text editor and mess with the HTML there.
8. The very last button in the toolbar (on the top row) isn't actually a tool, but a switch to show more tools by expanding the toolbox.  Using that, you can get buttons to make bullet lists, numbered lists, center, right, left, or both -justify the text, change the text color, etc.
9. Well, I won't be around to ask, but Google is helpful.  I should probably post this for all our fellow mailchimpers.  Oh look, I already did!