Announcements

Drafts and test emails

Save an announcement as a draft, come back to it later, and send yourself a test email before anyone else sees it.

Drafts let you write now and publish later. Preview sends a real copy of the email to any address, so you can check it in an inbox before your audience does.

When to use this

  • You're halfway through and want to finish tomorrow.
  • You want a co-worker or friend to proofread the email.
  • You want to see how your header, footer and images look on a phone.

Save a draft

Turn notifications off

In the editor, switch off Notify members. A draft can't carry a broadcast.

Save it

Click Save Draft. A title is the only thing you need. You'll see "Post saved as draft" and land back on the list.

Find it later

Open the Drafts tab on Audience → Announcements. Click a draft (or Edit Draft in its ⋯ menu) to carry on.

If you click Save Draft with Notify members on, Soul stops you: "Cannot Save as Draft with Notifications Enabled". Choose Disable Notifications & Save Draft to turn notifications off and save, or Go Back.

Send a test email

Open Preview

In the editor, click Preview (Preview Email in the ⋮ menu on a phone). Your title and body must be filled in.

Enter an address

In "Send Preview Email", type any email address and click Send Preview.

Check your inbox

You'll see "Preview email sent successfully". The test uses your real header, footer and title setting, addressed to "Test User".

Previews only go to the address you type. Nobody in your audience gets them, and they don't count in your broadcast numbers.

Previewing a brand-new announcement saves it as a draft first, so a copy appears on your Drafts tab. If you then publish from the same editor, you may end up with an extra draft. Delete it from the Drafts tab.

Publish a draft

Open the draft and click Publish. In the dialog ("Would you like to notify your community about this post?"), Notify members starts on. Pick your audiences and timing and click Publish & Notify, or switch it off and click Publish without notifying. The draft moves to the Published tab. The audiences aren't remembered from before, so choose them again.

Tips

  • Test on your phone. Most people read on mobile.
  • Send the preview to a second address you own to see what lands in a normal inbox.
  • An address that has bounced or been blocked before can't receive previews. Soul says "The email address … is suppressed and cannot receive emails." Use another address.
  • Drafts are private. Nobody sees a draft on your portal, even with its link.