Hi Tara this is for your reference in case you choose to send an article out, hopefully this will make it easy for you to send to all subscribers at once. All information here applies to the bcatg008@gmail.com account -- I'll just refer to it as bcatg008 throughout this document.
Sending Articles (Using Pre-Addressed Drafts)
1. Log into bcatg008
2. Open an existing draft from the Draft folder. It will say 'ready' in the Subject Line.
3. Click the Edit button
4. Change the Subject Line from 'ready' to whatever you wish, type your message in the body and add your link to the article.
5. Hit Send.
This works based on two assumptions: 1) that the subscriber list (bcatg group list in Contacts) in bcatg008 has been updated, and 2) that pre-addresssed blank drafts have been created in the bcatg008 account to those subscribers inside the Bcc (blind courtesy copy).
the gmail account is bcatg008@gmail.com
password: hip2bbcatg
if you don't want to type the password you can of course always copy it and paste it
When you log into bcatg008 you will also see folders containing the sent mail for each of the transcripts and folders containing the articles sent by month. You can of course also see the list of subscribers. I will write more about how to add subscribers and to create drafts for easily sending out articles in a separate page at a later time.
Creating 'Ready' Drafts - pictures to come
I find it handy to have drafts already addressed to subscribers in the Drafts folder so that I can send The Bobcat from my phone. The addressing step is much easier using a laptop or desktop because there are tools that help that are not available on the phone version of gmail. So to address drafts you'll need to log into bcatg008 using the same password hip2bbcatg from a laptop or desktop.
Inside the gmail account, click the Compose button to create an email/draft. I usually create 5 so I open 5. Within each email click on the Bcc (blind courtesy copy) up near the top. Make sure you click directly onto the Bcc and a separate window will open up, showing a list of all contacts available to this account. First, choose the group 'bcatg' from the drop down list on the top right of the window. Second, choose 'Select All' to choose all members of that group. Third, click on the Insert button at the bottom right. The contact list will disappear and all the names from the bcatg group should appear in the email draft.
I usually add the word 'ready' to the Subject Line in the email. Lastly close the draft using the 'x' at the top right of the window. Do this for as many drafts as you want to make. These drafts are automatically saved and are now easy to send from your phone, or from any laptop or desktop that has access to gmail.
Adding New Susbcribers/ Deleting Subscribers
The bcatg list described above can only be added to the Bcc from a laptop or desktop, not from a phone version of gmail. Similarly, contacts can only be added to the bcatg list from a laptop or desktop. Directions and pictures to come.
Changing the Signoff at hte Bottom of the Email.