Crosspost to TinyLetter

[rosefox]

Title:
Crosspost to TinyLetter

Area:
crossposting

Summary:
Add TinyLetter to the available crosspost options.

Description:
TinyLetter creates newsletters that are basically blog entries, but in addition to being posted on the TinyLetter site, they're emailed to subscribers. TL users get a few basic MailChimp tools like tracking opens and clicks.

Enabling crossposting from DW to TL would be a relatively easy way for DW users to permit non-DW users to sign up for emailed updates of DW posts. It would also give DW users access to those MailChimp tools, which can be handy.

The TinyLetter web interface is quite straightforward: you get a subject line and a message body, and that's it. The message body permits formatting. TL also accepts posts via email. This would probably be the simplest way to crosspost from DW to TL: send the DW post as a formatted email to the user's unique TL post-by-email address. Here's what the TL FAQ says about that:

"To publish through your private address, create a message in your own email client to send to the address. Format and design it however you like, and be sure to include a subject line. When you're ready, just hit send. We'll create a new draft in your account and send a confirmation email as soon as it's done. After the draft is created you'll be able to log in to TinyLetter to review and send your message. Or, you can reply to the confirmation email we send once the email is beamed in. To send the message directly from your email client, simply reply to the confirmation message, keeping the subject line and address field intact, and we'll send out that newsletter to your list of subscribers."

So the user would need to confirm via email, but it's still faster and easier than copying and pasting a post from DW to TL.

If there's a TL API, there's no mention of it on their website, but one might exist.

Possible advanced feature: only crossposting posts that have the "tinyletter" tag.

Poll #16806 Crosspost to TinyLetter

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
10 (33.3%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
1 (3.3%)

(I have no opinion)
19 (63.3%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[rosefox]

Here's info on formatting emails to Tinyletter:

https://tinyletter.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1626962-sending-your-newsletter-from-your-own-email-client

When Denise approved this post, she asked for more info on formatting options. There... really isn't any more info on the TL site. This page says that their WYSIWYG editor creates HTML:

https://tinyletter.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1620163-designing-your-newsletter

But the details remain a mystery.

[denise]

Thanks for the info you could find, at least!

[sporky_rat]

This sounds very Interesting, I'd just be curious about some safeguards to prevent accidental sending of locked entries.

[rosefox]

Anything sent to TL by email has to be manually approved for posting, so if a locked post was accidentally sent, the poster could cancel it at the confirmation email stage.

[sporky_rat]

That sounds pretty decent. Cool.