NoteRouter Walkthrough
Introduction
So, you're new to NoteRouter - welcome! This guide will touch on some general areas of NoteRouter to help you know where to go for your most common tasks.
If you ever feel stuck, start by clicking the "Help" button in the bottom left of NoteRouter, where you can search for a helpful article or reach out to one of our helpful team members to ask for a hand. We're constantly trying to improve and update our knowledge base, so feel free to share any areas that might need an update, a new article, or some general love!
Ready? Let's jump straight in:
Section 1: Getting Started
To start with, you should have a NoteRouter login (username) and password that were provided to you during your NoteRouter launch, or by another member of your organization. If not, reach out to your team's NoteRouter Admin about getting a NoteRouter login. If you are an Admin and are unsure of how to add or manage your team's users, check out our guide How-to: Managing Users
Once you've got your login information, navigate to the the following URL to log in: https://app.noterouter.com/login
Save this address in your browser as a shortcut to get back here quickly!
Note: If you've forgotten your password, you can click "forgot password" on the login screen to begin the password reset process.*
When logging in, you'll first be brought to the NoteRouter "Dashboard". The dashboard is where you can view some basic information like recently scheduled or sent messages, current delivery issues, any notices from the NoteRouter team, and the all-important "Navigation Bar" on the left-hand side.
The navigation bar will take you to one of many NoteRouter areas, which include the following:
Home: This will bring you back to the NoteRouter Dashboard.
Create & Send: This will bring you to the message creator and your message files. Here, you can build messages, audiences, and keep track of your drafts and messages.
Automation: This will bring you to the Automation suite, where you can build out hands-off campaigns that will track and message your contacts to create incredibly timed, personalized messaging. How to: Automated Campaigns
Manage: The manage screen is where your data lives. You can come here to add, edit, remove, and review your contacts, groups, and topics as you'd like!
Analytics: This area is for checking out the performance of your sent messages. You can check on basic statistics over time, or review individual messages.
Engagement: This area provides a deep look into each contact's engagement with your messaging. Receipt confirmation, click history, etc.
Other areas that show up in the Navigation bar can be technical or "setup" in nature, so feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding specific NoteRouter areas!
Section 2: Creating and Sending a Message
Creating and sending a message is the most common use of NoteRouter for most users, so let's talk about finding your way around! Start by clicking on "Create & Send" in the navigation bar. Here you can view your drafts, templates, and saved Audiences. For drafts, you can change your view between "Active, Archived, and Sent" using the dropdown in the top right.
Go ahead and click "Create New Draft" and let's jump into the editor. You can arrange the layout of a message using the "Rows" options, which are located on the right-hand side, and fill in the content of a message using the "Content" tiles, also located in a tab on the right-hand side.
These are the basic building blocks and components you'll use to build beautiful content in NoteRouter. For more information, such as an interactive tutorial to the editor, check out the Shared Template called "Tutorial Design"
Note: Messages save all changes automatically. If you would like to save the design you're currently working on as a template for future use, use the "File" dropdown menu in the top left. Similarly, you can use this option to apply an existing template to your message. (Audiences work similarly, see below!)
After you've completed the design component of your message, double check that you've given this message a draft name at the top left, and filled out all the required "Message Info" at the top right.
Now that you've got a good looking message that's ready to go out, we just have to tell NoteRouter "who" this should be sent to - the Audience.
You can proceed to the "Audience Builder" by clicking the green Audience button in the top right-hand side of the NoteRouter window.
For an in-depth guide on building an audience, check out this article: Deep Dive: Creating a Message Audience (In general, you'll want to assign a relevant topic and filter down your total audience further using groups and/or filters, if you'd like.)
Once the Audience has been created, you can proceed to the "Preview Screen" using the button in the top right.
Here on the Preview Screen, you'll have a final chance to review how your message looks, send a draft version, check the recipient list, and choose whether you'd like to immediately send your message, or schedule it to be sent out later.
Congrats! If you've made it this far, you are now able to successfully send a message out of NoteRouter. In the next section, we'll discuss the management of your contacts and data within NoteRouter.
Section 3: General Management
While creating and sending beautiful, well targeted messages is a core component of NoteRouter, it's likely that you or a teammate will have to manage data in NoteRouter at some point. This can range from adding new contacts, adjusting Group assignments, and managing the Topics you offer to contacts.
To get to the Manage screen, simply click "Manage" located on the left-hand side of NoteRouter, in the Navigation bar. Here, you'll see three major tabs across the top. Selecting each one of these will bring you to their relevant management window.
Contacts: This is where all of your NoteRouter contacts are stored. You can click any individual contact view and edit their details. use the quicksearch bar or column headers to search for contacts, or use the tools located at the top right of the screen to add, organize, or export information.
Topics: These are the categories offered to your contacts for them to choose what info they want and how they receive it. Topics are then used to target messages to contacts based on their needs and interests. Each Topic can be available to member and/or nonmember contacts, and using them effectively will help drive strong engagement. You can click a Topic to view and edit its details, plus create new ones at any time using the "+ Add" button.
For detailed information on Topics, check out Deep Dive: Managing Topics
Groups: Groups are an easy way to organize and segment your contacts so that targeting messages and tracking engagement is a breeze. Membership Groups are set up for your team during your onboarding process and are connected to your team's membership system, while Custom Groups can be created by you or your team at any time. You can click the blue contact count box on the right-hand side of any Topic or Group to see an exportable list of contacts that belong to it.
You can updated the names and descriptions of Groups at any time, but updating the rules that Membership Groups use to auto-sort contacts from your membership database have to be updated by NoteRouter. Reach out to us at support@noterouter.com if you ever have a question we can help with.
For detailed information on Groups, check out How To: Adding Contacts to Groups
Section 4: Analytics and Engagement
The Analytics and Engagement screens let you track the performance of your messaging.
In Analytics, you can choose a timeline using the selector in the top left. Click a message from the list to view its engagement details. Checking here for general open and click rates, as well as "bounce, spam, and drop" information are some of the most common uses.
The Engagement screen allow you to view and search contact engagement on an individual basis, allowing you to see the recipients of every message you've sent, and exactly what each recipient did with the message you sent them. Simply use the search bar to find a particular contact or message, then click through to see exactly what engagement occurred.
Looking to investigate a delivery issue? Check out our useful guide How To: Investigating Possible Delivery Issues