Getting Started with Postak

Postak helps you manage subscribers, build newsletters, send email campaigns, and see how they perform.

Open Postak in your browser. Your administrator gives you the address (for example http://localhost:3000).
Enter your email and password and select Sign in.
To change your password, open Account in the sidebar. Changing it signs you out on every other device.

Forgot your password?

If your server can send email, select Forgot your password? on the sign-in page and enter your email. You'll get a link that works once, for one hour. Choosing a new password signs you in and signs you out everywhere else.
Otherwise, ask your administrator for a temporary password. After you sign in with it, Postak takes you to Account to choose your own before you can continue. Enter the temporary password as the current password.

2. Create a project

A project keeps the contacts, forms, and campaigns for one newsletter separate from others (for example, one project per program). Only members of a project can see its data.

On the Projects page, type a name in the box.
Select Create. You become the project's owner.
Select Open next to a project to work inside it.

Opening a project shows its Overview: a card for each part of the project (Contacts, Campaigns, Segments, Sign-up forms, Templates, Senders) with a live figure, such as how many active contacts you have. Until the project is ready to send, a short checklist at the top shows the next step: set up a sender, add contacts, then write your first campaign.

Inside a project, the sidebar lists its sections. ← All projects takes you back to the list.

Rename or delete a project

Open Settings in the project's sidebar. Owners can rename the project, or delete it by typing its name to confirm. Deleting removes everything in the project and can't be undone. Members see the settings but can't change them.

Settings is also where owners create API keys, so scripts and other systems can use the project through the API.

Open the project and select Members in the sidebar.

Owners add people by email, change roles, remove members, and can delete the project. Members can use everything else.
The person needs an account first; ask your administrator.
Every project keeps at least one owner. To hand a project over, make someone else an owner before you leave.
Anyone can select Leave project on their own row.

3. Set up a sender

Before you can send, the project needs a sender: the "from" name and address, plus the mail service that delivers the emails: SMTP, Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, or Postmark. Amazon SES works through its SMTP interface or its API. Add a sender on the project's Senders page and use Send test to check it works. See Before you start: set up a sender for what each mail service needs, or ask your administrator.

4. Next steps

Managing Contacts: add subscribers and import lists.
Groups: put people into lists you manage yourself.
Segments: target part of your list with rules.
Campaigns: write, send, or schedule a newsletter.
A/B Testing: try different subjects or content on part of your list first.
Reports: see opens, clicks, bounces, and more.
Using the API: connect your own scripts and systems.

For administrators: managing accounts

The Users page (visible only to the administrator) lists every account with its status: Active, Disabled, or Temporary password.

Create an account with an initial password, then add the person to projects from each project's Members page.
Temporary password: for someone who forgot theirs. It signs them out everywhere; they must choose their own password after signing in.
Disable / Enable: disabling signs the person out at once and blocks sign-in until you enable them again. Their projects and data stay as they are.
Delete: removes the account for good. Projects where they were the only owner are handed to you, so no project is left without an owner.

The administrator account itself can't be disabled, deleted, or given a temporary password; change its password on Account.

System info

System info in the sidebar (administrator only) shows the Postak version, whether the database is up to date, and which features are switched on on this server: self-registration, password reset by email, SES bounce and complaint feedback, and the scheduler. Anything that's off has a short note on how to turn it on. Passwords and other secrets are never shown.