One of the more common issues faced by newsletter publishers is that when you have a steady stream of information being published, there can be some confusion as to what your account’s  “Active Issue” is. Technically, within the IMN system, the “Active Issue” is the one that your readers will see if they click on the link provided in the “Your Newsletter Address” section (the system’s Default URL) on the Main Menu.  With older issues being archived, new issues being published, and issues still being worked on, there may be times when you want to change the “Active Issue” settings so that Default URL links to a different issue. 

You can change the Default URL in several ways.  First, we’ll discuss the “Active Issue” setting that can be found in the “Publishing Options” area. To reach the “Publishing Options,” click on the Account pull down menu in the upper left corner of the Main Menu.

The “Active Issue” Setting

The “Active Issue” option, which is the very first one on the "Publishing Options" page, allows you to determine the Active Issue by either by date or by issue name.   If you select a specific issue (say “Issue 5”), this will become the Active Issue, regardless of all other settings.  The drawback to this option, however, is that “Issue 5” will now become the only archived issue available.  When a reader clicks on any archive issue, “Issue 5” will come up by default, with all other archived issues remaining hidden.  In addition, when you create and post a new issue, “Issue 5” will continue to be linked to the Default URL until you come back into this option and change the settings.  (To have the Default URL link to the most current issue, you can change the setting back to “Determine Automatically By Date.”)

If you leave the "Determine Automatically By Date" setting as the default setting, you have several other options for determining which issue you want to be the “Active Issue.” 

The "Status" Setting

Within the "Edit Issue Properties" link on the Main Menu, there is an option (in the second step, under the “Begin Date” and “End Date” option) that allows you to determine the “Status” of an issue, which in turn will determine whether or not an issue is the “Active Issue.”  This is extremely helpful when you are working on an issue that is not yet ready for public viewing. 

By default, when a new issue is created, the Status is "Approved" and only “Approved” issues can become active. If you change the Status setting to "Pending" and click on Save, you will be able to publish, view, and send working test versions of this issue, thereby limiting and controlling who sees this issue.  Your test issue, once it’s ready for public viewing, will not become the “Active Issue” until you come back into this option and change the setting to the "Approved" status and re-post the issue.   

The "Begin Date" and "End Date" Settings

Another way you can control which issue becomes the “Active Issue” is through the “Begin Date” and “End Date” option mentioned above and within the same "Edit Issue Properties" screen we’ve been working in.   An issue can only be considered an “Active Issue” if the current date is between the "Begin Date" and "End Date" set. For instance, if your end date for an issue is yesterday’s date, you will not be able to use that issue as the “Active Issue” now.

This feature allows you to automatically control when an issue becomes available as the “Active Issue.”   If you publish an issue with an "Approved" status (as discussed above) and a "Begin Date" in the future, the system will automatically change the current “Active Issue” to this new issue once that date is reached.  Similarly, it will also automatically remove this issue from being the “Active Issue” once the "End Date" is reached.

If two "Approved" issues are both between a similar "Begin Date" and "End Date” range,  then the issue with the most recent "Begin Date" will become the “Active Issue.”  Because of this, we usually recommend that you leave the "End Date" blank unless there is a specific reason an issue should expire on a given date. This way, once an issue becomes active, it will remain the “Active Issue” until a newer issue is published and replaces it.  If one issue reaches its "End Date" and there isn't another issue to replace it, your default newsletter address will generate an error message stating that there are currently no Active Issues.

Best Practices for “Active Issues”

So with this information in mind, what's the best way to manage the “Active Issue” feature for your account? Here are some tips:

Avoid using the "Active Issue" setting in the "Publish Options" area. Unless you want to change the Default URL to a specific issue, it's best to manage the “Active Issue” using the other settings so you can preserve access to other archived issues.

Set the "Begin Date" of the issue to the date you anticipate sending it to the subscribers. This way, you can be sure the issue you are working on won't go "Live" before it's ready.

Set the "Status" to "Pending" while you are making revisions to an issue. This way, even if that "Begin Date" sneaks up on you, the issue won't become the active issue until you approve it.

If you have any questions about this, contact me. 


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