Developer Diary #5 - Emailer Upgrade

29/08/25

Brethren,

We’re back with another round of updates, and this edition has a strong focus on communication and ease of use. Many of you rely heavily on the Emailer Tool, so we’ve been working hard to enhance deliverability and make the whole process more reliable and transparent.

Here’s what’s new:

• Member Importer fix – Dates of birth are now handled more flexibly, reducing errors when importing members.

• Click-to-call on mobile – A new UI element makes it easier than ever to call members directly from your phone.

• Ballot feature – Perfect for internal votes (this ones for you WSMBA!).

• New defaults for Mark & RAM – Roles, Ceremonies, and Planner items tailored to these orders are now built in.

• Email validation – Added checks to prevent errors caused by invalid addresses.

• Convert Contacts to Members – Ideal for when a regular visitor becomes a joining member.

• Emailer improvements:

  • Authentication process refined, making it easier for free trial users to test.

  • Fixed a bug where attachments showed as sent when they weren’t.

  • Sent emails now stored as individual records, allowing deliverability tracking.

  • Dashboard alert added for failed emails, with reasons shown where possible.

  • Ability to resend emails and attachments added.

Behind the scenes:

• Filters for lodge types have been introduced for admin users, allowing us to better support the growing number of order-specific features.

This is one of our biggest communication-focused updates yet, with the Emailer Tool receiving major enhancements to ensure messages are delivered clearly, reliably, and with full transparency.

As always, thank you for your continued feedback; your suggestions are what drive these improvements. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for the latest feature releases as they go live!

S&F,
Karl