After reading the benefits of using
SMS functionality in Joomla you are prepared for adopting the Ozeki SMS Newsletter
solution. This configuration
guide will instruct you how to build up your own "Ozeki SMS Newsletter" module
with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway to start SMS newsletter service on your website. Read
more to learn about the SMS Newsletter solution.
To subscribe for SMS Newsletter,the users have to fill in the subscription form
on a Joomla website and select the "Subscribe" option on it. By clicking on the "Save settings" button
the phone number will be subscribed to the SMS newsletter service.
From this time on, the users can subscribe for newsletters in SMS.
If the administrator (or a user who is super user) logs into the website, he will be
able to send out SMS newsletter from the front-end website with Ozeki SMS Module
through Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. The sending process is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 - How SMS Newsletters are sent to subscribers
Configuration of this solution
To be able to send SMS Newsletters from Joomla with Ozeki SMS Newsletter
module please follow the installation steps in this guide and watch the video tutorial for help.
Step 1: Installation steps in Ozeki NG SMS Gateway
In this part of the installation, we will create a new database that will be responsible
for storing the lists of the list management function of Ozeki NG SMS gateway. If
the database will be ready, we will connect Ozeki NG SMS Gateway to the same database.
First, login to your MySQL console or PHPMyAdmin, and create the database using the following command:
create database sms_newsletter;
If the database has been created successfully, grant all privileges to one of your user with
the following command:
GRANT ALL ON sms_newsletter.* TO 'joomla'@'%';
Now login to the configuration page of your Ozeki NG SMS Gateway sofware, and navigate
to Edit \ Server preferences \ Databases \ List manager settings. Select Odbc method
and provide a connection string for connecting to the database.
Modify the server address, database name, username and password values (Figure 2).
Figure 2 - List manager settings
Under View \ Server events menu, you can check whether the connection has been built successfully or not (Figure 3).
Figure 3 - Database connection status
Now, create a new list in order to be able to store the phone numbers. Go to Edit \ List management
menu, and click on Add new list... button (Figure 4).
Figure 4 - Add new list
On the next page a textbox appears on the right side of the webpage. Provide a name
for the list, and click on Ok button (Figure 5).
Figure 5 - List name
Step 2: How to setup Ozeki SMS Newsletter module
After you have create the list in Ozeki NG SMS gateway, open the administratuon page
of your Joomla website. Click on Extensions \ Manage \ Install button
to install Ozeki SMS Newsletter module (Figure 6).
Figure 6 - Install new module
Then click on Choose file button, and load the previously downloaded
mod_ozekismsnewsletter
module file (Figure 7).
Figure 7 - Update and install modules
Go to the installed modules page of the administration panel and click on
the name of the newly installed module (Figure 8).
Figure 8 - Installed modules
On the right side of the Module tab, select a position where you would like to display the
module and modify the status to Published.
On the left side of the Module tab, you need to give the data of your MySQL server and database
in which the lists are stored (Figure 9).
Figure 9 - Module settings
Under the Menu assignment tab, you need to select the pages where the Ozeki SMS Newsletter
module should be displayed (Figure 10).
Figure 10 - Menu assignment
At the end of the configuration, click on Save button, and open the main page of the
Joomla website. You can see the installed module on the right side of the website (Figure 11).
Figure 11 - Ozeki SMS Newsletter module on the main page
Step 3: How to configure Ozeki SMS Module
SMS messages can be sent to the subscribed phone numbers with the Ozeki SMS Module.
By default, every user can send SMS messages with the Ozeki SMS Module, so in the following part
of this guide, I will show you how to give permission only for super users.
After you have installed the module successfully based on the installation guide of the Ozeki SMS Module,
go to the configuration page of the Ozeki SMS Module (Figure 12).
Figure 12 - Installed modules
On the right side of the configuration page, select Super Users from the
drop down menu that belongs to the Access label. Then click on Save button (Figure 13).
Figure 13 - Change access to modules
Step 4: How to send test messages to the phone numbers
If you open the main page of your Joomla site, login as a super user (such as admin)
and the Ozeki SMS Module will be displayed on the selected position (Figure 14).
Figure 14 - Login as admin
Provide the name of the list in the following format, and the SMS messages will be sent
to the phone numbers that can be found in the list (Figure 15).
list://listname
Figure 15 - Send SMS to the list
As you have seen, SMS Newsletter module are very simple to
configure and use. This guide provided all the necessary information, instructions
to start operating your own SMS Newsletter feature in Joomla. This solution is
suitable for marketing and advertising processes as well as keeping contact with
customers. Thank you for your attention.
