he Automated Emails feature added in Sytist 1.3 will automatically send out gallery expiring & booking reminder emails. But for this to work your hosting account must have cron jobs available and you will need to set up the cron job in your hosting control panel. Window servers don't have cron jobs available. 

See below for setting up a cron job.

How it Works

 You can have up to 3 different gallery expiring emails which can be sent on different days (like one sent 7 days before expiration, 3 days, the same day). Each one you can select a different email to send so you can create new default emails and select from those. The booking reminder email will send the email associated with the service that is booked.

When editing a gallery reminder email you select how many days from the expiration date to send, the time to start sending them and who to send to (like you has access).

The basics of what happens is once a day it checks if there are any galleries expiring based on what is entered in for the days before the gallery expires.  If so it sends the emails into a  database table and then starts sending based on the time set in the email settings. You will also receive an email letting you know that the emails are set to go, which email is being sent, the time and the email addresses it is sending to (like people who have viewed),

Unsubscribe Option

People receiving the emails will have to option to no longer receive those type of emails by clicking a link. If someone is on the opt-out list, they will no longer be sent the automated emails. You can see those who have opt-out in the People section.

Setting Up a CRON Job

First thing you need to do is go in your Sytist admin to Settings -> Automated Emails (cron).  On that page you will see the path for the cron file which you will need to set up the cron job. Copy the the line that starts with /usr/bin/php 

If you are using cPanel for your hosting control panel, it is really easy to set up.

1) Log into your hosting control panel and look for the option "Cron Jobs" and click there.

2) In the Common Settings menu, select Once Per 5 Minutes and paste the line of code you copied from your Sytist admin.

That's it. The PHP binary part (the /usr/bin/php) may be different depending on your hosting company. 

Testing

To test it, in your Sytist admin go to Settings -> Automated Email and check Enable Automated Emails, check Test Mode and click Update Settings. Then after it saves, scroll to the bottom of that page and add a test email.

After you have added a test email, you should receive it within a couple of minutes. After you have successfully received a test email, uncheck the test mode option.

If the above /usr/bin/php does not seem to be working, try the following for the command:

wget -q --spider http://www.yourwebsite.com/sy-admin/sy-cron.php

Replace yourwebsite.com/sy-admin with the URL to YOUR Sytist admin.

Hosting at Host Monster,  replace the the PHP binary part (the /usr/bin/php) with: 

/ramdisk/bin/php5  

Hosting at Hosting Matters, replace the the PHP binary part (the /usr/bin/php) with: 

php -q  

Hosting at SiteGround, use this:

/usr/bin/wget -O /dev/null http://www.yourwebsite.com/sy-admin/sy-cron.php

Replace yourwebsite.com/sy-admin with the URL to YOUR Sytist admin

Hosting a Lunerpages

1) Replace the the PHP binary part (the /usr/bin/php) with php -q

Example: php -q /home/cpaneluser/public_html/sy-admin/sy-cron.php

2) Edit your sy-config.php file by clicking Settings  in the main menu then edit config file under the left menu.

Change :

$setup['pc_db_location'] = "localhost";

TO

$setup['pc_db_location'] = "127.0.0.1";

Privacy Policy

In many cases you need a privacy policy on your website. For GDPR this is required. There is a default privacy policy in this section which you should read over and make any necessary changes. 

You can also create another page for a privacy policy and if you do, under the privacy policy in this section is a place to enter in the link to that page. 

There is also an option in this section to have a link to your privacy policy added to the create new account page.

Cookie Notice

The cookie notice will display at the bottom of the browser window letting the visitor know your site uses cookies. This is also required for GDPR. In the cookie notice the visitor will have a link to accept and a link to view your privacy policy.

Add consent checkbox for emailing customers about their galleries or photos.

Enabling this option will add a yes / no option when a customer is creating an account, making a purchase. This is them giving you consent to send emails about the gallery like the early bird special, gallery expiring soon, etc...

Enabling this option will also add a yes / no option if you use the option to require an email address to view a gallery. 

If the customer selects no, it will add their email address to the opt-out list in People -> Opt Out Emails so they won't receive any of those emails. 

1. Log into your PayPal account.
2. Click on the person icon on the upper right corner of the page then click "Profile & Settings".
3. In the left menu, click on "My selling tools".
4. Next to API Access, click update.
5. Request API credentials to create your own API username and password.
6. Click Request API Credentials.
7. Click Request API signature.
8. Click Agree and Submit.

1. Log into your Authorize.net account.
2. In the left menu under "Account" select "Settings".
3. Under Security Settings, select "API Login ID and Transaction Key". This page will show you your API Login ID (which is different from your account login name). Under Create New Transaction Key, enter in your secret answer and create a transaction key.

The emails are the emails sent to people when they take certain actions: place an order, order shipped, forgot password, etc...

In these emails are what is called Replace Codes. The replace codes get replaced with information when the email is sent. Example: [FIRST_NAME] will get replaced with the person's first name.

With each default email, it will show you a list of available replace codes you can use and what they are used for.

From name and email

By default, these emails are sent from the email address and name you have in the Settings > Admin / Main Settings. But each default email has the option to enter in a different email address and from name.

Email Header & Footer
In this section, you can add a header & a footer that is added to the default emails. For example, you could add your logo or company information that will automatically be added to all of your default emails. 

Email Wrapper Code

Starting with Sytist version 2.7 is Email Wrapper Code. This wraps the email in a table which contains the width of the email content.  The default code makes the outer background a light gray and content area white. 

With the Email Wrapper

Without the email wrapper

Additional Replace Codes For Gallery Invite Emails

• [IMAGE_LARGE] will automatically insert the large version of the gallery cover photo.
• [IMAGE_SMALL] will automatically insert the small version of the gallery cover photo.
• [IMAGE_THUMBNAIL] will automatically insert the thumbnail of the gallery cover photo.
• [LINK_TO_PAGE] ....add your text here ... [/LINK_TO_PAGE] will automatically make a link to the page with the text you want to be clickable. 

These new replace codes will work in the following default emails: 

• Invite to view public page
• Invite to view password protected page
• Expiring gallery / page
• Review Your Proofs Email
• Your registry is ready

Meta title

Meta Description

Meta Keywords

Separate meta title character

Site name in meta title

This controls how emails are sent from the server for order notifications, emailing customers about their galleries, contact forms, etc ...

Most of the time the option of PHP Mail() function will work.

With the default settings, test the settings with the test email option sending an email to yourself. If you receive the email you are good to go, don't change anything.

If by some chance your hosting company has the php mail() function disabled, try the " SMTP PHPMailer " option. See SMTP PHPMailer Setup below.

Trouble Shooting Emails Not Sending.

If you are having problems with emails not sending, it is NOT Sytist. Sytist calls the function to send the email, then it is up to the server to deliver the email. Same thing if SOME emails don't seem to send. 

Below is some trouble shooting that MIGHT help.

If none of the below helps, you need to contact your hosting company and see if they can trace the emails, enable SPF, see if they are being blocked by the server or your IP address has been blacklisted due to possible spam from the same server. 

1) Make sure they are not going into your spam folder.

Check your spam and bulk folders in your email program to see if they are going there.

2) Settings -> Mail SendingSettings.

Add return-path field. Change this to the opposite of what it is now.
Use the send test email and check your email.

3) Settings -> Admin / Main Settings -> "Name of your website".

This is the from "name" when emails are sent. Be sure this is not a web address. Example, do not enter www.picturespro.com or http://www.picturespro.com or picturespro.com. Enter in the name like My Photography Website.

Having an URL in that section can cause emails to get rejected by the server.

4) Settings -> Admin / Main Settings -> "Contact Email Address"

This is the default email address emails are sent from. It is possible your hosting company requires that you use an email address @your-domain (example: info@picturespro.com ). If you are using something different (like a yahoo or hotmail email address), try using one @yourdomain. You can set those up in your hosting control panel or contact your hosting company for assistance. 

NOTE a @yahoo.com email address WILL NOT WORK. Yahoo won't allow emails like that to be sent from the server now in most cases.

5) Understand it is up to the server / hosting to actually send out the email. 
IF NONE OF THE ABOVE WORK, YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT YOUR HOSTING COMPANY AND HAVE THEM TRACE THE EMAILS OR TRY THE SMTP OPTION BELOW.

SMTP PHPMailer Setup

When using the SMTP option, it will send emails from your email server. 

1) Use an existing email account @yourdomain or create another one. Below are screen shots using cPanel hosting.

2) Once your email address is created, click More in the row of the email address and select Configure Email Client

3) Get your mail server. Most of the time it is going to be mail.yourdomain.com.

4) In your Sytist admin, go to Settings -> Mail Sending Settings. Select and enter in the options in the screen shot below:

Block IP addresses

Block referring domains

Blocked message

Creating your shipping chart 

Shipping Groups

Here you set the tax you need to charge for the state and or country. Enter in the tax percentage for your state or the VAT percentage for your country.

Show prices including VAT (or GST)

On the tax settings page at the bottom, there is an option to show your prices including VAT. This will display the price of the product plus the VAT when displayed with the product and in the cart.

To figure the price to enter for your taxable products to get the total you want displayed including VAT, use this calculation:

Price / 1.VAT%

Example, if you need the product to display as $20 including VAT (or GST) and your VAT percentage is 15%, then the price of the product you would enter would be 17.39

$20 divided by 1.15 (the .15 would be the VAT or GST percentage). If the VAT percentage is 20%, $20 divided 1.20

To make VAT show as GST instead, in Site Design -> Page Text (search the page (CTRL+F) for _vat_  and change that word to GST. 

In Settings -> Tax, enter in your tax rate in the VAT option for your country.

Tax by zip code

Tax by zip code allows you to charge tax based on the zip code by uploading a CSV file with the zip codes and percentages.

1) You need a spreadsheet with at least the zip codes and tax rate. All possible options are Zip Code, Tax Rate, City, and State, but only zip code and tax rate are used.

2) Each column must be labeled (first row of the spreadsheet) as: zip, tax, city, state. It doesn't matter what order or if there are other columns but you must have a column labeled zip and tax.

3) Save your spread sheet as a CSV file.

4) Click the browse button to find the spreadsheet on your computer then click the upload CSV file.

If the zip code does not exist in the database, it will add it. If it does exist, then it will update it.

If a customer has a zip code that doesn't exist in the database, then it will use the tax percentage you have set for your state.

More decimal places for prices

If you need more decimal places for your prices for including VAT in the prices shown:

• Click Settings in the main menu of your Sytist admin
• Underneath the left menu click MySQL query.
• Copy the following lines of code and paste it in the query area and click run. This will give you 4 decimal places

ALTER TABLE `ms_cart` CHANGE `cart_price` `cart_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_photo_products` CHANGE `pp_price` `pp_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_photo_products_connect` CHANGE `pc_price` `pc_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_packages` CHANGE `package_price` `package_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_products_discounts` CHANGE `dis_price` `dis_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_product_options` CHANGE `opt_price` `opt_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_product_options` CHANGE `opt_price_download` `opt_price_download` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_product_options_sel` CHANGE `sel_price` `sel_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_image_options` CHANGE `opt_price` `opt_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_cart_options` CHANGE `co_price` `co_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_packages_buy_all` CHANGE `ba_price` `ba_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_packages` CHANGE `package_buy_all_set_price` `package_buy_all_set_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_photo_products_discounts` CHANGE `dis_price` `dis_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_calendar` CHANGE `prod_price` `prod_price` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';
ALTER TABLE `ms_product_options` CHANGE `opt_price_checked` `opt_price_checked` DECIMAL( 10, 4 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0.00';

Blend mode: normal

Opacity: 100%

Distance: 3

Spread: 100%

Size: 0-3