Mad Rats Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

MadRats is a fully opt-in and opt-out Newsletter and Subscriber Management service.
Subscribers can opt in to receive your Newsletters through a simple form and also are given the opportunity to opt out with every Newsletter they receive.
Madrats is a Newsletter and Subscriber Management service that allows people to sign up totally free for your newsletters and information services.
Let them know when you update your site or about new features or special offers.

for Subscribers
Costs nothing, it is totally free to join or subscribe to a mailing list.
for Publishers
MadRats has a simple pricing structure with no hidden or extra costs.
Silver Members costs £15.00 per month or £150.00 per year saving £30.00 .
Gold Members costs £100.00 per month or £1000.00 per year saving £200.00 .
Diamond Membership is free to UK registered charities.
Found out more here.

The trial period allows you to send unlimited emails but you must send them out in batches of 10 at a time, clicking the continue button until all your subscribers have been sent to.
Once payment is made this limit is removed.

Newsletters help you keep visitors coming back to find out what the full story is and so makes your site sticky.
Visitors subscribe, you send out newsletters and they revisit your site, simple as that.

No, the emails are sent through the MadRats mail servers and do not affect your ISP's mail servers.

Yes, You may set Reply address as your own email address so that if people reply then the email will come directly back to you.

Yes, Select Get your HTML code option from your profile editor.
This shows several versions of the Join our Mailing List options available.
Select the design that matches your website style best and copy the HTML code into the appropriate places on your website.
MadRats Webmaster can help you with this if you have difficulty.

No, you do not need a website. When you sign up you do not need to specify a web address.
Your unique username will give you a unique web address at MadRats.
Your friends and family can then visit http://www.MadRats.com/yourusername page to join your mailing list and view your newsletters.

Yes, you can create a category list and your Subscribers can choose from this list when they join your mailing list.
Create as many categories as you wish relating to all the different aspects of your newsletters.
Select from these groups of subscribers when sending a newsletter.

Yes, one attachment can be added when sending your newsletters. The attachment is saved for sending further copies of the newsletter later.
An alternative way of sending files is to upload them to your image store and then insert them into documents as links. This is much more friendly and keeps the email size small and fast.
It is not advised to send attachments with your newsletters as this may stop them getting through spam filters, but the option is there if you need to use it.

Yes, you can view your stats and see which subscribers have opened their newsletters.
Track readers click-thru's and see which subscribers have clicked on links and which links are most popular.
If you have web statistics or web counter you should also see your visitors and page views increase in the period after sending out a newsletter.

Yes, you can use it to inform your friends and family about what is happening in your life, where you are going and what you are doing, great if you are taking a year out and traveling or going on a long holiday.
You don't even need a website.
People you know can visit http://www.MadRats.com/yourusername and join your newsletter as well as view your current newsletters.
You then use MadRats to send out your newsletters from anywhere in the world.
MadRats now has a basic web counter facility. Include the code on your website to count your visitors.

Yes
Select the Import Mailing List option.
Type or Copy and Paste your list in the box provided.
or Browse for a CSV (Comma Separated Values) text file containing your email list.
Lists can be in various formats, select the format from a drop down list.
Click the Import button and your list will be imported, verified and added to your mailing list.

Yes, all details of a subscriber are completely editable.
You may remove people or change status of people who have subscribed.
You can even create your own fields to gather information when people subscribe to your newsletters such as newsletter category, town or interests.
Email addresses may also be imported directly to your mailing list.
Our servers remove unconfirmed and bounced email accounts automatically on a regular basis.

No, MadRats treat all subscriber details in total confidence and do not pass them on or sell them.
If you wish to purchase email lists then try the many email database list suppliers and use the import feature.

No, you can select whether your newsletters may appear or will remain hidden from the public newsletter gallery.

Upload your logo using the option provided in your profile editor.
MadRats Webmaster will take a look and if approved your logo should appear within a few days.

The MadRats service is designed to stop spammers by opt-in confirmations, each subscriber is required to confirm their subscription before they will be able to receive your newsletters.
Imported emails are considered opt-out and subscribers will have the chance to be removed from your mailing list when they receive their first newsletter.
MadRats mailing list subscriptions are fully automated when someone subscribes an email is sent out to allow them to confirm they wish to receive your newsletter.
All newsletters are stored on our servers and a copy is also sent to the Webmaster as well as login and IP details along with time, date and how many emails were sent.

MadRats makes improvements and enhancements all the time based on our customers feedback.
Newsletter Scheduler - Schedule your newsletters to be sent on a particular day of the year.
Other features will be added and we are open to suggestions.