MelisNewsletter

Turns a CMS page into a personalised email newsletter and delivers it to subscriber groups. Package melisplatform/melis-newsletter.

Purpose

MelisNewsletter reuses the CMS page system as the newsletter template: a page flagged as type NEWSLETTER is rendered as HTML, personalised per recipient via BB codes ([NAME], [FIRSTNAME], [EMAIL], [UNSUBSCRIBELINK]), and sent to selected subscribers and/or groups through a configurable mail transport. Subscribers are organised in a per-site list and can be segmented into groups. Every send is archived with a full HTML snapshot and a per-recipient log; an unsubscribe front plugin and a complete GDPR integration (on-demand and scheduled auto-delete) are included out of the box.

Enable it

Add to config/melis.module.load.php:

return [
    'MelisNewsletter',
];

Requires melis-core and melis-cms (^5.2); PHP ^8.1|^8.3. Functionally also relies on melis-engine and melis-front for page rendering and the unsubscribe page plugin.

Key services

Service alias	Role
MelisNewsletterService	Central service for subscribers, groups, send/test, archive and config. All methods fire *_start / *_end events.
MelisNewsletterGdprAutoDeleteService	Implements MelisCoreGdprAutoDeleteInterface; drives the scheduled GDPR warning/delete flow for stale subscribers.

Table gateway aliases: MelisNewsletterSubscribersTable, MelisNewsletterGroupsTable, MelisNewsletterGroupsPeopleTable, MelisNewsletterArchiveTable, MelisNewsletterRecipientsTable, MelisNewsletterConfigTable.

Backoffice

Accessible from the left menu under MelisMarketing → Newsletter (fa fa-newspaper-o). Four tabs:

Tab	Content
Subscribers	Add / edit / delete subscribers; CSV import and export; site filter; status (active/inactive); group membership column
Groups	Create and manage groups; member-count column; a sub-tab lists group members and allows adding/removing subscribers
History	Archive of every send: page name, site, sent date; per-row actions to view the exact HTML sent and export recipients as CSV
Configuration	SMTP Host / Username / Password — overrides the platform default transport

The Send Newsletter button and Test action are not a tab here; they appear inside the CMS page editor on any page whose type is set to NEWSLETTER.

Seven backoffice controllers: MelisNewsletterTool (subscribers), MelisNewsletterGroupsTool, MelisNewsletterGroupsSubTab, MelisNewsletterGroupsSubTabSubscribers, MelisNewsletterSendTool, MelisNewsletterHistoryTool, MelisNewsletterConfigTool.

Front office

Plugin	Config key	Description
MelisNewsletterUnsubscribePlugin	melisnewsletter / MelisNewsletterUnsubscribePlugin	Drop on an unsubscribe page. Reads the ?s={hashed_id} token baked into [UNSUBSCRIBELINK], calls deactivateSubscriberById(), and shows a success/failure message. Exposes an unsubscribe_data_salt setting used in token hashing.

Views: plugins/unsubscribe.phtml + unsubscribe-modal-form.phtml.

Send mechanism

MelisNewsletterSendToolController::sendNewsletterAction delegates to MelisNewsletterService::sendNewsletter($pageId, $subscribers, $groups, $mailSubject):

1. Resolve recipients — explicit subscribers + group members via getSubscribersInGroup(), filtered to active only, deduped.
2. Render content — CMS page fetched as HTML; relative href/src rewritten to absolute URLs using the site domain.
3. Personalise — BB codes substituted per recipient; [UNSUBSCRIBELINK] carries the recipient's hashed token.
4. Send — via configured SMTP transport or platform default (dummyMail@melistechnology.com / "Melis Technology Inc." — override via Config tab).
5. Archive — one nlan_* row per send (site, page, version, full HTML, sent date) and one nlus_* row per recipient (name/firstname/email snapshot).

Fires melis_newsletter_send_newsletter_start / melis_newsletter_send_newsletter_end.

Test send (testNewsletterAction → testNewsletter() / testNewsletterCustomMail()) delivers to one subscriber or an arbitrary email without archiving. A test send is required before the Send button unlocks.

CMS page type integration

ModifyPagePropertiesFormConfigListener hooks modify_page_properties_form_config and adds NEWSLETTER as a selectable page type in the CMS page-properties form. Pages of that type receive the Send Newsletter button (MelisNewsletterSendTool/tool-send-newsletter-button) in the editor.

GDPR integration

Hooks the MelisCore GDPR framework for both on-demand and scheduled flows:

• On-demand: MelisNewsletterGdprUserInfoListener, …UserExtractListener, …UserDeleteListener — find, export, and delete a person's subscriber data on request. Exposed columns: nlu_firstname, nlu_name, nlu_email, nlu_date_creation (declared in config/app.gdpr.php).
• Scheduled auto-delete: MelisNewsletterGdprAutoDeleteService with nine listeners covering module registration, GDPR tag declaration, first/second warning list building, warning email supply, and final deletion of unresponsive inactive subscribers.

Database tables

Table (alias → columns prefix)	Holds
MelisNewsletterSubscribersTable (nlu_*)	Per-site subscriber rows: email, first/last name, active/inactive status, creation date
MelisNewsletterGroupsTable (nlg_*)	Group definitions: name, status, creation date
MelisNewsletterGroupsPeopleTable (nlgu_*)	Subscriber ↔ group membership link
MelisNewsletterArchiveTable (nlan_*)	Per-send archive: site, page, version, full HTML body, sent date
MelisNewsletterRecipientsTable (nlus_*)	Per-recipient send log: name/firstname/email snapshot, archive FK
MelisNewsletterConfigTable (nlc_*)	Per-site SMTP transport config: host, username, password

Example

$nl = $serviceManager->get('MelisNewsletterService');

// Subscriber management
$nl->saveSubscriber($data, $id);           // $id null → create
$nl->activateSubscriberById($id);
$nl->deactivateSubscriberById($id);
$nl->getSubscribersByStatus(1);            // 1 = active
$nl->checkMailInSiteExists($email, $siteId, $excludeId);

// Group management
$nl->saveGroup($data, $id);
$nl->addSubscriberToGroup($subId, $grpId);
$nl->removeSubscriberFromGroup($subId, $grpId);
$nl->getSubscribersInGroup($grpId);
$nl->getGroupsOfSubscriber($subId);

// Send flow
$nl->testNewsletter($pageId, $subId, $subject);
$nl->testNewsletterCustomMail($pageId, $email, $subject);
$nl->sendNewsletter($pageId, $subscribers, $groups, $subject);

// History & config
$nl->getNewsletterRecipients($archiveId);
$nl->saveNewsletterConfig($cfg);
$nl->getNewsletterConfig($id);

// Export
$nl->getSubscribersForExport($active, $siteFilter, $groupFilter);

Key files

Concern	Path
Module config (services, table gateways, controllers, plugin)	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/config/module.config.php
Backoffice tool tree + GDPR tags	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/config/app.interface.php
DataTables config (subscribers, groups, history)	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/config/app.tools.php
GDPR info/extract column declarations	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/config/app.gdpr.php
Unsubscribe plugin config	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/config/plugins/MelisNewsletterPlugin.config.php
Main service	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/src/Service/MelisNewsletterService.php
GDPR auto-delete service	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/src/Service/MelisNewsletterGdprAutoDeleteService.php
Send/test controllers	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/src/Controller/MelisNewsletterSendToolController.php
Unsubscribe front plugin	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/src/Controller/Plugin/MelisNewsletterUnsubscribePlugin.php
Listeners (GDPR ×9, page-type, flash messenger)	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/src/Listener/
Table gateways	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/src/Model/Tables/
DB install + migrations	vendor/melisplatform/melis-newsletter/install/dbdeploy/

See also: melis-core, melis-cms, melis-front, melis-engine