MultiMailer 2024 has now been released

We have now released a new version of our e-mail / newsletter tool MultiMailer. The name of the new version is SamLogic MultiMailer 2024 and some new features in the new version are:

Phone• Clickable / callable phone numbers can be added to newsletters.
• More flexibility for buttons in newsletters.
• Standard fields/columns can be renamed.
X• Easier to edit pictures, links, titles & textboxes via new commands in the Edit menu.
• MultiMailer now supports X.
• MultiMailer now tests that the subject line of the e-mail newsletter is not too long.
Map• MultiMailer does more tests of links in newsletters before the e-mail delivery start.
• Supports the new email sender guidelines from Google and Yahoo.
• Links to (Google Maps) maps can be included in newsletters.
• New faster servers for handling of open/click statistics and for web copies of newsletters.

More Information
A detailed list of the new features in MultiMailer 2024 is available on this web page.

How to add version information to a setup package (in Visual Installer)

One useful function in the Visual Installer setup package creator is the possibility to add version information to a self-extracting setup package. You can for example add version number, product name, company name and copyright text. The version information can be seen in Windows Explorer and in other places in Windows.

Where in Visual Installer can the version information be entered?
You can enter the version information in the Version information dialog box in Visual Installer. The dialog box can be opened via the Special – Version information menu item in the Visual Installer editor. The screen dump shows how the dialog box looks like:

The 'Version information' dialog box in Visual Installer

In this dialog box you can also find an option (a check box) with the text Save version information also in the self-extracting setup package and if you select this option, the version information that you enter in this dialog box will be stored in the setup package file. If the option is not selected, no version information will be stored in the setup package.

The version information can be viewed in Windows Explorer
If you have chosen to add version information to the setup package, the information can be shown in Windows Explorer and other places in Windows. For example, when the mouse pointer is above the filename in Windows Explorer, a tip text with the version information is displayed (as shown in the picture below):

Tip text in Windows Explorer (with version information)

Also the Details tab in the Properties dialog box in Windows Explorer contains this information (the dialog box can be opened by right-clicking on the filename and choosing the Properties menu item). The picture below shows how the information is shown in the Details tab if the text that was entered in this blog post’s first picture is included in the setup package:

The 'Properties' dialog box in Windows Explorer

Version number
If you want to add a version number to the setup package, you must use 4 numbers when you specify the version number; for example: 1.2.0.5. Both commas and semicolons are allowed to use as a delimiter. So it is also ok to enter the version number like this: 1,2,0,5.

If you use more than or less than 4 numbers for the version number (for example 1.2) the version number is not stored in the setup package. If you want a version number like this to be stored in the setup package, you can extend the version number with zeros and enter the version number in this way: 1.2.0.0.

Read also
> How to create a self-extracting setup package

Many setup dialog box images included in Visual Installer

There are many ready-to-use images included in the Visual Installer setup creator that can be used together with the setup dialog boxes (the setup wizard) that are shown for the end-user during an installation. This video on YouTube shows some examples of dialog box images that are included in Visual Installer (click on the picture below to start the video):

Video

Additional information is available on this information page and on this tip page.

How to change registration order of files during an installation with Visual Installer

Sometimes files need to be registered in the system during an installation. They need to be registered so they can be located by software and to function properly. In our installation tool Visual Installer we have built-in functions that do this registration process.

When you install files the files are normally registered in the order that they appear in Visual Installer’s file list. But sometimes this may create a problem, if one file is dependent of another file, and they are registered in the wrong order. To handle a situation like this there is an option in Visual Installer that allows you to register files in a particular order.

How to change registration order of files
To change the registration order of a couple of files, you can first choose the Register files menu item in the List menu in Visual Installer.

The 'List' menu and 'Register files' menu item

The Register files dialog box is now shown (see the picture below). In this dialog box you can specify the registration order by entering one file path per line. Each line must contain an installation path to every file that you want to have registered in another order than the default order. You can use variables in the file path (for example: %SYSDIR\MyDLL1.dll).

The 'Register files' dialog box

Line number 1 is registered first. Then line number 2. Then line 3. Thereafter line 4. Etc.

All files that you specify in the Register files dialog box are registered before any file in the file list is registered. So the list in Register files dialog box is handled first.

More information
Additional information is available in Visual Installer’s Help documentation. Click on the Help button in the Register files dialog box to obtain more information.

More tips
More tips for Visual Installer are available on this web page.

How to add more files from a previously used folder (in Visual Installer)

I guess that you sometimes when using Visual Installer are in the situation that you need to add more files from a source folder that already has been used in Visual Installer’s file list. Browsing to the same source folder again can be time consuming when using the “usual” way.

To simplify and speed up this process you can instead use a menu item in the local (right-click) menu in the File list tab in Visual Installer. The name of the menu item is Add more files from same source folder and the picture below shows where in the menu you can find this choice:

Add more files from same source folder

If you right-click on a file in Visual Installer’s file list and thereafter choose the Add more files from same source folder menu item, the Add files dialog box in Visual Installer will be opened with all files in the same source folder as the selected file listed. Via this dialog box you can add more files from this source folder to Visual Installer’s file list.

See also
> Using the Add tree function in Visual Installer
> How to view source paths in the file list in Visual Installer

The best way to open an Excel File from a menu

You can open different kinds of document types from buttons in menu interfaces created with the CD-Menu Creator and USB Menu Creator tools. One document type that can be opened are Excel documents, and if you choose the menu command Open Excel File (see the picture below) you will get access to some special functionality that can be useful when handling Excel files. You can for example send command line parameters (switches) to Excel.

Open Excel File

With the Open Excel File command you can open the following types of Excel files: .XLS, .XLSX, .XLTX, .XLSM, and .XLTM.

You can open different kind of Excel files with the button command

By entering command line switches in the Parameters text box in CD-Menu Creator / USB Menu Creator, you can control how Excel files are opened in Microsoft Excel. For example, if you enter /r in the Parameters text box, the Excel file is opened in read-only mode.

Read more about available command line switches for Excel here:

> Command-line switches for Excel (opens a page on Microsoft’s website)

See also
> How to open a PDF document from a menu
> CD-Menu Creator’s button commands explained

SamLogic – Top Lists 2023 – Most read articles / blog posts and most viewed videos

Below you can find top lists with SamLogic’s most read articles, tips, blog posts and newsletter issues, and most viewed videos, during 2023. Click on a link below to view the contents.

Top List: Most read articles
Here is a list with the 3 most read articles on our website during 2023:

🥇 1.  What is Code Signing / Digital Signature / Digital Certificate?
🥈 2.  DMARC – How to add this DNS record to your domain
🥉 3.  DKIM – How to add this to your domain

A list with all of our articles can be found on this web page.

  

Top List: Most read blog posts
Here is a list with the 3 most read blog posts during 2023:

🥇 1.  Tips for improving computer and network performanc
🥈 2.  How to run a program after an installation
🥉 3.  Upgrade from Standard / Professional to Enterprise

To read more blog post on our blog, visit this page.

  

Top List: Most viewed videos
Here is a list with the 3 most viewed videos on our YouTube channel during 2023:

🥇 1.  Visual Installer – How to create a setup package for a VB.NET application
🥈 2.  CD-Menu Creator – Autorun Menu Examples
🥉 3.  CD-Menu Creator – Tutorial – How to create a basic menu

You can find more videos on our YouTube channel.

  

Top List: Most read tips
Here is a list with the 3 most read tips (for our software) during 2023:

🥇 1.  Visual Installer’s Scripting Language (Visual Installer)
🥈 2.  How to insert a product gallery in a newsletter (MultiMailer)
🥉 3.  How to use the Picture Gallery to show video clips (CD/USB Menu Creator)

You can find links to more tips on this web page.

  

Top List: Most read newsletter issues
Here is a list with the 3 most read newsletter issues during 2023:

🥇 1.  Enterprise versions of SamLogic’s products
🥈 2.  How to adapt Visual Installer’s editor for your needs
🥉 3.  New product: SamLogic Media Tools / Enterprise

Links to all newsletter issues for 2023 can be found on this web page.

  
See also
> SamLogic’s Newsletter Issues in 2023

SamLogic’s Newsletter Issues in 2023

We have an international newsletter that is targeted for our international customers where we publish information and news related to our products and our company. We send the newsletter about 5-8 times/year. In the newsletter you can read about:

– Information about SamLogic Software’s products
– Tips and tricks for SamLogic Software’s programs
– Technical and non-technical articles
– Videos (tip videos and information videos etc.)
– Special offers

Below you can view all newsletter issues that we sent during 2023:

> 08/2023 – Create your own Christmas e-card with MultiMailer
> 07/2023 – How to see if a file in Visual Installer’s file list is code signed
> 06/2023 – Enterprise versions of SamLogic’s products
> 05/2023 – How to run a program and show a document after an installation
> 04/2023 – New product: SamLogic Media Tools / Enterprise
> 03/2023 – How to adapt Visual Installer’s editor for your needs
> 02/2023 – How to run a program with correct bitness from Visual Installer
> 01/2023 – Updated wizard in Visual Installer 2022 displays more information

Subscribe to our newsletter
If you want to subscribe to our newsletter you can visit the web page below:
> Subscribe to SamLogic Software’s newsletter

Create your own Christmas e-card with MultiMailer

Christmas e-cards

Christmas is fast approaching and it’s time to send Christmas cards to friends, acquaintances, customers and other contacts.

With our e-mail newsletter tool MultiMailer, you can both create your own Christmas e-cards and send them easily as e-mails. You can create your Christmas e-card either by using ready-to use e-card templates/examples or by using MultiMailer’s built-in visual e-card wizard. Read more in this blog post:

> Create your own Christmas e-card with MultiMailer

How to create button groups with titles in a menu

In the menu creation tools CD-Menu Creator and USB Menu Creator there is a function you can use to place buttons in groups and add a title to each group. If you have many buttons in a menu this will help your user find the correct button faster. Below are two menu examples that show how it may look like:

Example 1: One column with buttons + two groups with buttons + Exit button
Menu example 1

Example 2: Two columns with buttons + four groups with buttons
Menu example 2

It is easy to create button groups and add titles to the groups. In this step by step tip on our website we will describe how to create button groups with titles.

See also
> How to handle menu interfaces with many buttons