This blog contains the latest news about our software
We have created some useful tips pages for the Visual Installer setup tool. You can find an index page with links to the tips on the following page:
> Tips & tricks for SamLogic Visual Installer
We cover topics like self-extracting setup packages, silent installations, update handling, installation of 64-bit programs, shortcuts, Windows Registry, code signing, etc.
In this blog post we wrote some words about how to design a newsletter so it can be read on a smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop computer without modifications. The email will adapt itself automatically to the width of the display / screen. This is called responsive email design and in the following blog post, written by Christian Vasile, you will find more details about how to utilize responsive email design to design a newsletter so it can be read on devices with very different display widths:
> Responsive Email Newsletter Design: Increase Mobile Readership
We also recommend you to read this article on our web site; it contains information about how to design an email newsletter for a mobile phone and smartphone:
> How to Create a Newsletter for a Mobile Phone & Smartphone
If you are using Microsoft Windows 8 on a computer that has no touch screen interface (for example a traditional desktop computer) you may find it hard to access some functions in the operating system. Things will be easier if you are familiar with some of the new keyboard shortcuts that were added to Windows 8. With these keyboard shortcuts you can handle apps, search for files, configure settings etc. more easily.
Article – New Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 8
In this article on our web site you will find a list of useful keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8, that will help you to manage and master Windows 8 also on devices that have no touch screen interfaces:
As described in this blog post, there exist two Program Files folders in a 64 bit computer with a 64 bit Windows. One folder is used as a storage place for 32 bit programs and the other folder is used as a storage place for 64 bit programs. And it is important that your program files are installed in the correct folder in a 64 bit system, otherwise there is a risk that your program will not function as expected.
Windows in different languages
If you create an application that may be installed in non-English versions of Windows it is important to know that the name of the Program Files folder may be different compared to the English version of Windows. For example in a Spanish version of Windows the name of the Program Files folder is Archivos de programa. 
In a Spanish 64 bit Windows, where 32 bit and 64 bit program files / binary files also must be placed in different folders, there will exist the following two folders on the user’s hard disk:
C:\Arquivos de Programas : For 64 bit files
C:\Arquivos de Programas (x86) : For 32 bit files
This can be compared with the folders in an English 64 bit Windows:
C:\Program Files : For 64 bit files
C:\Program Files (x86) : For 32 bit files
(more examples of localized folder names is available in this article on our web site.)
Use an environment variable
It is impossible to handle all of the above combinations by hard-coding the folder path to the Program Files folder. We also advise against any tries to do so. Instead you should use an environment variable in Visual Installer that has the name %PROGRAMFILES to handle this. By placing this variable in the beginning of a folder path, for example like this:
%PROGRAMFILES\SamLogic\Visual Installer
the %PROGRAMFILES variable will be changed to correct folder path, regardless of the bitness of the program files / Windows and regardless of the language of the Windows. This replacement will occur during the setup process in the user´s computer.
Easier to select a variable in Visual Installer 2012
In Visual Installer 2012 (version 9.5.15 or later) it is easier to select correct variable to the main folder of the setup project. We have added a button to the right of the Main folder text box:
If you click on this button (the button with three dots) the dialog box below will be opened:
Via this dialog box you can choose and include the %PROGRAMFILES variable, or another relevant variable, to the main folder of your installation project in an easy way.
In a 64 bit computer with 64 bit Windows installed there exists two Program Files folders and two System folders. The reason to this is that 32 bit binary files and 64 bit binary files must be placed in different folders. When you distribute and install a program it is important that you install your files in correct folders. 64 bit binary files must be installed in 64 bit folders and 32 bit binary files must be installed in 32 bit folders, otherwise your program may not work. It is not necessary to install data files with 64 or 32 bit data in specific folders; this is only important when binary / executable files are installed (for example EXE files and DLL files).
Our setup tool SamLogic Visual Installer handles all this automatically if you specify the bitness for your setup project in the 32/64 bit tab in the Setup options dialog box in the editor, and uses the %PROGRAMFILES and %SYSDIR variables when you specify destination folders for your installaton files.
The %PROGRAMFILES variable can be used in the Main folder text box in the File list tab in the Visual Installer editor. The picture below shows an example of usage:
And if a file should be installed to the System folder in Windows, you can choose the System directory (%SYSDIR) option in the Destination folder dialog box, as shown below:
If you use these variables in the way described above, your files will always be installed to correct folders in the system.
More information
More information about 32 and 64 bit folders is available in this article on our web site:
> Windows 64-bit: The ‘Program Files (x86)’ and ‘SysWOW64’ folders explained
Portable applications – also called portable apps – are small programs that do not require an installation in a computer before they are run; instead they are run directly from a removable drive, for example a USB flash drive. A portable application is usually a utility program, for example a text editor, email client, web browser, antivirus software, backup software, system tool etc, but can also be a game or something else.
One of the biggest advantages using portable apps is that the system itself (for example the Windows Registry) is not affected. All settings are stored in a local folder on the storage device, although there sometimes can be exceptions from this behaviour and some settings can be stored on the computer’s hard disk.
AutoRun menu for your portable applications
If you use our AutoRun tool USB AutoRun Creator in concert with our menu designer tool CD-Menu Creator you can create a menu interface for your portable applications that is automatically opened when the USB stick is inserted into a computer’s USB port – a so called AutoRun menu. This menu interface lets you quickly and easily start a portable app with just one mouse click. The picture in the top of this blog post shows how a menu interface for portable applications can look like. If you press on one of the buttons in the menu, the portable program is launched immediately.
More information
If you want to read more about USB AutoRun Creator, CD-Menu Creator and portable applications, click on the link below:
Responsive Web Design (RWD) is something that have attracted much attention over the past year, and we at SamLogic Software sometimes get this question from our MultiMailer users: can I implement responsive design also on an email newsletter? The answer is: yes, it is possible.
Responsive Web Design
Responsive Web Design is normally used on web pages that need to be adapted to very different displays widths; for example the display width of a mobile phone / smartphone, the display width of a tablet (like iPad) and the display width of computer’s screen (that can be very wide today). By implementing responsive web design on the web page, the same version of the web page can be used on all displays. There is no need to create different web pages for different display widths.
Responsive Email Newsletter Design
Same techniques that are used on web pages can also be used with email newsletters. If you are familiar with HTML and CSS then maybe you are familiar with the media query rule (@media). By using this rule you can create a responsive web page and HTML newsletter. More information about responsive email newsletter design and the media query rule is available in this article on our web site:
> Adapt a Newsletter for Different Display Width (Mobile Phone etc.)
If you are not familiar with the media query rule, you will find links to pages with more information in the article.
There are many web sites on the Internet that offer free email newsletter templates. The templates can be used for email marketing / email campaigns, or for other purposes. A big advantage of using a ready-made newsletter template is that you will save much time. You don’t need to create a complete newsletter from scratch; you only need to make the changes that are unique for your company, for example adding your company’s logotype. Or maybe adjusting some colors or font sizes in the template.
HTML templates
The templates are mostly created with HTML, but plain text templates are also available. HTML templates are preferable for newsletters because they allow you to include images, colors, different fonts etc. If design is important for you, you should choose an HTML template for your newsletter.
Web sites with free email newsletter templates
If you need to find a well-designed email template you should read this article on our web site:
> Free Newsletter Templates for Email Marketing
There we list some good web sites that offer free email newsletter templates. The web sites also sell newsletter templates, but the price is generally quite low. Some of the web sites also offer to design a tailor-made template just for you or your company.
Compatible with our email software MultiMailer
The newsletter templates on the web sites that we list in the article are compatible with our email software MultiMailer. So if you are a MultiMailer user, you can download the email templates and use them directly in the program.
Compatible with Microsoft Outlook etc.
The newsletter templates are also compatible, and can be edited, with email clients like Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes. Some of the templates can also be edited with Adobe Photoshop. And if you are a web designer and have installed software like Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expression Web, they can be edited also with these programs. Technically, an HTML newsletter template is just an HTML web page.
In our e-mail tool MultiMailer 2012 it is possible to see the open rate for a newsletter (or another type of e-mail) that has been sent to the contacts in your mailing list / contact list. An open rate is the number of contacts that open the e-mail compared with the number of e-mails that were sent, and is often expressed as a percentage.
In MultiMailer 2012 you can also view information about your newsletter’s click-through rate (CTR). The click-through rate (also called click rate) is the number of recipients who clicked on one or more links in the e-mail compared with the number of opened e-mails. Also this is often expressed as a percentage.
Open rate and click-through rate reported in various ways
The open rate and click-through rate for newsletters are reported in various ways in MultiMailer. You can for example view the information in graphical charts (diagrams) in the program or let the program create a detailed report for you, which can be viewed in for example Microsoft Excel.
Video tip – What is the open rate for my newsletter?
In this short video tip we will show how to use the chart functions in MultiMailer to view information about open and click-through rates. The tip video also shows how to compare different e-mail deliveries with each other, so you can compare the number of opens and clicks between different mailings.
The video is best viewed in a quality of 480p. You can change the quality of the video by clicking on the symbol shown to the right in the video window (when video is playing). You can also view the video directly on YouTube.