How to insert a line feed in a setup dialog box (Visual Installer)

There are many built-in setup dialog boxes in Visual Installer that allows you to create a professional setup wizard in just minutes. In some of the setup dialog boxes you can enter many lines with information text, and to make the text easier to read it can be wise to include line feeds and empty lines in some part of the text.

To include a line feed in a dialog box text that you write you need to press Shift + Enter on your keyboard. A line feed will then be inserted at the cursor’s position. To include a blank line you can press Shift + Enter twice. The screen dump below shows how the text looks like with a blank line between the first sentence and the second sentence:

The screen dump below shows the same text in the setup wizard:

Related information
> Setup dialog boxes: How to choose, add text & change image
> Tip: How to add a link to a setup dialog box

How do I code sign a setup package in Visual Installer?

Today it is important to have a setup package code signed before distribution. This is for many reasons:

– You will avoid deterrent warning messages in Windows.
– You will avoid that your installation can not be started in some systems.
– You can be sure that nobody has manipulated your setup package since creation.
– You will protect your setup package against viruses and malware.

How to code sign in Visual Installer
In Visual Installer it is easy to code sign a setup package. In the following tip we explain step by step how to code sign an installation:
> Tip: How to code sign a setup package

Articles about code signing
If you want to read more about code signing we recommend you to read the following articles on our website:
> What is Code Signing / Digital Signature / Digital Certificate?
> Extended Validation (EV) Code Signing

Visual Installer can now import Visual Studio solution files

We have improved Visual Installer’s ability to co-operate with Microsoft Visual Studio. Since many years Visual Installer has been able to import Visual Studio / Visual Basic project files (.vbproj), but starting with Visual Installer 2015 also solution files (.sln) can be imported.

This is very useful if you have a solution that contains many projects. If you choose to import a solution file, Visual Installer will analyze all projects in the solution and import the necessary files.

How to import a Visual Studio solution file
If you want to import a Visual Studio solution file to Visual Installer you can choose the Import Visual Basic project — Visual Basic .NET 2005-2015 project menu item in the File menu in Visual Installer’s editor:

Thereafter you click on the Select project file button in the dialog box that is shown:

As default, project files (.vbproj files) are filtered out in the Open dialog box that is shown, but to the right in the Open dialog box you can choose solution files (.sln files) instead:

Now you can choose a Visual Studio solution file to import.

See also
We have published a step-by-step tip on our website that shows in detail how to import a Visual Basic project or solution to Visual Installer. There is also a tip video available.

> Tip: How to create an installation for a VB.NET application

Easy to create multiple menu pages with CD-Menu Creator’s new wizard

Sometimes one menu page is not enough in a menu system. Sometimes you may want to create a menu system with many menu pages, for example one main menu and some sub menus. Although it has been possible to create such a system with CD-Menu Creator since many years, it has sometimes been complicated to get all file paths in all buttons correct. With CD-Menu Creator 2015 things have changed. We have now included an easy-to-use wizard that creates a menu system with more than menu page (for example a main menu and some sub menus) very easily.

When you use the wizard, all file paths will be set to correctly automatically. All files will also be created and copied to correct folders on your hard disk or USB flash drive, and all necessary project files (.CDP files) will be created automatically.

When you create a system with a main menu and sub menus, all sub menus will automatically have the same visual theme and use same colors, fonts, button styles etc. as the main menu. If you have added a logotype or menu picture to the main menu, they will be included automatically in all sub menus also.

All necessary buttons to open a sub menu or return to the main menu are included automatically in all menu pages and in all project files. If you create menu systems with many menu pages often, we are sure that you will appreciate this new function a lot!


More information
More information about the new wizard in CD-Menu Creator 2015 is available on this tip page on our website.

CD-Menu Creator now supports Unicode characters

You can now use Unicode characters in a menu that you create with CD-Menu Creator. This allows you to use characters from any language in the world in your menus. E.g. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Arabic, Greek, Russian etc. You can also mix different languages in the same menu interface. For example, you can use Chinese, Japanese and English text in the same menu. Unicode characters can be used for titles, button text, tip text etc.

The Unicode characters in created menu interfaces will be shown correctly regardless of which language the Windows itself uses.

More information
Support for Unicode characters is a new function in CD-Menu Creator 2015. On this web page you can find more information about Unicode characters and information about how to use them in CD-Menu Creator 2015:

> Tip: How to use Unicode characters in a menu

Build a setup package or menu interface silently using a batch file

With Visual Installer 2015 and CD-Menu Creator 2015 it is possible to build a setup package and a menu interface silently, without any interaction with a graphical user interface. The build process is invisible, and you use command line parameters and switches to handle the build operations. And errors that occur (if there are any) are returned via a log file that contain detailed error descriptions and error codes etc.

Build servers
The silent build processes via command line parameters / switches makes it easy to call Visual Installer 2015 and CD-Menu Creator 2015 from build servers. A build server is useful if you work in a team and your team want to, for example, compile applications, build setup packages and (perhaps) build menu interfaces in one operation.

Batch files
You can also utilize this new function from local batch files (for example from traditional .BAT files). You can add one line of code for each setup package or menu interface that you want to build, in the batch file. For example:

VI.exe C:\MyProjects\MySetup.vip /BUILD /BUILDFOLDER:C:\MyCreatedSetups\Setup1

More information
We have added two detailed tips on our website that describes how to use this new function in Visual Installer 2015 and CD-Menu Creator 2015:

> Tip: Visual Installer’s command line parameters
> Tip: CD-Menu Creator’s command line parameters

5 tips about how to market products with email newsletters

Email marketing, for example by using newsletters, is a very fast and cost-effective way to market your products and services. You can achieve some really impressive results with emails; you just have to make sure to do it right. Below we offer you five quick tips that can easily help you to create a successful email marketing strategy and achieve the best possible results:

1. Plan your email marketing strategy
To make your email marketing successful, you need a well prepared strategy. Get the right message to your customer at the right time. How to do it?  Plan your email dispatches carefully in advance. Where do you start? The easiest way is to set and divide your email marketing strategy into three parts:

Inform with email
The first step is to inform your customers about the products and services you offer. Try to do it in an objective way, simply explain what your products do and who can benefit from them. That is not always obvious, especially for new customers, so you have to “teach” your customers about your products. Here, an email newsletter with information and tips about your products can be an excellent way to do this. You can add links to your website for more detailed information or a PDF document with a product presentation.

Remember, the first step is about informing, not selling. Provide your contact details so customers can get in touch with you if they need more information or want to order something.

Market with email
The next step is to promote and market your products with the help of email. It requires a long-term perspective.The goal is to highlight the benefits that your products offer and to strengthen your brand and company name towards your customers.

A newsletter sent by email is an excellent method to do so. You can complete your newsletter with a targeted email promotion, primarily aimed at those who have shown some interest in your products before. You will achieve the best results if you adjust your targeted email promotion for every customer group. Your goal is to make your readers curious to seek more information or to contact you, even though they won’t be buying directly. Make them click on to your website where you can highlight the benefits of your products even more.

Sell with email
The ultimate goal is selling. So how do you optimize your sales letters and get your customers to buy directly? Well, it won’t work without the first two steps. Your customers need to have a good knowledge of your products and the benefits they offer. If you have done your homework with the first two steps, now it’s time to strike. Send a sales email and aim for a direct purchase decision. Don’t forget to make it as easy as possible for your customers to order.

2. Optimize your email marketing costs
Costs are of great importance for any business and email marketing in no exception. You need to face the question how much money and time you can invest in your email marketing. Here comes the big advantage of email marketing compared to other marketing forms; its low costs. Email dispatch is free and newsletter creation cost is totally up to you. With a good email marketing tool you can achieve impressive results with no need for spending hours on it.

Well designed newsletter templates give you the possibility to quickly create your own professionally looking newsletters at low costs. Moreover, you can easily customize them after your needs. A newsletter template created by a web consultant exactly the way you want it can also be a good investment. A well made newsletter template is easy to reuse by replacing images and text every time you need a new newsletter.

3. Make sure to have correct email addresses
E-mail addresses change frequently so you need to update your mailing list regularly. A good tip that makes a difference is to use personal email addresses such as “john.smith@samlogic.com” instead of “info@samlogic.com“. It increases the chance of getting your email to the right person. Last but not least, avoid email duplicates. Getting the same email several times can be very annoying. Use an email program that finds and eliminates the duplicates for you.

4. Best timing for your email dispatch
Time your email dispatch so that your customers can read your newsletter undisturbed. The best timing for receiving emails for B2B (business to business) clients is within office hours. E-mails sent on weekends and at night most likely disappear in the email overload popping up every morning in your customers’ inbox. Monday mornings are extra overwhelming so try to avoid them.

Mondays in general are not the best days for sending out newsletters due to heavy work load. Fridays’ dispatches on the other hand should be done in the morning as Friday is often a shorter workday.

Plan international dispatches to foreign customers in other time zones so that they are received during office hours. An email program/service with an automatic build-in email dispatch at a predefined time can help you with this (i.e. you can choose an exact time for your email dispatch or set a specific time zone for every contact).

5. Marketing emails and newsletters frequency
Sending out marketing emails too often puts you at risk of making your customers tired of it and signing out from it, or even blocking you as a sender. To avoid this, don’t send your emails to the same customer too often. On the other hand, too sporadic email dispatches may be a cause of missing an important business opportunity. The key is to find a balance for your email dispatches. A regular monthly newsletter completed with emails with more detailed information about new products plus an annual email promotion can be an appropriate email marketing strategy.

It is difficult to set a general email marketing periodicity since the recommendation varies from branch to branch. For branches with quick development and constant changes it is important to receive fresh news frequently. Less frequent email dispatches are more appropriate for branches with slower innovation pace. To achieve the best results, combine email marketing with other forms of marketing channels such as Facebook and Twitter.

See also these articles
> How to create a newsletter that increase sales
> Free Newsletter Templates for Email Marketing
> Sending Newsletters via E-mail (21 Advantages)

Visual Installer: How to create a Windows Installer style of project

In Visual Installer you can use two design types for your installation projects: Visual Installer style and Windows Installer style. The following video on YouTube shows how to create a project of Windows Installer type:

When the video has started you can click on the YouTube logotype ( ) in the video window to view the video in a larger size and better resolution.

More tip videos
More tip videos for Visual Installer are available on our YouTube channel:
> SamLogic Software on YouTube

15 tips that reduce the spam score for your newsletter

Stop spam!Making a legitimate newsletter pass trough all spam filters can be tricky today. The spam filters are very sensitive and sometimes they make mistakes. The result of this is that also newsletters that receivers subscribe on and really want to read can be stopped by a spam filter; either by a spam filter on a server or by a spam filter on a client computer.

15 tips
We have published an article on our website that contains 15 useful tips that help to minimize the risk that legitimate newsletters are stopped by spam filters. If you use our email tool SamLogic MultiMailer, or another email software or service to send newsletter to your customers, we recommend you to read the following article:

> How to reduce spam score for your newsletters

How to create a menu interface with 3 columns with buttons

It is easy to create a menu interface with 2 columns with buttons in CD-Menu Creator. You only need to select the Double Columns option in the Buttons tab in CD-Menu Creator´s editor, and add your buttons. Then you will have a menu interface with two columns with buttons. If you click here you can see an example of such a menu.

But what about a menu interface with 3 columns with buttons? Can this be easily done? Well, some more work is needed, but it is quite easy also. The tip below shows how to create a menu interface with 3 columns with buttons:

1. Start the CD-Menu Creator editor.
2. Open the Buttons tab.
3. Select Left in the Placement frame.

Buttons: Placement - Left

4. Open the Buttons (text) tab.
5. Click on the Add Button button.
6. Enter “Alfa” (or other text) in the Text (button) text box.
7. Click OK.
8. Click on the Add Button button again.
9. Enter “Beta” (or other text) in the Text (button) text box.
10. Click on the Options button.
11. Open the Position tab.
12. Select the Next free (horizontal/vertical) position option.

Next free position

13. Click OK, and OK again.
14. Now select the button with the text “Beta” in the button list.
15. Click on the Copy Button button and click on Yes in the message box that is shown.
16. Repeat this process until you have 6 buttons in the list.
17. Double click on button 3, 4, 5 and 6 and enter “Gamma”, “Delta”, “Epsilon” and “Zeta” (or other text) so every button have a unique text.

6 buttons

We have now created a menu interface with 6 buttons. To make the buttons appear in 3 columns you need to adjust the button width and the menu window width, so 3 buttons fits in one row without problem. You can for example enter the following dimensions:

1. Open the Buttons tab.
2. Enter “160” at Width (this sets the button width).
3. Open the Window tab.
4. Enter “553” at Width (this sets the window width).

You can now preview the menu window (click on the Preview button). The menu window should look like this:

Menu with 3 columns of buttons

Instead of entering a width manually at step 4 above, you can click on the Size button and use the mouse to resize the menu window so it will have a proper width. The buttons will draw itself automatically when you adjust the menu windows width, and you can adjust the menu width until 3 columns with buttons are drawn and the distance between the rightmost button and the right border is ok.

Window dimensions

When you select the Next free (horizontal/vertical) position option (see step 12 above) this button will be drawn in the first free area to the right of the previous added button (see figure 1 below). If there is no free area to the right, the button is drawn on the next row instead (see figure 2 below).

Figure 1 and 2

More tips
More tips about how to use CD-Menu Creator is available on our tips & tricks page for the tool.