1
Create your account
On a self-hosted installation, the first person to open
/register creates the administrator account and the team; everyone after that is invited. On an online offer, each registration creates a team of its own.Switch two-factor authentication on straight away, in Settings → Security. See Profile and security.2
Add a mailer
Lekalao sends nothing itself: it hands e-mails to a provider. Open Settings → Mailers → Add a mailer, choose the kind (SMTP, Amazon SES, Postmark, Mailgun, SendGrid, Brevo or Resend), paste the credentials and, when your provider sets a rate, enter it.Save, then click Send a test e-mail. A mailer that has not passed its test cannot send a campaign.
3
Set the sender and the postal address
In Settings → General, fill in the default sender address and name, and your organisation’s postal address. That address is required in every marketing e-mail: Lekalao refuses to send a campaign while it is missing.
4
Verify your sending domain
In Deliverability → Add a domain, give the domain of your sender address and your provider. Lekalao shows the DNS records to create (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and an optional tracking domain) then checks them. Without them, Gmail and Yahoo put your e-mails in the junk folder, or refuse them. See Sending domains.
5
Create a list
In Contacts → Lists → New list, give it a name, choose the list’s language and decide about double opt-in. See Lists.
6
Add subscribers
Three ways to do it:
- Import a CSV or Excel file from the list’s Imports tab (Import and export);
- put the subscription form on your site (Forms);
- Add a subscriber by hand, or go through the API.
7
Write your first campaign
Campaigns → New campaign: the list, then Start from one of the starter e-mails, already written in your brand, or an empty page. In the Content tab, put in your own words; the preview keeps up as you type, and a draft saves itself. Two variables are essential, and a new campaign already carries them:See Create a campaign and Personalisation.
8
Test it, then send it
Send a test to your own inbox, and check how it looks on a phone. In the Delivery tab, the summary lists what will go out and what is still missing; then Send now or Schedule. Follow the figures afterwards in Statistics. See Send a campaign.
What next
An automatic welcome
A series of e-mails for every new subscriber.
Invite the team
Owners, editors and viewers.
E-mails from your applications
Order confirmations, password resets…
Wire up your site
Subscribe, tag and report sales through the API.