General
Q: I’ve got a suggestion for improving GovDelivery. How can I submit my suggestion?
Q: My question isn’t addressed here. How can I contact someone for help?
Q: Are there minimum technical requirements to use GovDelivery?
Administration Tools
Q: How many items can we have in GovDelivery?
Q: Why can’t I view some of the administrative features using Netscape or a Mac?
Q: How do I find out who my subscribers are?
Page Watch Functionality
Q: How does Page Watch work?
Q: Will Page Watch monitor change s to information that is stored in drop down menus?
Q: Can GovDelivery notify me of changes to pictures or graphics on a web page?
Q: Can GovDelivery monitor changes to a database?
Integration
Q: How do I find the correct subscribe link to place on my web page?
Q: Is it possible to subscribe without having to sign up from a popup window?
Q: I’ve got a suggestion for improving GovDelivery. How can I submit my suggestion?
A: Please send an e-mail to GovDelivery help.
Q: My question isn’t addressed here. How can I contact someone for help?
A: Please send an e-mail to GovDelivery help.
Q: Are there minimum technical requirements to use GovDelivery ESM?
A: To use the administration tools, administrators should use Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or above. It is not recommend that administrators use Netscape, Macintosh, or Firefox browsers when accessing the administrative tools.
Q: How many items can we have in GovDelivery?
A: Clients may add an unlimited number of subscription items in GovDelivery.
Q: Why can’t I view some of the administrative features using Netscape or a Mac?
A: In order to take advantage of necessary technology, the GovDelivery administration tools were designed for PC-versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Other browsers or OS’s will work well with certain – but not all – aspects of the tools.
Q: How do I find out who my subscribers are?
A: From the Subscription Items page, locate the item you would like to view. Hover your cursor over the ‘Options…’ link and select Subscriptions from the blue box. This is a searchable list of subscribers to the item.
Q: How does Page Watch work?
A: The GovDelivery Page Watch feature “watches” web pages by visiting them on a designated schedule. If the source code of the page has been modified since Page Watch’s last visit, GovDelivery notifies an administrator of the changes. If appropriate, the administrator uses GovDelivery to notify subscribers of new or changed page content. GovDelivery can also be set up to automatically notify subscribers of updated content, without administrator intervention. By monitoring the source code of a web page, GovDelivery notices additions, deletions, and change to all page elements. This includes graphics, links to other pages, navigation bars, as well as text.
Q: Will Page Watch monitor changes to information that is stored in drop down menus?
A: If the menu options are part of the page source code, additions, deletions, & modifications will be noticed by GovDelivery.
Q: Can GovDelivery notify me of changes to pictures or graphics on a web page?
A: Yes. Page Watch will note changes in graphic files.
Q: Can GovDelivery monitor changes to a database?
A: Yes. As long as the information is available as an HTTP request and that request is a static URL.
Q: How do I find the correct subscribe link to place on my web page?
A: Locate the item you’d like to provide a subscribe link to on the Subscription Items page. Hover over the ‘Options…’ link and select Snippets from the blue box. Use the ‘Subscribe to this item’ link on your web page. GovDelivery recommends links be placed on your site using the following code. Be sure to replace the bold areas of this code with your item’s information:
onclick="window.open
(this.href,'popup','width=725,height=500,left=25,top=25,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes')
;return false;" target="_blank" title="Get e-mail updates when {Item Name Here} changes.">Get e-mail updates when {Item Name Here} changes.</a>
Q: Is it possible to subscribe without having to sign up from a popup window?
A: It is possible to use an &origin parameter in the signup link that will allow subscribers to sign up in the same window and then direct the subscriber back to your webpage after the process is completed. The links should be structured like this:
One-Click Subscribe
http://service.govdelivery.com/service/subscribe.html?code={ITEM_CODE}&origin={your webpage URL}
Quick Subscribe
http://service.govdelivery.com/service/multi_subscribe.html?code={CLIENT_CODE}&origin={your webpage URL}
If you are unsure of how to locate the item and client codes, please contact your GovDelivery account manager or write to help@govdelivery.com.