Statistics

Off by default. Turned on, every newsletter gets a report: how many opened it, how many clicked, and which links. Counted on your own server, kept in your own database, shared with nobody.

How it works

Turn it on under Settings → Statistics. From then on each newsletter email carries a one-pixel image and its links point to your site first, which notes the click and sends the reader on. The plugin's own links, the unsubscribe and confirmation links, are never counted or rewritten, and nothing is added to test emails.

Per recipient Postalion keeps the time of the first open and the first click and two counters; per link, a click counter. The destination of a counted link is looked up in your database, so a tracking link can never send someone to an address it carries itself.

The report

Open a sent newsletter from the Newsletters screen or from Logs. The strip at the top shows delivered, opened and clicked, with percentages, and the links in order of clicks. Below it is the log of that newsletter's emails, so you can see who received it and open any email as that person saw it.

Read the numbers with care

Opens are counted when the pixel image loads. Mail apps that block images do not count, and apps that fetch every email in advance (Apple Mail with privacy protection, for one) count as opened whether the person read it or not. Clicks are more reliable. Treat both as a trend from one newsletter to the next, not as a census.

Privacy

Since the counting happens on your site, nothing is sent to a third party and no cookie is set. Say in your privacy policy that you measure opens and clicks when you turn this on; the privacy page has a suggested wording. Turning statistics off stops the counting at once; past numbers stay in the reports until you delete the newsletter.

Next: Import and export