In this blog series, we are presenting useful ways of extending CiviCRM. We are doing this by showcasing one of the many extensions we at SYSTOPIA have build over the years each month. This month, we’re featuring our Advanced Newsletter Management (ANLM) extension. It makes handling multiple mailing lists easier and lets you create flexible, customizable forms so subscribers can manage their preferences with less effort.
What does it do?
Our Advanced Newsletter Management (ANLM) extension makes managing mailing subscriptions in CiviCRM easier. While CiviCRM’s core already offers newsletter functionality, things can get tricky when you’re dealing with many different mailing lists. ANLM solves this by letting you create configurable subscription preference pages directly in CiviCRM. These pages can be displayed on external systems, such as your website, giving your contacts an easy way to manage their preferences, like choosing which newsletters to receive.
You can also set up custom email templates for subscription management, replacing the default CiviCRM emails. Additionally, the extension provides a custom token so you can include links to these subscription pages in your mailings, making it easier for users to update their preferences instead of just unsubscribing. All of this reduces the need for custom-built forms and APIs, saving time and effort.
How does it work?
You can access the ANLM profile settings by going to Administer – Communications – Advanced Newsletter Management. Here, you can either create a new profile or edit one that already exists.
You can define profiles with unique configurations, as well as URLs (using the tokens) that link to individual pages for each contact. These pages let users select which mailing lists they want to subscribe to and adjust their subscription preferences. You can also provide an option for users to unsubscribe from all mailing lists.
The profile settings also allow you to select which mailing lists appear for users to subscribe to and customize the form fields. Each field can be marked as required, and you can adjust the label and description to suit your needs.
The extension supports adding Terms and Conditions to both the subscription and preferences forms, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. Additionally, you can configure email templates that notify users of their subscription status or when they update their preferences.
ANLM path to settings 
ANLM profiles 
ANLM profile settings 
ANLM tokens
Who is it for?
The Advanced Newsletter Management extension is useful for organizations that offer multiple newsletters with segmented mailing lists or complex subscription workflows. They can provide users with a flexible, user-friendly way to manage their mailing preferences. Customizable subscription pages are key to reduce friction between your constituents and the information they need.
Anything else?
The Advanced Newsletter Extension is dependent on the CiviCRM Extension Extended Contact Matcher. If you haven’t already, you need to install this extension to be able to use the ANLM extension.
Using this extension also requires that you have or set up an external system to act as a frontend for your forms. In case you would like to build your forms based on Drupal you will most likely want to use the Drupal module CiviCRM Advanced Newsletter Management which includes a lot of pre-built features. Otherwise, you would have to build your own endpoint in the system of your choice.
