OLX Emails - Adding documents

Tracey Adams

Is there a way to add documents, or document links (PDF, Word, Excel), to an email message created in Online Express?


I am disappointed with the email features and capabilities.  I have much more flexibility with Constant Contact.

Mary Weaver

I'm guessing our emails would be more likely to be perceived as spam if they included attached documents. I certainly don't like to receive attachments from people who are not friends or work colleagues.


But sure, you can include as many document links in your emails as you'd like.


We use Amazon's AWS service to store pdfs, some of our sound files, and other documents. It's free to set up, there's no monthly or annual fee, and you're charged on the basis of how much stuff you have stored. Our account costs us pennies per month.


So if I want to share a pdf, I upload it to aws, get the aws link, tell email readers "Click to download our 2017 Daily Lenten Devotions booklet" or whatever, and add a link to "click to download."


But if you have a website that allows you to upload documents, you can easily create links to wherever they reside on your site. I prefer aws because of its speed.

Faith Murray

Hi Tracy - as has been discussed on previous threads, OLX does not allow attachments because attachments are not good protocol in nonprofit email blasts (maybe to a small group of board members, but not to a large distribution list. Think viruses and malware -- donors just don't trust them). The best way to send your files through OLX is to create a pdf or web page that can be accessed through an internet link, and direct donors to click on the link.

Tracey Adams

Thank you, Mary and Faith -

We do send emails with attachments to a small group - it's our board of directors - in the form of a Weekly Board Update.  The week before our monthly meeting, I send attachments for them to review - agenda, financials, reports, and items for the consent agenda.  So they know the information is from a trusted source.  


To a larger audience, we sometimes include a You Tube video link and our current email system allows for a small preview window, which is much more inviting than a plain text link.


Mary - the AWS service sounds interesting and might certainly work for our board updates.  I'll look into it further.  


Thanks again for the responses!

Jen Claudy

You can create an image in your message (a still from a video, for example) and put the link to your video (on your website, YouTube, wherever) behind that image.  We did that and Marketing edited the image to include a light gray "play" button in the image.  That might be confusing, however, because you'd probably need to click play when you get to the page where the video resides.


There are several threads in the Community as to why OLX does not allow videos or attachments, and it's primarily because they cause problems with spam filters and recipient mistrust.  I recently got an email from my mother with just a link in it...almost clicked delete, before I realized who the sender was and what the subject line was...initial reaction is distrust, however.


A while back, IT did a test across the org I worked for.  They sent out a message with a link to an ecard and intentionally included several red flags in the message.  The test looked to see how many employees clicked on the link, ignoring the red flags.  Failed miserably, so everyone (even those who questioned the message) were required to take an online training on how to spot red flags in email messages.  It was a good training.