Buttondown Release Notes

We've changed how drilling down into opens and clicks works on an email's analytics page. Gone is the clumsy and slow modal of yesteryear; arrived is a quicker and more ergonomic nested drilldown. Click into opens, clicks, replies, bounces — whatever you're curious about — and the details unfold right where you are, instead of in a dialog floating on top of everything.

This all comes from the same data source as before (the same open tracking and click tracking you already have), which means we got to unship a bunch of bad UX and make it easier for you to poke around and understand at a glance how subscribers engage with your emails. It pairs nicely with sorting and filtering your sent emails by open and click rate: find the outlier from the list, then drill into it without ever losing your place.

There is exactly one casualty of this change: you can no longer view the number of times a given subscriber has opened or clicked an email from within the email's view. That count now lives on the individual subscriber's details page instead. I'll be honest — I don't think anyone is relying on that functionality particularly heavily. But if you secretly are, and this change has broken your workflow in some way, please do write in so we can learn more and potentially get you situated some other way.

Original source

Ever since we launched comments, Buttondown has emailed you when a subscriber comments on one of your posts, and emailed your subscribers when someone replies to their comment. But those notifications were read-only: to actually respond, you had to click through to the archives and type your reply there.

Such hoops of indirection are a thing of the past! Every comment notification now accepts replies. Hit reply in your email client of choice, write what you have to say, and send — your response threads right back into the discussion, attributed to you, and the other party gets notified just as if you'd written it on the web. This works for you as the author and for your subscribers alike, on every plan with comments enabled, with no setup required.

I could tell you something lofty and business-brained about how this makes it easier and more wonderful for you and your subscribers to continue conversations on the go, or whatever. But mostly I just think it's neat when email is used as an interface and not just a broadcast mechanism, and this felt like an obvious such example where we could improve.

Original source

Earlier this year, we shipped several changes allowing customers to manage archive visibility based on subscription status.

While we were very happy to accommodate a growing body of different use cases, numerous ad hoc tweaks led us to find just as many edge-case bugs and inconsistencies.

So we decided to go back to first principles to design the hierarchy of settings:

1. Archive settings are the default for all new posts

Your archive settings are the default for all new posts in your archive.

2. Per-email visibility overrides the default

Archived visibility settings on each email allow you to override the default archive settings.

You can manage archive visibility in the Publish modal of each email (or Details, if the email has already been sent).

You can also edit visibility in bulk from the emails page by selecting emails and then choosing the "change visibility" option.

We also added a column called Archive visibility that you can add to the emails page, so you can quickly skim through web visibility for your existing emails.

3. Subscription walls and paywalls

For even finer tuning of content visibility, you can block parts of content within a post with paywalls (visible to paid subscribers only) or a subscription wall (visible to subscribers only) through Fancy mode in our editor — type / and pick the function you want.

Original source

Earlier this year, we shipped several changes allowing customers to manage archive visibility based on subscription status.

While we were very happy to accommodate a growing body of different use cases, numerous ad hoc tweaks led us to find just as many edge-case bugs and inconsistencies.

So we decided to go back to first principles to design the hierarchy of settings:

1. Archive settings are the default for all new posts

Your archive settings are the default for all new posts in your archive.

2. Per-email visibility overrides the default

Archived visibility settings on each email allow you to override the default archive settings.

You can manage archive visibility in the Publish modal of each email (or Details, if the email has already been sent).

You can also edit visibility in bulk from the emails page by selecting emails and then choosing the "change visibility" option.

We also added a column called Archive visibility that you can add to the emails page, so you can quickly skim through web visibility for your existing emails.

3. Subscription walls and paywalls

For even finer tuning of content visibility, you can block parts of content within a post with paywalls (visible to paid subscribers only) or a subscription wall (visible to subscribers only) through Fancy mode in our editor — type / and pick the function you want.

Original source

Your Inbox replies can carry files now, not just text. So when a subscriber asks for a PDF, an image, or your media kit, you can send it without ever leaving the conversation.

It's a new paperclip in the reply composer: click it, pick a file, and it rides along with your reply — the same attachments you can already add to your emails. Once the reply sends, the file shows up as a download chip in the thread, so you can always see what you sent.

Reach for it whenever the conversation calls for more than words — a media kit for a prospective sponsor, a corrected PDF for the reader who flagged a typo, a quick screenshot to settle a question.

It builds on replying to conversations from your Inbox, and it's live now on every plan that includes attachments — open a conversation and give it a try.

Original source

Your Inbox replies can carry files now, not just text. So when a subscriber asks for a PDF, an image, or your media kit, you can send it without ever leaving the conversation.

It's a new paperclip in the reply composer: click it, pick a file, and it rides along with your reply — the same attachments you can already add to your emails. Once the reply sends, the file shows up as a download chip in the thread, so you can always see what you sent.

Reach for it whenever the conversation calls for more than words — a media kit for a prospective sponsor, a corrected PDF for the reader who flagged a typo, a quick screenshot to settle a question.

It builds on replying to conversations from your Inbox, and it's live now on every plan that includes attachments — open a conversation and give it a try.

Original source

We launched a revamped reply tracking back in February, and it's gone over very well in many respects. However, the passage of time has revealed, as it always does, a few warts and errors in our thinking, and we're changing how we do things as a result. Thanks, everyone, for providing your feedback and in some cases your patience. We knew we were being a little prescriptive and heavy-handed with how we rolled this out, and did so largely in order to simplify the setup process — but it's clear that the edge cases were more common than we had anticipated.

First, to lead with the changes themselves:

1. For manual custom sending domains (i.e., you are not delegating a subdomain to us), we will never set an MX record on your behalf. You must provide your own.
2. Additionally, on manual custom sending domains, reply tracking now defaults to off — replies flow straight to your own inbox — though you can turn it back on yourself any time under Settings → Sending domain → Add-ons.
3. If you're using a managed custom domain (i.e., delegating the sending domain to us), the reply-to address — which has been hitherto hidden, requiring you to write to support to enable it — is now generally available under the Domain Settings page.

Here's a table walking through the three paths as a result:

Shared domain Managed custom domain Manual custom domain MX record MX record is irrelevant We set an MX record for you. Reply tracking You cannot opt out of reply tracking. You cannot opt out of reply tracking. Reply-to You cannot set a custom reply-to. You can set a custom reply-to, and this is generally available.*

Hopefully this clarifies the three options you have when setting up your newsletter a bit:

1. You can use our shared domain, which requires no setup but also begets little customization;
2. Use a custom domain in managed mode, which makes it easy to send from your own domain though limits your customization slightly;
3. Or use a completely manual custom domain, which affords you ultimate flexibility, but now you have to deal with DNS records.

None of these changes require any work on your part. If you've already set up a custom domain, then it will continue working just fine as is.

• These defaults apply to manual domains set up from here on out. If you're already on a manual setup, your replies keep working exactly as they do today — and whichever way you'd prefer, reply tracking is now a self-serve toggle under Settings → Sending domain → Add-ons, so you can take over your own replies (or hand them back to us) without writing in.

Original source

We launched a revamped reply tracking back in February, and it's gone over very well in many respects. However, the passage of time has revealed, as it always does, a few warts and errors in our thinking, and we're changing how we do things as a result. Thanks, everyone, for providing your feedback and in some cases your patience. We knew we were being a little prescriptive and heavy-handed with how we rolled this out, and did so largely in order to simplify the setup process — but it's clear that the edge cases were more common than we had anticipated.

First, to lead with the changes themselves:

1. For manual custom sending domains (i.e., you are not delegating a subdomain to us), we will never set an MX record on your behalf. You must provide your own.
2. Additionally, on manual custom sending domains, reply tracking now defaults to off — replies flow straight to your own inbox — though you can turn it back on yourself any time under Settings → Sending domain → Add-ons.
3. If you're using a managed custom domain (i.e., delegating the sending domain to us), the reply-to address — which has been hitherto hidden, requiring you to write to support to enable it — is now generally available under the Domain Settings page.

Here's a table walking through the three paths as a result:

Shared domain Managed custom domain Manual custom domain MX record MX record is irrelevant We set an MX record for you. Reply tracking You cannot opt out of reply tracking. You cannot opt out of reply tracking. Reply-to You cannot set a custom reply-to. You can set a custom reply-to, and this is generally available.*

Hopefully this clarifies the three options you have when setting up your newsletter a bit:

1. You can use our shared domain, which requires no setup but also begets little customization;
2. Use a custom domain in managed mode, which makes it easy to send from your own domain though limits your customization slightly;
3. Or use a completely manual custom domain, which affords you ultimate flexibility, but now you have to deal with DNS records.

None of these changes require any work on your part. If you've already set up a custom domain, then it will continue working just fine as is.

• These defaults apply to manual domains set up from here on out. If you're already on a manual setup, your replies keep working exactly as they do today — and whichever way you'd prefer, reply tracking is now a self-serve toggle under Settings → Sending domain → Add-ons, so you can take over your own replies (or hand them back to us) without writing in.

Original source

When someone lands on your Modern theme subscribe page, they get your name, your description, and a box to enter their email. That's great for people who already know they want in — but a curious first-time visitor often wants to read something before they hand over their address. Until today, getting to your most recent issue from that page meant a couple of extra clicks into the archive, and we are removing those clicks. (If so you desire.)

Now the subscribe page can include a one-click link straight to your latest issue:

• Right under the subscribe form, your most recent issue shows up as "Read the latest edition: #12 — Your subject line here", linking directly to it.
• It only appears when your archive is public. If your archive is gated or hidden, the link stays away so you're not leaking subject lines to people who shouldn't see them.

It's off by default, so nothing changes until you want it to. If you're on the Modern theme (or Arbus, which builds on it), head to your archive settings and flip on the Latest issue link option. The Classic and Lovelace themes have linked to your latest issue for a while now — this brings Modern in line, on your terms.

Want full control instead of our very boring copy? Use template tags! Your subscribe-page description can reach straight into your recent issues, so you can write whatever framing you like around them:

Try it: a description that links to your latest issues

newsletter.latest_public_email gives you the most recent public issue, and newsletter.recent_public_emails gives you a list you can loop and slice — both only resolve when your archive is public, so the same privacy rule applies no matter how you write it.

Original source

When someone lands on your Modern theme subscribe page, they get your name, your description, and a box to enter their email. That's great for people who already know they want in — but a curious first-time visitor often wants to read something before they hand over their address. Until today, getting to your most recent issue from that page meant a couple of extra clicks into the archive, and we are removing those clicks. (If so you desire.)

Now the subscribe page can include a one-click link straight to your latest issue:

• Right under the subscribe form, your most recent issue shows up as "Read the latest edition: #12 — Your subject line here", linking directly to it.
• It only appears when your archive is public. If your archive is gated or hidden, the link stays away so you're not leaking subject lines to people who shouldn't see them.

It's off by default, so nothing changes until you want it to. If you're on the Modern theme (or Arbus, which builds on it), head to your archive settings and flip on the Latest issue link option. The Classic and Lovelace themes have linked to your latest issue for a while now — this brings Modern in line, on your terms.

Want full control instead of our very boring copy? Use template tags! Your subscribe-page description can reach straight into your recent issues, so you can write whatever framing you like around them:

Try it: a description that links to your latest issues

newsletter.latest_public_email gives you the most recent public issue, and newsletter.recent_public_emails gives you a list you can loop and slice — both only resolve when your archive is public, so the same privacy rule applies no matter how you write it.

Original source

The Modern theme builds its archive index out of the same 600px reading column it uses for posts. That's the right width for reading an email, but on a wide desktop it left a tall single column of posts marooned in the middle of the screen with a few hundred pixels of empty space on either side.

You can now hand that space back to your posts. Head to your archive settings and you'll find a new Archive layout option on the Modern theme:

• Single column — exactly what you have today. This is the default, so nothing changes unless you ask it to.
• Two-column grid — on screens wider than about 900px, the index lays out as a two-column grid so more posts fit above the fold. On phones and narrow windows it stays a single column, so your mobile readers get the same experience either way.

It's purely a layout choice for the index page — your post pages, cards, and everything else look exactly as they did. If you've been wishing your archive felt a little less like an endless scroll, give the grid a try.

Two columns not enough? The Arbus theme goes all the way to an image-first grid if your newsletter leans visual.

Original source

The Modern theme builds its archive index out of the same 600px reading column it uses for posts. That's the right width for reading an email, but on a wide desktop it left a tall single column of posts marooned in the middle of the screen with a few hundred pixels of empty space on either side.

You can now hand that space back to your posts. Head to your archive settings and you'll find a new Archive layout option on the Modern theme:

• Single column — exactly what you have today. This is the default, so nothing changes unless you ask it to.
• Two-column grid — on screens wider than about 900px, the index lays out as a two-column grid so more posts fit above the fold. On phones and narrow windows it stays a single column, so your mobile readers get the same experience either way.

It's purely a layout choice for the index page — your post pages, cards, and everything else look exactly as they did. If you've been wishing your archive felt a little less like an endless scroll, give the grid a try.

Two columns not enough? The Arbus theme goes all the way to an image-first grid if your newsletter leans visual.

Original source

If you dropped a survey into a transactional email — your welcome email, say — and waited for the responses to roll in, you waited a while. The survey rendered fine in a regular email, but in a transactional one it quietly vanished: nothing in the preview, nothing in the sent email. (A reader hit exactly this and was kind enough to tell us about it.)

That's fixed. Surveys now render in your transactional emails and record responses just like they do everywhere else:

• Your welcome and confirmation emails, so you can ask new subscribers a question the moment they join — when they're most engaged.
• Gift, churn, and premium-confirmation emails, if you'd like to hear from subscribers at those moments too.

You add one the same way as in any email: in fancy mode, type /, search for your survey by its code or question, and Buttondown drops in the {{ survey.code }} tag for you. Responses are still recorded once per subscriber, so your results stay clean.

Nothing to turn on — this is live for every newsletter with surveys enabled.

Original source

If you dropped a survey into a transactional email — your welcome email, say — and waited for the responses to roll in, you waited a while. The survey rendered fine in a regular email, but in a transactional one it quietly vanished: nothing in the preview, nothing in the sent email. (A reader hit exactly this and was kind enough to tell us about it.)

That's fixed. Surveys now render in your transactional emails and record responses just like they do everywhere else:

• Your welcome and confirmation emails, so you can ask new subscribers a question the moment they join — when they're most engaged.
• Gift, churn, and premium-confirmation emails, if you'd like to hear from subscribers at those moments too.

You add one the same way as in any email: in fancy mode, type /, search for your survey by its code or question, and Buttondown drops in the {{ survey.code }} tag for you. Responses are still recorded once per subscriber, so your results stay clean.

Nothing to turn on — this is live for every newsletter with surveys enabled.

Original source

Open up a team member and you'll find a new notes section waiting for you. It's the same notes you can already leave on a subscriber, a tag, or a survey — now pointed at the people you work with.

Use it for whatever context is worth keeping next to a name:

• What they handle — "runs the Friday digest," "owns paid subs," "here to proofread."
• Why they're here — who vouched for them, or when you brought them on.
• Anything future-you will want — the sort of thing you'd otherwise stash in a doc somewhere and lose track of.

Notes stay private to your team — your subscribers never see them — and they live right in the member's drawer, so there's no extra place to go check. If you've used notes anywhere else in Buttondown, this works exactly the same way.

It builds on team collaboration, and it's live now for every newsletter on a plan with teams. Nothing to turn on.

Original source