I was looking for a solution that would allow me to set up a list of recipients, then a few mailing lists based on those recipients. Once that is in place, I want to create a text only mailing with a link to a Joomla article, so I can verify if the mailing has a decent response rate.

I tried Acajoom and wasn't able to work through the wizard set-up and the logic behind that component. It wouldn't allow me to send a test mailing and edit the mailing prior to sending it.

Letterman on the other hand lets me do this in only a few straightforward steps. Download was easy enough, although it wasn't quite clear if the fix is a full version, or if one needs to first use the installer, and then the fix. Setting it up (configuration) is very straightforward and doesn't need any explanation. Building a recipient list is also very easy. Finally, creating a mailing is as easy as making an article.

Within a few minutes, your first mailing is sent out.

However: you don't have any influence in whether or not you wish your mailing to carry the unsubscribe footer. You can't define a text only mailing, you always have an HTML mailing with a text only alternative. It lacks the long list of features and very nice GUI of Acajoom, but it does exactly what it says it does.

It could be my lack of time and my expectation of how software should work, but Acajoom doesn't do it for me.

I'm looking for a solution that lets me easily create a list of recipients first. Next I want to create different mailing lists out of the recipients. Once I have set up my recipients and mailing lists, I want to create a mailing. In the mailing I want to have a link to an online Joomla article, so I can track which recipients have read the mailing and performed an action on it. I don't need a front-end registration method, although this is included with Acajoom.

The online information suggests I can do this. But in the end it doesn't quite work without spending a lot of time trying to understand the logic behind the component.

The download is hidden behind a registration, but once found it's easy to get. Installation is very straightforward. No problems whatsoever. After the installation, Acajoom guides the user to its first set-up. Well done, good interface. However, it's not quite clear where and what you'd have to do. The GUI of the component (control panel) is very nice and practical. Big thumbs up. The GUI also gave me the idea that what I wanted was present in the component. So far, so good.

Using it to practically define the mailing itself, is something different. Acajoom has its own logic, and one has to follow every step carefully, else the mailing will not be sent as expected. Simply creating a mailing, selecting the recipients and send a test mail prior to sending the actual mailing is hard to do IMHO. I did manage to set up a list, subscribers and create a mailing, but after I tried to send a test mail, I couldn't edit the mailing itself, nor was I able to switch to a text only mailing.

I have also used Letterman, which has less features and isn't fit for my purpose, but at least there I have an immediate success sending out a mailing.