Product

Introducing MailChannels Host Console

By Desmond Liao | 5 minute read

Next week, we will release an entirely redesigned and updated web console that we think will delight our users.

We’ve worked hard over the last quarter to improve the user experience (UX) of the web console, taking into account feedback from our customers.

One of the first things you will notice when you sign in to the redesigned console is a new vertical navigation system along the left side of each page. This puts relevant links directly where you need them at all times, making it easy to find your way around the console interface.

You’ll find many of the same pages you’ve become accustomed to using every day, plus some new sections to help you get the most out of the service. Featured prominently at the bottom left of every page is a feedback button. We love getting your feedback and encourage you to use the button for questions about the console or any suggestions you have — even if it seems insignificant. Host Console users and SMTP Passwords have been moved under the Account Settings section. Apart from the console interface refresh, most of the updates affect the Dashboard and Billing pages.

Dashboard

The newly designed Dashboard quickly tells you what’s going on with your account. The Usage Bar, at the top of the Dashboard, was developed in response to one of the most frequently asked questions: “How much of my prepaid plan have I used up so far this month?”.

Usage Bar

The Usage Bar tells you how many message credits you’ve consumed during the current billing cycle, and predicts the size of your next bill and how much email we expect you’ll send before the cycle is over. The left half of the Usage Bar, which is featured in a bold green color, shows you your current usage to date (i.e. how many message deliveries your account has attempted since the start of the billing cycle). The right half represent projected usage for the remainder of the billing cycle. The muted green section represents projected usage that is included with your plan. The muted red section represents projected usage beyond that included with your plan. If we don’t think you will exceed your plan limit, then you won’t see a muted red section.

Hovering over the markers above the usage bar will reveal the actual and projected message counts, while the display below the usage bar lets you know where you are in the billing cycle, how much of your included usage you’ve used, and how much of your included usage you are projected to use. We also show your projected bill assuming your usage continues at the current rate until the end of the cycle.

Deliverability

The Deliverability panel presents an overview of your mail flow. It is broken down over the specified time period by messages you have sent, messages we have queued, and messages we delivered.

The “Sent” figure counts all attempted messages, including those we rejected, or failed attempts at sending (for instance, due to invalid recipient domains or other problems). The “Queued” figure counts all actual messages that the service has received from you successfully, and which are being stored for eventual delivery to recipients. The “Delivered” figure shows how many messages have been successfully delivered to recipients on the Internet on your behalf.

Note that the number of Delivered messages may be larger than the number of Sent messages because some messages have more than one recipient. Each recipient of an email counts for a separate delivery (keep in mind that delivered messages do not count for billing purposes).

Top Senders

The Top Senders mini panels give you a quick view of your top three senders by IP Address, Sender ID and Sender Domain. Clicking on the chart will take you to a detailed Top Senders report for the given category, and clicking on the legend labels beneath each chart will take you to the Log Search page where you will find logs of all the email from that sender.

Note: The term Sender ID refers to the unique identifier by which we track sending behavior for a particular sender of email. Depending on the nature of an email message, we may identify the sender to be an IP address, email address, script file location, or even a strange-looking code. The important thing to know about Sender IDs is that we use them to track sender reputation, which in turn drives our decisions on how to route email from that sender.

Billing

The Billing page has been completely redesigned to give you access to more information and functionality, while keeping the most relevant information front and center. In the header, you will find an account summary showing your billing cycle, plan balance, and current charges. The new Billing page integrates many of the functions you formerly had to perform on a separate billing web site, such as changing your plan or updating your credit card.

Change Your Plan

One frequently requested feature is the ability to change your plan to better fit your needs, which will reduce variability in your monthly bill and/or reduce your overall costs. The new Change Your Plan pane lets you compare your existing plan to others and switch easily. To switch plans, just click on the Select a Different Plan drop-down in the top-right corner of the pane and then click the green button labeled Switch to This Plan.

Detailed Statement History

Now you can view your balance for recent statements, and review all transactions recorded on a particular statement.