Feature idea: SMS with link to hosted full message

[tbar0970]

With Gen Y-Z hardly using email, and social platforms coming and going, SMS is re-emerging as a key medium.

Some organisations have a comms strategy where an SMS goes out "Hi Tom, we have news about XYZ. Click here for the full update: bit.ly/assuqwr234"

We can do that with Jethro currently by

• putting up a page on our website or whatever with the full content
• shortening the URL using a url-shortening service
• Sending an SMS via Jethro containing the short URL

...but it takes a bit of work.

It might be valuable for Jethro to make this process easier via a "Send SMS with link to full message" feature. The Jethro user enters a rich-text full message and a short SMS message. Jethro saves the full message and makes it available at whateverchurch.jethro.url/public?call=hostedmessage&id=hasheddigits. It then auto-generates a shortened version of that URL, puts that at the end of the SMS message and sends the SMS.

Would probably want the ability to edit and delete hosted messages after the broadcast, and perhaps set an expiry date on them. Hosted message might need to include images. (Could they be hosted outside Jethro??)

[tim-pearce]

In my case, Jethro is not publicly accessible so such a page would need to be elsewhere. While we are at it I would like for SMS (and email as appropriate)

• pick list of recipients with the ability to change the name (May want to send to Mr & Mrs rather than separate)
• text substitution in SMS (such as first_name). I think it would be better to use your own domain name. If it's too long, get a shorter alternate name. Could use a template HTML file which Jethro inserts your message into then FTP to your web site in a predetermined spot where either your CMS knows to look or it could simply be in a folder like https://yoursite.org/m. (the template would allow it to look like and link to the rest of your site) If the function allows you to create your own name for the file you could reuse a name (weekly_roster).