MPS Newsletter Generator

GitHub Repository Link

A Python tool that automatically generates HTML email newsletters for DCUMPS (DCU Media Production Society) by processing HTML content from ZIP files and uploading images to external hosting.

Features

• Automatic Image Upload: Uploads images to postimages.org for reliable hosting
• Smart Caching: Caches uploaded images to avoid re-uploading
• Template System: Uses Jinja2 templates for consistent newsletter formatting
• Section Processing: Automatically processes different newsletter sections (chairperson, events, etc.)
• Social Media Integration: Includes social media links and icons
• Email-Ready Output: Generates HTML files optimized for email clients

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+
• Internet connection (for image uploads)
• postimages.org account (for image hosting)

Environment Setup

Create a .env file in the project root with your postimages.org credentials:

[email protected]
POSTIMAGES_PASSWORD=your_password

Note: Keep your .env file secure and never commit it to version control.

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Install dependencies: bash pip install -r requirements.txt
3. Configure your settings in config.py:
4. Update image mappings for different sections
5. Set social media links and icons
6. Ensure header images are in the assets/header_images/ directory

Usage

1. Prepare your newsletter content as an HTML file
2. Zip the HTML file and any images together
3. Run the generator: bash python main.py your_newsletter.zip
4. The tool will:
5. Extract the ZIP file
6. Upload new images to postimages.org
7. Process the HTML content
8. Generate a final newsletter file: mps-email-YYYY-MM-DD.html

Configuration

Image Mappings

Edit config.py to map section names to header images:

image_mappings = {
    "logo": "./assets/header_images/1.png",
    "chairperson": "./assets/header_images/2.png",
    "events": "./assets/header_images/7.png",
    # ... more mappings
}

Social Media Links

Configure social media links and icons:

social_data = [
    {
        "social_link": "https://www.facebook.com/dcumps",
        "social_image": "./assets/icons/mc_facebook.png"
    },
    # ... more social links
]

Output

The tool generates a single HTML file named mps-email-YYYY-MM-DD.html that contains: - Responsive email layout - Section-specific header images - Processed content from your input HTML - Social media footer with links - Email-optimized styling

Notes

• Images are cached in image_cache.json to avoid re-uploading
• Temporary directories are automatically cleaned up
• The tool handles Windows and Google Drive file system quirks
• All images are uploaded to postimages.org for reliable hosting

Troubleshooting

• If image uploads fail, check your internet connection and postimages.org credentials
• Ensure your HTML file has proper section markers (<p class="c...">)
• Check that all referenced images exist in the ZIP file

To-do:

• [ ] Replace