Newsletters: Prepare CSV via phpMyAdmin

You might currently have a members database with a table containing records of members, each with an email address and possibly other values as well such as first names, last names, ages, genders, etc…

With the flexibility of the importing feature of the WordPress Newsletter plugin, you can import a CSV file with any structure (any columns in any order) into the plugin as subscriber records and start sending newsletters to those subscribers immediately.

In this example, I’ll be using a users database table of a CakePHP based website. I will export the users to a CSV file via phpMyAdmin so that it is ready for importing into the WordPress newsletter plugin.

First off, open phpMyAdmin via your hosting control panel for the specified database. Then view the structure of the database table from which you’d like to export. At the top, you’ll notice a tab/link captioned “Export”. Click this tab in order to go to the Export section.

In the Export section, select “CSV” as the export type. Upon clicking the “CSV” radio button, you’ll see some CSV options being displayed. You need to terminate fields with a comma, encapsulate/enclose fields with nothing (leave blank) and terminate rows/records with “\r\n”. Field values should be escaped with a backslash “\”.


click to enlarge

With all the setting values appropriately filled in, you are ready to export the CSV dump. Check the “Save as file” checkbox at the bottom and hit the “Go” button to export the records to a CSV spreadsheet. After downloading the file, the spreadsheet is ready for use with the WordPress Newsletter plugin.

Website & Email Hosting

Get the best website & email hosting for speed, security, and peace of mind. No restrictions. Freedom to do what you need in order to run your business.

Host Now

Pin It on Pinterest