Status Guard Alerts Lite

Description

A separate paid Pro version with unlimited subscribers is available from the developer’s website: https://demo.devsolutionsfinder.com/sga-store/

Status Guard Alerts Lite is developed and maintained by karticklnsel (kartick@lnsel.com) on behalf of lnsel.com (https://lnsel.com).

Status Guard Alerts Lite lets a site owner set a short status alert
(“Office closed today due to weather”, “Service disruption on Route 4”,
“We’ve moved locations!”) in seconds from a phone or the WordPress admin.
The alert:

• Displays as a banner on the website (auto, or via [ssal_alert_banner])
• Can optionally be emailed instantly to your email subscribers
• Can optionally be texted instantly to your SMS subscribers (Twilio)
• Can also just be updated on the website with nothing sent

Also included: CSV export of subscriber lists, and an alert history with
one-click reuse and delete.

Visitors subscribe via the [ssal_email_signup] and [ssal_sms_signup]
shortcodes. The owner manages both lists (add/remove/export) under
Site Alerts in the WP admin.

Each list (email and SMS) supports up to 25 active subscribers.

Why not a marketing-suite plugin

Most all-in-one marketing plugins gate SMS and automation behind
expensive ecommerce-tier pricing. Status Guard Alerts Lite instead talks
directly to SMTP2GO (https://www.smtp2go.com) for email and
Twilio (https://www.twilio.com) for SMS. You create your own
accounts, paste the keys into Site Alerts → Settings, and pay those
providers directly. No middleman markup.

Setup

1. Install & activate the plugin.
2. Go to Site Alerts → Settings:
   • Email: sign up at smtp2go.com, create an API key (Settings → API
     Keys), paste it into the SMTP2GO field, and set your From
     Name/Email. Or fill in your own SMTP server instead.
   • SMS (optional): create a Twilio account, buy a number, and paste
     the Account SID, Auth Token and From Number.
   • Use Test Delivery at the bottom to confirm both work.
3. Add [ssal_alerts_page] to a page (e.g. a “Get Alerts” page) so
   visitors can subscribe.
4. Go to Site Alerts → Set Alert whenever there’s an update. Type
   the message, check the box to show it on the site, and check
   “Email list” and/or “SMS text list” only if you want it actively
   sent out. Hit Publish.

Alert Expiry

Every alert can have an optional expiry date/time. When it passes,
the website banner automatically switches to a default “all clear”
message (configured under Settings, leave it blank to just hide the
banner instead). This only updates the website; it does not send
another email or text, since the original alert was already delivered
when published.

Shortcodes

• [ssal_alert_banner] — the alert banner (also shows automatically
  if “Auto-display” is enabled in Settings).
• [ssal_email_signup] — email subscribe form.
• [ssal_sms_signup] — SMS subscribe form, shown with your consent text.
• [ssal_email_unsubscribe] — self-service “enter your email to
  unsubscribe” form. It never unsubscribes on submit; it emails a
  confirmation link to the address entered, so only the actual inbox
  owner can complete it.
• [ssal_alert_history limit="10"] — a styled table of recent alerts.
• [ssal_alerts_link] — a styled button linking to your Alerts page
  (set the URL once under Settings → Website Banner → Alerts Page URL,
  or pass url="..." directly).
• [ssal_alerts_page] — drop this single shortcode on a page to get
  the signup forms + unsubscribe + recent history, already laid out
  and styled.

SMS subscribers can reply STOP to any text; Twilio handles opt-outs
automatically for standard numbers.

External services

This plugin connects to the following services only when the site administrator configures them.

Data sent: Subscriber email addresses and alert email content when notifications are sent.

Purpose: Deliver email notifications requested by site administrators and subscribers.

Service provider: SMTP2GO
Terms of Service: https://www.smtp2go.com/terms/
Privacy Policy: https://www.smtp2go.com/privacy/

Service provider: Twilio
Data sent: Subscriber phone numbers and alert text when SMS notifications are sent.
Purpose: Deliver SMS notifications requested by site administrators and subscribers.
Terms of Service: https://www.twilio.com/legal/tos
Privacy Policy: https://www.twilio.com/legal/privacy