# Listmonk Guide 

All the following is a guide for setting up your Listmonk for newsletter management.

## General Settings 

To start with Listmonk we need to start with setting our general settings. Setting your base url (listmonk.[your-domain.com]) and your newsletter email are the first steps. 

![alt text](listmonk-general.png)

![alt text](save-listmonk.png)

## SMTP / Email Configuration 

BNKops uses Proton Mail for our SMTP services and so this guide will outline how to use Listmonk with Proton. Free email SMTP services can be obtained with any major corporate provider however we do recommend using a paid service if possible.

## Proton SMTP Keys: 

We need to generate SMTP tokens from Proton for Listmonk.

Once logged into your Proton mail account, you want to navigate to the SMTP settings. To do so you click the `cog` - All settings - IMAP/SMTP - Generate token 

![alt text](proton-smtp.png)

Make sure to set a email for your newsletter specifically: 

![alt text](generate.png)

Login to Listmonk and navigate to the Settings - Settings - SMTP page: 

![alt text](listmonk-settings.png)

Input your settings and **set `Auth Protocol` to plain**

![alt text](image.png)

Test your connection and `Save`.

## Appearance 

### Email Templates

You can change your email templates with Listmonks built in editor or ask a LLM to create you a custom one: 

To create one using the in-built editor, go to Templates - New and then select Visual: 

![alt text](listmonk-editor.png)

### Site Colors 

You can update Listmonk sitewide colors by navitaging to Settings - Settings - Appearance and updating the CSS. 

![alt text](image-1.png)

You can ask a LLM to update BNKops css as well: 

```
body, html {
    background-color: #4A148C !important; /* Deep purple background */
    color: #FFFFFF !important;
    font-family: Arial, sans-serif !important;
}
.public {
    background-color: #4A148C !important; /* Deep purple background */
}
.container {
    max-width: 600px !important;
    margin: 20px auto !important;
    padding: 30px !important;
    background-color: #673AB7 !important; /* Lighter purple for container */
    border-radius: 8px !important;
    box-shadow: 0 0 20px rgba(0,0,0,0.3) !important;
}
.logo {
    display: none !important;
}
h1, h2, h3 {
    color: #F7A8B8 !important; /* Trans flag pink for headings */
}
h1 {
    font-size: 28px !important;
    text-align: center !important;
    margin-bottom: 20px !important;
    font-weight: bold !important;
}
label {
    color: #FFFFFF !important;
    font-weight: bold !important;
}
input[type="text"], input[type="email"], textarea {
    background-color: #512DA8 !important; /* Slightly darker purple for inputs */
    border: 1px solid #8E6CD8 !important; /* Lighter purple for borders */
    color: #FFFFFF !important;
    padding: 12px !important;
    border-radius: 4px !important;
    width: 100% !important;
    box-sizing: border-box !important;
    margin-bottom: 15px !important;
    font-size: 16px !important;
}
.btn, button[type="submit"] {
    background-color: #55CDFC !important; /* Trans flag blue for buttons */
    color: #000000 !important; /* Black text for readability */
    padding: 12px 20px !important;
    border: none !important;
    border-radius: 4px !important;
    cursor: pointer !important;
    font-weight: bold !important;
    width: 100% !important;
    margin-top: 15px !important;
    font-size: 16px !important;
    transition: background-color 0.3s !important;
    text-shadow: 0 0 1px rgba(255,255,255,0.5) !important; /* Subtle text shadow for legibility */
}
.btn:hover, button[type="submit"]:hover {
    background-color: #7BD4FF !important; /* Lighter blue on hover */
}
footer {
    display: none !important;
}
.checkbox-list label {
    color: #FFFFFF !important;
    font-weight: normal !important;
    display: inline !important;
}
/* Updated link styles to match branding */
a {
    color: #F7A8B8 !important; /* Trans flag pink for links */
    text-decoration: none !important;
}
a:hover {
    text-decoration: underline !important;
}
/* Make sure links in specific contexts maintain the branding */
.content a,
.page-content a,
.message-content a {
    color: #F7A8B8 !important; /* Trans flag pink for links */
    text-decoration: none !important;
}
.content a:hover,
.page-content a:hover,
.message-content a:hover {
    text-decoration: underline !important;
}
.mailing-list-archive {
    text-align: right !important;
    margin-top: 15px !important;
}
.form-group {
    margin-bottom: 20px !important;
}
input[type="checkbox"] {
    margin-right: 5px !important;
    accent-color: #55CDFC !important; /* Trans flag blue for checkboxes */
}
::placeholder {
    color: #B39DDB !important; /* Light purple for placeholders */
}
```