Simplenews multiple

Simplenews Multiple extends Drupal's Simplenews module to organize newsletters in a taxonomy hierarchy and send one issue to multiple related categories without duplicate emails.

Simplenews Multiple is designed for Drupal websites that use Simplenews to manage email newsletters. It adds a hierarchical category structure so content authors can target several related newsletter categories while subscribers receive each issue only once.

Features

• Hierarchical newsletter categories: uses a taxonomy vocabulary to organize newsletter categories with parent and child terms.
• Multiple-category issue delivery: allows a newsletter issue to be associated with multiple compatible child categories.
• Shared newsletter recipient lists: related child categories can share the recipient list represented by their common parent category.
• Duplicate-recipient protection: combines subscribers from the selected newsletters and removes duplicate email addresses before delivery.
• Automatic newsletter mapping: creates and maintains one taxonomy term for each Simplenews newsletter.
• Newsletter synchronization: keeps the taxonomy mapping synchronized when Simplenews newsletters are created, renamed, or deleted.
• Category-aware issue field: replaces the standard Simplenews newsletter selection with an entity reference field connected to the configured taxonomy vocabulary.
• Hierarchy validation: validates category relationships both in the taxonomy interface and on the server when an issue is submitted.
• Subscription block: provides a subscription block that displays the configured newsletter hierarchy while allowing subscriptions only to leaf categories.
• Existing newsletter migration: synchronizes existing Simplenews newsletters with taxonomy terms when the module is installed.

This module is useful when a website has several related newsletters or content categories that need to share subscribers. For example, a site can organize several child categories under a common parent and allow authors to select multiple sibling categories for one issue while ensuring that subscribers do not receive duplicate messages.

Post-Installation

After installation, the module automatically prepares the taxonomy structure and fields required for the newsletter mapping.

On installation, the module:

1. Creates the configured newsletter taxonomy vocabulary if it does not already exist.
2. Adds an entity reference field to the vocabulary so that each taxonomy term can be associated with one Simplenews newsletter.
3. Creates the configured unlimited entity reference field on content types enabled for Simplenews.
4. Synchronizes existing Simplenews newsletters with taxonomy terms.
5. Maintains the mapping when newsletters are created, renamed, or deleted.

The default configuration is:

newsletter_vocabulary: newsletter
newsletter_category_field: term_newsletters
newsletter_category_label: 'Newsletter categories'

These values are configuration defaults rather than settings available through a configuration form. If the machine names are changed after installation, existing vocabulary, field, and term data are not renamed automatically. Plan and perform any required data migration before changing them on a site with existing content.

The configured vocabulary supports a maximum of two taxonomy levels:

• A root term can represent a newsletter and can have direct child terms.
• A child term cannot have children of its own.
• Each Simplenews newsletter can be referenced by only one taxonomy term.
• A single category can be selected on its own.
• Multiple child categories can be selected when they share the same direct parent.
• A parent category can be selected together with one or more of its direct children.
• A parent category cannot be selected by itself.
• Categories from different parents and multiple root categories cannot be selected together.

To create and send an issue, edit a content item belonging to a Simplenews-enabled content type and select the relevant terms from the newsletter category tree. The standard Simplenews newsletter field is hidden and replaced by the configured taxonomy reference field.

The module also provides the Simplenews multiple subscription block. Add it from Structure > Block layout and configure the categories that should be displayed. Parent categories remain visible to preserve the hierarchy, but only leaf newsletter categories can be selected for subscription. The standard Simplenews subscriber and confirmation workflows remain in use.

When enabling the module on an existing production site, back up the database, export the configuration, review the generated vocabulary and mapping terms in a non-production environment, and clear Drupal caches after configuration changes.

Additional Requirements

• Drupal 10.6 or later, or Drupal 11.
• Simplenews 4.1 or later.
• Term Reference Tree 2.x.
• Drupal core's Node and Taxonomy modules.

The Node and Taxonomy modules are included with Drupal core. Simplenews and Term Reference Tree must be installed separately before enabling Simplenews Multiple.

Install the project and its dependencies with Composer:

composer require drupal/simplenews_multiple

Enable the required modules with Drush:

drush en simplenews simplenews_multiple -y
drush cr

Recommended modules/libraries

No additional modules or libraries are required beyond Simplenews and Term Reference Tree.

The module is designed to work with the standard Simplenews subscription, confirmation, and delivery workflows. The Term Reference Tree module provides the taxonomy tree interface used to select newsletter categories while preserving their hierarchy.

Similar projects

Simplenews provides the core newsletter functionality, including newsletter management, subscriber management, issue creation, and email delivery. Simplenews Multiple extends Simplenews by adding hierarchical taxonomy categories, multi-category issue targeting, shared recipient lists, and duplicate-recipient protection.

The standard Simplenews module normally associates an issue with newsletter categories directly. Simplenews Multiple replaces that selection with a taxonomy-based structure, allowing related categories to be selected together while enforcing compatibility rules on the server.

Term Reference Tree provides the taxonomy tree widget used by the module, but it does not provide newsletter mapping, issue delivery logic, subscriber deduplication, or Simplenews integration on its own.

Supporting this Module

There are currently no Patreon, OpenCollective, or other public funding links associated with this project.

Bug reports and feature requests can be submitted through the Simplenews Multiple issue queue.

When reporting an issue, include the Drupal core version, Simplenews version, Term Reference Tree version, reproduction steps, and relevant configuration.

Community Documentation

The module's README.md file contains documentation about installation, requirements, configuration, taxonomy hierarchy rules, issue creation, subscription blocks, upgrades, and troubleshooting considerations.

Additional documentation and support are available through the Simplenews Multiple issue queue.

The project is maintained by Pascual Pérez Blanco.

Simplenews Multiple is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later (GPL-2.0-or-later).