Email Newsletter Activity Indexes: Install New Updates
Link: https://support.brilliantdirectories.com/support/solutions/articles/12000109022
The Install New Updates module on the admin dashboard lists one-time platform installers that have pending steps for your specific website. Click the green Check For Updates button to refresh the list — an installer only appears when your site actually has something left to install, and it disappears from the list once its steps are complete.
What Email Newsletter Activity Indexes Does
A database index is like the index at the back of a book: it lets the database jump straight to the rows it needs instead of reading every row in a table. This installer adds indexes to the two existing tables where your website records email newsletter and automated email activity, so lookups against that history run faster. Adding an index does not change the data stored in the tables.
Specifically, it checks these tables and adds an index to any listed column that exists but is not yet indexed:
- email_auto_sent, the record of automated emails your site has sent (recipient, email name, date sent, status, and related details): indexes on the category_id, user_id, email, email_name, schedule_id, date_sent, status, response, and type columns
- email_auto_log, the log of email activity events: indexes on the email, database, database_id, event, response, and date columns
For the response column, which holds longer text, the installer adds a fulltext index (a type designed for searching within text) instead of a regular one. No rows are added, changed, or deleted; the installer only creates these lookup structures alongside the existing data. Tables that do not exist on your site are skipped.
Why It Appears
The installer appears when either of these tables has one of the listed columns without an index on it. This is typically age related: on older websites these tables were created before the indexes became part of the standard setup, so the email history is there but the lookup structures are missing. If both tables are already fully indexed, the installer does not appear.
Why It Matters
On an active site these tables grow steadily as emails are sent and their activity is logged. Without indexes, anything that looks up email history, EG finding what was sent to a particular member or on a particular date, has to scan the entire table, and that gets slower as the history accumulates. With the indexes in place, those lookups go straight to the matching rows. To be clear about the magnitude: this installer does not change which emails are sent, their content, or their timing. It is purely a speed improvement for reading the email activity history.
How to Run It
- From the admin dashboard, find the Install New Updates module and click Check For Updates.
- If your site has pending steps, Email Newsletter Activity Indexes appears in the list. Click Install.
- After it completes, click Check For Updates again — the entry disappears once all steps are done.
If Email Newsletter Activity Indexes does not appear in the list, your website is already up to date — the module only shows installers with pending steps, so there is nothing to do.
After Running
Your email sending history is unchanged and no emails are affected. Nothing is visibly different on the website itself; the benefit is faster database lookups against the email activity tables. On sites with a long email history, adding the indexes can take a few moments, so allow the install to finish before navigating away. When it finishes, click Check For Updates again and the entry disappears. The change is safe and requires no follow-up.
