Topics

16

General Help & How-To / New client questions

« on: October 17, 2006, 11:09:17 am »

do you have anyone on your staff that could show me via the phone.......

Right now I'm a one-man-operation.  Unfortunately, telephone support is not available at this time and I do not know of anyone who can offer it to you.  For absolutely free assistance please post to the forum at http://listmailpro.com/forum.  If you require any hands-on installation help please order at least a “Server Analysis” from http://listmailpro.com/support

how to load my leads

Your leads should be in CSV format.  Once they are, to import them load ListMail, click "User Database", make sure you're on the desired "Current List", and click "Import".

send

You can send an instant email to an entire list with the "Send Email" button on the main page.  It's also possible to schedule timed followup message sequences that are sent starting on the day the user subscribes.

set up a lead capture page using the html in your system

You can generate a basic signup form on the ListMail "List Settings" -> "Signup Code" page.  You will probably want to format the HTML further for appearance purposes.

....oh and also set up regularly scheduled messages, sent through the autoresponder.

You can scheduled "one-off" messages with the scheduler or set up a timed sequence of emails with the followups feature.  Repetetive scheduling such as daily, weekly, monthly, etc. sending is coming.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance!

Regards

17

Server Optimization, Tweaks / Locate blocks against your server

« on: October 04, 2006, 01:55:28 pm »

I've been working on a command-line PHP script to parse the maillogs and otherwise check for blocks against the server.

This script could be run on a regular cron schedule, such as follows for every 12 hours:

Code: [Select]

0 2,14 * * * /usr/bin/php -q /path/to/spamblockfinder.php > /dev/null 2>&1
There's still a lot to be done (such as BL, spamcop, etc. lookups and ignoring blocks based on time) but here it is so far:

Code: [Select]

<?php
// find spam blocks - parse maillog to find urls, check hotmail connection

// config
$report_to = 'dean@listmailpro.com';
$maillog = '/usr/local/psa/var/log/maillog';
// end config

// parse the maillog
$fp = fopen($maillog,'r');
$i = 1;

$urls=array();
$out = '';

while(!feof($fp)){
 $line = fgets($fp,1024);
 $line = substr($line,0,strlen($line)-1);
 if(!strstr($line,'http://') // make sure logline contains a url
  || strstr($line,'AOL_SPAM_COMPLAINT') // my custom aol script
  || stristr($line,'greylist') // greylisting, temporary error
  || stristr($line,'postgrey')
  || strstr($line,'User_unknown') // normal error, let bounce
  || strstr($line,'Your_email_address_is_not_listed_in_the_Address_Book_of') // yahoo 'greenlist' error, let bounce
 ){ continue; } // skip
 // start line at http
 $full = substr($line,strpos($line,'http://'));
 // strip trailing /
 if(substr($full,strlen($full)-1)=='/') $full = substr($full,0,strlen($full)-1);
 $base = substr($full,0,strpos($full,'/',7));
 // skip if base url already processed
 if(!in_array($base,$urls)){
  $urls[]=$base;
  // log line
  $out .= "LogLine[$i]: $line\n";
  // full url
  $out .= "FullURL[$i]: $full\n";
  // smart url
  $patterns = array('/_/','/\//','/>/');
  $surl = preg_replace($patterns,' ',substr($full,strpos($full,'/',7)));
  $surl = explode(' ',$surl);
  $surl = $base.'/'.$surl[1];
  $out .= "SmartURL[$i]: $surl\n";
  // base url
  if(strstr($base,'aol.com')) $aol=1;
  $out .= "BaseURL[$i]: $base\n";
  $out .= "\n";
 }
 $i++;
}

// check hotmail
getmxrr('hotmail.com', $mxhosts);
foreach($mxhosts as $mx){
 if(!$hot){ $hot = @fsockopen($mx,25,$null,$null,10); @fclose($hot); }
}

// get server info
$serv_host = str_replace("\n",'',shell_exec('hostname'));
$serv_ip = gethostbyname($serv_host);

// output
$head = "Spamblock Report for $serv_host ($serv_ip)\n\n";
if(!$hot) $head .= "* HotMail is refusing our connections! (http://postmaster.hotmail.com)\n\n";
if($aol) $head .= "* One or more AOL blocks are in place.  It is recommended you phone the AOL postmaster hotline with your IP (seen
 above) for more information and, most likely, a quick removal of the block.  It is also recommended to apply for whitelisting and a
 feedback loop.\n - http://postmaster.aol.com/contact (List of contact phone numbers)\n - http://postmaster.aol.com (Further informa
tion)\n\n";

$out = $head.$out;
echo $out;

if(count($urls)==0&&$hot) exit();

mail($report_to,"$serv_host ($serv_ip)",$out,"From: \"Spam Block Finder\" <blocks@$serv_host>");
?>

18

Customization, Integration / osCommerce Integration

« on: September 28, 2006, 01:28:09 am »

A client intends to integrate ListMail with osCommerce!  We've agreed to take it to the forum instead of hiding it from everyone via email (thanks, Eli!)

If you can come up with the code to be placed in the shopping cart pages, I
think I can reference that to do all the other internal updating
pages.  (customer account area, and Administration area).

The page where a customer put's in their address information, I think I
just want to make an additional call to the ListMail Pro software, which
will update the data there as well.


1.  post customer name to ListMail database
2.  post customer email to ListMail database
3.  post subscription status test
         if person chose 'yes' to subscribe -- post as 'yes'
         if person chose 'no' to subscribe -- post as 'no'


Then, all list mailings and removal functions would be handled by the
ListMail pro software -- independent of my shopping cart information.

Seems simple enough.

Yes, this seems straightforward.  Upon successful purchase the user would be inserted into ListMail with, if I understand #3 correctly, a custom variable to determine whether the user would like to be included in followup email.

If I reference everything having to do with list management to point to the
ListMail software, and any functions for editing, simply point over to the
ListMail account -- then the ListMail database should always contain
current subscription data.  I'll just cut out every "newsletter" option
from my osCommerce software, and just point the link to the ListMail account.

It sounds like you have the right idea!  Be careful, though. I don't recommend necessarily removing features, but adding instead.

So, if you can come up with the code that will connect to the ListMail
hosting database, and make the customer information update --  I think I
can figure out what's going on enough to make the changes everywhere else that needs it.

I haven't used osCommerce myself... Am I correct that the user will be updating their 'profile' from within osCommerce and that changes made there should automatically update ListMail?

We need a way to link users in ListMail to users in osCommerce.

The user could be identified based on email address and ListMail-list  / osCommerce-product #.

I don't recommend adding an additional -field- to the osCommerce user database, where we might store the ListMail user ID#, as that might break things... but we -could- create a whole new separate table to store osCommerce ID vs. ListMail ID.

To start with addition, let's look at the "simpler PHP insert script".  While it hasn't been done yet a similarly simple script could be setup for removes.

Code: [Select]

  $url = "http://example.com/mail/signup.php?list=1&email=$email&fname=$first_name&lname=$last_name&seq=1&del=0";
   $lmp = fopen($url,'r');
   fclose($lmp);

The above code, run after purchase, would insert a user to list 1 if they are not already on it.  We would want to insert some additional code above it to determine the list # based on product.  We would also want to take into account the custom option you mentioned, where you allow users to choose to 'subscribe' or not.  On that subject, couldn't we just ignore users who choose not to subscribe as long as it doesn't create an error when updating or cancelling?  Or, did you want the 'welcome' message from ListMail sent upon -any- purchase, regardless of the 'subscription' option?

Let's hope this integration goes smoothly and helps a large # of ListMail clients!  :lol:

19

General Help & How-To / Send to users ON one list but NOT on other lists.

« on: September 06, 2006, 01:52:26 am »

Many users have requested the ability to send to users ON one list but NOT on other lists.

The only solution I have so far requires a User Selection "Custom Query" and MySQL 4.1+

This example selects users on list 1 but not 5 or 6:

Code: [Select]

a
 WHERE a.list = '1'
 AND cnf = '1'
 AND NOT
 EXISTS (
  SELECT *
  FROM lm_users b
  WHERE a.email = b.email
  AND b.list = '5'
  AND cnf = '1'
)  AND NOT
 EXISTS (
  SELECT *
  FROM lm_users c
  WHERE a.email = c.email
  AND c.list = '6'
  AND cnf = '1'
)
There is an interesting comment in the MySQL manual regarding the EXISTS statement: [Link]

EXISTS is supported from 4.1 on. Earlier versions of MySQL can try rewriting the query using a LEFT JOIN.

I hope to be able to take the time to figure this out soon.  

Regards

20

Development, Suggestions / 10 more custom fields? (Modify lm_users table?)

« on: September 05, 2006, 04:00:27 pm »

This has been suggested a few times but will require modifying the ListMail users database table.  Such a change -will- break plugins and custom scripts that insert users into the ListMail database -  this is why it hasn't been done yet.

I've created this post/poll to receive input about this change.

Please take the time to vote!

21

Testimonials, Feedback / Client sends a spontaneous testimonial

« on: September 01, 2006, 04:19:27 pm »

Dear Dean:

I just had to email you to let you know that I am extremely pleased with ListMailPro! I have been using a stand-alone mailer, that actually cost me twice as much as ListMailPro, but really cannot compare to ListMailPro at all! I feel like I was cheated (both finanically and operationally) with that other mailing program now that I have been using ListMailPro for a few weeks. Thank you so much for this program and your support.

Sincerely,

Kevin Gugliotta

Thank you, Kevin!

22

Development, Suggestions / Bulk delete

« on: August 31, 2006, 12:46:07 pm »

Bulk delete from current list or all lists by way of pasted or imported list of addresses

23

Testimonials, Feedback / Another happy customer

« on: August 14, 2006, 08:09:29 am »

Thanks DW. Everything is running fine right now so I am going to leave it as it is. As I have said many times before, Thank you very much for all of your help. I have spent a lot of money on the internet for different programs. I can honestly say that buying the Listmail Pro program is the best money I have spent. Your service and support is great. Thank you again. Keep up the good work.

24

Development, Suggestions / Note to self re: Tracked Link Features

« on: July 28, 2006, 05:05:58 pm »

http://listmailpro.com/forum/index.php?topic=496.45

http://listmailpro.com/forum/index.php?topic=29.0

25

Development, Suggestions / v1.87 General Testing

« on: June 28, 2006, 01:27:07 am »

If you upgrade to this version successfully we'd love to know about it!  Please post any questions, discussion, issues, bug reports etc. regarding new features or changes relevant to this release here.

26

General Help & How-To / Some custom HTML and signup form questions

« on: June 19, 2006, 07:19:59 pm »

Your first question:

> I have designed a newsletter in dreamweaver with differnt pages such as the
> initial newsletter, an unsubscribe and unsubscribe confirm page etc. How
> do I go about sending it via listmail? Do i paste the codes into the separate
> sections in listmail (EG in the custom code for unsubscribe etc), or do I make
> them link independantly in dreamweaver then paste in the whole site into the
> message compostion custom html section? Sorry if this sounds stupid, I am new
> to web design! Could you include the codes I need for this please!

It sounds like you're trying to enter Custom HTML.  You should not modify any message codes for this.  Browse to the Custom HTML page you would like to use, click in the textbox and press Ctrl-A to select all.  Hit Delete to clear out the old data, and then paste your new page.  Note that on the Unsubscribe Confirm page you MUST have a message code of the type "Remove Confirm" - a special code used only for this Custom HTML page to output the confirmation button.

Your second question:

> Could you also answer another question for me? I'm trying to make a page
> where users can unsubscribe, and understand I need to use the 'remove link'
> code, but cant work out where I need to put it in the HTML text. Currently
> the code i have is:
>
> <form id="form1" name="form1" method="post"
> action="http://www.example.com/listmail/signup.php">
>       email:<br />
>           <input type="text" name="textfield" id="textfield" size="60" sup
> value="email address"/>
>           <input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit" />
>       </p>
>       </form>

First you're missing the "list" variable, which is required. Second, that "textfield" field needs to be named "email" and appears to be incorrectly formatted. Third, you do not need to use the 'remove link' message code when creating an HTML unsubscription form.  The var you need to set is "submode" to the value "unsub".  Here's a generic version from the ListMail 'Signup Code' generator:

Code: [Select]

<form method=post action=http://www.example.com/mail/signup.php>
<input type=hidden name=list value=1>
First Name: <input type=text name=fname size=10><br>
Email: <input type=text name=email><br>
<select name=submode>
<option value=sub>Subscribe</option>
<option value=unsub>Remove</option>
</select>
<input type=submit name=sup value="Go!">
</form>

To make the form remove ONLY, take out the select box and set "submode" to "unsub" in a hidden field:

Code: [Select]

<form method=post action=http://www.example.com/mail/signup.php>
<input type=hidden name=list value=1>
First Name: <input type=text name=fname size=10><br>
Email: <input type=text name=email><br>
<input type=hidden name=submode value=unsub>
<input type=submit name=sup value="Go!">
</form>

Regards

27

Testimonials, Feedback / Another happy client

« on: June 15, 2006, 04:11:30 pm »

This was a reply after doing some support via email.  Normally I do not provide support via email to prevent piracy, but I was able to verify ownership and the issue was somewhat sensitive so I decided to handle it there.

Hi Dean,

Thank you so much for taking the time to fix my ListMailPro.
Everything works so much better now. I realize that you
don't usually provide this kind of support and I want you to
know how much I appreciate it.
 
I really can't thank you enough for what you've done.

Warm regards,
Linda

28

Development, Suggestions / Custom HTML "forward to page" changes

« on: June 05, 2006, 08:41:20 am »

A user recently expressed a desire to process message codes on a 'forwarded-to' page.  This is possible with some PHP that loads the URL, grabs the HTML, processes it and outputs it.  The only drawback is signup.php would be shown in the address bar instead of the forward URL.

Almost the same thing could be achieved with a ListMail option to read a URL once then automatically place the HTML right in the Custom HTML 'data' section for editing.

29

Development, Suggestions / Followup EOS options

« on: June 01, 2006, 11:44:22 am »

> On some other responders, people, after finishing the sequence are
> transfered to another location,
> like a list or smth... so they don't get new sequence messages if they've
> finished them. I think it's
> more logical...

This is an excellent observation and I agree such functionality would be useful. I will put this on the feature list for ListMail.  I envision an option on the "List Settings" page allowing you to set users to be moved to another list when they have completed the followup sequence.  Another way to do it could be with an option when adding a followup to move all users on that followup ahead by one, so if you're adding a followup to the end of sequence they remain at the end of the sequence or 'ahead' of the added followup.  This is done automatically when inserting a followup before an existing one.  You might be able to trick ListMail into keeping your users at the end of sequence by inserting a followup BEFORE the last one, then moving it to the end of sequence...

30

Testimonials, Feedback / One of my favourite clients. :)

« on: April 29, 2006, 03:23:14 pm »

Dear Dean,

Thank you SO VERY MUCH! Again, your service is OUTSTANDING. I really appreciate your help and your expertise very, very much.

Warmly,
your friend Klaus