Hi... before the flames begin...  I dont want a spam program.  My
company wants to send out very rare emails... maybe once a quarter to
2000 contacts.  These are existing customers, not
purchased/unsolicited names.  Regardless, I would like the following
capabilities:

1.  Self contained, doesnt require external email system to send messages.
2.  able to send HTML emails
3.  Offers the ability to unsubscribe, either by replying with
unsubscribe or clicking a link.
4.  contains/manages the mail list itself, including unsubscribed members.

Other bells and whistles would be nice, but our needs are pretty
simple.  I basically want something that will handle the mailings and
make sure we are doing what is legal and appropriate as far as giving
our customers an out.

Thanks much,

Scary

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Request for Question Clarification by leapinglizard-ga on 22 Sep 2004 14:40 PDT

I can recommend a program that meets requirements 2 through 4 above,
but I'm not sure about your requirement 1. What exactly do you mean by
self-contained? You do have a server that can send individual pieces
of mail, don't you?

leapinglizard

---

Clarification of Question by scaryberry-ga on 22 Sep 2004 15:17 PDT

leapin:

I guess one that wasnt client-based - i.e., one that didnt just plug
into Outlook.  We do have an exchange server.  I guess technically I
was thinking of one with it's own SMTP service, but priority-wise,
thats not superhigh.

scoutxr28:  unfortunately, it doesnt look like you're a researcher
yet, and as such, won't be able to answer my question in a
compensateable manner.  Comments would be appreciated, though.

Thanks,
Scary

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Request for Question Clarification by leapinglizard-ga on 22 Sep 2004 15:37 PDT

I'd say that you absolutely need an email server. I'm not aware of any
mailing-management software that is not built as a layer over an
existing SMTP server. In fact, I can see plenty of technical arguments
against incorporating  SMTP into such software. Would you be content
with a piece of software that you can run from a Linux box or other
low-cost mail server? Or one that you could run from an ordinary
webhosting account that costs 10 to 20 bucks a month?

leapinglizard

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Clarification of Question by scaryberry-ga on 22 Sep 2004 16:59 PDT

hi.  I'd be content with either solution.
S

Dear scaryberry,

I've been using the Mailman mailing list manager, a long-lived and
popular open-source package.

Mailman
http://www.list.org/

Online documentation for Mailman is available here.

GNU Mailman List Management Guide v 2.0
http://staff.imsa.edu/~ckolar/mailman/mailman-administration-v2.html

The default mode for a Mailman list is multiway, so that any
subscriber to the list is free to submit content that will
automatically be sent out to all subscribers. However, a list can be
configured in such a way that only its administrators are allowed to
broadcast content. The following instructions spell out one way to do
this. The domain name given in these instructions is specific to
ModWest users, but the remaining steps are universally applicable.

ModWest FAQ: How do I make an "Announce Only" newsletter with Mailman 2.1.x?
http://www.modwest.com/help/kb13-195.html

Mailman is written in Python, so you'll need to have a recent version
of the Python interpreter installed if you want to run the list from a
computer of your own. The machine where Mailman is installed must have
been previously set up so that it can send email directly through an
SMTP server.

Download Standard Python Software
http://python.org/download/

As an alternative, you can run Mailman from a webhosting account. One
webhost describes this feature as follows.

Cpanelhosting: Mailman Hosting
http://www.cpanelhosting.com/mailman-hosting.html

I happen to have a webhosting account with DreamHost, whose
instructions on setting up a Mailman discussion list are below. I
imagine that other webhosts would make it similarly easy to use
Mailman. To turn a discussion list into an e-newsletter list, I would
follow the steps given by ModWest above.

DreamHost Knowledge Base: Creating a discussion list
https://panel.dreamhost.com/kbase/index.cgi?area=2720&keyword=mailman

I can report from my own experience with Mailman that it supplies
users with an attractive and rather simple interface for subscribing
and unsubscribing from the list. This is important for the purpose of
meeting a webhost's spam guidelines. Those issued by DreamHost are
linked below. Other webhosts have similar policies. Note that as long
as your list is strictly opt-in, and subscribers are given an easy way
to opt out, your broadcasts will not be considered spam.

DreamHost Knowledge Base: Is my bulk email spam?
https://panel.dreamhost.com/kbase/index.cgi?area=171

Since Mailman allows you to send any kind of text, you can very well
use HTML in a broadcast mailing. Subscribers who use a text-based
email client will see the raw HTML, while those who use a graphical
one will see the page rendered as intended. In sum, the effectiveness
of HTML depends not on the sender but on the receiver.

If you feel that my answer is incomplete or inaccurate in any way, please
post a clarification request so that I have a chance to meet your needs
before you assign a rating.

Regards,

leapinglizard

Interesting.  I hadn't thought of using a listsrv app as the solution.
 Nice call.  Do you know of any ASP based equivalents?  We're an MS
shop.

Anyway, thanks for the good and quick answer.
S

Sure I can help you, I first got to find out how to officially get
this thing working and lock this question.

I don't know of an ASP-based equivalent, I'm afraid, but you should
have no trouble using Mailman in an MS environment. Mailman runs on
top of the Python interpreter, and there's an official Windows
installer for Python.

Thanks for the kind tip.

leapinglizard