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Jeepaholic
Average Member
USA
697 Posts |
 Posted - 19 December 2001 : 12:00:08
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I've been hoping for some time that someone would put together a set of tools that could turn Snitz into a mail-based system as well as a forum-based one.
Has anyone given any thought to the creation of this mod? Essentially, the end result would be something along the lines of a YahooGroups (eGroups), or a Topica, or something like that with Snitz as an interface.
Much like subscriptions, you could sign up for a higher-level subscription that would allow you to reply and receive full posts via email.
Things that I see (good/bad):
* Would need some form of a system that would receive emails and post them to Snitz
* Would have to deal with reply-with-quote issues...I think this could be resolved with clever programming quite easily though.
* As for the emails sent out, they could include all post information (and the previous couple replies for reference).
* Folks could use either the forum or email for all communications, and could subscribe to any part of the forum for mailing (much like today's subscriptions)
* Registration would have to happen at the forum though...unless someone got tricky with email-based registration.
By the way, I'm not looking to remove/replace today's subscriptions...just implement another feature in parallel (Email List) that performs a different task.
I know it's a big undertaking, but I'm not positive how to go about doing it myself... Any thoughts on this? I think this would be a KILLER mod, myself...but, that's just my opinion.
If this post should be in the MOD (w/out code) forum, please move it there...
Thanks for your brains...
Al Bsharah
Jeepaholics Anonymous |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 19 December 2001 : 15:26:27
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Well, it is possible, but you wwould need a mail engine runnng somewhere which did the processing and conversion from message to email.
I implemented this for a client some months ago, but lost the source code when my previous PC was stolen from their offices.
If you need any pointers or directions, drop me an email, i will try to remember what i did.
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Jeepaholic
Average Member
USA
697 Posts |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 05:15:52
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As a further piece of information, the facility to do this that I built for the client has now been disabled, people were complaining they got too much mail  , because the new forums were more popular than there original mailing list.
I am pretty sure that I could redo the code, it was not very difficult, but I am not going to spend a week writing code that only a couple of people will use.
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 05:20:29
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This would really only work if you use SQL, or have your own Webserver on which you can install the application, if you use SQL, you can run the application from any machine which can connect to the SQL db
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fatum
Junior Member
Belgium
281 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 09:03:25
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Huwr,
Why wouldn't it work with an access database ?
Fatum
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Boves Luci
The best Belgian student club |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 09:52:12
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it would, but only if you could run the mail application on the same server as the db, where as with SQL you could run the mail application on any machine that could connect via tcp/ip to the sql database.
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fatum
Junior Member
Belgium
281 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 10:23:54
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Something like jMail, is that usable ?
Fatum
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Boves Luci
The best Belgian student club |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 10:39:04
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No it would be a purpose built application, which reads the forums reply/topic tables for new posts, retreive any that are to be mailed out, process them into a mail and send, it would also check a pop mail box, collect any mail waiting, process them and post to the relevant forums/topics.
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Jeepaholic
Average Member
USA
697 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 11:27:13
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Well you know my position on it...I just hope I'm not the only one who wants it! 
Out of curiosity, what would you write the application in?
Al Bsharah
Jeepaholics Anonymous |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 13:12:18
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quote:
Out of curiosity, what would you write the application in?
Delphi
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stever
New Member
65 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 13:46:04
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I'd be another interested party, but my forums are in access and I don't think my host supports SQL ;/
Steve
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joemesda
Starting Member
USA
17 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 17:22:11
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I've been following this potential mod here and at http://forum.snitz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20455
I am eager to see this move forward. The users would have the option to receive the mail or not. Following is a stab at defining the desired messaging system...
Users set any of the proposed options in either the profile or subscription areas, if allowed by the Administrators.
You would have these options for your message delivery (messages would include quotes/previous message/thread):
Forum Subscription (current w/ Snitz)
The Subscription feature allows you to subscribe to the entire Board, individual Categories, Forums and/or Topics, depending on what the administrator of this site allows. You will receive an email notifying you of a post that has been made to the Category/Forum/Topic that you have subscribed to. There are four levels of subscription.
Individual Emails (lifted from Yahoo)
Messages are delivered one at a time to your email inbox. This is the best option if you want to keep up on the latest posts immediately. Email attachments, if included in a message and allowed by your moderator, will be sent directly to you.
Daily Digest (Yahoo)
Messages are delivered in batches of 25 or daily, whichever comes sooner. This is the best option if you want to receive fewer mail messages and don't need up-to-the minute posts in your inbox. Email attachments are not available in digests (in Yahoo).
Weekly Digest (lifted from infopop)
A summary of all of your notifications sent once a week. Email attachments are not available in weekly digests.
Only Special Announcements (Yahoo)
This means you will receive email messages only when the group moderator posts a "Special Announcement" message. This is a good option if you want to pass on day-to-day discussion for very busy groups but do want to receive important updates from the group moderator. Keep in mind that usage by each moderator will vary. (The moderator may choose to never use this feature, in which case you would never receive email messages, or may choose to use it frequently.)
No Mail / Forum Only (Yahoo)
This option puts email message delivery on hold, for example while you are on vacation. If message archives are available, this option also permits you to read messages at the Yahoo! Groups web site. Note that message archive options are determined by each moderator, and that some groups have no web message archives.
Can I post messages from the web site? Can I post from more than one email address? (Yahoo)
To post a message from the web site, go to the Post section of the Messages area, compose your message, and click Send. Currently, you can only post messages from your primary address specified when you registered with Yahoo! Groups. You can't post using your alternative email address.
Here's some info from another forum...Can you gate Bazaar conferences to Listserv email lists?
Posted by root
Yes. You can associate Bazaar conferences with Majordomo or Listserv lists in one of two ways. You can:
Create an unidirectional outgoing gate to the listserv (or listservs!) of your choice. Messages are sent one way and no effort is made to incorporate messages not generated on the Bazaar system.
Create a bidirectional gate. Messages created on Bazaar are sent to the list. Messages from the list are added to Bazaar. Attempts are made to preserve email threading (replies) for incoming messages.
Bidirectional lists are created by adding an email account, username and password to the board configuration. This email account is then used to gather new messages from the listserv. Currently, only IMAP is supported. However support for POP and direct access /var/spool/mail will be added as requested.
I would also like to see additional listing options for messages - set either by the Administrator or by the Users. Listing styles desired:
Listing style: Chronological ListingReversed Chronological ListingAlphabetical ListingReversed Alphabetical ListingThreaded ListingReversed Threaded ListingMixed Threaded ListingCompressed ListingReversed Compressed ListingGuestbook-Style ListingReversed Guestbook-Style ListingThreaded Guestbook-Style ListingReversed Threaded Guestbook-Style ListingMixed Threaded Guestbook-Style Listing
"Chronological" - displays show messages simply in the order in which they were posted.
"Alphabetical" - lists arrange messages, logically enough, in alphabetical order by their subjects.
"Threaded" - displays show messages in indented lists, with responses directly beneath their parent messages. In each of those style, a normal list puts the newest messages at the bottom, while a reversed list, obviously, does the reverse.
"Reversed Theaded" - display, though somewhat awkward, is the "default" index style of many Web-based bulletin boards, including Matt Wright's "WWWBoard" script, and is the style with which many users are most familiar.
"Mixed Threaded" - display is a bit of a half-breed; it arranges primary messages with the newest at the top, thus tending to keep newer messages toward the top of the page, but arranges responses with the newest at the bottom, thus preserving a more "intuitive" threading structure.
"Compressed" - displays show on the main index page only the first message of each thread; responses are available only by going to the primary message's page. This keeps the index page a bit smaller, but also, of course, makes the responses a bit more difficult to access.
"Guestbook-Style" - displays show the full text of messages on the main index page in a strict chronological manner.
"Threaded Guestbook-Style" - displays show an index page very similar to that of the "compressed" displays, but show the full text of all messages in a thread on a single page.
The mail piece is by far more important than the threading style. I have to believe that there are more than a few of us looking for this solution. I was looking for the e-mail component while searching for a forum, infopop hadn't added the functionality at that time and I really liked the input/dedication from the Snitz community. The community really sold me on choosing Snitz. I hope this group can build the tools to create the option for Snitz to be both/either mail-based or forum-based.
joemesda |
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heptite
Average Member
USA
547 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 18:38:12
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I'm a member of 95 different Yahoo discussion groups, 75% which I get get in Digest form.
Lately, I've not been happy with the services offered, especially the additional sponsored advertizing when I read online.
I used to download 120 or more "echoes" in the FidoNet days, reading about 1500 messages or so a day.
Do I want Snitz Forums to have that kind of ability?
Maybe yes, maybe no.
Sue
Additional support files - http://www.snitz.info
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joemesda
Starting Member
USA
17 Posts |
Posted - 07 January 2002 : 20:22:51
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That is exactly it - some of us need the capability and others don't. I need the e-mail function in two of my forums, but not in the others. It seems it is all about making sure that Snitz offers the functionality that is needed for each forum. I am really getting turned off with all of the advertising and spam from Yahoo - there is a great opportunity to offer this mod before "the competition" and keep Snitz #1.
quote:
I'm a member of 95 different Yahoo discussion groups, 75% which I get get in Digest form.
Lately, I've not been happy with the services offered, especially the additional sponsored advertizing when I read online.
I used to download 120 or more "echoes" in the FidoNet days, reading about 1500 messages or so a day.
Do I want Snitz Forums to have that kind of ability?
Maybe yes, maybe no.
Sue
Additional support files - http://www.snitz.info
joemesda |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 08 January 2002 : 03:39:09
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what you have to remember is that Yahoo is a company with it's own servers, Snitz is not, and should not therefore be expected to perform the same functions, it is after all an ONLINE discussion application.
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