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Julien
Belgium
30 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 24 2007 : 09:25:51
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Hello,
I just want to share my config. procedure with you and see if you have any tips or suggestions.
The following procedure is built upon my experience of MLK in various customers cases. It configures the sending with the local ISP SMTP server and retrieve message from a POP server. I recommend the use a dedicated email account.
My recommended settings are:
Options>Sending Mail
Sending Method
"Sending method for messages that you send": click on the Select... button and select "Send via a Mail Server (using SMTP)"
"Sending method for automated messafes": click on the Select... button and select "Send via a Mail Server (using SMTP)"
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SMTP Settings (new window ; when you click on the Settings... button)
SMTP Server Details
(consult your ISP)
Authentication
(consult your ISP)
Advanced
Uncheck "Use multiple connections to speed sending" box.
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How should messages be sent?
Select "Send a separate message to each e-mail address (using the To: filed)"
Other Sending Options
"Display a summary after sending completes": select "Always"
Check "Email summary after sending completes to:" box: (sales, support, ...)
"Sender/Reply Address:": (marketing, manager, ...)
(Click 'Specify...' button to add another address if necessary)
Options>Other
Back Up Options
"How should the database be backed up?": select "Back up database to file:" (select file, CSV format)
Uncheck "Always save back-up file to a new filename" box
"Automatic Back Up:" select "Back up on closure".
Click on the 'Advanced Options...' button (new window pops up)
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Advanced Settings>E-mail Software Integration Tab
E-mail Software Integration
"Method used for automatic retrieval of messages (Subscribes, Unsubscribes, etc):": select "Retrieve messages directly from a mail (POP) Server"
Uncheck "Add menu item to retrieve addresses from messages in your e-mail software" box
Uncheck "Add menu item to retrieve addresses from Contacts in your e-mail software" box
Advanced Settings>Sending Tab
Message Editor Options
Uncheck "Allow one-click sending" box. (REM: force choosing of sending methods)
Advanced Sending Options
Uncheck "Always show errors encountered while sending" box (REM: so that the sending is not completly interrupted)
Check "When sending via SMTP check for an active Internet connection" box.
Check "Stagger delivery: Send messages at n second intervals" box (select 3 seconds).
"If delivery of an automated message fails, retry n time(s)": select 3 times.
Advanced Settings>Advanced Tab
Message Processing
"Where in the message should MLK look for Subscribe/Unsubscribe commands?": select "Subject Only".
"Do not process more than one bounce per n days for each recipient": select 1 day.
Other Advanced Settings
Check "Always confirm the deletion of members by administrator" box.
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Options>Incoming
Mailing List Folder
(You should see "Default POP Server")
Click on the Settings... button
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POP Server Details (new window)
Specify the settings of your POP mail server:
(consult your ISP)
"How should non-relevant messages be handled?": select "Leave them on the mail server"
Check "Display an error when unable to connect to the POP Server" box.
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Automatic Checking
Check "Always check for new mailing list messages on start-up" box
Uncheck "CHeck for new mailing llist messages every n minutes" box
After Processing
"What should be done with messages after they have been processed?": select "Delete messages"
Options>Double Opt-In
Double Opt-In and Opt-Out
Check "Members must confirm their subscription to the mailing list" box.
Check "Members must confirm their removal from the mailing list" box.
(Edit confirmation messages if necessary)
Options
Check "Do not send when manually entering or importing addresses" box.
Check "Send a reminder after n days" box (select 10 days).
Check "Automatically delete confirmation records that are not confirmed with n days" box (select 90 days).
Options>Delivery Failure
Delivery Failure Processing
Check "Automatically process Delivery Failure messages" box
(Edit Delivery Failure subjects list if necessary)
Other Delivery Failure Options
Check "Remove addresses that have bounced more than n times" box (select 10 times).
Uncheck "Reset bounce count if no delivery errors encountered in n months" box.
Check "Block undeliverable addresses from being added back to the mailing list" box.
When you are ready to send:
Click on the 'Send Message' button at the top left side of the message editor window and select "Scheduled or Batch Send"
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Send Time
"When do you want to start sending these message?": select "Start Now".
Send Staggering
"How many recipients do you want to send to with each batch?": select "Send messages to n recipients" (select 30 recipients).
"With a n xxx delay between each batch": select 1 minute.
(REM: this will make the sending process very long. but should work for extremely suspicious ISPs)
Click 'OK' button to start sending.
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Requested Features:
1) A parsing tool of the email summary message
2) or a more human-readable email summary message |
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xequte
7042 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2007 : 04:00:31
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Excellent Julien
Thank you for your feedback.
I would agree with the options you have chosen. The only one i would question would be:
> "How should non-relevant messages be handled?": select
> "Leave them on the mail server"
Because then you need to download the messages using another app when you know there are no mailing list messages (but i presume you have a process set up to handle that).
Regarding your requests:
> 1) A parsing tool of the email summary message
Can you please be more specific?
> 2) or a more human-readable email summary message
Do you mean the attached log? You can enable the hidden option that makes MLK create a CSV formatted summary of each recipient. View the Hidden_Options.txt file for details.
Nigel
Xequte Software
nigel@xequte.com |
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Julien
Belgium
30 Posts |
Posted - Sep 27 2007 : 08:12:07
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unhandled messages are actually forwarded to another email address.
correct me if i'm wrong, but the summary that is sent is a simple text file. if you activate the corresponding hidden option, you get a csv file that is saved in the MLK install dir.
i also noticed that winsock error message include line break in the csv file that make it "hard" to analyze: line-breaked messages are not surrounded by double-quotes..
the summary txt file has all the info that i need. i'm just interested in something like a grep tool that will extract X "SUCCESS" lines, Y "FAILURE" lines, ... and that will generate a human readable report.
i know that you can re(re(re))..process addresses when sending errors occur... i think this parsing tool would be helpful.
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i've put the procedure (with screenshots) into a pdf documents.
http://www.shift-zone.be/Repositories/Documents/MLK_pop-smtp_config.pdf
i would like to have feedback from users dealing with thousands of addresses. please take a moment to read it.
my english is not perfect, if you spot errors (not so many i hope) please report them here or by email (web at shift dot be) |
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xequte
7042 Posts |
Posted - Sep 28 2007 : 03:46:49
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Thanks Julien,
I will look at using the document on our support page.
The text file attached to the summary email is really just a processing log. The CSV file is intended to give a quick indication of the status of each recipient. We would also like to have more "humanly comprehensible" sending report. We'll look at that for a later update.
I will also look into the line break issue shortly.
Nigel
Xequte Software
nigel@xequte.com |
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Sending with SMTP: a configuration procedure
