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[Briggsy]

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction for some good free open source mailing list software that will run on a host, eg PHP or Perl.

I am aware of MODx Snippet Newsletter, however I need a opt in / opt out with confirmation, that allows me to send emails to both announcement lists and discussion lists.

Would be cool if the discusion lists had the ability to intergrate into a forum like SMF so you had a choice how you communicated, but I can live without it if it has good announcement and discussion list capabilities.

[Breezer]

I've tried a few MLM's and WebInsta has a pretty nice one...

http://www.webinsta.com/

[Digital-Prozac]

Highly reccomend oemPro
http://www.octeth.com/products/oempro/

USed it for a while now, has some awesome features in there too.

[bugsmi0]

PHPlist is opensource and the best mailinglist sofware (barnone)

http://tincan.co.uk/phplist

[Starbuck]

PHPlist is opensource and the best mailinglist sofware (barnone)

http://tincan.co.uk/phplist

Agree - but it's weakness is bulk mailing of static html newsletters... I just found that out after spending a few days going through the hoops, setting it up, customizing it, blending it with a modX frontend - now I've got a project going into serious overtime.

It's strength (apparently) is with plain text emails and custom fields - give it a reasonably biggish newsletter using no fields and a xxxx number of subscribers... and it's an absolute 'DAWG' !  I'm having to stop the process queue every 40 minutes, then requeue it - everytime I do that it squeezes out 60 to 90 emails, if left alone it just stops - and I'm already to far down the track to find another option.

There support is also useless,  they're overly defeatist, and don't have any *love* for their forum users.

[bugsmi0]

Personally, I don't agree with sending html via email, 98% of the internet use text only so there's on point in sending html also many people consider it rude to send html.  I know some people who will not accept any emails in html.  What other purpose is there to send html email other than to advertise spam  .  If its HTML chances are its an advertisement.  What I like about plain text is you can't use any flashy images or color, you have to get your point accross the old fashion way through words...

[Pixel Stuff]

I currently subscribe to about 10 different email lists which are in HTML.

cNet's AnchorDesk
WinXPnews
iStockPhoto
starwars.com news
creativecow.com news

Just to name a few.

The graphics are usualy helpful, just like on a web site. Imagine websites without any graphics where everyone had to communicate with just words.

[rthrash]

Personally, I don't agree with sending html via email, 98% of the internet use text only so there's on point in sending html also many people consider it rude to send html.  I know some people who will not accept any emails in html.  What other purpose is there to send html email other than to advertise spam  .  If its HTML chances are its an advertisement.  What I like about plain text is you can't use any flashy images or color, you have to get your point accross the old fashion way through words...

If a newsletter I'm interested in is not in HTML, I won't usually subscribe (unless it's INCREDIBLY valuable information for which I have to actually pay $s). Statistics prove that HTML newsletters outperform plain text as well in most circumstances.

[bugsmi0]

If a newsletter I'm interested in is not in HTML, I won't usually subscribe (unless it's INCREDIBLY valuable information for which I have to actually pay $s). Statistics prove that HTML newsletters outperform plain text as well in most circumstances.

That's just nonsense, only internet addicted junkies starving for more eye candy would think that way, as if html is INDCREDIBLY valuable info ? its not, pain text will always rule for sending/receiving email, I guess whatever persuades the eyes to buy, but for the most part html in email is a waste of time most people don't want and it also could be looked more as spam than real email communication.
If someone needs color and graphics to get the point then they have been living in a virtual world way too long.  There's only one reason html get sent to email to spam/sell you something. no thanks i'll stick to plain text he he. 

which statistics are you refering to internet statistics what a joke that's about as virtual as it gets.  Plain text is the prefered format for email hands down anyday of the week.  I don't know of anyone in their right mind would want html in email.

[Starbuck]

While I'd prefer text for the simple fact that it's fast - a lot of what

- eBay sends me each day wouldn't make much sense without the html layout and images, same with my
- Reuters daily, a
- Tender watch notification that arrives each day, the weekly
- Daz3D dispatch,
- Paypal payment notifications are all html (I like those ones the most
- Apple Developer Connection likewise wouldn't be very interesting as plain text, same with
- E-Online which get everyday keeping up with Ted's gossip - as with
- The Onion weekly dispatch, my
- Telecom bill arrives as html and
- SimplyMaya does well with little markup, but still is html.

I didn't include any spam, for most part that arrives marked up also. Promo-wise, 80 percent of the stuff that I get is marked up, correspondence however, is 99.9 percent text.. thank goodness

[Carsten]

What about users like me who turn off images because they don't like spam and want to let on my email addreess is active.

Also, sometimes those dam image heavy emails are just a plain pain the arse while you're waiting for their server to catch up on the image delievery problems.

[Pixel Stuff]

As I indicated earlier, I prefer the HTML over the plain text.  However, I also agree that it's nice to have the option. My parents, for instance, operate out of Africa where their ISDN line (for whatever reason) is just barely up to the specs of our 56K modems here in the U.S. In a situation like that or with an analog modem, I would probably choose a text only option.

But just like I prefer my magazines in color and with pictures, or my web sites in color rather than plain text (does anyone even make a plain text website), I also prefer my emails in color and with pictures. If given the option (and the bandwidth).

So for a MODx snippet I think an option for the user to choose HTML or text would be a good idea. And for the publishers it would be nice to have an intuitive setup for newletter creation that can require entries for both formats before a letter is mailed.

[Starbuck]

Also, sometimes those dam image heavy emails are just a plain pain the arse while you're waiting for their server to catch up on the image delievery problems.

umm, haven't hit that problem... actually the most image intensive email I get would be from daz3D and it's probably the fastest to load. I imagine if your marketing includes html emails with images and your user base is vast then you'd be ensuring the very fastest server so your client's don't become ex-clients

... besides, there's always unsubscribe - and if people are doing that in numbers then I'm sure most would re-evaluate their marketing strategies.

[zenmaster]

I am currently evaluating dadamail which is very clean and user friendly. If all goes well I shall be looking at integrating it into Modx.

[sottwell]

And I'm fiddling around with phpList, so maybe between the two of us we'll get something working here!

Currently, I'm working with someone who already bought a license for 12All. Closed source, very much so, the source files are encrypted. Very painful trying to customize it. There are a number of cutomizations allowed, but of course not the ones the client wants! It appears to be a very powerful program, but there is a reason why they sell their services as front-end designers for it!

[vbrilon]

Just curious as to why you want to twist your CMS into acting as a maling list manager? Those seem like pretty different functions.

Having said that, why not just install Mailman (http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/index.html) and not reinvent the wheel? But then again, maybe I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish...

[Pixel Stuff]

A unified interface for the client to publish pages / newsletters

site archives of past newsletters

unified user database. Eventualy that could even work with a commerce feature for a paid area of the site.

[sottwell]

There should be one place for users to log in and access whatever your site has to offer, and one place for managers to log in and manage whatever they need to manage.  Besides, MODx is not really a CMS, it is a CMF...so it does a lot more than just manage content. It provides a framework for managing all the content of your entire site.

[vbrilon]

Susan,

I agree with your reasons, but there are certain wheels that I think aren't worth reinventing -- and a mailing list manager is complex enough that I think it's one of those wheels.

Anyway, Mailman is easy enough to customize that you can make it look like a part of your site, as well as point it to your database for user info. Personally I think that's easier than creating something from scratch, but that's just me 

[sottwell]

Yes, but a bridge like the SMF bridge would be very nice. Why should a user have to register twice, once for your site and once for your mailing list?

I, for one, certainly have no intention of trying to write an entire mailing list app from scratch! Just a way to seamlessly connect users between MODx and a "real" mailing list app is what I have in mind. A module to connect to the mailing app's manager would be nice, but not really as important.