Hi,
I am using SmartList as provided my web hosting service (WebSiteSource).
I have a question about subscribing people to the list. I have set up a form on my web site to take subscriptions to my mailing list. The form sends an email to the "-request" address from the requesting address with a subject of subscribe. This appears to work well, and I get an e-mail back to the list administrator only in the case of someone subscribing who is already on the list.
When I subscribe someone using X-Command, I get an e-mail back to the list administrator in every case with the top eight multigram matches, and it seems to add the e-mail address and send a welcome message to the subscribing e-mail whether they are on the list or not.
I guess what I would prefer that the X-Command method work more like the user subscribe method, and that if someone is subscribed that is already on the list, that they *not* be sent a welcome message. Is this possible?
-- Bruce Vander Werf brucev@cyberlink.com
At 1:12 PM -0500 2/11/01, Bruce Vander Werf is rumored to have typed:
I guess what I would prefer that the X-Command method work more like the user subscribe method, and that if someone is subscribed that is already on the list, that they *not* be sent a welcome message. Is this possible?
Yes, it's possible to change sections of the code that deal with this (I leave it to you to examine the source and determine which files need to be altered; feel free to ask for suggestions as to HOW to alter the files involved), but the hard question is...why?
It is assumed that a list administrator will have the sense to send a checkdist X-Command (or use a simple grep, assuming s/he is familiar with unix and telnet) to the list _first,_ to see if an address is already subscribed before randomly throwing subscribe X-Commands at the server. The admin should know how to properly use the commands at his/her disposal, so this isn't an error or a fault of SmartList, but instead is by design.
Where normal subscribers are assumed to be a little clueless (and trust me, I have some that can't figure out how to use a clickable link for un/subscriptions), and NEED to be protected, it is also assumed that list admins are more clueful, and so are not "protected" the way subscribers are. I mean, really...the list admin should be able to do _anything_ (including subscribing an address twice, should s/he have some bizarre and pressing reason to do so no matter how silly it might be), so the software SHOULDN'T protect the administrator ofthe list the way it needs to protect the normal subscriber.
I think what I'm trying to gently say is that since you admin the list, you SHOULD have the power to do pretty much anything with it...and should also understand how to USE that power wisely, instead of having the software treat you like one of the clueless and protect you. As the list administrator, you SHOULD be held to a higher standard, don't you think?
Charlie Summers (who wonders if the problem is that most people never run root on a server, and so don't grasp the true responsibilities of administration...)
smartlist@lists.rwth-aachen.de
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Bruce Vander Werf -
Charlie Summers