I know how to change the part that says "This is an automated subscription..." but I don't know how to make it so that the headers of the request are not included at the bottom. Any help would be greatly appreciated... thanks!
Darby
At 2:33 AM -0400 5/12/02, darby is rumored to have typed:
but I don't know how to make it so that the headers of the request are not included at the bottom.
Why would you want to do this? There's a _reason_ they are included...the sender should be able to see if, and from where, the subscription request was forged, if it was indeed forged.
You _ARE_ running a confirmed op-IN mailing list, yes?
Charlie
yes, i am... reason is that i have a php form that they fill out to subscribe, and i dunno, i just think it would be weird for them to see the email that the server sent on their behalf.
i would be fine with just an IP or something...
darby
----- Original Message ----- From: "Charlie Summers" charlie@lofcom.com To: "darby" funkymonkey69@hotmail.com; smartlist@Lists.RWTH-Aachen.DE Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 12:14 PM Subject: Re:how to change the subscribe message?
At 2:33 AM -0400 5/12/02, darby is rumored to have typed:
but I don't know how to make it so that the headers of the request are not included at the bottom.
Why would you want to do this? There's a _reason_ they are
included...the
sender should be able to see if, and from where, the subscription request
was
forged, if it was indeed forged.
You _ARE_ running a confirmed op-IN mailing list, yes?
Charlie
At 8:14 PM -0400 5/13/02, darby is rumored to have typed:
yes, i am... reason is that i have a php form that they fill out to subscribe, and i dunno, i just think it would be weird for them to see the email that the server sent on their behalf.
I disaree that it would be "weird," although it won't be helpful tracking down forgers unless you add a header field to the mail PHP is sending out containing GETENV("HTTP_HOST") - do that, and you're done.
Of course, if you want to rewrite SmartList, you're welcomed to do so - that's what open-source is all about. Start tracking the path of a message through rc.request, and you'll quickly find the rewrites you need to make.
Charlie
At 11:25 AM -0400 5/14/02, Charlie Summers is rumored to have typed:
containing GETENV("HTTP_HOST") - do that, and you're done.
(*sigh*) Of course, I meant GETENV("REMOTE_HOST") - musta been bad coffee this morning, since HTTP_HOST will only give you the hostname of the form, not the remote user, and you probably already know that. And in thinking about it more clearly after making a fresh pot, you should probably also add GETENV("REMOTE_ADDR") since some won't reverse-resolve and PHP gets funky about returning an empty string on some setups if it doesn't reverse-resolve.
But my general comments that there's no reason to remove the form copy remains...I use an old perl script (laziness, actually, but it still works, so what the heck) that adds the REMOTE_ADDR environ variable, and no one has complained thus far. (Like it or not, no one even bothers to read the darned thing anyway.)
Charlie
what i meant by "weird" was that the people using the site are not necessarily technically competant, and i think some of them will be confused seeing an email that they never knew existed.
i wish i could alter the source, but my host doesn't give me that much control (at least for 10 bucks a month :P).
oh well, thanks anyways darby
----- Original Message ----- From: "Charlie Summers" charlie@lofcom.com To: "darby" funkymonkey69@hotmail.com; smartlist@Lists.RWTH-Aachen.DE Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 8:25 AM Subject: Re: Re:how to change the subscribe message?
At 8:14 PM -0400 5/13/02, darby is rumored to have typed:
yes, i am... reason is that i have a php form that they fill out to subscribe, and i dunno, i just think it would be weird for them to see the email that the server sent on their behalf.
I disaree that it would be "weird," although it won't be helpful tracking down forgers unless you add a header field to the mail PHP is sending out containing GETENV("HTTP_HOST") - do that, and you're done.
Of course, if you want to rewrite SmartList, you're welcomed to do so - that's what open-source is all about. Start tracking the path of a message through rc.request, and you'll quickly find the rewrites you need to make.
Charlie
Darby followed up,
| what i meant by "weird" was that the people using the site are not | necessarily technically competent, and i think some of them will be confused | seeing an email that they never knew existed.
| i wish i could alter the source, but my host doesn't give me that much | control
Does the host let you control the welcome message's text? You could possibly put language in there saying something like, "Here is a copy of the email message we received that asked us to subscribe you. If your subscription request came through our web form at http://wherever, the web site generated the message."
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
In article OE65c9NUpuabjKoMFYs0000242b@hotmail.com you write:
what i meant by "weird" was that the people using the site are not necessarily technically competant, and i think some of them will be confused seeing an email that they never knew existed.
One could also argue that those less-technically-competent people will never get to *be* technically competent if well-meaning techies continually attempt to shield them from the horrors of such nefarious things as...email headers. I know that many people (myself included) post questions here and sometimes get back a note saying, roughly, "if you don't like it, go rewrite the source". Being only a moderate coder, I recognize that this is often intimidating advice when handed down from the seasoned pros. But at the same time, I would advise that there are points where one doesn't *need* to modify the source, and coddling the web-fed masses who might not be aware that email exists or has headers is one of those times. If they're joining a mailing list, whether by email or web form, they'd better get used to headers, and damned quickly. They're going to see them. One of my pet peeves is seeing how often people try to reinvent the wheel and to shoe-horn it into a new medium like the web. I've seen so many botched implementations of web-mail and web-news and web-lists and web-BBS that it's shocking. Reminds me of two very pertinent quotes:
"When the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as if it were a nail." -- Abraham Maslow
Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly. -- Henry Spencer
The point being, email works, and works well. Web-based email is certainly easier for beginners, but often lacks the complex functionality that advanced (or even moderate) users need. Usenet (despite the spam) works, and allows tens of millions of people to communicate, thread discussions, use kill files, etc. Web-based posting systems such as Slashdot or even Deja/Google Groups tend to suck. Threads might last for all of a dozen or so posts, then get lost in the interface, and die out. Try to find a thread in Slashdot that has lasted more than 3 days. I'd be very interested to see it. The old adage of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" holds here. Email headers exist for a reason, and while they might confuse a newbie, that newbie will quickly learn to mentally filter them out until such point as they need them. If they *do* need them, and you've removed them, then they'll be cursing you, even if they don't know who's responsible.
My $.02, responding to a thread from about 12 days ago. Something you probably won't find on a web-based discussion.
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