Would it be possible to have a module that would enable mass-mailings? Civicspace has such a module I believe. Out site could end up with a few thousand accounts and it would be nice to have an interface to mail them all.
The current mass-mailer is not something that we're entirely happy with.
We do think it is an important feature, and are going to work on making the subscriptions.module a core component that can be used for all mailings (including allowing users to opt in/out of mailings).
Bryght Basic is our current install profile for Drupal 5, which is going to be locked down with its current feature set in the next week or so.
I'm now gathering options for the next install profile, which will likely be a community focused one. We'll be sharing thoughts on the profile and ask for feedback, including "please make a profile with feature X".
That being said: true, high volume mass mailing is best done with a system that is optimized for that. We would likely deploy an integration module that allows you to connect with an external service, which would likely charge extra.
I had a quick search if there is a way to integrate with Yahoo Groups!. The Yahoo Developer Network didn't show me anything. Since we just got back from an event at Yahoo, I may be able to find out more.
I was actually thinking more along the lines of Constant Contact or Lyris. And maybe your and my definition of mass mailing differ :P -- when I think mass mailing, I think 1000s of users. Less than a 1000 *might* be possible directly....but truly, it is a headache to deal with all the issues surrounding email these days.
mass-mailing? Okay, you mean 'announcement' list. I mean a 'discussion' list.
For my local area community online group, the Yahoo Groups! discussion list was the one feature that's held us together over 10 years, as people really like the Yahoo Groups list service. We tried forums and there was some interest, but it seems that "push" email discussion lists keep the attention, whereas "pull" forums don't work so well because if the forum isn't so active yet, people have less motivation to check them. With the elist, assuming the volume isn't too high, motivation because secondary because you have a message in your inbox which you "must" read. Beyond this, the only other application our community has grabbed ahold of is our MediaWiki installation. So Bryght, despite Drupal's awesome community features it appears to me in my great ignorance that it's missing two out the three applications that our actual local area community has put to great use. Drupal has forums, but it lacks a discussion list service, or integration with such, and there's no wiki (at least not that I've seen actually working, lots of talk, but I've seen nothing, and I don't see how Books can be regarded as a wiki). So the two community features that we need most are missing. So, I need some direction here or my local group will not go for any switch to Drupal.
I will add that as volume on our Elist picks up, we try to direct extended discussions to the forums, so the elist becomes more of an "announcement list" (but not one-way, as you can still reply to all), a place to initiate a new discussion, and a community-wide "Alert" system. With repect to the last function, if the activity grows as we expect, we will more strongly encourage moving extended discussions to the forum so that "alert" messages are not lost in the mass of messages. So, we will strive to keep the volume somewhat low volume.
Comments
Subscriptions will evolve
The current mass-mailer is not something that we're entirely happy with.
We do think it is an important feature, and are going to work on making the subscriptions.module a core component that can be used for all mailings (including allowing users to opt in/out of mailings).
Did anything ever come of
Did anything ever come of this? Is there mass-mailing now?
Revamped
Bryght Basic is our current install profile for Drupal 5, which is going to be locked down with its current feature set in the next week or so.
I'm now gathering options for the next install profile, which will likely be a community focused one. We'll be sharing thoughts on the profile and ask for feedback, including "please make a profile with feature X".
That being said: true, high volume mass mailing is best done with a system that is optimized for that. We would likely deploy an integration module that allows you to connect with an external service, which would likely charge extra.
External services?
Does "external services" include Yahoo Groups! lists? This would be great.
Looking for an API
I had a quick search if there is a way to integrate with Yahoo Groups!. The Yahoo Developer Network didn't show me anything. Since we just got back from an event at Yahoo, I may be able to find out more.
I was actually thinking more along the lines of Constant Contact or Lyris. And maybe your and my definition of mass mailing differ :P -- when I think mass mailing, I think 1000s of users. Less than a 1000 *might* be possible directly....but truly, it is a headache to deal with all the issues surrounding email these days.
mass-mailing? Okay, you
mass-mailing? Okay, you mean 'announcement' list. I mean a 'discussion' list.
For my local area community online group, the Yahoo Groups! discussion list was the one feature that's held us together over 10 years, as people really like the Yahoo Groups list service. We tried forums and there was some interest, but it seems that "push" email discussion lists keep the attention, whereas "pull" forums don't work so well because if the forum isn't so active yet, people have less motivation to check them. With the elist, assuming the volume isn't too high, motivation because secondary because you have a message in your inbox which you "must" read. Beyond this, the only other application our community has grabbed ahold of is our MediaWiki installation. So Bryght, despite Drupal's awesome community features it appears to me in my great ignorance that it's missing two out the three applications that our actual local area community has put to great use. Drupal has forums, but it lacks a discussion list service, or integration with such, and there's no wiki (at least not that I've seen actually working, lots of talk, but I've seen nothing, and I don't see how Books can be regarded as a wiki). So the two community features that we need most are missing. So, I need some direction here or my local group will not go for any switch to Drupal.
I will add that as volume on our Elist picks up, we try to direct extended discussions to the forums, so the elist becomes more of an "announcement list" (but not one-way, as you can still reply to all), a place to initiate a new discussion, and a community-wide "Alert" system. With repect to the last function, if the activity grows as we expect, we will more strongly encourage moving extended discussions to the forum so that "alert" messages are not lost in the mass of messages. So, we will strive to keep the volume somewhat low volume.
This thread was on mass mailing
This thread started with discussion on mass mailing. Let's continue the discussion on your community planning post.