august 16, 2003

  this is basically a quick (or not) post to update a number of things. first off, yes i'm still here... i've been incredibly busy since the last update. but, i've been slowly making some progress on some things...

  the bounced email filtering is still being completed. i kind of abandoned the "release an add-on" idea. instead, it will just be made into v1.4 rc2. i've run into a number of issues, and i'm still not 100% happy with it right now, but it does work (at least on my host). a lot of the problem has been a lack of time to run tests locally, and to hammer out a few things. as it stands right now, deleting bounced emails will be avaible to the top level admin only. there may be something added to allow list admins to delete the offending address(es) from their list only, but probably not. my thinking is that if an email address is dead, it's dead on every list. so, it's an issue for the main administrator.

  however, the big issue as always is compatibility. all that you will need to be able to do is redirect email to a script (not a url, but the relative path to the bounce script). that is, creating an email address that doesn't actually receive email, but just forwards it to the script to be processed. most full featured *nix hosts will allow this, and may even have a web interface for doing so. i'm really hoping to be able to get this released rather soon. but, it's hard to tell.

  i've also been working very lightly (meaning, mostly planning and imagining, and a bit of coding) on another, completely new script. all i'll say right now is that the script will first be used on this website, then eventually released. what is it exactly? again, i'm not going to really say anything until it's materialized much more. the script however will be a rather large project that could take quite some time to even make its debut here on npscripts.com, let alone before it's ready for public release. i will say that this script is of a type that has already been done. that is, it's not something radically new. instead, it will work to make its use much easier and simplified than its counterparts out there on the web, and solve a few problems i've noticed (hopefully).

  it should be made very clear though that this will not take away from np subscriber. that is still my first priority, and i've been tossing around some new ideas to make some big changes to the script. the biggest thing i would love to do is let it support sql instead of relying only on flat text files like it currently does. this would be a pretty big project, but it's still something i want the script to do. i've already done some toying around with it, and the results have been great so far. if this does come to be, there will be two editions of the subscriber pro script (one for plain text, and one for sql). unlike other scripts though, and since i'm such a nice guy, i wouldn't charge extra or anything for the sql version. that's not my thing... instead, i would just have two versions of the script available to members.

  on another note, my user support skillz over the next two weeks are going to be spotty. so please, if you email me or post something in the forum, please be patient. i'm hoping to get as much work done as possible before my schedule becomes full later next week.

may 4, 2003

  after horrible delays, subscriber pro v1.4 rc1 is now available. members can download it right away through the members area. the updated manual can be viewed also.

  the main goal of this release was accomplished, albeit not in the timeframe originally anticipated. regardless, as i was saying, the goal was accomplished. np subscriber pro can now be used by multiple admins at the same time. the top-level admin system is very useful for administrators that just want to run a list for a company and have different people sending messages to their own lists. the main admin can log in under any list without a password, send a message to any number of lists, delete/rename lists, and more. the regular subscriber.cgi script is now for regular admins, whereas the admin.cgi script is for the main administrator. regular users can no longer edit the overall script variables, add slots, or install plugins.

  another major new feature is the addition of a messaging system. keeping with the multi-user friendly features of this release, this feature aims to improve communication between admins. the top level admin can send a message out to all of their regular admins, or to a select one. likewise, regular admins can message the top level admin or any other list admin (but not all of them at once).

  other features include date listing/sorting on the subscriber list screen, message test sends (send a message to an address you specify before sending it to the list), a "common" file that will be storing common subroutines and information so that it doesn't bloat up multiple scripts, and more.

  one other thing that this release includes is the start of one of the next big features: bounced email filtering. that's right, it's coming. right now, the script will sending a special header in outgoing emails (which can't be seen by the recipient unless they view the mail header) that contains their email address plus the list they are subscribribed to. this way, if it bounces back, this information is on hand. i'm currently working on a seperate script (oddly enough, it's named bounced.cgi) that will take redirected mail and read this header. then, it will log how many time this address has bounced. if the number of bounces is over what you set, it will delete the address from its list. note that i said "redirected mail." for bounce filtering, you're going to need to be able to redirect email sent to a specific address to a cgi file. most full-featured unix hosts will allow you to do this (all i had to do with my host was edit the .procmailrc file), but some don't. it's beyond my control, so this is something you'll have to consult your host about. you can look for the bounced.cgi script rather soon, maybe this week. i'd really like to get it out before the weekend.

  on that note, i should probably say right now that i will be away from next sunday through wednesday (may 11-14). so, any questions will be answered maybe late wednesday, but probably not until thursday.

  battlefield 1942 is worth every penny, seriously. desert combat [is becoming/already is] worth money, but i'm glad it's free!

  so again, v1.4 rc1 is out, i'll be out of town next week, and a bounced email filtering script is coming very soon. the progress on it right now is that it works perfectly on my host, so i just need to adapt it to be more universal. when this is completed, and i get the documentation done, it will be released, then integrated into rc2.

  thanks for reading, this has been the longest post in quite some time. :)

april 1, 2003

  the updates sure have been slow coming recently, eh? well, i've been extremely busy since february to the present day, and this message is going to be rather short. i've made some progess on subscriber pro though in the very little free time i've had. as far as the other bit of free time i've had, has anybody tried command and conquer generals? heh... i've always been a fan of cnc/warcraft, and lost an amazing amount of time to the last edition of cnc i played, which was ra2. if you're a fan of the series, generals should make you happy, despite its rather drastic (to a cnc fan) changes (that is, its adopting of some blizzard traits).

  all of the admin features have been adapated to the new top level admin format. now is the time i test, add, and test again. the messaging system has been completed as well. a few other small things have been done, too, but those will be mentioned later. right now, i'm in the process of working out two big new features that i'm sure (because they've been requested) many people would like to see. keep your eyes peeled. a 1.4 release client may not be too far off.