php mailing list operation

[Cleverbum@hotmail.com]

Hi,
I'm using the mail() function to send out newsletters to subscribers,
problem is that it seems a little unreliable...
at the moment I assemble the mail outside a loop then iterate through
all the mail addresses
for($i=0;$i<$nu maddresses;$i++ ){
mail($to[$i],$subj,$message ,$fromstr);
}
should i be putting in a delay message or a retry_on_fail method or
anything?

Martin

[Carl Vondrick]

Re: php mailing list operation

Cleverbum@hotma il.com wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi,
> I'm using the mail() function to send out newsletters to subscribers,
> problem is that it seems a little unreliable...
> at the moment I assemble the mail outside a loop then iterate through
> all the mail addresses
> for($i=0;$i<$nu maddresses;$i++ ){
> mail($to[$i],$subj,$message ,$fromstr);
> }
> should i be putting in a delay message or a retry_on_fail method or
> anything?
>
> Martin
>[/color]

mail() is not usually the best choice - you should try using sendmail or
STMP.

But, anyways, for mail, you should batch them. I send 50 at a time. If
you do not, your script will either time out or your browser will abort.

Carl Vondrick

[Richard Levasseur]

Re: php mailing list operation

I've had a similar question myself.
I don't want the email to contain a long To: or CC:, but I don't want
to loop a bunch because sometimes mail() takes forever to send.

Is there a way to simply queue them up and let the mailer daemon
process them at its leisure, so the mail() command returns nice and
quick?

I know you wouldn't have any useful information returned as to whether
it mailed or not, but I'm not worried about that.

-Richard Levasseur

[Carl Vondrick]

Re: php mailing list operation

Richard Levasseur wrote:[color=blue]
> I've had a similar question myself.
> I don't want the email to contain a long To: or CC:, but I don't want
> to loop a bunch because sometimes mail() takes forever to send.[/color]

I am by no means a mail expert, but the way I just do it is batch them.
With a little bit of Ajax, the thing is seamless.
[color=blue]
>
> Is there a way to simply queue them up and let the mailer daemon
> process them at its leisure, so the mail() command returns nice and
> quick?
>
> I know you wouldn't have any useful information returned as to whether
> it mailed or not, but I'm not worried about that.
>
> -Richard Levasseur
>[/color]


--
Carl Vondrick

https://www.carlsoft.net

usenet [at] carlsoft [dot] net

[Manuel Lemos]

Re: php mailing list operation

Hello,

on 02/27/2006 11:44 PM Richard Levasseur said the following:[color=blue]
> I've had a similar question myself.
> I don't want the email to contain a long To: or CC:, but I don't want
> to loop a bunch because sometimes mail() takes forever to send.
>
> Is there a way to simply queue them up and let the mailer daemon
> process them at its leisure, so the mail() command returns nice and
> quick?[/color]

Yes, some MTA provide means to just queue the message and do not wait
for delivery attempt.

Under Linux/Unix, sendmail and exim have switches for this. Under
Windows you can drop the messages in Exchange pickup folder .

If you want to go for these solutions, you may want to try this class.
It has sub-classes specialized in deliverying with different MTA:
sendmail (or exim, or postfix), qmail, SMTP, Exchange pickup folder,
etc.. Just call the class SetBulkMail function before entering the bulk
mail loop.

http://www.phpclasses.org/mimemessage

PS. Do not use SMTP for bulk mailing unless you do not have an
alternative. It is the slowest method of all.


--

Regards,
Manuel Lemos

Metastorage - Data object relational mapping layer generator

http://www.metastorage.net/

PHP Classes - Free ready to use OOP components written in PHP

http://www.phpclasses.org/