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Newsletter component
http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=5206		 Page 1 of 3
Author:  lw-d [ Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Newsletter component
Just wondering what the best, newsletter components are for Joomla!, I want to try and integrate newsletter option into the site registration form, you know the thing, check box if you wanna recieve are weekly newsletter, as mentioned one that integrates with Joomla!, better still Joomla! and the Community Builder component.

Thanks/
Author:  atelier [ Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
YaNC is currently available as an open source stand-alone Mambo/Joomla component. It is scheduled to be integrated with CB RC2 which is due to release any day now.

http://www.tim-online.nl/
Author:  lw-d [ Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Excellent news, looking forward to CB RC2
Author:  buglerroller [ Tue Sep 13, 2005 8:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
phil-taylors list messenger did the job for us in all aspects except bounce email detection. still stand behind list messenger however yesterday switched to phplist as it has bounce email remove from list feature.

if a component for phplist was released it would end all needs for a fully functional newsletter component..
Author:  newtribe [ Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
I hate to say it but I recommend you DON'T use Phil-Taylor's moslistmessenger.

I would recommend you just buy the standard version of listmessenger even though it doesn't integrate with the Mambo/Joomla admin.  I found a couple of problems with Phil's component, not the least of which is Phil's poor tech support record (This is a long running complaint I have about Phil.  The only time he seems to reply to my support requests is when I post something "not nice" in the forums or email him a nastygram.).  I also found functionality that, while available in the standard listmessenger software, seemed to be disabled or difficult to implement in Phil's version (perhaps for legitimate reasons having to do with integrating it with Mambo -- perhaps someone can enlighten me).

I found that letterman works for those with minimal newsletter requirements and that listmessenger works well for those with more robust needs.

I found mamml, yanc, and phplist difficult to set up and manage -- especially if clients are going to maintain it after development.
Author:  buglerroller [ Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
newtribe wrote:
I hate to say it but I recommend you DON'T use Phil-Taylor's moslistmessenger.

I would recommend you just buy the standard version of listmessenger even though it doesn't integrate with the Mambo/Joomla admin.  I found a couple of problems with Phil's component, not the least of which is Phil's poor tech support record (This is a long running complaint I have about Phil.  The only time he seems to reply to my support requests is when I post something "not nice" in the forums or email him a nastygram.).  I also found functionality that, while available in the standard listmessenger software, seemed to be disabled or difficult to implement in Phil's version (perhaps for legitimate reasons having to do with integrating it with Mambo -- perhaps someone can enlighten me).

I found that letterman works for those with minimal newsletter requirements and that listmessenger works well for those with more robust needs.

I found mamml, yanc, and phplist difficult to set up and manage -- especially if clients are going to maintain it after development.


Ive been around for a while and i know what your saying however ive have nothing but positive experiences with phil. being one man in a mambo world is tough work, i side with him and his component for base newsletter functions in mambo. ive tried all components and none match up! to manage a newsletter effectivly the difficult setup and manage is needed. what did you think youd get some easy option to work correctly? When building sites NEVER just take the easy route, you wont meet your maximum potential.
Author:  newtribe [ Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
buglerroller wrote:
newtribe wrote:
I hate to say it but I recommend you DON'T use Phil-Taylor's moslistmessenger.

I would recommend you just buy the standard version of listmessenger even though it doesn't integrate with the Mambo/Joomla admin.  I found a couple of problems with Phil's component, not the least of which is Phil's poor tech support record (This is a long running complaint I have about Phil.  The only time he seems to reply to my support requests is when I post something "not nice" in the forums or email him a nastygram.).  I also found functionality that, while available in the standard listmessenger software, seemed to be disabled or difficult to implement in Phil's version (perhaps for legitimate reasons having to do with integrating it with Mambo -- perhaps someone can enlighten me).

I found that letterman works for those with minimal newsletter requirements and that listmessenger works well for those with more robust needs.

I found mamml, yanc, and phplist difficult to set up and manage -- especially if clients are going to maintain it after development.


Ive been around for a while and i know what your saying however ive have nothing but positive experiences with phil. being one man in a mambo world is tough work, i side with him and his component for base newsletter functions in mambo. ive tried all components and none match up! to manage a newsletter effectivly the difficult setup and manage is needed. what did you think youd get some easy option to work correctly? When building sites NEVER just take the easy route, you wont meet your maximum potential.
Hi buglerroller,

I'm actually not that concerned with my experience in terms of ease of use when it comes to tweaks and configuration.  I can hack around with software all day long and, most of the time, find my way around code proficiently enough that I can tweak what I don't like.  The problem arises on the client end.  Clients, unlike me, need easy to use software that isn't confusing or complex.  The bottom line for clients is they want their site to work and they don't want to have to take an extended class to make it work.  Perhaps it's unreasonable for clients to want that but they are the reason I can pay my bills.

The problem with moslistmessenger is that Phil has not provided the support necessary, in my view, to people who aren't programmers.  Just like you would probably tell me that it's my job to make life easy for my clients I think the same thing holds true for Phil.  I didn't simply download moslistmessenger, I paid for it.  I have a right to expect a base level of support.  My personal opinion is that Phil doesn't provide it.

For the record, I personally like Phil a lot and wish him only the best in his business.  As a client, I expect better service and don't like the fact that he takes an inordinate amount of time to reply to support requests.  That's just my experience.  If others have had different experiences I encourage them to say so.

Perhaps we differ on our views because I'm primarily a project manager and client relations kind of guy as opposed to a programmer.  I do appreciate your view, I just don't agree with it.
Author:  PhilTaylor-Prazgod [ Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
What support - exactly - do you require  ???
Author:  newtribe [ Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
PhilTaylor-Prazgod wrote:
What support - exactly - do you require  ???
I was waiting for you to show up.  :)

I don't need any support now.  I implemented a solution already.

I don't want to pick a fight with you Phil.  On a personal level I like you very much.  I think you are a brilliant programmer and I'm really happy in my choice to contract with you to build the original mosDirectory -- you did an amazing job with that!

You may want to consider that your quick response in the forum here illustrates my earlier point.  From my point of view you seem more concerned with replying quickly to people who question your support service level than you are with helping people who need your support service.  It's just  not a good balance in my opinion.  Maybe I'm wrong, I can't and wouldn't presume to speak for others who use your services -- I would guess that there's a mix of opinions on your tech support.

My point is that, in my opinion, your timeliness in support is lacking.  I posted a couple of times in your own support forum and sent you personal email that went unanswered for weeks.  My latest experience wasn't the only one.  I realize that you have a life and that you're very busy.  I think that's a legitimate reason for your response time, however, it simply doesn't work in the context of the kind of service I require. 

On another happier note, your wedding is coming up fast!  I'm really excited for you and Trevena (sp?).  I sincerely wish you two the best and hope you have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon!
Author:  PhilTaylor-Prazgod [ Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
The reason I replied quickly is exacly because I do not have time to spend hours in these and all the other forums people post in so I have RSS feeds set up to all places where my name appears - and when my rss filter sees PHIL it beeps and i go read that post.

I spend very little time in this forum, even this post is posted from within FeedDemon RSS Reader.

Everyone slates my support - yet very few have actually tried to contact me, or phoned me (Apart from the guy from Austrilia that called me at 3am last night and asked me to go to my computer and help him (which I did!!) )

I go out of my way for customers - however I do also have a life offline and some people seem to forget that :)

anyways I dont want to hijack this thread.
Author:  newtribe [ Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
PhilTaylor-Prazgod wrote:
The reason I replied quickly is exacly because I do not have time to spend hours in these and all the other forums people post in so I have RSS feeds set up to all places where my name appears - and when my rss filter sees PHIL it beeps and i go read that post.

I spend very little time in this forum, even this post is posted from within FeedDemon RSS Reader.

Everyone slates my support - yet very few have actually tried to contact me, or phoned me (Apart from the guy from Austrilia that called me at 3am last night and asked me to go to my computer and help him (which I did!!) )

I go out of my way for customers - however I do also have a life offline and some people seem to forget that :)

anyways I dont want to hijack this thread.
Phil, I will admit that during our initial work on mosDirectory you were amazing.  I recall conversations at all hours of the day and night with little or no notice.  I really appreciated that and I know that it's impossible to deliver that level of service at all times.  Perhaps my experience with you on that project spoiled me.

I completely understand what you mean about having a life.  I'm not sure how I would deal with your dilema other than to hire someone or partner with someone on tech support.  I wish I had the answer for you.

Again, my best to you and Trevena!
Author:  PhilTaylor-Prazgod [ Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Did I mention its now 2am ;-)
Author:  Giller [ Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Quote:
I found mamml, yanc, and phplist difficult to set up and manage -- especially if clients are going to maintain it after development.


newtribe - i bought moslistmessenger without checking it out properly - in my haste i didn't realise it didn't have a facility for clients to go back to and amend their newsletter settings.

phplist seems to have all the features I'm a little hesitant now after reading your thoughts that its difficult to maintain. If not too much trouble can you put a one or two line summary of your thoughts on mamml yanc and phplist?

Many thanks 
Author:  lw-d [ Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
I too bought moslistmessenger,

I was looking for something that I could integrate with joomla! registration, unfortunatly, I didn't find it here. It looks as if CB RC2 and Yanc will integrate very nicely.

I don't need anything too advanced, I plan to send a weekly 'update' newsletter from Yanc, and a full blown bi-monthly newsletter, I will simply export the subscribers and import them into an online newsletter distribution system such as campaigner.

The key thing is that joomla/yanc collect the subcribers and then I export the list and choose where to send the newsletter from.

Lee
Author:  PhilTaylor-Prazgod [ Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
lw-d wrote:
I was looking for something that I could integrate with joomla! registration


Well I have some good news! As you may know I am limited currently in the ability to add new features to mosLM as the license agreement I have with the creators of LM (http://www.listmessenger.com) is very limited.

However last night, after a long period of talk, I am pleased to announce that we have come to agreement to be able to add more mambo/joomla specific functions into mosLM.

mosLM has never been about registered users, but about an opt-in mailing list solution, but now I am able to change this under the terms of our agreement - so after the wedding I will be adding first, the ability for registered users to register for mailing lists on sign up, and to modify their settings after login. and then any other feature reeequests people are kind enough to place as requests in my tracker at http://bugs.phil-taylor.com

for discussion please use my forum and not this one: http://forum.phil-taylor.com/viewtopic.php?p=1017
Author:  PhilTaylor-Prazgod [ Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
buglerroller wrote:
phil-taylors list messenger did the job for us in all aspects except bounce email detection. still stand behind list messenger however yesterday switched to phplist as it has bounce email remove from list feature.


as phpList is Open Source I might take a peek and see how he handles bounces and then maybe integrate something like this in mosLM :) Maybe.
Author:  Giller [ Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Quote:
mosLM has never been about registered users, but about an opt-in mailing list solution, but now I am able to change this under the terms of our agreement - so after the wedding I will be adding first, the ability for registered users to register for mailing lists on sign up, and to modify their settings after login.


congrats on the wedding phil.

we are hanging on to listmessenger for the above funtionality - have you got any word on when this will be done?

thanks
Author:  PhilTaylor-Prazgod [ Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
No date as yet - Im still replying to emails from my honeymoon period :-( :-( Over 4000 including spam!
Author:  Giller [ Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
ouch - sounds like you need some staff

is it possible to give me a ball park?

We could probably wait a few weeks but if we need another solution i'd obviously like to know sooner rather than later

cheers
Author:  audienceone [ Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
If anyone is looking to tweak a templatable newsletter component, check out coolletters. It's currently for mambo but it should work fine with joomla except for the xslt problem.

it's at the old forge, or you can visit shidix.com
Author:  Giller [ Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
audienceone - I just looked at the forge and coolletters sounds......well, it sounds cool.

This doesn't have mailing functionality? Just the ability to create content from the Joomla? What exactly is the restriction imposed by xslt problem?
Author:  audienceone [ Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
I haven't looked at the code that much yet, I do not know if it emails the templated design pulled from Joomla or not. In any case, setting up a mailing functionality for the newsletter would be easy enough to do.

The xslt error I encountered - which someone also reported at it's bug tracker is "badly formed xml". I've messed with the portion of the code to properly form the xml file generated but to no avail succeeded. I don't have knowledge on xslt so I guess when the time comes that I would need the functionality, I'd have to learn xslt.

Needless to say, that if someone can tweak it now, those needing a templatable newsletter can have the alternative a.s.a.p. And i'd be happy to use it too. :)

And one last thing, the back-end doesn't quite work right using the toolbar. To fix this,

Find "id[]" and Replace it with "cid[]"

I've checked out the stand-alone listmessenger (light) and the system is great and simple, I could only guess that Phil's port to make it a Joomla component is a great newsletter list manager.
Author:  Giller [ Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
hey - thanks for thoughtful response.

I just had a look at a couple other posts you left and you seem to be well informed of newsletter components. Perhaps you can give me some advice? 

Please only spend a little of your time if you have any spare writing a response -  I have 3 websites I'm putting together with joomla. I'd like to have a newsletter component and I have tried moslistmessenger already but this doesn't have the abililty for clients to amend their account details.

The characteristics I'd like are as follows;

- double opt in
- clever sending parameters if possible (throttling, timed release, etc)
- multiple list signup availability (konws to send only one letter if on multiple lists though)
- easy account management by users
- easy to manage HTML email creation

I'd prefer for all this to be in one package and to be able to integrate with joomla but its not aboslutely essential. I've started to look at PHP list and Yanc but I can see that installing and reviewing these is going to be time consuming and risky to my sites!!!! (I'm new to site building and apache etc!!)

Can you recomend any particular applications for me to check more thoroughly first?

Duncan
Author:  audienceone [ Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Giller, I'm sorry to say that I'm not knowledgeable with newsletters as you think I am. I'm simply looking for a solution myself.

Anyway, If you've got moslistmessenger from Phil, maybe you could ask the features you need to be fitted into moslistmessenger. He's got it commercial right? If he'd be happy to add those features then - again, I'm guessing - that those who are looking for a fully functional newsletter with the mailing list features most often needed by high volume newsletter sites - then, he'd be having more clients.
Author:  Giller [ Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Ah ok - yep, I bought moslistmessenger. Phil has indicated that he would be adding registration modification later but hasn't committed to a date and I've made an agreement to have a solution asap. Also phil's solution costs £20. I'm not saying that's a lot and I'm happy to pay it but at the moment it doesn't have the features I want so I'll try out the other solutions and will add more to this post as I come to grips with them. THanks for your help
Author:  Alejo [ Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Here's another newsletter component not many know about. I haven't actually used it but installed it and it looks ok.

http://mamboforge.net/projects/fqmulticorreos/

I don't know if it works with Joomla
Author:  audienceone [ Sat Oct 29, 2005 1:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
True! this "beta" looks great.
Author:  stace [ Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component - FQ Multicorreos
This component could be the perfect solution... needs some tweaking though!  I wonder if anybody might be willing to help take a crack at it? It's by far the easiest and most graphically pleasing of the newsletter solutions for Joomla. Here's a look at the admin menu bar:

Image

http://mamboforge.net/projects/fqmulticorreos/

First problem is that despite having a separate "import users" feature that allows you to include all Mambo registered users in your newsletter subscriber list - the component automatically imports then every time you hit "users" - even if you delete them manually via phpmyadmin from the jos_fq_subscribers table - (the delete button in the admin didn't work for me at all) EVERY time you hit the "users" thing in the admin, it reimports them and saves them from the jos_users table to the jos_fq_subscribers table which is used to hold all of the subscribers for your mailing lists.  To get rid of this problem I created an empty replica of this table  w/ the same structure but no data - titled jos_users_fq.

Then  I modified the code in the following 3 files:

admin.fq.html.php
class.letters.php
class.subscribers.php

And now instead of querying and inserting the data from the jos_users - it looks for whatever data is in jos_users_fq - so for now, since I haven't referenced this table anywhere that contains a subscribe form -  I just get an empty list - which I can fill with an import function from a .csv file (I tried that and it worked great) or by using the module to allow new subscribers - which go into the jos_fq_subscribers by default.

I want to import or allow a subscribe option for Joomla users - but ONLY users who have opted in somehow - which I haven't quite figured out yet! I think for the subscribe module - saving the info to the new jos_users_fq table should be an easy fix - but the question still remains how I'll get some kind of check box during regular registration included, so that all people registering for my site (and I'm using Community Builder for registrations) - can OPT IN to the newsletter, rather than it being obligatory.

I also read on the old mamboforge forum for this component that somebody had trouble w/ bounces not being handled correctly - although I haven't tried this so I don't know.

I like the fact that once you do the hack I did above, this system is like the former MAMML/ANJEL that allows there to be both registered and unregistered subscribers - but I'd like the ability to import ONLY the ones who have opted in.  As for stats and the functionality of actually sending the newsletters out, I haven't tried anything yet.

If anybody wants to check this sytem out - I'd be happy to help share the workload in getting some hacks done so this thing works w/ CB registration!
Author:  stace [ Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Newsletter component
Ah sorry just realized that for the module I said it would be easy to have the info saved to the new jos_users_fq - but actually, the current module does save that info to the existing jos_fq_subscribers - so it shouldn't be necessary to modify that module.

But - the question is how to get the other registrations to save data to either the jos_fq_subscribers, or the new jos_users_fq  - which is an exact  replica of the existing jos_users - hopefully that will help in some way!
Author:  stace [ Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:40 am ]
Post subject:  Graphical Yanc - navigation made easy!
Well after a lot of tinkering I figured out that the FQ Multicorreos is really just a skinny version of Yanc, with a more pleasing interface. But also lacking in a lot of new Yanc features - especially the great new Community Builder registration check box for your newsletter subscriptions.

So I packaged this all together w/ some new buttons I made for the admin - and now we have Graphical Yanc!  I hope the author doesn't mind - I plan to email him tonight.

If anybody wants to take a look - here is a shot of the new admin used to navigate all sections of Yanc (from a simple 1 button click on the menu - listed under "G" instead of "Y" - which I found very handy!

Image

You can download the component from my Docman section
http://www.instaspanish.com/joomla_tools/
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