Digest email - detailed proposal

[TheGenie]

I saw this post from a while back and didn't know if anyone has came up with some mod to feature something like this? --------

I've seen a several requests for a digest email feature.

This is something I would also like.

I've run several forums and email lists with 200-800 users.  Email integration is a very important feature for me, to keep users coming back to the web site and participating.

Enclosed, in detail, is what I would like to see.
Questions or comments, please let me know!

Is anyone working on something like this?

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Subscribe to topics or to forums

Topic subscriptions:
   normal or digest

Forum subscriptions:
   all posts – normal
   all posts – digest
   new topics – normal
   new topics – digest

New members are automatically subscribed in digest mode to forums defined by the Admin.  They can later opt-out.

When subscribing to a forum, if a forum has child forums, the user is asked if they also want to subscribe to child forums.  (Note this inheritance would only apply for child forums to which they have read rights.)  Later, they can unsubscribe, subscribe, or change their subscription to individual child forums and to individual topics without affecting their subscription to the parent.

When sending a post, you have the option to subscribe to the topic (if not already subscribed).  The default selection is based on user preference.

Any user while reading a topic can subscribe, unsubscribe, or change subscription.

Topic subscription – normal:
   All posts are sent; sending one post does not suspend further email.
   Header: "New Post" – forum, topic, poster
   Full contents of post, without attachments.
   If post has an attachment, make note at bottom.
   Also at bottom, provide:
      View on web: URL
      Unsubscribe: URL
      Change subscription to digest: URL
   Note: URL's allow subscription to be changed without signing in

Forum subscription – all posts, normal or digest:
   same as being subscribed to all topics in the forum, including topics created after you subscribe

Forum subscription – new topics, normal:
   Header: "New Topic" – forum, topic, poster
   After header, provide:
      Subscribe to topic normal: URL
      Subscribe to topic digest: URL
      Manage subscription to this forum: URL
   If the user does not subscribe, they get no further notices on this topic
   Note: URL's allow topic subscription without signing in
   ---- Separator line ----
   Below separator line, append full post without attachments.
   If post has an attachment, make note at bottom.
   Also at bottom, provide:
      View on web: URL

Note: the different look between a "New Post" and "New Topic" is intentional to make them easy to distinguish at a glance.  That is because you are already subscribed to the first, while the latter requires you to follow up if you want to continue receiving emails on that topic.

Digest subscriptions:
   A digest is only a summary of the content; to view, you have to go to the web site.
   The digest is sent out once per day.
   Header:
      Manage subscriptions: URL
   Part 1: New topics
      A list of new topics, by forum, with URL to view
   Part 2: Posts
      A list of posts, by topic, with URL to view
         include first 60 characters of each post

Notes:
- When a topic is moved, it has to be reprocessed for subscriptions, as if it were just posted; the email notice might include a note that the topic was moved.
- Distribution of emails always has to obey forum read-rights, even if they are changed while users are subscribed.