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[Declined] postings via emails (yahoo! groups!)

Started by assad, April 26, 2004, 04:33:24 PM

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alitahir

#80
In this present SMf forum my first weeks were passive. I used mainly  search function.  There are plenty topics and threads  and following each one of them is  out of question. If we could have a weekly digest of all postings, it would be really interesting  as an overall snapshot of what is going on. In this sense   (only outgoing) mail integration would help a lot.

Consider also that from our present thread I got  up to 15 notifications  per day. An outgoing  mail in digest form would also centralize all of them.


Tobias Eigen

Hi Rhizome -

At this stage I can accept that this is going to be a mod and not added to the core functionality for SMF but would hope that the mod is relatively simple and doesn't attempt to do too much. The phpbb efforts are really very overwhelmingly complicated and it seems they will never get the quirks ironed out. I can appreciate the security concerns, but have to admit I'm not as paranoid as [Unknown], and would hope that this mod would support the needs of the more advanced admins among us with ssh access and very solid list managers like mailman.

Sorry for continuing to harp on about Fud, but that seems the easiest way for me to explain what I feel is needed to you all. I'm happy to answer further questions, set up a test installation to demonstrate its capabilities to you all, and help with designing and beta testing this mod with Fud as a model.

On the other side, it's also been interesting trying to explain to our funders (we've written proposals to try to get this type of development funded) as well as my members in Africa and colleagues in my office that SMF is important, and can help us to empower "electronic networks" in Africa. These eNetworks are currently using email lists and Yahoo groups, and the main benefit of them is the day-to-day, immediate connection via e-mail. The problem is that they require pretty serious email management skills (filters, folders etc) which our members only build up gradually, and decent email clients, which many members don't have (they use webmail systems mostly). Even with archives stored in folders, it can be hard to find and follow discussions or look back to see what a particular person has posted, which are things SMF does very well. Yahoogroups is limited (i.e. file attachments are not saved and the ways to browse/search are clunky) and Mailman's mhonarc or pipermail alternatives are really sucky.

Conversely, it's been very hard for us to get people to understand to log into a website to post messages. Even in our functioning List/fud system, all interactions take place by email, and people only log into fud periodically to look up past discussions or to pick up files that we post there that we don't distribute. This type of interaction (like this thread) is really handy, but it would be more accessible to folks who don't spend their days developing forums if they could be contributed to by e-mail.

Cheers,

Tobias
Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
http://www.kabissa.org

Joomla Website, Mailman mailing list server, seeking SMF/Mailman integration a la Fud Forum (http://www.fudforum.org).

http://del.icio.us/tobiaseigen/mail2forum

rhizome

Hi Tobias

I totally understand your position and share it.

My argument has been all along that email functionality for SMF only can enhance communications, because the majority of internet users still use email. And if we step outside fo the 'developed world', it's even more. And existing mailing lists fall short in terms of easy to use archiving and following discussions, thus the power of web discussions forums like SMF.

I reckon long term, many of the forum software will integrate in various ways with email as things seem to be converging
What FUD offers seems very powerful, though it's a one person operation since it's 3 years of development, doesn't seem to have grown much. But please put up a test site so other smf users and developers can see it in action.

For now, maybe with the MOD being developed, it will open other possibilities for SMF in the future

regards

ynneb

Can I add my vote for the email feature.
Surely If the forum owner is prepared to take the risk then they can wear the benefit or loss of the decision.

I want to take the risk. :)

digitalgraal

#84
Just popping,

you may want to now that i have started to port CM2F for SMF.

I need to test the metalayer that i have created for CM2F in order to allow it to link into other forums with minimum effort.

I was not thinking into doing this so soon, but i have taken a look at SMF feature and i like it, so i decided to play around like i am doing at this moment with Vbulletin, XOOPS newBB and XarBB.

At this moment my site is dead due to hackers and  I have not been able to recover the service, so no more information is not available, but i will try to come out in the next days with more information about the tests.

Regards,
D.

http://www.digitalgraal.dyndns.org
CM4F Groups
Community Messaging 4 Forums
Bridging Worlds Mail-Forum-CMS
http://www.digitalgraal.net

Yonkey

Quote from: digitalgraal on July 01, 2005, 09:11:13 AM
At this moment my site is dead due to hackers and  I have not been able to recover the service
This is exactly why security should always be a priority, even with a feature like this.

Grudge

I'm only a half geek really...

rhizome

Quote from: Yonkey on July 01, 2005, 09:18:17 AM
Quote from: digitalgraal on July 01, 2005, 09:11:13 AM
At this moment my site is dead due to hackers and  I have not been able to recover the service
This is exactly why security should always be a priority, even with a feature like this.

Just because the site was hacked doesn't necessarily mean it was due to CM2F. Possibly, I suspect it was do with the phpbb/portal which attracts crackers like nobody's business these days, but it could be a number of other things. That's not say security isn't a priority for all of us.

I've done some digging around , and CM2F seems to be the the most advanced email<->forum app out there  :)

I'm sure digitalgraal can fill us in with further info about security. (He was originally involved in M2F)

Tobias Eigen

#88
Hi Rhizome & all,

I have created a demo fud/mailman installation at http://kb2.org/fud and http://lists.kb2.org/mailman/listinfo/fud - if you want to see the admin side, please PM me for the password.

Some quick pointers about how this works, and how to use the demo installation:

1) Registration to Fud is open (for this particular installation). Likewise for the Mailman list. If you want to participate in one or the other (or both) you have to sign up in the appropriate place, or be added by the forum moderator/list owner. [subscribe to the mailman list by writing to [email protected] with the command "subscribe" in the subject of your message or by going to http://lists.kb2.org/mailman/listinfo/fud]

2) Posts to the "TestForum" on Fud are sent to the [email protected] mailman distribution list from the poster's email address. Depending on the way the list is set up in mailman and if the poster's email address is subscribed to the list, it might be held for approval or distributed right away. Currently this is set to immediately distribute messages posted by list members.

3) Posts emailed to [email protected] (using an email client) are handled the same way by mailman. Once approved, they are distributed to subscribers and posted to the Fud forum (moderation can also be turned on for emailed posts in Fud). If the e-mail address of the poster is not already registered in Fud, the user will be added (this is an option I have turned on. Later they can have a new password emailed to them if they want to access Fud).

No guarantees for how long this will be up - let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Tobias
Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
http://www.kabissa.org

Joomla Website, Mailman mailing list server, seeking SMF/Mailman integration a la Fud Forum (http://www.fudforum.org).

http://del.icio.us/tobiaseigen/mail2forum


Tobias Eigen

In terms of making a case for this functionality, here's a link to an interesting article discussing the merits of various forums, including phpbb, for the purposes of e-democracy:

http://www.dowire.org/notes/index.php?p=21

I think they should also consider looking at SMF and will point them to this site... hopefully with the efforts digitalgraal and grudge are making, we will all soon be able to use SMF integrated with our mailing lists.

Cheers,

Tobias
Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
http://www.kabissa.org

Joomla Website, Mailman mailing list server, seeking SMF/Mailman integration a la Fud Forum (http://www.fudforum.org).

http://del.icio.us/tobiaseigen/mail2forum

skelem

how do we get this out of declined - seems to me to be the single most important feature - currently this thread has the highest views there MUST be interest in this

Tobias Eigen

Hi Skelem -

Glad you also think this is important functionality. For me it is essential.

If you read through this thread you'll see that [unknown] and others have given very good reasons for making this an add-on, not a core feature. There are two add-ons - of these cm2f is most extensive and is making some good progress. See http://www.digitalgraal.dyndns.org for more info and if you want to get involved.

Cheers,

Tobias
Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
http://www.kabissa.org

Joomla Website, Mailman mailing list server, seeking SMF/Mailman integration a la Fud Forum (http://www.fudforum.org).

http://del.icio.us/tobiaseigen/mail2forum

skelem

Quote from: Tobias Eigen on October 15, 2005, 11:17:18 AM
Hi Skelem -

Glad you also think this is important functionality. For me it is essential.

If you read through this thread you'll see that [unknown] and others have given very good reasons for making this an add-on, not a core feature. There are two add-ons - of these cm2f is most extensive and is making some good progress. See hxxp:www.digitalgraal.dyndns.org [nonactive] for more info and if you want to get involved.

Cheers,

Tobias


THat looks great - how do I get a ciopy to test - try out?

digitalgraal

Hello,

to test the current version of CM2F SMF you can go to the smf.digitalgraal.dyndns.org and send a message to [email protected].
The message should go directly to the forum. There is still a glitch as the username is being badly interpreted by the script, but i am going over this point.
To have access to the next version of the code, just send me an email to digitalgraal(at)digitalgraal.dyndns.org and I will include you in the beta test phase.

REgards,
D.
CM4F Groups
Community Messaging 4 Forums
Bridging Worlds Mail-Forum-CMS
http://www.digitalgraal.net


skelem

Any chance I could get a copy? Should i resend email?

skelem

Doesn't seem to be any action on this. Do any other BBS's support this feature? I would re-do all to get it to work

Eternity

#98
Quote from: Tobias Eigen on October 15, 2005, 11:17:18 AM
Hi Skelem -

Glad you also think this is important functionality. For me it is essential.

If you read through this thread you'll see that [unknown] and others have given very good reasons for making this an add-on, not a core feature. There are two add-ons - of these cm2f is most extensive and is making some good progress. See http://www.digitalgraal.dyndns.org for more info and if you want to get involved.

Cheers,

Tobias

Tobias

Please are you still working on this?  Will it just be forum posts sent out in a daily digest type thing. Or will you be able to add a newsletter and if so will it allow html editing of more than one column.  I am trying to find another script in the meantime but I hate to keep changing it.
http://www.tesda.org.uk
http://www.tesda.org.uk/Downloads

Open Source software is an innovative form and opportunity to break through the barriers of poverty and contribute positively to development and free trade.

Tobias Eigen

Hi Eternity -

This has nothing to do with what you're trying to do. It is a gateway tool between email mailing lists and SMF.

I am indeed still helping digitalgraal to test it, and eager for it to be functioning as soon as possible.

Cheers,

Tobias
Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
http://www.kabissa.org

Joomla Website, Mailman mailing list server, seeking SMF/Mailman integration a la Fud Forum (http://www.fudforum.org).

http://del.icio.us/tobiaseigen/mail2forum

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