Mailing List Functionality

[Wayne Luke]

I would like mailing list functionality added on to vBulletin. This would be software that sits outside of vBulletin itself and monitors one or more email addresses assigned to specific forums. When a new post is created then this software should verify that the person is a registered member of the forum by verifying email addresses, then insert the post via the data managers into the appropriate thread or create a new one as necessary. No passwords should be required to post this way.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

You mean when a new post is made in the forum, or when a mail is received in the assigned mail address?

[Wayne Luke]

Originally Posted by MarcoH64

You mean when a new post is made in the forum, or when a mail is received in the assigned mail address?

Both actually...

If a new post is made, then the system emails everyone who has chosen to be notified of new threads/posts.

If a new email reply is created then it is inserted into the thread.

Something similar to this:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=65152

and this:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...ht=email+reply

except using data managers and running outside the vBulletin system and as a separate process on the server so the cron job can be set to run every minute or so.

[FASherman]

Yeah, WebCrossing had something like this. A person could participate in a thread by email only if they chose to. They'd be emailed every post and just by replying, their replied would be inserted.

Replies would automatically be replies to the post that generated the email, so even threaded views would remain consistant.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by Wayne Luke

IWhen a new post is created then this software should verify that the person is a registered member of the forum by verifying email addresses, then insert the post via the data managers into the appropriate thread or create a new one as necessary. No passwords should be required to post this way.

This sounds very easy to abuse - spoofing e-mail addresses is the easyist thing in the world.

[vBer]

A system that could work but that wouldn't need the use of the users password could be something like this (This wouldn't be able to create a new thread by email)

A user signs up to recieve replies to a thread/forum. They get a reply to the thread which also contains a thread unique identifier for them and that thread (maybe even that reply) if they then reply to that email that text is posted after the unique identifier and thier email have been checked.

So if a user has the thread unique identifier stolen/abused it can only be used to reply to that one thread and can't be used to login to the forums. Without it all emails are ignored.

[Lord Doys]

I have once written a IPB <-> Mailinglist connector

When new posts are made on the mailing list they get imported to a designated forum as new thread. And replies as replies.
And vice versa, new posts and replies are send to the mailing list.

Reason for this is that i have two groups of fans of a certain game. But one half likes the mailing list and the other half likes forums.

ofcourse some mailinglist members didnt have an account on the forum, and therefor i created a general forum account for that, so if the forums receives messages from the mailinglist from these users, the post WOULD have a user.

Since i just have swatched from IPB to vB ill have to rewrite this script. It seems quite some people are intested in such a thing.

edit: ow and about the spoofing problem.. the script only imported the emails from the mailinglist email address, all others are deleted right away.
So this was a 99.99% spoof/spam free solution

[Torqued]

Did anything ever come of this? I'm looking for this kind of functionality as well.

[Typhon]

I would also like to see something like this; I can see it being very handy.