Mini Mods - Email Reminder for inactive users

AS OF MARCH 16TH 2013 - THIS ADDON IS NO LONGER BEING UPDATED DUE TO INSUFFICIENT TIME AVAILABLE. THANK YOU ALL FOR USING THIS ADDON AND FOR YOUR SUPPORT. IF YOU OR YOU KNOW OF ANYONE THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO PICK UP WHERE I LEFT OFF ON THIS ADDON, PLEASE DO SO. I'M RELEASING THIS ADDON TO THE VBULLETIN COMMUNITY TO UPDATE AS NEEDED.
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What does it do?
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This mod will send out reminder emails to inactive members to encourage them to come back to your site.

I also want to give full credit and thanks to the developers of the previous versions from which this was derived:
technom8t (Email reminder for inactive users 1.0.0)
C Braithwaite and djbaxter (Email reminder for inactive users v1.2.7)
robertjandreu (Email reminder for inactive users 1.1.3)

*** See Updates section below for new feature list per release. ***

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS WITH THE ADDON, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO CLICK THE INSTALLED LINK!! THANK YOU!!

Features
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* Turn product on/off.
* Set the number of days a user can be away from your site before being considered inactive. (Default: 30 days)
* Send reminder emails once and once only during any inactive period. (Default: Off)
* Edit maximum number of reminder emails sent totally.
* Set how often an reminder email is sent during an inactive period .
* Set reminder email format - TEXT or HTML.
* Set the reminder email subject. (phrased) (site must be placed in debug mode currently to edit, not translate)
* Set the reminder email body. (phrased) (site must be placed in debug mode currently to edit, not translate)
* Set the usergroups to be sent a reminder email.
* Set userids to exclude.
* Log inactive users that have been sent a reminder.

Install Instructions
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This was written specifically for VB4. The VB3.8.x version is here.

IMPORTANT BEFORE YOU INSTALL, IF YOU HAVE A PREVIOUS VERSION INSTALLED I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU BACK UP YOUR
CUSTOM REMINDER MESSAGE SUBJECT AND MESSAGE BODY THIS MOD WILL OVER WRITE THEM. ALSO, IN VERSION 2.x, REMINDER
MESSAGE CONTENTS HAS BEEN MOVED TO USING VBPHRASES. LOOK IN THE INSTALL.TXT FILE WITH THIS UPLOAD FOR A LIST OF
PHRASES USED IN THIS MOD.

1. Back up Custom Reminder Email Phrases that you have made.
2. Upload file in the upload folder to the forums folder on your server.
3. In your AdminCP:
a. If you've installed an older version of this mod prior to 1.1.4 you must uninstall it first as well as remove the files that came with it. I can not stress this enough.
b. Go to Plugs & Products -> Product Manager -> Add New Product.
c. Import the product xml from the zip file. (make sure to use overwrite)
4. The mod is disabled by default on install so you will need to enable it. Go to Vbulletin "Settings" -> Options -> Inactivity Reminder Emails.
5. Settings and the inactivity log viewer are also available on the left menu just above the users settings group.

History Log
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Update 2.2.1
* NEW : New plugin resets inactive members when they return to site.
* FIX : UserID field in inactivity log was showing 0, and UserID was not being added to the optout url.

UpDate 2.2.0
* CHANGE : Inactivity is now based on members Last Activity Date.
* ADD : Exporting the following additional values which can be used in reminder email templates. Check readme.txt in zip file for list of place holders.

Update 2.1.5
* CHANGE : Mod no longer has the option of adding a footer credit to the end of your website.
* CHANGE : Mod no longer has the option of adding a footer credit to outgoing emails.
* CHANGE : New Reminder Optout: Currently this is only accessable from emails being sent out.

Note: Please let members know that they may receive one more email at which time they can choose to optout/unsubscribe by clicking on the embedded link or copying/paste it into
their browser.

* FIX : Reminders were still being sent out incorrectly. I believe this is now fixed finally.
* FIX : Issues when emails were sent out had the incorrect "From" address and listed the host domain name. This should be resolved now.
* FIX : Issue regarding special characters in the usernames being added to the database has been resolve.
* NEW: New data fields have been implimented for keeping track of when reminders are sent out and how many a member has received. If you have a had this mod installed since version 1.1.4, it will look for those fields and rename them so you do not loose previous data in those fields, otherwise new fields will be added.
* NEW: I've added the ability to turn off the admin report. In this version, if it is enabled, you may receive 2 reports. One report for members that have never received a reminder and one for members who haven't received a reminder since the last reminder based on the frequencey setting in the mod settings screen.
* NEW: Reminder's sender and email address are correctly determined now. Should now reflect site name with the webmasteremail address as the reply to.
* CHANGE :Translations for 2.1.1 may not work for versions after since some templates and phrases have been removed.

Update 2.1.1 (6/24/2010) - German Translation - (Thanks Semmi)
Thanks to Semmi for translating the Admin menu, Phrases and Reminder Phrase Templates to German.

Update 2.1.1 (3/30/2010) - Bug Fix
* FIX - Removed extra where clause in query where scheduled task script was performing an update when inactive reminders where based on last post count.
* FIX - Email Phrase Templates - Changed $bburl variable to $forumurl to correct a broken unsubscribe link.
* NEW - Includes tool to reset the date and count of reminder emails that were previously sent to users. This tool is mainly for testing purposes.

Update 2.1.0 (3/26/2010) - Bug Fixs and some new features
* Edit number of emails send totally
* Choose whether inactivity is based on members "Last Post" or their "Last Activity"
* Keep a log of all inactive users contacted
* Opt-Out Feature for members - Include an opt-out link in reminder email. (Thanks to Gene Steinberg)
* Added a link to the bottom of the default email template phrases that members can use to unsubscribe from reminder emails.

Update 2.0.1 (03/15/2010 9:00pm) - Bug Fix
* FIX - Issue related to processing users in a batch configuration. Mod was checking for a field length greater than zero instead of a numeric value greater than zero.

Update 2.0.0 (03/15/2010) - Complete rewrite of mod
* NEW - Can specify number of users to process during nightly scheduled task.
* NEW - Send reminder emails in either text or html format.
* NEW - Email subject and message body uses vb phrase templates. I've included sample content in email phrase templates so all you need to is customize as desired.

Update 1.1.4 (03/05/2010) - Initial release for vBulletin 4.x
* FIX - Would continue to send out email more often than specified intervals due to incorrect setting in cron job.
* NEW - Exclude userids from processing.


IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS WITH THE ADDON, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THOSE THAT HAVE NOT INDICATED THE MOD IS INSTALLED WILL BE A LOWER PRIORITY.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO CLICK THE INSTALLED LINK!! THANK YOU!!

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO NOMINATE.

If you like this mod and it has helped your site, and would like to see more features added, please consider donating.
Your support is very much appreciated! Thank you - Thank you

[TalkVirginia]

Originally Posted by steven s

I only read the first 4 pages but wondered if people are getting emails from past members to be removed completely?

My site is a car site and once someone sells the car, they usually don't return.
I'm concerned that those who have posted in the past and not returned in some time are going to want to be deleted completely.
Normally I ask those who want to be deleted to allow me to keep their username and posts and in exchange I delete their email address and turn of PM to their account. Everyone has been cool with that.

Has this been an issue? People asking to be deleted completely since they have not logged in for some time?
Sounds like a good mod, I'm just worried that it will have a negative effect.

This mod as the option in the UserCP under General Settings where they can "opt-out' from getting reminder emails. The option is at the bottom of the page.

[TalkVirginia]

Originally Posted by clubplanet

I think there is a possible bug in the logic.

When I use the vBulletin built-in contact form and send it to myself, it comes to me like this:

From: Dave @ Dallas Nightlife Community and Forums <dave@dallasdancemusic.com> (sent by webmaster@dallasdancemusic.com)

When I reply, the email address is the one I entered in the contact form, so I can reply to the user.

When your mod sends out email, the From: address is:

From: Dallas Nightlife Community and Forums <Dallas.Nightlife.Community.and.Forums@ns3.l2n.com > (sent by webmaster@dallasdancemusic.com)

And if I go to reply, the email is: Dallas Nightlife Community and Forums <Dallas.Nightlife.Community.and.Forums@ns3.l2n.com >

This somehow substitues my board name as the email address and the actual hostname as the domain part. Obviously, this is an invalid email, so bounces and replies will never get to me.

It would seem to do this because unlike the contact form, there is no "Your name:" and "Email address:" in the settings to use. Maybe adding those somewhere will fix this?

Thanks again.

Thanks for pointing this out. Actually, I did notice this and it's one of the issues I've worked on. Unfortunately, I don't have access to my development computer to offer a work around at the moment (power supply died recently). I am hoping to have it up and running by the end of the May, providing Newegg.com doesn't give me the run around.

[michelle86]

I've installed this mod and have enabled it. I followed all install instructions. "Inactive Reminders" does not show up on the admincp panel on the left and I have to go to Settings > Options > Inactive User Reminder Emails

That's not a huge issue. The issue is that the mod is not working. I went into Scheduled Task Manager to run it and when I did, I got this message:

Warning: include_once([path]/./includes/cron/reminderemail.php) [function.include-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/admincp/cronadmin.php on line 113

Warning: include_once() [function.include]: Failed opening '[path]/./includes/cron/reminderemail.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib64/php:/usr/lib/php') in [path]/admincp/cronadmin.php on line 113

Done


Do you know what I'm doing wrong and why it is not working? I searched the downloaded files for cronadmin.php and cannot find it anywhere.

[TalkVirginia]

Originally Posted by michelle86

I've installed this mod and have enabled it. I followed all install instructions. "Inactive Reminders" does not show up on the admincp panel on the left and I have to go to Settings > Options > Inactive User Reminder Emails

That's not a huge issue. The issue is that the mod is not working. I went into Scheduled Task Manager to run it and when I did, I got this message:

Warning: include_once([path]/./includes/cron/reminderemail.php) [function.include-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in [path]/admincp/cronadmin.php on line 113

Warning: include_once() [function.include]: Failed opening '[path]/./includes/cron/reminderemail.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib64/php:/usr/lib/php') in [path]/admincp/cronadmin.php on line 113

Done


Do you know what I'm doing wrong and why it is not working? I searched the downloaded files for cronadmin.php and cannot find it anywhere.

Hey Michelle, Sorry to hear the addon is giving you trouble. What version of vb are you running? Can you tell me how you have it installed, such as the directory structure? Cronadmin.php is included when you install vBulletin. I'll check back later this evening for your reply.

[michelle86]

I just removed everything and reuploaded and reinstalled it, and it is working great.

Thanks so much

[TalkVirginia]

Originally Posted by michelle86

I just removed everything and reuploaded and reinstalled it, and it is working great.

Thanks so much

Awesome! Glad to hear you got things working. :up:

[thecelticway]

hi

installed and its on the system and activated
but it dont show on the Admin Control Panel between Attachments and Users as you pic shows
Plugin is there and It's on the Scheduled Task Manager but no direct button to it
can you help

[TalkVirginia]

Originally Posted by thecelticway

hi

installed and its on the system and activated
but it dont show on the Admin Control Panel between Attachments and Users as you pic shows
Plugin is there and It's on the Scheduled Task Manager but no direct button to it
can you help

Please try uninstalling and reinstall. Please make sure that you ftp'd the files from the upload folder to your forum's root folder on your server. Once installed, refresh your admincp screen.

[docvader]

Jim this looks great, and I'm sure it's a wonderful execution. But, I think the idea is a bit flawed. I know that if I got an email asking me to come back, or that I haven't posted in a while, or, a message popped up that warned me that if I didn't post my forum ID would be executed (different script), I'd be a little annoyed. (I hate spam, I hate threats, and I hate begging...)

Now if the email sent some sort of an update on interesting threads that have occurred during that previous predetermined period of time that I was away, I'd find that more interesting, and I'd be more liable to return to read.

Kind of like the old community bulletin of old, but not as involved. Any chance of making an editable email, or, better yet, one that includes, for example, the most popular / recent / viewed whatever threads since the person last visited?? I think that would be really useful.

Awesome script BTW. I think with some additions, it could be a must have for everyone.

[djbaxter]

Originally Posted by docvader

Jim this looks great, and I'm sure it's a wonderful execution. But, I think the idea is a bit flawed. I know that if I got an email asking me to come back, or that I haven't posted in a while, or, a message popped up that warned me that if I didn't post my forum ID would be executed (different script), I'd be a little annoyed. (I hate spam, I hate threats, and I hate begging...)

You might think so and maybe that would be true for you but I've been using this for a couple of years now through different versions. The bottom line is that it has reminded quite a few members about the forum and many have returned. That's not hypothesizing - that's data.

I also send out a newsletter (members can opt in or out of it) which highlights recent threads. That also brings back members. It goes out Tuesday night/Wednesday morning every week and through Wednesday and Thursday I get a spike in logged in members. Again, data not hypothesis.