SMTP Mail question...

[MostlyH2O]

Hi Folks,

I run a small website for a membership organization - and I have created an
ASP front end for an access database that allows the board members to manage
their membership roster (names, addresses, membership dues paid, etc)...

Part of the site is an ASP SMTP script that allows members to send emails to
all the people listed in the access database. It's a simple script that
just loops through the database and sends an individual email to everyone in
the database. There are a few drawbacks to this method...

The email gets sent from my server, but the return address listed in the
email is from the individual user that sends it. As a result, a percentacge
of recipients don't get the message, because their mail server does a
reverse check and finds that there is no matching account on the originating
server. It would be impossible for me to give all the users mail accounts
on my server - and it would be a redundant nightmare to manage it.

So, my question is: Is there a solution, like a listserv, which can be
integrated with an existing database of users? Obviously, I don't want to
keep a seperate listserv - the whole idea of the membership database is to
only have one database to update. ie: when a users email changes, I don't
want to update it in two places. Also, it would be nice to be able to
automatically identify obsolete addresses (bounces) and flag the records in
the database. And finally, I'd like to have a solution that solves the
reverse-lookup problem.

I'm grateful for any advice or suggestions.

Best Regards,
Jack Coletti
St. Petersburg, FL

[McKirahan]

"MostlyH2O" <jm*@takeitouth rmp.net> wrote in message
news:We******** *************@t ornado.tampabay .rr.com...

Hi Folks,

I run a small website for a membership organization - and I have created an ASP front end for an access database that allows the board members to manage their membership roster (names, addresses, membership dues paid, etc)...

Part of the site is an ASP SMTP script that allows members to send emails to all the people listed in the access database. It's a simple script that
just loops through the database and sends an individual email to everyone in the database. There are a few drawbacks to this method...

The email gets sent from my server, but the return address listed in the
email is from the individual user that sends it. As a result, a percentacge of recipients don't get the message, because their mail server does a
reverse check and finds that there is no matching account on the originating server. It would be impossible for me to give all the users mail accounts
on my server - and it would be a redundant nightmare to manage it.

So, my question is: Is there a solution, like a listserv, which can be
integrated with an existing database of users? Obviously, I don't want to keep a seperate listserv - the whole idea of the membership database is to
only have one database to update. ie: when a users email changes, I don't
want to update it in two places. Also, it would be nice to be able to
automatically identify obsolete addresses (bounces) and flag the records in the database. And finally, I'd like to have a solution that solves the
reverse-lookup problem.

I'm grateful for any advice or suggestions.

Best Regards,
Jack Coletti
St. Petersburg, FL

A couple of ideas:

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusine...ore/hub14.mspx

Constant Contact at http://www.roving.com/.

[Roland Hall]

"MostlyH2O" wrote in message
news:We******** *************@t ornado.tampabay .rr.com...
I run a small website for a membership organization - and I have created an
: ASP front end for an access database that allows the board members to
manage
: their membership roster (names, addresses, membership dues paid, etc)...
:
: Part of the site is an ASP SMTP script that allows members to send emails
to
: all the people listed in the access database. It's a simple script that
: just loops through the database and sends an individual email to everyone
in
: the database. There are a few drawbacks to this method...
:
: The email gets sent from my server, but the return address listed in the
: email is from the individual user that sends it. As a result, a
percentacge
: of recipients don't get the message, because their mail server does a
: reverse check and finds that there is no matching account on the
originating
: server. It would be impossible for me to give all the users mail accounts
: on my server - and it would be a redundant nightmare to manage it.
:
: So, my question is: Is there a solution, like a listserv, which can be
: integrated with an existing database of users? Obviously, I don't want
to
: keep a seperate listserv - the whole idea of the membership database is to
: only have one database to update. ie: when a users email changes, I don't
: want to update it in two places. Also, it would be nice to be able to
: automatically identify obsolete addresses (bounces) and flag the records
in
: the database. And finally, I'd like to have a solution that solves the
: reverse-lookup problem.
:
: I'm grateful for any advice or suggestions.

Hi Jack...

I send my messages out from bo****@domain.c om (domain.com being a variable).
However, what you can do is PRETEND to have an account for the person being
listed by using catchall.

In other words, your system will respond to anyone trying to verify an
address by saying, "Sure, that's ok!", even though the address doesn't
exist. Then anything sent to the catchall, that is not legitimate gets
dumped. The person/server on the other end never knows. It requires more
steps that just bouncing mail, which is preferred with spammers, so the
email is not accepted. This other sever is not trying to send you anything.
They just want to verify the user exists and are only looking for an
okidoki.

Another option is to put who the message is from as the descriptive part of
the email address and use a generic one on your end that really does exist.
Or you could put the sender's info in the body of the email.

Out of those, I prefer catchall but it's not for everyone.

HTH...

--
Roland Hall
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