open email client from mysql and php database without using mailto:

[Nigi]

I've made a mysql database with php front end which, in part, contains
mailing lists. I've used a mailto: link to create a new email with
their names in the bcc: field.

Unfortunatley their is a limit on the size of a mailto: field that
outlook can accept, and so it can't be used to mail more than about 80
people at a time. Our lists go up to 200.

Can anyone suggest a workaround that will enable people to follow a
link to a new email populated with addresses?

PS I would like to keep the whole interface web-based
PPS DO I sound like a spammer?!! I promise I'm not.

Cheers for your ideas!

[Bill Karwin]

Nigi wrote:

I've made a mysql database with php front end which, in part, contains
mailing lists. I've used a mailto: link to create a new email with
their names in the bcc: field.

Unfortunatley their is a limit on the size of a mailto: field that
outlook can accept, and so it can't be used to mail more than about 80
people at a time. Our lists go up to 200.

Right, you need a more scaleable solution. Outlook isn't the only mail
client that has a finite limit to the number of addressees.

One option is to generate the email as part of your PHP application.
Let the user enter subject, body, and choose the recipient mailing list
from a drop-down list. Then send the email directly from the PHP
application.

Here's an article on how to do that:
http://www.developer.com/lang/php/ar...0941_3468701_2

You also then have an opportunity to keep a log or an archive of all the
emails as your application sends them.

But PHP isn't the best technology to send bulk email (i.e. sending to
more than a handful of recipients). As mentioned in the article above,
a better way to do this is to maintain a mailing list server yourself,
and then when your users want to email to a list, they are given a
mailto: link to a single address at your server, and that address is
received by the mailing list software, and reflected to the entire list
of recipients.

Here's an FAQ on software to provide mailing lists management:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mail/list-admin/software-faq/

You might need to write some script to pull the recipients data from the
MySQL database and re-generate the mailing list recipients definitions
as an offline task. Some mailing list managers might even allow you to
skip this step, by taking the lists of recipients directly from a database.

In addition to the industrial-strength software packages listed in that
FAQ, try a google search on: mailing list management mysql php
There seem to be quite a few free solutions available, and many
commercial ones too.

For instance, here are some lists of tools:
http://www.devscripts.com/PHP/Mailing_List/
http://www.createafreewebsite.net/ph...ree-tools.html

Regards,
Bill K.

[swdev2]

Hullo Nigi -
I would suggest you utilize a php script called
phpmailer ..
Its great for this type of automation.
hth - mondo regards [Bill]
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"Nigi" <mi************ *@gmail.com> wrote in message
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I've made a mysql database with php front end which, in part, contains
mailing lists. I've used a mailto: link to create a new email with
their names in the bcc: field.

Unfortunatley their is a limit on the size of a mailto: field that
outlook can accept, and so it can't be used to mail more than about 80
people at a time. Our lists go up to 200.

Can anyone suggest a workaround that will enable people to follow a
link to a new email populated with addresses?

PS I would like to keep the whole interface web-based
PPS DO I sound like a spammer?!! I promise I'm not.

Cheers for your ideas!