There has been a fair amount of interest in a monthly newsletter. In the past I have been afraid of a news letter because I don't want anyone to associate spam with my web site. So.... I have formulated an 'initial' e-mail which I plan to send to all registered users. I would appreciate your comments before I send it. It reads: Hello from the Elsmar Cove!

Hi! My name is Marc Smith. I'm the fellow who has kept the Elsmar Cove web site online since January 1996.

I am writing you because:

1. Many people have registered over the years in the forums. Many have come and gone and their e-mail addressed are long 'dead'. I want to mark them as such in the user database. To know which e-mail addresses are dead, I have to e-mail each registered visitor and see if the e-mail bounces.

2. I am considering sending out a monthly news letter. Many people have expressed an interest in a monthly 'Elsmar Cove' news letter. In this e-mail, at this time, I want to tell you beforehand how to 'opt out' from receiving any future mailings. I hate spam, as I'm sure you do. The last thing I want is for anyone to think they *have* to receive the newsletter. So - You registered in the Elsmar Cove forums. All you have to do is go to your *User Options* ( http://Elsmar.com/Forums/profile.php?do=editoptions ), scroll down to *Messaging & Notification* block under which you will see *Receive Email* and then below that *Receive Email from Administrators* with a check box. If you 'uncheck' that box you will not receive the newsletter.

Now - If you use that link and you erased cookies since your last visit, or if you did not have 'Remember Me' checked, it will ask you for your user name and password because the software will not recognize you.

Your user name: If you've forgotten, it is $username

Your e-mail address is $email - If you would like to change where you receive e-mail, please go to:
http://Elsmar.com/Forums/profile.php?do=editpassword

If yu have forgotten your password, go to this page:
http://Elsmar.com/Forums/login.php?do=lostpw
The e-mail address you first registered with will be required. If it has changed, e-mail me at http://Elsmar.com/Forums/sendmessage.php and I'll help you.

While I hope you don't 'opt out' from the news letter (it will be short and to the point without 'bloat'), I'll understand if you do. You can always opt out at any time, so I do hope you'll wait for the first news letter before you do so.

I don't want to make this long - But I do want to bring to your attention an article by Allan J. Sayle Titled "Towards a global cyber institute". The thread is http://Elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=12152

I want to thank you for reading this and if you have any trouble with the 'opt out' process, e-mail me at: http://Elsmar.com/Forums/sendmessage.php and I'll help you.

Regards,

Marc Smith Your suggestions and/or comments?

Your suggestions and/or comments?Looks ok from over here :agree1:

/Claes

Marc,

I think it is a great idea. I don't think everyone reads the 'Stickys' when they should so important info may be missed. :agree1:

Doesn't sound like an announcement for a major new initiative. No need to be so apologetic, IMHO.

Looks great Marc.

Dave

Looks good

:agree1: Looks OK to me.

I like the idea, but as you are aware the company spam blocker does not permit me to receive e-mail threads from the cove. I am hoping the newsletter will come through but if it doenot please do not erase me!
Thanks

:agree1:

Good for me too :yes:

I like the idea, but as you are aware the company spam blocker does not permit me to receive e-mail threads from the cove. I am hoping the newsletter will come through but if it doenot please do not erase me!
Thanks
For folks with Jim's problem, may I suggest you create a free Yahoo email address which you can consult from time to time at your convenience to collect your mail from Cove and other sources which would be blocked by organization spam blockers?

The Yahoo mail accepts all sorts of files and attachments and provides filters so the incoming mail from known sources can be routed directly to a specific folder. I use these for various Associations where I am an officer who receives official mail for the Association. This way, we provided continuity when we change officers - I merely turn over the password to the incoming officer who then changes it to his choice of passwords. At one Association, several officers share the email address. We create a "vacation" response which says, in effect, "we monitor this email box at least every 48 hours. If your message requires a response, you can expect one within that time."

For folks with Jim's problem, may I suggest you create a free Yahoo email address which you can consult from time to time at your convenience to collect your mail from Cove and other sources which would be blocked by organization spam blockers?
This is a good idea for most people, but in my case it wouldn't work because webmail services are blocked where I work (as an anti-virus precaution). It's not an issue for me because regular Cove traffic isn't blocked by the company spam net as far as I know.

Looks good, Marc. :applause:

This is a good idea for most people, but in my case it wouldn't work because webmail services are blocked where I work (as an anti-virus precaution). It's not an issue for me because regular Cove traffic isn't blocked by the company spam net as far as I know.
"Consult from time to time" may mean from week to week or month to month - whenever you get an opportunity to get to a computer which does NOT block usage of the email - whether it is at home, office, friend, or library.

You go Marc. Looking forward to the newsletter..............

A lot of poeple seem to have 'returned' to the site as a result of the notification...Just curious to know what % of emails bounced.

I'll get the numbers out by this evening. This has turned out to be a very long process.

Sound Great!

As a brief summary...

There have been 15597 people register since this forum software was put online.
A couple of years ago the users who had not returned for over 2 years, and some others for various reasons, had their accounts deleted in a similar 'purge' leaving 12,428 registered visitors.
There were approximately 1545 e-mails which bounced during this mailing. I am going through and checking each one against the record. Note that the number of registered visitors will be shrinking as I am deleting accounts which were, for example, 'one day wonders' where someone registered on one day, did not post and did not come back. Most of these are from between 2001 and 2004. This check is taking a LONG time (I have about 600 left to check and I worked on it starting yesterday about 3 pm and didn't stop until last night about midnight or so).
The mailing was to 12,428 people and started at about 3 pm on saturday - The last e-mail went out about 8.30 pm saturday night.
So far only one 'nasty' reply telling me I'm breaking the US's canned spam law....
I have got a lot of replies that are 'positive' (maybe 100 or so).
I have gotten quite a few replies that notified me that the person doesn't work there anymore.
This is very, very boring - Checking every record, but it is identifying the bad e-mail accounts. That's it for now. Like I said, I'll probably have more info tonight but I still have about 600 'bounced' e-mails to match to accounts and don't have all day to do it so it might be a day or two, now that we're in the working week, to get those checked.

Thanks. I had reckoned about 15% bounce rate. Take a good rest..and tell me if there's anything I can do to help.

Thanks. I had reckoned about 15% bounce rate. Take a good rest..and tell me if there's anything I can do to help.
How did you arrive at that reckoning? I imagined there would be a lot of dead emails. I had no estimate of a percentage. Even the active folk here seem to have a rapid job turnover rate. It appears most folk are using the job email and job internet connection for access - it stands to reason many lose the connection when they change jobs. I wonder how many who come back to the Cove simply start new "Profiles" if they weren't active visitors in the first place. I know of at least one registrant who reads us all the time (his posts in other Forums include quotes or citations from here), but his Profile indicates he hasn't logged in for ages. I know he "lurks" for a personal reason. Other lurkers may exist with similar or different reasons having to do with work logs, etc. and "cookies," thus appearing as "nonvisitors."

....tell me if there's anything I can do to help.Not really. I have about 500 left now but I have to stop and get a few things done. Bottom line is they're all bounce notices and I have to go to each record and 'evaluate' it. No way that I can shift any of it to anyone easily. By tomorrow morning I'll have it finished.

Wes - there are a lot of 'bad' e-mail addresses. But some are because of new filters (not really 'bad' addresses, but not accepting e-mails without a verification or such). Most of the defunct e-mail addresses are from 2001 to 2003. But it's not as if 'the majority' of e-mail addresses here are defunct or 'bad'. Maybe 20% to 25% but until I get all this finished I won't be able to say. Considering accounts go back to 1998 - almost 7 years - I expect a certain amount of 'churn'.

I am getting a lot of 'I forgot about you guys and was surprised at the change' and other various positive replies from folks that haven't been here in a while. I'm not sure what you were (are) expecting, but it should also be noted that I do routinely delete or mark 'accounts' which I get bounces from such as when someone is 'subscribed' to an old thread that someone posts to (revives) and their notification e-mail bounces. So - It's an ongoing task. This is just a major weeding of accounts.

Just saw mine this AM, Marc. The newsletter sounds good, and I look forward to the 1st issue.

Thanks once again for all you do! :applause: :applause: :applause:

A good idea. Will we be receiving info regarding the threads being posted?

A good idea. Will we be receiving info regarding the threads being posted?The exact content is still TBD, however I expect it to be relatively short and NOT a mess of advertisements.

The exact content is still TBD, however I expect it to be relatively short and NOT a mess of advertisements.
The computer signature is the same as Marc's. What happened, Marc, erase all your cookies? Is that anything like "tossing" your cookies?:lmao:

Wes, I have no idea what you're talking about.

EDIT: Now I see. I had been logged out and posted. This forum will accept posts without being registered. Nope - No cookie loss. Just forgot I was logged out. Yes - The guest message above was from me.

Umm - OK - For all intents and purposes I've finished screening the bounced e-mails against individual 'accounts'. I deleted about 550 dead accounts.

Of note is that on a typical work week day about 250 to 300 'registered' visitors stop by (this is only a summary of those that are logged in and visit). Today over 725 visited, so some folks who got the e-mail and hadn't been by for a while (probably well over 400) decided to stop back by to see what's happening, so to speak.

I have also gotten a lot of very nice personal replies. Only 2 complainers.

Very interesting so far...

How did you arrive at that reckoning? I imagined there would be a lot of dead emails. I had no estimate of a percentage.... We do email campaigns occasioanlly. The bounce rate is usually about 15%.

Yahoo put your message in my "spam" bulk mail folder, but I think I fixed it so that from now on messages from your address will go directly into my inbox.

very glad to know the helpful webside! Pls do not erase me! Thank you very much!

YES, IT IS REALLY GOOD FOR ME!!:biglaugh:

It is O.K. Mark, go ahead.

Rgards

Thanks to count on with this forum

I receive several (by choice) e-newsletters on a weekly basis... Some offer daily, weekly, or monthly options. Basically, they provide a summary of two or three sentences to provide the "gist" of the article, they then provide links to the detailed article, all of which are available online. This is a great idea whose time has come. http://elsmar.com/Forums/images/smilies/thumbup1.gif http://elsmar.com/Forums/images/smilies/thank_you.gif

Got it Marc

Looks fine.:agree1:

There has been a fair amount of interest in a monthly newsletter. In the past I have been afraid of a news letter because I don't want anyone to associate spam with my web site. So.... I have formulated an 'initial' e-mail which I plan to send to all registered users. I would appreciate your comments before I send it. It reads: Your suggestions and/or comments?

I think this was a great idea!!!!

Regards, :bigwave:

Got it, good work Marc

Newsletter content is good.We can gradually improve on that. If you can convert the newsletter from the current "internet style" format to a good looking HTML format with pictures, hyperlinks, aligned paragraphs (similar to ASQ Wire, Inside Quality, etc..) it would be great and inspire users to read the letter.

Your suggestions and/or comments?

Marc,
Although my company uses an amazing amount of filtering (that rejects all spam and many important emails) your newsletter was delivered as expected.

One item to note: the subject line was blank.

I would suggest an appropriate subject, to avoid email filters that highlight "no subject" items as possible spam.

Kyle

Marc,
Although my company uses an amazing amount of filtering (that rejects all spam and many important emails) your newsletter was delivered as expected.

One item to note: the subject line was blank.

I would suggest an appropriate subject, to avoid email filters that highlight "no subject" items as possible spam.

KyleAh! There was a big thunderstorm here and I lost my connection just as I was starting to send the thing. While I was waiting my access timed out (in the admin control panel if you loose contact it automatically logs you out). So I had to re-log in and set everything up again.

You are 100% correct. When I set it up a second time to send I must have forgot to put in a subject. Thanks for the heads up.

Newsletter content is good.We can gradually improve on that. If you can convert the newsletter from the current "internet style" format to a good looking HTML format with pictures, hyperlinks, aligned paragraphs (similar to ASQ Wire, Inside Quality, etc..) it would be great and inspire users to read the letter. Yes - I hope to make it a decent news letter. I'm new at news letters so I'll have to look at some from some from other places and get some ideas from you folks. Maybe even send it out as a pdf attachment.

I can use HTML. I know some folks don't like html e-mails, but that's an idea.
I receive several (by choice) e-newsletters on a weekly basis... Some offer daily, weekly, or monthly options. Basically, they provide a summary of two or three sentences to provide the "gist" of the article, they then provide links to the detailed article, all of which are available online. This is a great idea whose time has come. Some more good thoughts.

Ah! There was a big thunderstorm here and I lost my connection just as I was starting to send the thing. While I was waiting my access timed out (in the admin control panel if you loose contact it automatically logs you out). So I had to re-log in and set everything up again.

You are 100% correct. When I set it up a second time to send I must have forgot to put in a subject. Thanks for the heads up.

Yes - I hope to make it a decent news letter. I'm new at news letters so I'll have to look at some from some from other places and get some ideas from you folks. Maybe even send it out as a pdf attachment.

I can use HTML. I know some folks don't like html e-mails, but that's an idea.
Some more good thoughts.

My only complaint about html newsletters was during my "dial up life" and days of small storage at isps providing email service. I note a lot of email newsletters offer options for html or text. One I used to get, but opted out, had a link in the text version "click here for html version" which led to a webpage with the html version.

Typically, folks only send out the pdf version if there is a high probability readers will download and print or if they are trying to duplicate the snail mail version, otherwise they stick with text or html. HTML is much nicer for dealing with graphics for most folks.

I know a lot of email policies and filters get "hinky" about attachments in ANY format. I suppose there are websites somewhere which explore the whole newsletter list of do's and do not's. I'm sure Marc will work it out for optimal benefit.

I can use HTML. I know some folks don't like html e-mails, but that's an idea.

I like HTML, although there are many reasons not to accept HTML email. Inline images are often used in HTML spam messages to track the receipt of messages and validate email addresses for future spam. As a result, many email clients disable inline images by default - although this would not affect standard text formatting.

As with many things, a professional newsletter is not easy to produce. It takes time and effort. "there is no substitute for hard work"

One suggestion is to find examples of newsletters that are professionally generated and copy "what works". The best example of an HTML newsletter that I know of is mike's list (http://www.mikeslist.com) the silly con valley report. You will note that subscribing is easy enough and with each message there is always 1. a choice for ASCII only and 2. options for removing the subscription.

Looks good to me Marc! Sorry I haven't been around much, got downsized the end of 2004. Got the company their TS, so they decided that they didn't need me any longer. So, I've been taking a break from all the quality stuff!

Hope everyone is doing well

:bigwave: Jonell

Marc,

it is a great idea. The news letter may be in html format with, if possible a Txt version also for people who don't like the html version.

what is actually required is a small beginning and afterwards things will take care of themselves.

Once you start the journey, a caravan will automatically follow you. Perhaps that's how the Elsmar Cove started.

I am looking forward to the News letter.

wish you all the success. :applause:

Good idea, well done.
Paul

One I used to get, but opted out, had a link in the text version "click here for html version" which led to a webpage with the html version.


The text version with a link to the web based HTML version gets my vote...:agree1: I also like the idea of having the pdf version available. Maybe the pdf version could be available (as a link on the web based HTML Newsletter) for those that want to keep or print a hardcopy?

That's probably what I'll do. A text e-mail with a link to a static html page. As to a pdf file, that depends upon how 'complex' this ends up to be. Maybe every other week or something like that.

Next up - putting a 'regular' news letter together... Ummm, content....

I'm positive about it.

Marc,
There are quite a few software programs that will monitor mailing lists for valid email addresses. http://www.programurl.com/software/verification.htm is an example. google email verification and you should find several.

Thanks for the newsletter.....

I wasn't aware of that type of service, but I got all the bad e-mail addresses out of the list when i sent out the two mailings.

I've sorta sat on doing another, although I know I have to either do it or not. I sorta felt screwed on the first one I did with the Sayle thing and all that, and it sorta took the wind out of my sails in so far as being enthusiastic about setting up a schedule (of sorts, at leaast) and writing something to send out that will be of interest to people.

In addition, I'll admit that the 2 I sent (which were essentially 'trials') sorta freaked me out because it took six hours or some such for the server to send all the e-mails. But that's because I did it through the vBulletin software. I haven't looked at any mass mailing software or anything like that.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up on the e-mail verification software.