Sending email to addresses from a MySQL database

[mike_p]

Hi

What is the best way to tackle this issue?

I would like to mail subscribers/members based on a MySQL query. A typical mailing message could be going to about 500 addressses.

When creating a script that emails a few hundred people, is it better to BCC a large number of recipients or initiate a new mailing for each recipient?

Can I assist the process by performing the DNS look-up for the first message then use the saved results for subsequent mailings?

Can anyone recommend any particular methods for minimising the load on the (mail) server? Are there any particular tricks used by Majordomo and/or Mailman?

Thanks for any ideas, suggestions etc.

Mike

 

[nobaloney]

What is the best way to tackle this issue?

I would like to mail subscribers/members based on a MySQL query. A typical mailing message could be going to about 500 addressses.

The best way is probably to buy a package specialized for this kind of mailing . We recommend Subscribe Me Pro to our clients. Subscribe Me Pro doesn't use MySQL, however; you'd have to run a separate MySQL query to populate the mailing list.

When creating a script that emails a few hundred people, is it better to BCC a large number of recipients or initiate a new mailing for each recipient?

Using BCC will help server load a bit; pre sorting addresses and sending BCC to all the addresses at one domain at a time (perhaps in multiple BCCs) will help server load a lot as your server will only have to send the emails once to each domain.

Can I assist the process by performing the DNS look-up for the first message then use the saved results for subsequent mailings?

It shouldn't matter, especially if you're using your local DNS server as DNS will cache results and only ask again after the cache has expired.

Can anyone recommend any particular methods for minimising the load on the (mail) server?

Already answered above. But I'll that if you're going to do tens of thousands of addresses per mailing, then you'll want to rate limit your outgoing emails. Subscribe Me Pro builds this in.

Are there any particular tricks used by Majordomo and/or Mailman?

I don't think Majordomo does anything special; I'm not sure whether Mailman does or not. It should be noted that neither Mailman nor Majordomo are designed for announce lists; they're both optimized for discussion lists.

Jeff

 

[mike_p]

Jeff

Thanks for the very comprehensive reply.

I think I'll write my own solution: I want the results of bounces etc to be fed back into the database. Database field: bounce (integer). Increment value every time bounce occurs via piped email. Suspend use of address after a certain number of bounces). I don't expect other packages will have the facility for that. I'll also sort and BCC according to recipients' domains.

Thanks again

Mike

 

[nobaloney]

Actually Subscribe Me Pro (no, I don't make any money off it ) can be set to automatically remove bounces from the list.

But it sends each email individually, so the emails can be personalized.

Good luck in writing your own solution.

Jeff