In my case the client's list is about 1500 addresses and they send every 2-3 weeks. The client wanted a way to recover if sending failed mid-list -- a way to know where to pick up again. A post to the list described a queuing system similar to the one I built, so check the archives if you end up building one yourself.
In my preliminary tests it took much longer to send emails than 250 in 15 seconds! Sending test batches of 100, I got ranges from 27 seconds to 202 seconds, with the average time about 73 seconds for 100 emails. During these tests I was writing a counter to a flat file each time through the loop, which probably slows the process down a little, but I don't think that would account for the dramatic differences in speeds between your tests and mine. About bounce backs -- on the commercial host I'm using, each domain comes with web mail accounts. The default user for the account corresponds to the account username for FTP access. Other usernames/passwords can be added and can receive email at "[EMAIL PROTECTED]". By setting up the crontab to execute as a specific user, that user email address is listed in the email header as the return-path and bounced/undeliverable email goes to that user email account. Someone at the client company monitors that address, verifies the bounce, and manually removes the address from the list. Good luck with your project! -- Lowell Allen > From: J J <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 16:34:44 -0800 (PST) > To: PHP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [PHP] What solution to use for mass newsletter mailing & > reporting? > > Interesting way of tracking everything... and I like > the idea of the pop-up being able to query the > database for current status. > > For now, I'm firing off a process with no timeout and > it can run even after browser abort... but no real way > to check on it other than I send a "mailing complete" > type email with some of the mailing details. > > I was able to send 250 emails within 15 seconds, so > roughly 1000 a minute. Not sure if this is because > the server load is light, or the server is just that > powerful. Does this seem right??? > > > I'd like to find out more how you handle the bounce > backs. > > Again, thanks for the great information. > > > > --- Lowell Allen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> - It takes several minutes to send hundreds of >> emails, so it's best done in >> the background. You'll need PHP available to run as >> a CGI/CLI called from a >> cron tab. >> >> - My solution is part of a content management >> system. Site administrators >> create the body of the email from database info. >> When a user hits the send >> button, the email is saved to a MySQL table which >> has fields for Time (time >> created), ListSize (number of addresses), Invalids >> (bad address formats), >> Attempts, and InProgress (an enum field used as a >> flag). There are lots more >> fields for storing parts of the message, etc., but >> that's not important to >> the approach. There's also a database table for >> storing the email address >> list, with fields for Time (same as the message >> table), Valid (valid >> format), Failed, Attempted, and TimeAttempted. >> > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
