http://mojo.skazat.com/support/requirements.html
Short answer: yes
Long answer:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/README-windows.pod.html
...yes
I do get this asked a lot, so I'm sorry I have to repeat myself - it's a project for someone else, I'm personally not interested in making it happen. So please understand - at the moment - no, Dada Mail does not work on a Windows Server.
No and no. Dada Mail does not listen to any particular port, nor does it always run in the background awaiting a request. Dada Mail runs (mostly) as a simple CGI script.
Dada Mail does have some modes where it can be run from a command line/cron job, but even then, it runs and exits; there is no daemon activity in Dada Mail. Dada Mail should always be run as a regular user and never as root.
No. Dada Mail is not an autoresponder.
Dada Mail is installed on your hosting account; thus, you will be the one hosting it.
Personally, no - I do have some suggestions on hosting:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/hosting.html
I don't use them myself, but http://textdrive.com seems like some good folks.
Yes:
http://mojo.skazat.com/installation/request.html
Yes!
Always try to stay current with the latest version of Dada Mail. Great lengths are taken to make sure that the program for the most part is backwards compatible with previous versions, so you shouldn't have many problems.
Before upgrading, you may want to look at the NOTES, that will list any change/incompatibility:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/NOTES.pod.html
There's an upgrade FAQ available as well:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/UPGRADE_README.pod.html
I also provide upgrade services - it's fairly inexpensive:
http://mojo.skazat.com/installation/request.html
Dada Mail handles announce only lists with ease - a standard installation will be all you need to run Dada Mail as an announce-only list.
Dada Mail can also be set up to allow discussion lists. At the moment, this is done using a plugin called dada_bridge.pl
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/dada_bridge.pl.html
dada_bridge.pl can also be set up to provide announce-only message sending from your mail reader -
so instead of having to log into Dada Mail to write your message, you write the message in your mail reader and send it to a specific address for the message to be broadcasted to your list.
Note: even with the installation of dada_bridge.pl, you're list won't ``automatically'' become a discussion list. A list will only become a discussion list after you have checked the, Make this list a discussion list option in the dada_bridge administration screen.
See Mystery Girl, the bounce handler for Dada Mail:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/dada_bounce_handler.pl.html
Log into your list control panel, click, Manage Appearance - Subscription Form HTML
Sure - in fact there are two different form handlers to choose from, FormMail.pl
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/Dada-ized_FormMail_README.pod.html
and: TFmail.pl
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/Dada-ized_TFMail_README.pod.html
Both do a similar job, emailing you the fields filled out on your form and subscribing an email address, also filled out on a form, to a Dada Mail list.
You can also make your own - you may want to look at the cookbook for Mailing List Subscribers:
If you know a little Perl, it isn't too hard. A great place to see a working example is in the FormMail and TFmail scripts themselves. Do a search for, ``dada'' and you'll see the relevant changes.
Not really. I can't in good faith tell you what Dada Mail has and Brand X lacks, since I, personally, only use Dada Mail. The feature list of Dada Mail is very verbose, so the easiest way to get an idea of what Dada Mail can do is try it out.
From the very begining of the project in 1999, I set out to make something that was a little different than what was out there and I'm still doing that. Dada Mail is an experiment, if anything.
Yes! - see:
http://dadademo.orty.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi
It's not the worst idea - the best thing to do is put on the, ``Sending Monitor'' screen to the mailing you currently want to keep an eye on.
There are chances that a mailing will stop unexpectantly, and keeping this monitor up will prevent that. There are also ways to not have to have this sending monitor screen open, regardless of your hosting setup.
This topic has it's own FAQ:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/FAQ-mailing_list_sending.pod.htm
Which is a must-read.
Short Answer:
Email messages that are formatted with text, images, etc. are done by writing the message in HTML. So, write your message in HTML!
Long Answer:
(See short answer first)
There are many many MANY ways to send an HTML-formatted email using Dada Mail.
In the same screen, click the, Advanced Link. You will see an entire textarea labeled, HTML Version: in which to write your HTML message.
If you do not know HTML, or are setting Dada Mail up for someone who does not know HTML, but wants to create HTML images, you can transform this textarea into a WYSIWYG HTML editor by installing FCKeditor (which is relatively painless). Directions on how to do so are at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/Config.pm.html#fckeditor_integration___fckeditor_url
<img src="../../images/love.png" />
<img src="http://example.com/images/love.png"; />
<a href="index.html">This is my link!</a>
<a href="http://example.com/index.html">This is my link!</a>
In the list control panel, go to, <Send a Webpage>. Under, HTML Verson (Your Webpage), check: Grab content from this webpage address (URL): and fill in the url to use.
NOTE: Before being sent, all HTML messages will be changed to a multipart/alternative message and have a PlainText version of your message created, if one is not present already. This is absolutely required these days and there is currently no way to turn off this behavior in Dada Mail.
I want to upload images to then put in my message - any help on that?
Note! These directions are for version 2.4.2 of FCKeditor
First, get FCKeditor up and running:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/Config.pm.html#fckeditor_integration___fckeditor_url
Most of the information on:
http://wiki.fckeditor.net/Developer%27s_Guide/Configuration/Built_in_File_Browser
will point you in the right direction, but I'll walk through on how to get the php flavor of the connector up and running.
To add to these instructions:
(security purposes).
Open up the FCKeditor/fckconfig.js file, find these two lines:
var _FileBrowserLanguage = 'asp' ; // asp | aspx | cfm | lasso | perl | php | py var _QuickUploadLanguage = 'asp' ; // asp | aspx | cfm | lasso | php
And change them to:
var _FileBrowserLanguage = 'php' ; // asp | aspx | cfm | lasso | perl | php | py var _QuickUploadLanguage = 'php' ; // asp | aspx | cfm | lasso | php =head3 Edit FCKeditor/editor/filemanager/browser/default/connectors/php/config.php
As the docs on FCKeditor's own wiki states, you'll want to create a directory in your public_html directory on where you want the uploaded files to go. Make that, perhaps change the permissions to 777 (highly permissive), figure out the URL to that directory and the absolute path to that directory and keep those two locates close.
Open up the FCKeditor/editor/filemanager/browser/default/connectors/php/config.php
Find this line:
$Config['Enabled'] = false ;
And change it to:
$Config['Enabled'] = true ;
Find this line:
$Config['UserFilesPath'] = '/UserFiles/' ;
And change it to the URL of where that directory you just set up is located. For example, I created a directory called, ``uploaded_files'' in my public_html directory. It's URL is:
http://example.com/uploaded_files
So, I'd change that line to:
$Config['UserFilesPath'] = 'http://example.com/uploaded_files/' ;
Note the trailing, ``/''. That seems important and is ridiculous.
Next, find this line:
$Config['UserFilesAbsolutePath'] = '' ;
And set it to the <Absolute Path> of where that directory you just set up is located. I created a directory called, ``uploaded_files'' in my public_html directory. It's Absolute Path is:
/home/myaccount/public_html/uploaded_files So, I'd change that line to:
$Config['UserFilesAbsolutePath'] = '/home/myaccount/public_html/uploaded_files/' ;
Note the trailing, ``/''. That seems important and is ridiculous.
Find this line:
$GLOBALS["UserFilesDirectory"] = GetRootPath() . $GLOBALS["UserFilesPath"] ; and change it to:
$GLOBALS['UserFilesDirectory'] = $GLOBALS['UserFilesPath'] ; And those are all the changes needed to get the file browser to work correctly. Hazzah!
This setup is similar to the File Browser, so if you have that all set up, this should be cake. Again, I'll use the php flavor as the example.
Open up the /FCKeditor/editor/filemanager/upload/php/config.php file
Find this line:
$Config['Enabled'] = false ;
And change it to:
$Config['Enabled'] = true ;
Find this line:
$Config['UserFilesPath'] = '/UserFiles/' ;
And change it to the URL of that same directory we set up in the file browser:
$Config['UserFilesPath'] = 'http://example.com/uploaded_files/' ;
Find this line:
$Config['UserFilesAbsolutePath'] = '' ;
And change it to the absolute path of that same directory we set up in the file browser:
$Config['UserFilesAbsolutePath'] = '/home/myaccount/public_html/uploaded_files/' ;
Done. Hazzah!
Once it's all up and running, you can navigate to ``Send a List Message -> Advanced'' (among other places) and get the WYSIWYG editor.
Here's how the ``Insert/Edit Image'' thingy works:
Now, to have this image be embedded into your newsletter and sent within the image as an attachment, do all these steps, not in the, ``Send a List Message -> Advanced'' screen, but in the, ``Send a Webpage'' screen:
Why, yes. Here are some terms you'll hear:
Saying that, Dada Mail is completely compatible with this methodology. In Dada Mail this feature is called, ``Subscription Confirmation Emails'' and the option can be enabled/disabled in the Manage List - Mailing List Options screen. Under no circumstances should you disable this feature. Even though you may not like to have a would-be subscriber make two steps to subscribe, it's incredibly important that they do.
Running the Program Generates a 500 Server Error Message when I do, ``x''
See the error FAQ:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/error_faq.pod.html
Short Answer:
If all you want to do is tweak the CSS styles of Dada Mail, the global CSS file is located at:
dada/DADA/Template/templates/default_css.css
You will never see this file directly in use in Dada Mail, but you can view it in your web browser by adding /css to the end of the URL to Dada Mail:
http://example.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/css
If you're comfortable with CSS, a lot can be changed with this file alone, from fonts and colors to the overall page layouts. Everything is nicely organized in there, and the few hacks used are thoroughly commented - it may be all you need.
Really Long Answer:
Going even beyond the considerable CSS control outlined above, Dada Mail is extremely flexible in this respect. Extremely.
Check out the free chapter of the Magicbook all about Templates at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/purchase/sample_chapter_templates.html
That'll give you even more information than what's below.
First: Clarification.
Dada Mail uses different templating systems depending on what needs to be done, but there's basically two types:
dada/DADA/Template/templates
directory.
The templates themselves are written in a templating language called HTML::Template. More info here:
http://search.cpan.org/~samtregar/HTML-Template-2.7/Template.pm
A description of the templating language, by the author, is:
just a normal HTML file with a few extra tags, the simplest being <TMPL_VAR
meaning, if you read the HTML::Template docs, you should have a pretty firm understanding on how to play with these templates.
These templates control many of the administration screens. You'll want to play around with these templates if there are some layout/formatting/content output changes you want to do to the program itself.
Note: that by design, these templates have almost no programatic logic to them - they are almost strictly layout only, so don't expect to change the behavior of the program by editing the template files.
To find the correct template to modify: visit the screen you'd like to modify, view its source code (``view source'' in your browser options), find the section in the source code that you'd like to change, and then continue reading down until you see a comment,
<!-- end template_name.tmpl -->
...or read up (that is, backwards) until you bump into a:
<!-- start template_name.tmpl -->
comment. Either way, ``template_name.tmpl'' is the template that created that section of source code.
Or if you prefer, just have a look at the screen's URL - usually, the template will be named similarily to the function name that responded to it (the ``flavor'' parameter, sometimes shortened to ``f'', will tell you the name of the function), and usually, the template name matches that function name.
For example, the, ``Send a List Message'' screen, has a flavor parameter query string of, send_email. The template that creates this screen is called, send_email_screen.tmpl Easy enough.
[i_am_a_tag]
There are no conditional statements in this system. Sometimes, you'll see a tag that looks like this:
<!--[i_am_another_tag]-->
When interpolated, the entire tag, including the comment around it, will be replaced.
This templating system is the one that is disclosed to a user of the Dada Mail program.
Some of the places this system is used are as follows:
dada/DADA/Template/templates/default_list_template.tmpl
You may edit this file directly, although you most likely do not want to, since your changes will be lost when you upgrade the program.
There are a few ways to make changes to this template, without changing this copy.
You can also set $USER_TEMPLATE to a URL - if your server supports that. There's more overhead involved with Dada Mail fetching the program this way, but it does allow you to preprocess the Template before it's seen by Dada Mail. For example, you want to have PHP calls in the template itself, or generate any sort of dynamic content.
dada/DADA/Template/templates
in whichever directory you set the $TEMPLATES Config.pm variable to. If you did not set this variable, it defaults to whatever you set the $FILES variable to. Making changes to this copy will override the copy in the dada/DADA/Template/templates location.
The above information is valid for any of the templates located in the dada/DADA/Template/templates directory.
NOTE: The List/User Template can be overridden by any of the lists; meaning, each list has its own copy of the list template that it can change. This can be of some confusion if you're trying to edit the main template, and you don't see the changes taking effect for one of your lists, or, you make a change to the list template, and it's not affecting the default screen you see in Dada Mail.
If you want to have all your lists use the default List/User Template:
get_template_data => 'from_default_template',
Information on the %LIST_SETUP_OVERRIDES hash can be found at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/Config.pm.html#list_setting_defaults
Again, any list screen that does not have a single list associated with it, will be given the default list template look.
default_admin_template.tmpl
The information about the Default List Template also follows for the Default Admin Template. The Config.pm variable for it is: $DEFAULT_ADMIN_TEMPLATE
You may also be interested in the admin_menu_widget.tmpl, which is used to created the left hand menu. It's written using the HTML::Template templating system.
Again, we just haven't gotten to placing these in separate template files.
You can edit these messages separately for each list under: Manage Copy - Email Messages. To reset these messages to their default, select all the text in the textarea you want to reset, delete the text and click, Save all Changes
You can edit these HTML screens separately for each list under: Manage Copy - HTML Messages.
http://search.cpan.org/dist/CGI.pm/CGI.pm
to spot it in the code, you'll want to look for Perl subroutines/functions that are named similar to HTML tags.
At the moment, no, but check:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13002
For translations provided by Dada Mail users. For example:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/mojomail/dada-2_10_2de.tar.gz?download
Is Dada Mail, version 2.10.2 translated into German. A more user-friendly list of translations is probably located at the main download page at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/download
Basically, follow the instructions used to customize the Dada Mail templates (above)
No. But, SQL is an option.
Short answer, yes
Long Answer:
Dada Mail supports MySQL and Postgres with saving its:
It does not support SQL with saving its:
You'll need to create the needed SQL tables manually.
The correct SQL table schemas to use to create both the Subscriber and Archive tables are located at:
dada/extras/SQL
and at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/Config.pm.html#_sql_params
the above URL also gives more information on how to setup Dada Mail to use the SQL backend - basically, you have to set some of the Config.pm variables - no real surprises.
Well, there are the basic benifits of SQL over a, ``Flat File'' DB:
There are also certain features that are available when you use the SQL backend that are not available to you when using the (default) alternative.
These include:
The DB File backend for the Archives and Settings has an auto backup feature; the SQL backend does not - it is advised to you create a simple auto-backup routine for your SQL tables.
Not really a disadvantage, but the SQL backend will not speed up your mailing list sendings.
It is now my official recommendation that you use the SQL backend, if possible. This is not set by default for an easier installation process.
There are various scripts that'll move over the default backend of the various types of files that Dada Mail uses to the SQL backend.
Advice: Convert the Settings backend first, before doing any of the other backends.
/dada/extras/scripts/dada_settings_dbtosql.pl
It's documentation is at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/dada_settings_dbtosql.pl.html
/dada/extras/scripts/dada_archive_dbtosql.pl
It's documentation is at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/dada_archive_dbtosql.pl.html
/dada/extras/scripts/dada_subscribers_plaintext2sql.pl
It's documentation is at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/dada_subscribers_plaintext2sql.pl.html
By default, the Mailing List Messages - meaning, messages that are sent to everyone on a list, provide quite a bit of information about the list and how to unsubscribe. It's very verbose, but we feel that it's a good start.
To change the mailing list message template, login into your list control panel and navigate to: Manage Copy - Email Messages
You'll see many text fields with all the email message templates that are easy to change. You are looking for two: Mailing List Message (Text Version) and Mailing List Message (HTML Version)
Edit to your liking - one special tag that you're going to want to make sure you still include is the: [message_body] tag. This tag will be replaced by your actually message body - meaning, what you wrote, when your mailing list message is sent.
If your mailing list messages are coming to you as blank, make sure you did not remove the, [message_body] tag!
These two messages can be changed globaly in the Config.pm file, under the variables: $MAILlING_LIST_MESSAGE and $MAILlING_LIST_MESSAGE_HTML
If a list already has edited any of the email message templates, your global changes will not take affect for that list.
Oh yeah.
Dada Mail makes absolutely no effort to, ``mask'', ``hide'', put you in, ``stealth mode'', or any other such tom-foolery. If you're dealing with software that touts these very features, stop using it, as you're using spamming software.
In fact, Dada Mail goes out of its way to present a traceable path from the messages it sends, to its source.
Some techniques that Dada Mail does not employ:
Some techniques Dada Mail does take advantage of include:
List, List-Archive, List-ID, List-Owner, List-Post, List-Subscribe, List-Unsubscribe and List-URL
See RFC 2919 for more information:
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2919.html
and RFC 2369:
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2369.html
Basically, Dada Mail sends an email message exactly as you're supposed to send one - no tricks. Mom taught us the best defense is honestly.
Log into a list using the Dada Mail Root Password. You'll see the option under the, Manage List heading.
Yes. You can rename the, mail.cgi file to any other valid filename, like newsletter.cgi or craaaaazyname.cgi. You'll most likely have to keep the file ending either, .cgi or .pl
The only place that this variable is hardcoded is in the, PROGRAM_URL variable - so make sure to change this variable as well to reflect the file name changes.
There is a plugin, described here:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/change_root_password.cgi.html
That will allow you to change the Dada Mail Root Password.
Other than that plugin, there is currently no way, through the Dada Mail web-based interface to fetch the Dada Mail Root Password - you'll have to actually retrieve it from a config file - here's how:
Usually, The Dada Mail Root Password is stored in the Config.pm file, which itself is located in the, dada/DADA/ directory of your cgi-bin. It's under the variable, $PROGRAM_ROOT_PASSWORD. It should look something like this:
$PROGRAM_ROOT_PASSWORD ||= 'sneakysneaky';
In this case, the Dada Mail Root Password is, sneakysneaky.
If this variable is set to, root_password and that doesn't work, see if the password isn't set in the outside config file.
The outside config file is saved in the directory set in the same Config.pm file we are talking about, in a variable called, $PROGRAM_CONFIG_FILE_DIR. That variable should hold the absolute server path to a directory that holds a file named, .dada_config. The file is a plain text file, so open it up in a text editor and again look for the, $PROGRAM_ROOT_PASSWORD variable.
If, in either of these locations you find that the Dada Mail Root Password has been set to an odd mixture of numbers/letters/dashes, etc - the Dada Mail Root Password is most likely encrypted and there is no way to decrypt the password, so the best you can do is reset it. You can encrypt a password by visiting your Dada Mail with a query string like this:
http://example.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?f=pass_gen
and follow the instructions.
Yes. In the list control panel, click on, ``Monitor Your Mailings'', click on the mailing you want to stop and when on that specific message screen, click the, STOP Mailing button.
2.10.10 and below:
Yes, but not from the web ui. There are two techniques, kill the process outright and removing the temporary copy of the subscriber list.
You'll see an entry in the log that looks sort of like this:
[Fri Feb 3 03:45:03 2006] listshortname Message pid: 76354 Subject:This is my subject!
The message pid for this message is, 76354. You'll then want to type in the kill command:
kill 76354
The exact format of issuing the command my be different for your server, but that's the jist of it.
This file is saved in whichever directory you set the, $TMP variable to. If you haven't set the variable, it'll be saved in the directory you set the, $FILES variable to. It looks sort of like this:
mylist.list.20051120131106.78619561_at_example.com
The format is, your list shortname, the type of list you're sending (usually, 'list'), a whole string of numbers that correspond to the Message-id header of the message you're sending out.
Remove this file, and you're mailing will stop - you may receive a, ``List Completed'' message, this is normal.
The amount of subscribers that Dada Mail can handle depends on your server setup. Roughly, the cheaper a setup you have, the smaller a subscription list you're going to be successfully be able to have. Cheap webhosts usually impose limits on the resources available to their clients. These limitations include the amount of emails that can be sent in a window of time, the amount of CPU time a program like Dada Mail can use and software libraries and helper applications available to Dada Mail. Basically, you get what you pay for with web hosts.
I do not have any stats.
I have listed some hosts I like here:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/hosting.html
At the moment, no, there is no factory set limit.
You can impose a limit on the amount of subscribers per list by logging into a list using the Dada Mail Root Password. Navigate to: Manage Subscribers - Options
Check: Limit The Number of Subscribers
And then select what that limit should be.
To impose a limit on the amount of lists that can be created, set the Config.pm variable, $LIST_QUOTA to the number of lists you allow. Setting this variable to, undef will allow you to have an unlimited number of lists.
See the clickthrough_tracking.cgi plugin that comes in the Magicbook.
It can keep track of url clickthroughs, email opens, # subscribers per message sent and bounces.
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/clickthrough_tracking.cgi.html
Sure - although Dada Mail's, ``Add'' admin screen does a good job in keeping your list's clean of invalid email addresses, duplicates, blacklisted addresses - etc.
If you're starting a new list and know for sure that you're list is squeaky clean and you're using the default, PlainText subscription backend, you can just open the subscription list. The list itself is saved in a file called:
listshortname.list
where, listshortname is the shortname of your list. The file itself is probably saved in the directory you've saved in the $FILES Config.pm variable.
The format is as follows:
One email address per line, followed immediately by a newline. The end of the file has a newline all by itself. All newlines are Unix style.
Be very careful when editing the file manually, as unexpected things may happen if the format is broken.
Yes.
As of version 2.10.6, Dada Mail has a caching system for the HTML screens displayed in web browsers. This is handy, since many of the screens Dada Mail creates can be quite resource-intensive.
To turn on the Screen Cache, set the Config.pm variable, $SCREEN_CACHE to, 1
$SCREEN_CACHE = 1;
Screens cached include:
Of particular, archived messages take quite a bit of resources to parse, edit and display.
The cache is, flushed, or deleted every time each list changes any list setting via the list control panel, add/edit/removes an archived message in any list and when any change is made in the, ``Edit Template'' list control panel screen.
You can also administrate the cache by visiting:
http://example.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?f=clear_screen_cache
You'll be able to view cached screens, etc, remove individual cached items and flush the entire cache. Handy.
You may also manually remove these files from the cache. The cache is saved in the directory called, cache which itself is created in the directory set in the, $TMP Config variable. If you have not explicitly set this variable, it will be set to the directory you set in the, $FILES Config variable.
Each file in the cache directory corresponds to a different screen cached. The names of the cache files correspond loosely to what they represent - for example:
archive_rss.mylist
is the cache for the RSS feed for the list, mylist. Another example:
archive.mylist.20060129172502
is the cache for the archived message with the key (internal identification number) for the list, mylist. You can visit this screen by visiting:
http://example.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/achive/mylist/20060129172502/
Note that cached screens are not wholly HTML, RSS, Atom, Image, etc files, but will also include the HTTP headers required to be sent from the webserver for correct viewing.
When the cache is enabled, be sure to realize that any changes to Dada Mail's Templates may not be viewable until the cache is flushed. Also remember that any dynamic content from outside of Dada Mail will be made static via the caching scheme. For example, if you pull a list template from a URL and the list template is actually a php script that dynamically creates, say, a side navigation bar, this navigation bar will become static.
If you would like to flush the Cache on a regular basis, create a script like:
#!/usr/bin/perl
# change the below line to absolute values:
use lib qw(./ ./DADA ./DADA/perllib);
use DADA::App::ScreenCache;
my $c = DADA::App::ScreenCache->new;
$c->flush;
And run it as a cron job.
See the Mail Sending FAQ at:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/email_sending.pod.html
Archive editing is built into (again) the main program, you'll see, ``edit'' buttons wherever you'd see the archived message itself, while in the list control panel.
See the archive editor plugin:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/archive_editor.cgi.html
It works with Dada Mail 2.10.2 and above. Fairly easy to install.
You can't.
It was broken beyond repair and I threw it away.
MIME-messages - the kind that Dada Mail understands how to create and send are non-trivial to edit. I have yet to create a Web-based MIME-editor written in Perl. I'm not sure if anyone has created this:
A web-based MIME editor, written in Perl which can take a valid, but incredibly varied format.
Not to beat a dead horse, but it's just non-trivial and I haven't gotten the time to create it. Besides, when is the last time you were able to edit the messages you sent from your mail reader?
Yes! There are a few ways.
This option is also available in the, ``Send a Webpage'' screen.
If you are not using the SQL backend for Archives, Dada Mail keeps a backup of your list's archives.
If you set the $BACKUPS variable in the Config.pm, they'll be located in this location, in a directory named the same as your list's Short Name. If you did not set this variable, look in the directory you set in, $FILES
Inside this directory, you should see another directory called, archives. Navigate into there.
Inside that directory, you should see one or more directories, who's names are all in numbers. Find the newest directory and navigate to that one.
In that directory, you should see a whole lot of files, whose names are also numbers. Find the message that corresponds to the message-id of the message you want to edit. The format of the file is explained in this faq under, How does Dada Mail save its information? Edit that file.
Visit:
http://example.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?f=restore_lists
and go through the process of restoring your lists. Heed the warning of making redundant backups.
Told you it was a hack.
Amen.
What the heck is...
sendmail is a command on the server itself that... sends mail! It's a utility that Dada Mail can use for its mail sending. Usually, it's located at:
/usr/sbin/sendmail
which is the default location set in Dada Mail. If you do not know what the path of sendmail is for your hosting account, use this value. If mail doesn't seem to be sent, ask your hosting provider what the, ``Path to sendmail'' is.
An absolute path is a path to some sort of file or directory that starts at the root of the filesystem. Example:
/home/youraccount/
may be the absolute path to your, ``home'' directory.
When accessing your account via FTP, you may not be able to navigate up to the, ``root'' of your filesystem. This is for security purposes.
See also:
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/a/absopath.htm
Ha. No. I actually went to school for Art (Painting/Drawing). I partly worked on Dada Mail, because I thought I could do anything I set myself out to do.
Anyone, with enough time, can do something similar - no genius involved, just an open mind.
Basically, yes.
Ha. No. I live very simply, in a communal living space, with about 10 other people. We all share common resources. I don't have a car, nor many pleasantries. That's just fine with me - to each his/her own I guess.
First, thank you for the advice. I know this way of doing business isn't especially common. I will attempt to break this down:
Allow me to elaborate on this second point:
The majority of support for the program is given away for free, and is mostly done so, by me. This comes in the from of posts to the support forum, email lists, personal email correspondences, IM conversations, phone calls, taps on the shoulder at coffee shops (honestly!), etc.
There is a minority of people who actually pay for support, mainly with installations of the program: I provide a service for a product that is free. A good majority of people who pay for installation actually pay me and I'm thankful for that majority. Thank you majority! Hiss! minority!
A minority of this minority (people who cough up some green) ask for new features to be added to the program. This is: a very small minority. The rest of the features are put in, by myself, written for free, and then given away for free. The idea is that the work will pay off, ``In the future''. This future is usually pretty hazy.
The small minority that do pay for support, also (indirectly) support the program for everyone else, including keeping the developer alive. Interesting, no?
Business-minded people will agree with me that this is not the best way to maximize my profit margin. This, as ludicris it may sound, is not my intention. The intention is to create a sustainable project, that does make enough money to keep me afloat. The less money that comes in, the less time I'll personally spend on the project. The more money comes in, the more I'll spend. Ebbs and flows. Also interesting.
Bottom line: You like the program, help out by supporting it with some money - or like anything you don't believe in - it'll go away.
So - can you use this same model for your business? Sure. But, be willing to work a few years for free to become an expert on something you made up. In this respect, it's very much similar to having a small business.
I suppose so - but I have no idea what you'd buy. If what you want to do is transfer the copyrights of the program to yourself and then relicense the program, I guess you could do that. Don't expect me to catch a low-ball figure.
Dada Mail is a light-weight, fully featured announce-only Mailing List Manager. It does also support discussion lists, with the help of the dada_bridge.pl script. Discussion support is minimal, compared to its announce-only capabilities.
Dada Mail is primarily run as a plain old CGI script, it does not need any special modules installed, except the one it comes with. It does not run as a mod_perl enabled script and needs no special treatment. If you can run CGI scripts on your hosting account, Dada Mail will work for you.
Dada Mail takes care of much of the drudgery of maintaining a mailing list. It primarily does three things very very well:
When submitted, Dada Mail will take the request and email a confirmation. This email confirmation will include a special URL that includes a special 'pin' number, which is used to confirm the correct person wants to subscribe. Following this link will subscribe the email address.
Unsubscription is a similar process, where someone who wants to unsubscribe will fill out a web form with their email address and receive a confirmation email.
Dada Mail does not support email confirmation. That is, confirming an address by having to replying to an email. The URL confirmation is usually much simpler and doesn't make you create an alias email that goes to a program that does the confirmation. We circumvent quite a bit of complexity this way.
Dada Mail can be configured to do these two simple things in a variety of ways. Dada Mail also takes account of if the email is already subscribed to the list, if the email is 'blacklisted' and thus unable to subscribe, invalid emails, and a plethora of 'gotchas' when dealing with these things.
Message sending can also be done in 'batches' a desired amount of emails are sent in timed intervals.
See the Dada Mail File Format FAQ:
http://mojo.skazat.com/support/documentation/FAQ-file_formats.pod.html
At the moment, no. We're working on it.
Justin Simoni is the lead designer of Dada Mail. Many other people have helped out along the way, but most everything is the work of his grubby little hands.
Justin prides himself on being one of those people who gets into everything. He holds a Bachelors of Fine Art in Painting and doesn't have any ``official'' Computer Science training. A Hacker and Painter ala Paul Graham's book.
See his portfolio:
Purchase some art. This kid's going places.
Dada Mail is developed using the Sourceforge suite of tools.
I use BBEdit as my text editor - http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit
Transmit as my FTP program - http://panic.com/transmit/
I use jCVS as my CVS client - http://jcvs.org
And not much else;
Yes.
In so many ways, depending on your knowledge of the technology involved - and there's a lot, including Network programming, UI design, HTML, CSS, Perl, CGI - lots and gobs more on top of that.
If you're at all interested, join the Dada Developers mailing list:
http://mojo.skazat.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/dadadev/
To get an idea on what's going on.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm an absolute gear head when it comes to layout, design and usability. Not always shows up in Dada Mail's design, but I try. Got that BFA and all...
I'm passable when it comes to Perl. Really.
I'm an absolute clutz when it comes to SQL database design.
If you don't know anything about the underlying technology, but are having problems using the program, describe your problem to the developers, either on the boards or on the mailing lists
If you know a little about the underlying technology, point us to the problem with error log snippets, etc.
If you'd like to start hacking away at the program, start by submitting patches to be applied to the latest version checked out from the CVS server.
If you rock the patches, I'll be happy to give you checkin rights - honestly, you'd be my saviour. If you're really good at that, we can talk about babysitter the bunny that lives with me. He's cute.
Yes.