Bulk email, ability to override "mailing list" setting for legitimate email situations, as...

[chilihead]

I know the setting to override the newsletter/mailing list email setting was removed awhile ago, but some of us have legitimate uses for this.

For example, I receive security update emails from IPS, but I have this setting off:

Send me news and information (unchecked)
Enabling this option will add you to our mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time.

So IPS must not be using their own software, or how do we get those emails? Do they have an override mod? I know they removed it because they also host communities, and it can be abused, and then the host gets in trouble. But in this case, they could just remove it from the hosted version, and keep it in the self-hosted.

I'll give you a legitimate use I have for this. I use Nexus for members to register for a certain yearly competition. When they register it states that they will be notified by email of their status (winner or not) in 3 months (example). So this is an email they request and expect, but when they registered they may have turned off the "mailing list" setting since that has nothing to do with it, or they may have set it a long time ago. They usually aren't even forum users, they sign up for this contest and rely on the email, I just happen to use Nexus for it.

So when I go to email all the entrants, I choose the Nexus package filter in bulk mail, but it does not go to all of them. I've had complaints that members have never gotten the emails. So what we do now is hand edit a list of email addresses which takes hours and send it from an email account.

What if someone buys a download and you need to email all of the purchasers because there was some kind of error and you need to send them a new file?

Many legitimate situations including security/account breach/global password reset exist, as well as situations like mine.

Is it possible to bring back the override? Or is there someone interested in creating a mod?

Thanks!

[Lindy]

We removed it years ago because of complaints due to rampant abuse on part of admins which ultimately reflected poorly on IPS and led to spam blockage on our own then-hosting because admins weren't honoring their users' preferences. We do have an override modification for security updates for our own installation and use it exclusively for that purpose and no other. 

I'm against a general "ignore what my users want and send it anyway" feature. In the case of account specific issues that impact security, that is certainly one thing. Ignoring preferences to send competition/contest e-mails is quite another and in fact, the very definition of spam as if they asked for you to not send it and you still do; it's unsolicited. If they have the "send me news and info" box unticked, they've opted out. If they're doing that unintentionally and there's a way to make that more apparent in the software, we can take a look at that, but I don't feel we're overly interested in helping to make assumptions of intent.

Personally, I would rather add an additional layer of opt-out notifications, so you end up with "News, Information and Promotional" and "Important Information, Account and Security Updates" -- the user would always be opted in by default to the latter and if they opt-out, well that's on them at that point - you've done your job and it wouldn't be appropriate to continue to e-mail them. You can then choose whether the bulk mail you're going to send is promotional or actual critical information. 

If you're truly interested in a "eh, do it anyway" type thing - it should be a simple hook for someone to create. 

[chilihead]

Thanks. I was going to mention more options as well. Our site doesn't have a newsletter and I feel most people untick it so they don't get daily, weekly, or monthly emails. So if we do a promo once a year, most everyone has opted out, when they may actually want to get a really good deal once year, or would welcome a rare newsletter. A frequency setting may be a good idea, if that is possible.

Maybe offer the option of admins activating settings like:

Send me news and information:
Frequently
Occasionally
Rarely
Never

Admins could add extra language to customize them to their sites or you could offer a description field.:

Frequently (This is our weekly newsletter)
Occasionally (Occasional site news and deals)
Rarely (Once or twice a year)
Etc.

Not sure how that would be implemented, but I like the idea. I like your idea too but with frequency I feel they are more apt to choose one... with your examples they may still feel they will get a lot of emails.

I know my contest situation is rare, but they know they are getting the email and tick a box when they enter, so they opt-in to that specific email, however that box is just text and not a function. So yes, they expect it to let them know if they won, but when I send the email and use the Nexus filter I'm not sure who has the "mailing list" setting off. I suppose I could look for a mod for that, for that very specific instance, or use another solution.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

[bradl]

I'm thinking Tom Christian's Mailchimp integration might be the thing for this situation, particularly since you're using Nexus to kick off participation and the package terms can presumably include the necessary consent. 

[chilihead]

Very cool thanks! That very well could be a solution even though I don't use that mail service, I am not opposed to it.

Different mailing lists is definitely what I need, as this one is very specific, and tied to a product, so thank you.