Re: I need to be notified when people register.
Brent Chapman <[email protected]> Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:16:47 -0800
| Newsgroups | gmane.mail.majordomo.majordomo2.devel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--000e0cd211cc5cb33f0460e325e3 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 8:19 PM, Steven W. Orr <[email protected]> wrote: > On Monday, Jan 19th 2009 at 09:02 -0000, quoth John L: > > =>> I just found to my horror that I have hundreds of people who registered > but > =>> never figured out how to subscribe. > => > =>That's very peculiar. You might want to try and figure out why people > are > =>registering, rather than subscribing to lists. None of my users even > know how > =>to register other than as a side-effect of subscribing to something. > => > =>R's, > =>John > > It's no mystery. I know exactly why they're doing it. They go to the web > user interface and they are presented with the brown bar on the top that > says "Sign In". The problem is that when some people click that, they are > given the option of giving their email address and password which does not > yet exist, or they can register as a new user. Unfortunately, most of the > people I deal with are not technical. So, a lot of them request to be > registered. Only a subset of those succeed at confirming the generated > request, but once they do it, they think they're done, they never get onto > the list(s) that they intended to be on and it's all over. > I never send would-be subscribers directly to the mj2 pages. Instead, I maintain a static web page for each list, explaining what the list is about and including a simple form that lets them specify their email address, select what version of the list they want (receive each message, receive daily digest in MIME format, receive daily digest in plaintext format, etc.), and simply hit a "Subscribe" button. See http://www.greatcircle.com/lists/majordomo-users for an example, and look at the HTML source for that page to see how to construct the form for a particular list. Here's the relevant section: <FORM action="http://www.greatcircle.com/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr" method="post"> <INPUT name="domain" type="hidden" value="greatcircle.com"> <INPUT name="list" type="hidden" value="majordomo-users"> <INPUT name="func" type="hidden" value="subscribe-set"> Email: <INPUT name="user" type="text" size="40" value=""> <br> Format: <br> <INPUT name="extra" type="radio" value="each" checked>Receive <u>each</u> new message as it is posted (regular mailing list) <br> <INPUT name="extra" type="radio" value="digest-daily-text">Receive <u>daily</u> digest of new messages, in old-fashioned text format <br> <INPUT name="extra" type="radio" value="digest-daily-mime">Receive <u>daily</u> digest of new messages, in new-style MIME format <br> <INPUT type="submit" value="Subscribe"> </FORM> Basically, within the form you: 1) Point the form's "action" URL to the mj_wwwusr script for your site, with a method of "post". 2) Use "hidden" INPUT variables with particular names ("domain", "list", and "func") to specify what domain and list you want to act on. 3) Use an INPUT field named "user" to capture the would-be subscriber's email address. 4) Use a set of radio buttons named "extra" to let the user choose what form of the list they want to subscribe to (individual messages, MIME digest, text digest, etc.). Include a "checked" keyword on the one that you want to be the default. 5) Set up a "Subscribe" button of type "submit". When the user fills in the form and hits the "Subscribe" button, the user's web browser constructs a URL of the form http://www.greatcircle.com/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr?domain=greatcircle.com&list=majordomo-users&func=subscribe-set&[email protected]&extra=each and submits it, which causes all the right things to happen. -Brent --000e0cd211cc5cb33f0460e325e3 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 8:19 PM, Steven W. Orr <= span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]= et</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"marg= in:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"> On Monday, Jan 19th 2009 at 09:02 -0000, quoth John L:<br> <br> =3D>> I just found to my horror that I have hundreds of people who re= gistered but<br> <div><div></div><div class=3D"Wj3C7c">=3D>> never figured out how to = subscribe.<br> =3D><br> =3D>That's very peculiar. You might want to try and figure out= why people are<br> =3D>registering, rather than subscribing to lists. None of my user= s even know how<br> =3D>to register other than as a side-effect of subscribing to something.= <br> =3D><br> =3D>R's,<br> =3D>John<br> <br> </div></div>It's no mystery. I know exactly why they're doing it. T= hey go to the web<br> user interface and they are presented with the brown bar on the top that<br= > says "Sign In". The problem is that when some people click that, = they are<br> given the option of giving their email address and password which does not<= br> yet exist, or they can register as a new user. Unfortunately, most of the<b= r> people I deal with are not technical. So, a lot of them request to be<br> registered. Only a subset of those succeed at confirming the generated<br> request, but once they do it, they think they're done, they never get o= nto<br> the list(s) that they intended to be on and it's all over.<br></blockqu= ote></div><br><div>I never send would-be subscribers directly to the mj2 pa= ges. Instead, I maintain a static web page for each list, explaining = what the list is about and including a simple form that lets them specify t= heir email address, select what version of the list they want (receive each= message, receive daily digest in MIME format, receive daily digest in plai= ntext format, etc.), and simply hit a "Subscribe" button. S= ee <a href=3D"http://www.greatcircle.com/lists/majordomo-users">http:/= /www.greatcircle.com/lists/majordomo-users</a> for an example, and look at = the HTML source for that page to see how to construct the form for a partic= ular list. Here's the relevant section:</div> <div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-family: Times; font-siz= e: 10px; "><pre style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; ">&l= t;FORM action=3D"<a href=3D"http://www.greatcircle.com/cgi-bin/mj_wwwu= sr">http://www.greatcircle.com/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr</a>" method=3D"p= ost"> <INPUT name=3D"domain" type=3D"hidden" value=3D"= ;<a href=3D"http://greatcircle.com">greatcircle.com</a>"> <INPUT name=3D"list" type=3D"hidden" value=3D"m= ajordomo-users"> <INPUT name=3D"func" type=3D"hidden" value=3D"s= ubscribe-set"> Email: <INPUT name=3D"user" type=3D"text" size=3D&qu= ot;40" value=3D""> <br> Format: <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<INPUT name=3D"extra" = type=3D"radio" value=3D"each" checked>Receive <u&= gt;each</u> new message as it is posted (regular mailing list) <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<INPUT name=3D"extra" = type=3D"radio" value=3D"digest-daily-text">Receive &= lt;u>daily</u> digest of new messages, in old-fashioned text forma= t <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<INPUT name=3D"extra" = type=3D"radio" value=3D"digest-daily-mime">Receive &= lt;u>daily</u> digest of new messages, in new-style MIME format <br> <INPUT type=3D"submit" value=3D"Subscribe"> </FORM></pre><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-family: a= rial; font-size: 12px;">Basically, within the form you:</span></span></div>= <div><br></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-family: = Times; font-size: 10px; "><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-fa= mily: arial; font-size: 12px;">1) Point the form's "action" U= RL to the mj_wwwusr script for your site, with a method of "post"= .</span></span></div> <div><br></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-family: = Times; font-size: 10px; "><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-fa= mily: arial; font-size: 12px;">2) Use "hidden" INPUT variables wi= th particular names ("domain", "list", and "func&q= uot;) to specify what domain and list you want to act on.</span></span></di= v> <div><br></div><div>3) Use an INPUT field named "user" to capture= the would-be subscriber's email address.</div><div><br></div><div>4) U= se a set of radio buttons named "extra" to let the user choose wh= at form of the list they want to subscribe to (individual messages, MIME di= gest, text digest, etc.). Include a "checked" keyword on th= e one that you want to be the default.</div> <div><br></div><div>5) Set up a "Subscribe" button of type "= submit".</div><div><br></div><div>When the user fills in the form and = hits the "Subscribe" button, the user's web browser construct= s a URL of the form</div> <div><br></div><div> <a href=3D"http://www.greatcircle.co= m/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr?domain=3Dgreatcircle.com&list=3Dmajordomo-users&= ;func=3Dsubscribe-set&[email protected]&extra=3Deach">http:/= /www.greatcircle.com/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr?domain=3Dgreatcircle.com&list=3D= majordomo-users&func=3Dsubscribe-set&[email protected]&e= xtra=3Deach</a></div> <div><br></div><div>and submits it, which causes all the right things to ha= ppen.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>-Brent</div> --000e0cd211cc5cb33f0460e325e3--