0006099: forwarding phplist messages and getting blacklisted

(0012564)
michiel (administrator)
12-04-06 21:23

yes, that's why there is a "forward to a friend" feature in phplist, which should be used instead. When used, it will not include the normal footer with the unsubscribe link, but instead use the special footer as indicated in the config.

There is no stopping people forwarding directly, but then again, when unsubsribed, they will receive an email and if that's an error, they can simply re-subscribe.

(0012566)
ozp (reporter)
12-04-06 21:37

I´ll look out for this feature and how does it works.
But the problem is that when they unsubscribe they gets blacklisted and cannot subscribe again.
The only way we found to subscribe them is to change the blacklist status right on the mysql database

(0012569)
michiel (administrator)
13-04-06 00:07

If a user is blacklisted but they go through the entire subscribe process again, they will be taken off the blacklist.

(0012644)
ozp (reporter)
13-04-06 15:33

ok, thanks.

anyway, I think my users are so newbie that they cannot understand this. Because they stop receiving mails and dont realize that they got unsubscribed.

but this is not a phplist problem.

The forward to a friend feature is good, but I think that most people want to forward to a lot of friends and so they will do this using their email client instead of the link

Maybe if you add a confirmation email (like in the subscription process).

testing all those procedures I´ve realized that someone could make a robot to mass unsubscribe users in a phplist site. (if they have a similar user database they could unsubscribe all the common users)

(0012665)
michiel (administrator)
13-04-06 20:56

Hmm, sure, loads of things can be done with creating robots. It's quite hard though and there should be something that makes it worth it. Alternatively you can set up a password for your users to prevent it. With a password it wouldn't be possible.

I'll file this under "future feature requests", unless you think it can be closed.

(0012667)
ozp (reporter)
13-04-06 21:12

ok, if possible list it under future phplist request
either to forward with no footer
or confirmation needed to unsubscribe

(0012669)
michiel (administrator)
13-04-06 21:37

well, those two features are already there, but there's no way to take off the footer when people forward an email themselves, so that's impossible.

The issue to address would be whether it's possible to handle it differently when users forward to each other. To be honest, I have no idea (at this stage).

(0012681)
bevan (reporter)
17-04-06 03:21
edited on: 17-04-06 03:24

related forum thread: http://www.phplist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5115 [^]

Would an 'unsubscribe confirmation' page solve the issue? requiering two clicks to unsubscribe? In some cases, perhaps, but not all -- right?

(0012687)
ozp (reporter)
17-04-06 13:39

I think that a unsubscribe confirmation page would solve the issue.

(0050711)
Thorsten Albrecht (reporter)
11-08-09 10:59

There is a confirmation page missing in the whole unsubscribe process.

Now, everybody can unsubscribe somebody else on the unsubscribe page. There is no need to know the personal preference/unsubscribe link.

This is a design problem of phplist and this should be corrected.
See http://forums.phplist.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27817 [^]

Thorsten

Notes
(0012564) michiel (administrator) 12-04-06 21:23	yes, that's why there is a "forward to a friend" feature in phplist, which should be used instead. When used, it will not include the normal footer with the unsubscribe link, but instead use the special footer as indicated in the config. There is no stopping people forwarding directly, but then again, when unsubsribed, they will receive an email and if that's an error, they can simply re-subscribe.

(0012566) ozp (reporter) 12-04-06 21:37	I´ll look out for this feature and how does it works. But the problem is that when they unsubscribe they gets blacklisted and cannot subscribe again. The only way we found to subscribe them is to change the blacklist status right on the mysql database

(0012569) michiel (administrator) 13-04-06 00:07	If a user is blacklisted but they go through the entire subscribe process again, they will be taken off the blacklist.

(0012644) ozp (reporter) 13-04-06 15:33	ok, thanks. anyway, I think my users are so newbie that they cannot understand this. Because they stop receiving mails and dont realize that they got unsubscribed. but this is not a phplist problem. The forward to a friend feature is good, but I think that most people want to forward to a lot of friends and so they will do this using their email client instead of the link Maybe if you add a confirmation email (like in the subscription process). testing all those procedures I´ve realized that someone could make a robot to mass unsubscribe users in a phplist site. (if they have a similar user database they could unsubscribe all the common users)

(0012665) michiel (administrator) 13-04-06 20:56	Hmm, sure, loads of things can be done with creating robots. It's quite hard though and there should be something that makes it worth it. Alternatively you can set up a password for your users to prevent it. With a password it wouldn't be possible. I'll file this under "future feature requests", unless you think it can be closed.

(0012667) ozp (reporter) 13-04-06 21:12	ok, if possible list it under future phplist request either to forward with no footer or confirmation needed to unsubscribe

(0012669) michiel (administrator) 13-04-06 21:37	well, those two features are already there, but there's no way to take off the footer when people forward an email themselves, so that's impossible. The issue to address would be whether it's possible to handle it differently when users forward to each other. To be honest, I have no idea (at this stage).

(0012681) bevan (reporter) 17-04-06 03:21 edited on: 17-04-06 03:24	related forum thread: http://www.phplist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5115 [^] Would an 'unsubscribe confirmation' page solve the issue? requiering two clicks to unsubscribe? In some cases, perhaps, but not all -- right?

(0012687) ozp (reporter) 17-04-06 13:39	I think that a unsubscribe confirmation page would solve the issue.

(0050711) Thorsten Albrecht (reporter) 11-08-09 10:59	There is a confirmation page missing in the whole unsubscribe process. Now, everybody can unsubscribe somebody else on the unsubscribe page. There is no need to know the personal preference/unsubscribe link. This is a design problem of phplist and this should be corrected. See http://forums.phplist.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27817 [^] Thorsten