[pmwiki-users] PageList Project

[marc]

The Editor said...
> I really didn't like mailman's approach and ended up using a rather
> creative system that makes it easier for an individual to take care of
> their subscriptions.  When they visit the newsletter mgmt site, it
> asks them to simply enter an email address, and forwards them to an
> authentication page.  There, they enter  simple passcode emailed them
> (a random number) to verify ownership of the email.  Once verified,
> they are forwarded to a subscriptions page which dynamically shows all
> current subscriptions, and lets them add or drop subscriptions at the
> click of a button.  Pass codes are only valid for 20 minutes and are
> tied to specific emails. I think most users will find it much simpler
> to use than mailman. Let me know if anyone sees any problems in this
> setup.

IME, you might hit a problem with this. Sometimes emails become stuck in 
the system, for a variety of reasons, so time limiting an update code 
will mean folk having to repeat the process, possibly more than once. 
That kind of event can drive folk away.

An alternative approach is to email the update details as parameters to 
a URL and embed this in an email. The user then only has to click the 
link to update their details. Something like:

http://www.example.com/Site/ChangeEmailConfirmation?hash=
0e8fc8eafd8506101171031c52d6502b&email=fred%40spammaster.com

(Generate the hash by something like:
   $hash = md5($newemail.$hiddenHash);)

This method never times out.

-- 
Cheers,
Marc