Regular Messages
While not part of the web site, email service is an important and regrettably complex part of the club's IT infrastructure.
We have a paid account with Zoho.com, a provider of web-based team collaboration software. The account allows for up to 10 mailboxes at a rate of $2/mailbox/month, of which the following are currently assigned:
- webmaster@iac.org
- president@iac.org (forwards to Jim Bourke's personal email)
- execdir@iac.org
- collegiate@iac.org
- govtrelations@iac.org
- judgeschair@iac.org
- historian@iac.org
- ruleschair@iac.org
- sequencechair@iac.org
- editor@iac.org
Zoho supports access via POP, IMAP, SMTP, and web. Setup instructions for email clients can be found at: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/imap-access.html
Mass Mailings
We also have an SMTP (outbound email) account with Mailgun, used for mass mailings and automated messages from the web server. NOTE: Mass mailings should not be sent via Zoho, as that would violate their Mail Usage Policy. Here are the configuration parameters you'll need in order to tell your email client how to send outbound traffic:
- Server: smtp.mailgun.org
- Port: 465
- Username: webmaster@iac.org
- Password: Available on request, as needed
You can access Mailgun by logging into mycloud.rackspace.com with the user ID iacweb. The Mailing Lists tab allows you to create and edit lists. Important: There is currently no synchronization between the email addresses in the Drupal user records and the Mailgun mailing lists. Therefore, prior to sending an email blast, I recommend wiping out the Mailgun list and repopulating it.
We currently have only one list: current members. You can obtain the email addresses of all current members for whom we have an address at: https://www.iac.org/current-members-email
The mass mailing alias for the Mailgun current members list is, unsurprisingly, current_members@iac.org. I've also created a list for testing purposes, test_group@iac.org, consisting of myself and Trish. Use it for making sure that your message layouts will render correctly on most common email clients. (Formatting tips available at: https://24ways.org/2009/rock-solid-html-emails/)
Handling Bounces
NOTE: This section needs fleshing out
scripts/mailing-list
syncit
POST from Mailgun (future)
