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Gammadyne Mailer
This page describes my use of the Gammadyne Mailer.
I use the Gammadyne Mailer for all of the ezines I operate.
My Gammadyne History
When I began emailing to my first list (
Snippets
) I hosted with Topica. But in the middle of 2002, Topica began to include, not only ads at the bottom of the emails, but also ads at the top. This change caused me to begin to look for options.
In late August 2002 I began testing
WorldCast
software from Fairlogic Systems to host the mailing list myself. That didn't work out. The software had a number of unacceptable issues.
I then moved to the
Gammadyne Mailer and have been very pleased.
It is possible to use it very simply, almost out of the box. But it also features a very complete internal programming language to let you do just about anything you want.
For example, it lets me keep all the information on my PC in an Access database. I know that the information is secure and under my control. It also lets me program much of the interaction.
Since my initial adoption I've made a series of changes:
- Created a double opt-in feature
- Improved the operation for subscribing and unsubscribing
- Made all of my programming code "generic" to enable me to host other mailing lists besides
Snippets
.
- Added the Whitelist information request option.
- Added the Spam Test option.
It is
screaming
software.
I strongly recommend
Gammadyne Mailer.
Special Functions I Have Coded for My Implementation of Gammadyne Mailer
In programming my implementation of
Gammadyne Mailer I've provided for many situations.
- A subscription request for a new subscriber should create the record, make the subscription "pending", send the confirmation request email and also send the whitelist info.
- The confirmation reply for a pending subscription should activate the subscription, send the acknowledgement and also send the whitelist info.
- An unsubscription request for a subscriber that comes from the web should make the unsubscription "pending" and send the unsubscription confirmation info.
- An unsubscription request for a subscriber that comes via email should immediately unsubscribe and send the acknowledgement.
- A confirmation reply for a pending unsubscription should complete the unsubscription and send the acknowledgement.
- If a confirmation (either for a subscription or unsubscription) comes from an address other than the subscribed address, both addresses should receive the information.
- A subscription request for a subscription that already exists should send back a notice that the subscription already exists.
- A subscription request for a pending subscription should reset the confirmation codes and send back a new confirmation email, along with the whitelist information.
- An unsubscription request for a "pending" subscription should immediately terminate the pending status, even if the request comes from the web.
- An unsubscription request for a subscriber that does not exist, should send back a notice of the error.
- A confirmation email with a bad confirmation format should send back a notice of the error.
- A confirmation email for an email address that does not exist in the database should send back a notice of the error.
- A confirmation email for an email address that does not have a pending subscription should send back a notice of the error.
- A confirmation email for a pending subscription with an incorrect confirmation code should send back a notice of the error.
- A request for whitelist information should return general whitelist information, plus, if appropriate for the particular ISP (e. g., AOL) should return one whitelist email for each address the system uses.
- A request for a spam test should send emails filled with spam phrases to test the spam filtering of the requesting address.
How You Can "Test" My Implementation of Gammadyne Mailer
I created a test ezine (
TestZine) to let me test my customizations of the Gammadyne Mailer.
But you can also subscribe/unsubscribe and receive a "sample issue". You can even try out some of the tests I perform, like subscribing twice in a row, or subscribing when I'm already subscribed or unsubscribing when I'm not subscribed, just to see how it handles these "special conditions". If you'd like to try this, just go to my
TestZine
page.
Information Collected for My Ezines
When you join any of my email/ezine lists (e.g.,
Snippets
and TestZine), I keep your email address (because it really wouldn't make much sense to have an email/ezine list if I didn't keep your email address).
And I keep information necessary to provide an audit trail in order to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.
Here is a list of Subscription Information that I keep for all email/ezine lists I host on my site using my
Gammadyne Mailer system:
Personal and Status Information
- Subscriber ID
(your unique code assigned by the system)
- Subscriber Status
(whether you are subscribed or not; when you unsubscribe I mark you as
unsubscribed, but keep you in the system to show history)
- Subscriber Name
(if you give me your name, I keep it; otherwise I have only your email
address)
- Email address
- Date/Time of the subscription request
Current Issue Information
- Sent status
(whether the current issue has been sent yet)
Subscription Process Information
- Date/time of the original subscribe request
- Date/time of the last subscribe date/time
- Email address used for the subscription request
- IP Address used for the subscription request
- Whether the subscription came via web or email
- Date/time of the subscription confirmation
- Email Address used to confirm subscription
- IP Address used to confirm the subscription
Unsubscription Process Information
- Date/Time of an unsubscription request
- Email address specified for the unsubscription
- Whether the unsubscription came via web or email
- Date/Time of the unsubscription confirmation
- Email Address used to confirm unsubscription
- IP Address used to confirm the unsubscription
- Unsubscribe reason
(e.g., by your request, because of bounces)
Pending Confirmation Information
- Number of Confirmation Reminders sent
- Date/Time of the Last Confirmation Reminder sent
Miscellaneous Information
- Date/Time of last action on the subscription
- Number of bounces detected
- Administrative notes
NB: I am able to keep this information because the Gammadyne Mailer lets me customize the database and program special functions.
EzinePrivacy.org
I follow the Core Principles of Ezine Privacy from EzinePrivacy.org.
I defend the privacy of ezine subscribers and never track personal information,
like when you open my ezine and whether you forwarded it to a friend.
My Privacy Policy: Practice Summary
Here is a summary list of my privacy practices for TestZine (and for every ezine I manage):
- I do not sell, lend or release your subscription information to anyone for any reason.
- I use "confirmed opt-in" ("double opt-in") for my list. Not only do you need to request to be on my list, you need to confirm your request.
- Every issue of my ezine includes simple but complete unsubscribe instructions.
- I provide alternative ways to contact me for subscription problems, including other email addresses, phone and fax.
- I remove bouncing addresses from my list.
- I only use the names on my list for the stated purpose: to receive my ezine.
- I do not "acquire" names for my ezine list. That is, I don't purchase names from other people and just add them, nor do I rent names and solicit for subscriptions.
- I'm very upfront about the frequency of mailings: it is irregular. The best way to see how irregular irregular is, is to look at the archives.
- Subscribing to one ezine won't get you added to any other list I run.
-
I follow the
Core Principles of Ezine Privacy from EzinePrivacy.org,
never tracking things like when you open my email or whether you forwarded it a
friend.
- I do not spam. Ever. Period.
The Long Version of My Privacy Policy
What you read above is the short version of my privacy policy.
I have a much longer, more legalistic version.
In fact, I have several of them:
General Privacy Page
The general privacy page provides an overview of all of my privacy policies.
Although it is lengthy and thorough, I still think it is easy to read. You might even find a bit of humor if you look for it.
It also provides links to my specific privacy pages including:
CIPEA Tone
On Wednesday, 26.Jul.2000, Senators Spence Abraham, John McCain and John Kerry introduced the Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act (CIPEA). This proposed legislation
never made it into the law. But I used the law as a model to construct a privacy
statement which would comply. I did it as an exercise in learning more about
privacy principles.
I have created a
CIPEA privacy disclosure page (which I call CIPEA Tone) to clarify the
the notices proposed by CIPEA (Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act). All of the disclosures on the CIPEA Tone page are duplicates of disclosures on my privacy page, but they have been "organized"
according to the structure of CIPEA. This page also provides background and impact information regarding CIPEA and links to other articles and resources for CIPEA.
COPPA Cabana
I have created a
COPPA Privacy Disclosure page (which I call COPPA Cabana) to
provide the notices required by COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) related to information practices of this site regarding personal information and privacy of children. This page also provides background and impact information regarding COPPA and links to other articles and resources for COPPA.
OECD Privacy Statement
A long, long time ago, on 23.Sep.1980, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, (OECD), issued
Guidelines
on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data.
(Did you notice that date? 1980!! Privacy issues are not new.)
Recently OECD created the OECD Privacy Statement Generator to help organizations create privacy statements to post on websites.
I have created an
OECD Privacy Disclosure page (which I call OECD
Privacy-D) to stipulate how this site complies with the seven privacy principles.
All of the disclosures on the OECD Privacy-D page are duplicates of disclosures on my privacy page, but they have been "organized" according to the
structure of the OECD Privacy Principles. This page also provides background and impact information regarding the OECD Privacy Guidelines links to other resources for the OECD Privacy Guidelines.
Disclosure: I participate in
the Gammadyne affiliate program.
Click here
to link without crediting my referral account.
List Management Information
 Best Practices of Email, Ezine and List Management:
The organization known as MAPS (Mail Abuse Prevention System) once published a list it called "Basic Mailing List Management
Principles for Preventing Abuse". I used this list as the starting point to create my own "Best Practices" which I follow in managing my lists.
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List Email Headers:
An explanation of the RFC standard headers which should be used on emails for lists and ezines. Also identifies the supplementary user-defined fields I use on my ezines, as well as RFC standard email addresses ezine publishers should implement.
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My Ezine/Newsletter
All About Snippets, My Free Ezine:
This page tells about my free ezine (newsletter), where it came from, how to subscribe . . . the whole banana.
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Subscribe to Snippets:
Like it says, go here to subscribe.
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Unsubscribe from Snippets:
I'd hate to lose you, but if you need to unsubscribe, this page will take care of that.
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Previous Issues of Snippets:
This page links to the archive of Snippets issues.
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History of Changes to Snippets:
Describes the history of Snippets, with emphasis on the technical changes I've made since starting it, including moving to
Gammadyne, adding double-opt-in and complying with CAN-SPAM.
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TestZine, My "Test" Ezine:
To help "test" the changes to my
Gammadyne Mailer system, I created TestZine. This ezine is fully functional. For example, you can subscribe, and unsubscribe. But there isn't really a "publication". If you subscribe and confirm your subscription, you will receive a sample issue. If you stay subscribed, you might get that issue again (as I retest features). If you unsubscribe, then resubscribe, you'll get that same issue. You can even try out some of the tests I perform, like subscribing twice in a row, or subscribing when you are already subscribed or unsubscribing when you are not subscribed, just to see how it handles these "special conditions".
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