XF 1.1 Amazon SES With Xenforo

[TheBigK]

Yesterday, I stumbled upon Amazon SES which now has SMTP gateway. I'm planning to use it with Xenforo to handle all the emails; so that the delivery is always right. I, however have basic questions -

• To the best of my knowledge, I only need to enter the SMTP settings provided by Amazon in 'Email Options' in XF ACP. Is that enough?
• Can I use it to send notifications or monthly newsletter to all the members who have opted to receive emails from administrator? Would that be spamming? We've over 90k members who've opted to receive emails from admins; but my estimate is that 10-20k of them aren't active. We didn't have 'email' verification enabled in our earlier days.

Thank you for your time in advance

 

[Anthony Parsons]

http://www.serversmtp.com

Pay as you go, 30k is $35. Send once, clean your list, then use SES with a clean subscriber list of only active emails.

 

[PJK]

http://www.serversmtp.com

Pay as you go, 30k is $35. Send once, clean your list, then use SES with a clean subscriber list of only active emails.

Thanks, I'll do this. Do I just re-send the email I sent out yesterday, meaning the first 10000 people will receive it again? Or is there a way I can re-send only to the remaining group that didn't receive it?

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Just send the whole list... add a line there was difficulties and apologise for any duplication.

 

[PJK]

http://www.serversmtp.com

Pay as you go, 30k is $35. Send once, clean your list, then use SES with a clean subscriber list of only active emails.

So they billed me, but then rejected my application. Not sure why. They said they'll refund me. Any other recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Google smtp providers and don't tell them you're cleaning your list, as no provider wants that through their service.

You can also split your list into smaller chunks and do it that way through such providers.

 

[PJK]

Google smtp providers and don't tell them you're cleaning your list, as no provider wants that through their service.

You can also split your list into smaller chunks and do it that way through such providers.

I was going to try that but I assumed it would get halfway and I'd get suspended again.

How can I split into smaller chunks? Thanks.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Export your list, split it up, enter into an smtp provider and run that list, then repeat and rinse.

 

[PJK]

Export your list, split it up, enter into an smtp provider and run that list, then repeat and rinse.

If I go that route, the automatic bounce handler won't change the user state then because then it's not going through Xenforo? That is what I'm relying on to clean the list atm, or that is what I assumed.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Most smtp's allow you to enter their details from your smtp settings in XF, thus this negates this issue, as all bounces will return correctly. Use their details for your clean, then go back to SES.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

If you have to provide a reason to an smtp provider to join, then tell them that you want to use their service to run your double opt-in list through to get higher inbox delivery. All forum registrations with email confirmation are double opt-in, so it is truthful.

 

[PJK]

Most smtp's allow you to enter their details from your smtp settings in XF, thus this negates this issue, as all bounces will return correctly. Use their details for your clean, then go back to SES.

Correct, but you suggested exporting the list, which removes the connection from XF, right? Can you describe a bit more about how to segment the list as you suggested? I'm curious how that works.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

In XF, you can segment your list by breaking up your member base into usergroups and sending to just that user group. You can export to an external system and segment your list as needed to send to smaller quantities.

There are lots of ways to do this stuff... you need to Google email newsletter sending and start reading all the different ways. Google cleaning email lists and such, read what lots of people have done to get ideas.

 

[Mouth]

Any other recommendations?

https://www.email-validator.net/email-list-validation-cleaning.html

 

[PJK]

In XF, you can segment your list by breaking up your member base into usergroups and sending to just that user group. You can export to an external system and segment your list as needed to send to smaller quantities.

There are lots of ways to do this stuff... you need to Google email newsletter sending and start reading all the different ways. Google cleaning email lists and such, read what lots of people have done to get ideas.

Thanks a lot for the recommendations. Also, is there a faster way to send out all the email? Before it took several hours to send to 25k users. It was processing a few at a time. Can I speed that up? Thanks.

 

[PJK]

So I've done an email shoot to the 30k members via smtpserver (reapplied and got accepted). They then suspended my account. No worries, it should have served its purpose.

I want to ensure the list is clean and the bounc removal system worked out, how can I verify this? Now that I'm back on SES I don't want to get suspended again if I do another email shoot.

Secondly, I want to setup Sendy so I can monitor and handle email better. What's the best way of connecting it to Xenforo for all email from Xenforo (including notifications and whatnot)?

 

[PJK]

I use Sendy on my server to send everything via SES, with all handling done automatically back to Sendy via SNS. It simply syncs with XF accounts appropriately.

Is this what you use to integrate Sendy into Xenforo? If not, what do you use? Thanks.

 

[Anthony Parsons]

Yes, that will integrate them both.

 

[Mouth]

I use Sendy on my server to send everything via SES, with all handling done automatically back to Sendy via SNS. It simply syncs with XF accounts appropriately.

Could you expand a little further?
XF SMTP is set to Sendy, so that even transactional emails (eg. thread notification, etc.) also go through Sendy? And thus you get open's reporting etc.?
For the bounce handling, Sendy auto updates XF user records, setting their user state to invalid (bounced)?

 

[PJK]

Yes, that will integrate them both.

Could you expand a little further?
XF SMTP is set to Sendy, so that even transactional emails (eg. thread notification, etc.) also go through Sendy? And thus you get open's reporting etc.?
For the bounce handling, Sendy auto updates XF user records, setting their user state to invalid (bounced)?

I'm also curious. Can I track open rates of thread notifications? It doesn't show in the resource page as far as I can tell.