Alex's Support Forums: Forum: Frequently Asked Questions

Alex's Support Forums: Forum: Frequently Asked Questions - Recent Posts http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Alex's Support Forums: Forum: Frequently Asked Questions - Recent Posts en Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:30:50 +0000 danielnicollet on "how to export (inbox) to CSV in pro version" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/how-to-export-to-csv-in-pro-version#post-85 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:34:59 +0000 danielnicollet 85@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Thanks Alex. That makes sense. Apart from the fact that relational data models are not always made of vertical tables, and that in nature custom fields can be appended horizontally also, I am just fine if you end up adding a CSV export. That would be great from my POV (if it includes the custom fields of course). This said, if you are going to have to re-combine vertical records into tables listings with column headers for CSV, why not just allowing it in your inbox view also. It has just 3 fields right now. Thanks again for your responiveness. Dan Alex on "how to export (inbox) to CSV in pro version" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/how-to-export-to-csv-in-pro-version#post-82 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:41:36 +0000 Alex 82@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ This is not a fault. It is a carefully considered database design choice. The number #1 feature request for simpleContact Pro is custom fields. As you can see, although 'Pro is superficially similar to 'Lite it is a different mechanism (and certainly not less advanced). In building it I had several considerations in mind: * The nature of a field is generic. A field is a "Fax number" or "Favourite colour" field because that is what it has been labelled. * The user should be able to add a form object and define its meaning. * The application should not impose a limit on the number of fields on the form. * The user should be able to edit and delete fields without losing data in messages already received. * The user should be able to re-order the fields. * I should be able to implement new object types (e.g. a message subject field) without having to modify the fundamental database structure. * As far as possible, the increased complexity of the application should not be passed on to the user in a more difficult interface. This requires a relational database structure where data is stored vertically (in records) rather than horizontally (in predefined field columns). Obviously the database structure is not subject to change but I have been considering a CSV export for the inbox that may provide you a solution. I did not think it important enough for the initial release, but I am monitoring demand. Alex on "Is there a discount for education / non-profit entities?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/is-there-a-discount-for-education-non-profit-entities#post-79 Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:59:42 +0000 Alex 79@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ I have thought about this since I started to develop simpleContact Pro. I considered various approaches and have decided not to offer a discount for the forseeable future. I have two reasons for this: Fair treatment for all users I have many customers who buy simpleContact Pro to use in personal websites. These include blogs, clubs etc. I do not offer these people a discount. Were I to start offering a discount to non-profit organisations it would be based on the following: * The nature of the non-profit. I would not offer a discount to causes I thought trivial or that I did not approve of (e.g: any which may offend certain members of society). * The financial status of the non-profit. Many educational or non-profit organisations have substantial budgets. They do not need an individual developer to subsidise their marketing activities. However - I believe that it is not my place to judge the worthiness of others, and attempts to operate a discount could be seen as arbitrary and unfair. The only course of action left is to make no offer at all. My own business I am an individual web designer-developer and I built simpleContact Pro to generate an income which I hope could evolve into a full-time business. I have invested a great deal of time and energy into 'Pro, and I believe the asking price to be very reasonable. Measured against my usual freelance rate, $25 would buy half an hour's work. This forbids me to give licenses away completely free - simpleContact Lite is my offering in that respect. I will reevaluate my position over time, and any changes will be announced here. Alex on "Is there a volume license offer for simpleContact Pro?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/is-there-a-volume-license-offer#post-78 Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:19:52 +0000 Alex 78@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ In the new year 2009 I will begin building a dedicated website for the simpleContact applications. I have registered <a href="http://www.simplecontactform.com">simplecontactform.com</a> which currently redirects to the downloads section of this website. As part of that new site I will introduce a "developer" license offering. In addition to the standard $25 single-domain license, you will be able to buy a license that entitles you to use it on as many of your own websites as you wish. This is ideal if you own several sites or you're a web designer working for clients. See websites like <a href="http://www.diythemes.com">diythemes.com</a> for an example of this license structure. Pricing is to be confirmed, but it will be less than the price of three single-domain licenses. paul on "Make contact form mailing list opt-in required (Pro)" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/is-it-possible-to-make-the-opt-in-required#post-71 Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:01:21 +0000 paul 71@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Hi Alex, I'm a recent purchaser of the application and would also like to be able to make the opt-in required, but not pre-checked. I understand your concerns with the pre-checking but making it required seems fine since it is indeed required in order for the form to be valid. Not having it required can actually be confusing to the user. Alex on "Make contact form mailing list opt-in required (Pro)" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/is-it-possible-to-make-the-opt-in-required#post-66 Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:56:54 +0000 Alex 66@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Hi and thank you for your purchase. I am a web designer too, so I understand your position. I have made many websites where the client's main agenda was to gather email addresses for marketing. It would be easy to add a pre-checked or required opt-in as a feature, so I'll explain its absence. This is not an oversight, it is a design choice. The reason is the issue of permission. The definition of best practice is getting tighter as time goes on. This article - <a href="http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/iland/2008/11/legal-compliance-is-for-lawyers-not.html">legal compliance is for lawyers not marketers</a> - demonstrates how hostile users are to unwanted email (even if they had opted in). Many marketers don't realise that every user who marks your message "spam" damages your ability to send further emails to anyone. I often refer to <a href="http://www.campaignmonitor.com/anti-spam">Campaign Monitor's anti-spam guidelines</a> and two points are particularly relevant: * Pre-checking an opt-in box is specifically forbidden. A list that was operated this way would be refused. * If more than 0.25% of all recipients (that's 25 in 10,000) mark your message "spam" your access is terminated. You must take great care with how you define permission for your activities. Personally, I would accept missing out on a few people who neglected to check the box rather than risk being marked "spam" by people who didn't realise that they were being added to a mailing list. Since the sole purpose of the form is to add people to a list I would recommend using the list_subscribe.php file. It will not add a message to your inbox, but will add the email address to your list. I plan to add an optional "name" field to that form in a future version. If you still want to pre-check the box, let me know. I strongly discourage this as user-unfriendly and harmful to your reputation in the long run, but a bit of JavaScript could be written to do that. You would have to judge for yourself whether you wanted to take the risk. Alex on "What is PHPMailer?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/what-is-phpmailer#post-7 Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:16:36 +0000 Alex 7@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ With the release of simpleContact 1.1 I added a more robust mechanism for sending emails. <a href="http://phpmailer.codeworxtech.com">PHPMailer</a> is a "full featured email transfer class for PHP" that exposes a much greater range of features than the standard PHP mail() function. I have it used on several projects in the past, and it has proven itself both highly useful and reliable. PHPMailer is produced by Brent R. Matzelle (original author), Andy Prevost (project administrator), Patrice Fournier, Chris Ryan, Cem Hurturk, Tom Klingenberg and Jaime Bozza. The version of PHPMailer that I have supplied is version 1.73, the latest at the time of authoring. PHPMailer is free software. It is distributed in accordance with the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). It is supplied in its entirety and unmodified (see phpmailer-1.73.zip in the application download). There is no warranty or responsibility on the part of the original author. Please note: <ul> <li>I have supplied phpmailer-1.73.zip in complete form to fulfil my obligation under the LGPL</li> <li>You only need to upload the class.phpmailer.php and class.smtp.php files (which are already in place in the simpleContact folder) for simpleContact to use it</li> <li>If for any reason PHPMailer fails in use, simpleContact will revert to the PHP mail() function</li> <li>If you use PHPMailer as part of simpleContact for commercial purposes, please consider making a donation to the PHPMailer project</li> </ul> Alex on "What are simpleContact's minimum requirements?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/what-are-simplecontacts-minimum-requirements#post-6 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:57:03 +0000 Alex 6@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ simpleContact's requirements are deliberately modest. You need a web server with PHP support and access to a MySQL database. MySQL 4.1 is strongly recommended because of its support for varying character sets and collations (which aids internationalisation). Although earlier versions may work, version 4.0 is the oldest version that I actively support. A definitive minimum spec for PHP is a work-in-progress. PHP 4 and above are recommended. The built-in update check requires either fopen or cURL. The "remember me" checkbox at login uses a cookie. Alex on "Which web browsers are simpleContact compatible with?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/which-web-browsers-are-simplecontact-compatible-with#post-3 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:20:40 +0000 Alex 3@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ simpleContact has been built with web standards. All its pages are valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional. It has been tested against the following web browsers. If you have used another browser, please post your findings so that compatibility can be improved: * <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie">Internet Explorer</a> 6 and 7 for Windows * <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/firefox">Firefox</a> 2 for Windows and Mac * <a href="http://www.apple.com/safari">Safari</a> 2 and 3 for Mac (public beta available for Windows) * <a href="http://www.opera.com">Opera</a> 8 and 9 for Windows and Mac * <a href="http://browser.netscape.com">Netscape</a> 8 for Windows, version 9 for Windows and Mac * <a href="http://www.caminobrowser.org">Camino</a> 1.5 for Mac * <a href="http://www.flock.com">Flock</a> 1.0 (browser based on Firefox with added social media features) The following browsers will not be supported due to inadequate standards compliance and/or discontinuation: * Internet Explorer 5 and lower * Netscape 7 and lower Note: AOL ends official support for Netscape products as of March 1st 2008. See the <a href="http://blog.netscape.com/2007/12/28/end-of-support-for-netscape-web-browsers">announcement</a> for more details. Their recommendation is that Netscape users upgrade to Firefox. Update December 1, 2008 - simpleContact Pro 2.0 is tested against Firefox 3. Alex on "How does simpleContact handle spam?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/how-does-simplecontact-handle-spam#post-2 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:33:06 +0000 Alex 2@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ simpleContact has several measures in place for your security and to prevent spam. See my blog post on the subject - <a href="http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/2008/01/24/how-does-simplecontact-deal-with-spam/">How does simpleContact handle spam?</a> - for a fuller explanation. Alex on "Is it possible to mass email all mailing list subscribers?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/mass-mail-subscribers#post-1 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:41:17 +0000 Alex 1@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ simpleContact is first and foremost a form builder. There is no functionality for sending emails; it is just about gathering permission. This is because there is a thin line between mass mailing and spamming. Without tools for spam testing, checking messages display properly in email clients, scheduled sending, managing bounces and unsubscribes, reporting etc you don't have a real solution. I plan on adding features that will enable you to use your data with some of the excellent, full-featured mailshot systems that already exist like <a href="http://www.campaignmonitor.com">Campaign Monitor</a>. Update: <a href="/downloads/simplecontactpro">simpleContact Pro</a> includes CSV export which you can use to import your list into many mass mailers.