Bug #16177
closedSwitch to Inbound mode for RBE
0%
Description
For the reply-by-email plugin, we use IMAP mode, which relies on connecting to a GMail account to check for new replies and posting items to the Commons.
This isn't the best for performance because IMAP mode uses a long-running process to do the new email checks. RBE also has another mode called Inbound mode, which works on a per-email basis. This mode is already being used to create new forum topics with a custom, group email address (GROUP@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu), but we haven't fully switched over to using Inbound for replies and private messages because IMAP was already in use.
Some things-to-do before switching:
1. Since we already have set up the GROUP@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu email address for new forum topics, would it be okay to keep using this email domain for replies as well? (Regular reply email addresses would look something like fb2da051ba2b7220193cca6ada@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu). The alternative is to set up another email address domain like X@reply.commons.gc.cuny.edu, but RBE hasn't been tested with two different email domains yet. Some background info here: https://redmine.gc.cuny.edu/issues/2880#note-24. I'd say for now, we should keep using the same email domain unless anyone has any objections.
2. Once we switch to Inbound mode exclusively, replying to older items with the cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com GMail address would no longer work. I was thinking we can set up an auto-replier in GMail, so if a new email matches the body of the RBE format, an auto-reply with the following message could be sent:
Hi, You attempted to reply to our older reply-by-email address that is no longer in service. We have transitioned to a new email address. If you would like to try emailing your reply with the new email address, please copy the IDENTIFIER portion of the "To" email address in the format of: cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com to: IDENTIFIER@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu And resend your previous email using this new email address. You can always login to the CUNY Academic Commons to view your thread and make your reply there as well. If you have any questions, please contact us at commonshelpsite@gmail.com.
Related issues
Updated by Raymond Hoh over 2 years ago
- Related to Bug #16176: Set up app password for GMail IMAP account added
Updated by Raymond Hoh 3 months ago
- Target version changed from Not tracked to Migration to Reclaim
Let's do this as part of the migration.
To summarize, when replying by email, members currently reply to the cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com email address and the email reply is posted to various BuddyPress components (namely to group forums and private messages). We will need to switch this reply by email address to IDENTIFIER@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu for performance reasons when moving to Reclaim. When we do this, we will set up an auto-replier in GMail so those that are replying to the older RBE email address will be aware of the new change.
We can do this ahead of time. Perhaps sometime in December or over the holiday break.
Updated by Raymond Hoh 2 months ago
- Related to Feature #21456: Switching to SMTP for outgoing email added
Updated by Raymond Hoh 2 months ago
- Description updated (diff)
Boone / Colin, can either of you look at the copy I've written for the auto-replier and see if everything is clear or not. Feel free to make some edits.
Updated by Colin McDonald 2 months ago
Hi Ray, maybe this reads a little better for that email copy?
Hi,
You just attempted to send a Commons forum reply using a reply-by-email address that is no longer in service.
To use our new email address, please look in the header details of this message for the IDENTIFIER portion of the "To" email address. It will be in the format of: cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com.
You can then send your reply again, addressing it to IDENTIFIER@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu, and it should post correctly. You can always log in to the CUNY Academic Commons to view your thread and make your reply there as well.
If you have any questions, please contact us at commonshelpsite@gmail.com.
Regards,
Commons Support Team
Updated by Boone Gorges 2 months ago
Colin's edits seem mostly fine, but IIRC it's not just forum posts that can be replied to in this way, right? So we need language closer to what Ray originally drafted for the first sentence.
Updated by Raymond Hoh 2 months ago
but IIRC it's not just forum posts that can be replied to in this way, right?
That's right, RBE also works with private messages, group doc comments and group site blog comments.
So maybe the following will work?
===
Hi,
You just attempted to reply to our older reply-by-email address that is no longer in service.
If you would like to try emailing your reply with the new email address, please look in the header details of this message for the IDENTIFIER portion of the "To" email address. It will be in the format of: cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com.
You can then send your reply again, addressing it to IDENTIFIER@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu, and it should post correctly. You can always log in to the CUNY Academic Commons to view your thread and make your reply there as well.
If you have any questions, please contact us at commonshelpsite@gmail.com.
Regards,
Commons Support Team
Updated by Boone Gorges 2 months ago
This seems OK to me if it's good with Colin.
Updated by Raymond Hoh 2 months ago
Thanks for the feedback on the auto-replier copy.
The next step is to determine when we want to do the switchover. Maybe early next week after the dev call? Or sometime on the weekend? Also would we want to add some type of notice in the forum or private message area about the impending RBE email address before doing this? It would generally affect those that use RBE quite often. Perhaps we can even query for members that have used RBE over the past three months or so and we could craft an email or notice specifically for these members only.
Updated by Boone Gorges 2 months ago
Ray, do you have any top-line numbers about how many people are using RBE on an everyday basis? If it's only a small handful, I wonder if it's worth the effort, given the slim likelihood that any individual user will be affected.
Updated by Raymond Hoh 2 months ago
Over the past three months, these are the users that have replied by email (not created a new forum topic by email) more than once:
+---------+-------+ | user_id | posts | +---------+-------+ | 1 | 6 | | 38323 | 4 | | 51990 | 3 | | 39380 | 3 | | 1510 | 2 | | 4203 | 2 | | 8100 | 2 | | 3737 | 2 | | 77 | 2 | | 51645 | 2 | +---------+-------+
This list doesn't include private message replies as I never added RBE private message metadata when a user replies by email (I should do that!), but from checking the RBE debug log, that number is also insubstantial (7). I think we're okay to just set up the auto-replier and switch over to inbound. I'll do this some time next week, perhaps after the dev call or next weekend.
Updated by Raymond Hoh about 2 months ago
- Status changed from New to Resolved
I've made the switch from IMAP to inbound email for RBE.
I tested the GMail auto-replier and had to change the auto-replier copy for the following paragraph from:
If you would like to try emailing your reply with the new email address, please look in the header details of this message for the IDENTIFIER portion of the "To" email address. It will be in the format of: cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com.
to:
If you would like to try emailing your reply with the new email address, please look in the header details of your previous sent email for the IDENTIFIER portion of the "To" email address. It will be in the format of: cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com.
I also tested using the new inbound email address format and RBE is working as expected.
Going to mark as resolved.