Bug #8924
closedauto-remove feature on http://pcp.gc.cuny.edu
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Description
Matt asked me to pass this along. From: Keith Miyake <keith.miyake@gmail.com> (and Mary Taylor <mtaylor2@gc.cuny.edu>)
"So I've been getting bounced emails from the cpcp email newsletter list for quite some time, meaning that the auto-remove feature hasn't been working on the website. What's supposed to be happening is that after emails bounce like 3 times, people's subscriptions are put on hold and new emails won't be sent to those addresses. At some point I had put my own email address in as the return-to address, but that has long since stopped working as it was supposed to.
I realized I can still log in to the website with my username, so I changed the return-to email address to the pcp@gc.cuny.edu address for now, just so that I stop getting the bounces. However, in order for it to work correctly, it needs login info for that email address. You should be able to see the settings here: http://pcp.gc.cuny.edu/wp-admin/admin.php?page=newsletters-settings
I would suggest talking to someone in the CUNY Academic Commons group (or maybe IT) about setting up an Academic Commons dummy return address that is able to receive emails, and whose login info can be entered on the settings page above. That way, the website will automatically check the dummy email address, see any bounced emails, and automatically suspend those addresses from the mailing list."
Files
Updated by Marilyn Weber about 7 years ago
Boone, They're using the Newsletters plugin. That was buggy about 6 months ago - see https://redmine.gc.cuny.edu/issues/8131. Could this be related?
Updated by Marilyn Weber about 7 years ago
Ah, and in the Dashboard I see this - Your download for the Newsletter plugin has expired, please renew it for updates!
Updated by Boone Gorges about 7 years ago
- Category name set to WordPress Plugins
- Assignee set to Matt Gold
- Target version set to 1.12.3
We currently have a do-not-reply inbox that can be used as Reply-To for these sorts of messages: commons-do-not-reply@gc.cuny.edu See #3468.
However, we don't currently have this set up in such a way that a plugin like Newsletters can log in and automatically handle bounces. Access to the commons-do-not-reply inbox is not handled via password authentication, but through IT's internal mapping of one mailbox to another.
My recollection of the earlier discussion is that it's not worth the effort (technical or bureaucratic) to try to set up automated bounce unsubscriptions. I think we settled on just allowing that inbox to fill up, on the assumption that it wouldn't happen very fast for regular Commons emails. But the situation is a bit different with newsletters, since email churn is probably greater for non-CAC people.
Matt, the thread in #3468 says that you received the password for the account under separate cover. Can you send it to me? I can probably write something that will allow the credentials to be supplied automatically (ie, no need to share with users) when the commons-do-not-reply email address is used as Reply-To.
Updated by Marilyn Weber about 7 years ago
- Category name deleted (
WordPress Plugins) - Assignee deleted (
Matt Gold) - Target version deleted (
1.12.3)
Hmm - she thought, as did I, that it must be free if it shows as a choice for a Commons site plugin. But I see here - https://tribulant.com/plugins/view/1/wordpress-newsletter-plugin - that it isn't. Is this a change?
I had recommended this to her after Mailpoet was experiencing some problems - https://redmine.gc.cuny.edu/issues/6794
Updated by Boone Gorges about 7 years ago
- Category name set to WordPress Plugins
- Assignee set to Matt Gold
- Target version set to 1.12.3
We run the "lite" version, which is free. https://wordpress.org/plugins/newsletters-lite/
The "expired" notice (which I didn't see, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place) is misleading. I think it can be ignored.
Updated by Marilyn Weber about 7 years ago
Is that causing the problem? Mary wrote "The pcp address received about 50 failed to deliver notices for Sunday’s newsletter. We hadn’t gotten those before this."
Updated by Boone Gorges about 7 years ago
The reason that she just started receiving those notices is that Keith just switched the Reply-To address to pcp@. Previously, they had been going to Keith's email inbox.
I've just switched the Reply-To email address to commons-do-not-reply@gc.cuny.edu so that the admin should no longer see them. See attached screenshot. (Note that you have to toggle Advanced settings to see it.)
The question about automated bounce cleanup remains, so I'm leaving this ticket open.
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Target version changed from 1.12.3 to 1.12.4
Bump - Matt, could you please look over the thread above? Check your email history for bounce-account email credentials.
Updated by Matt Gold almost 7 years ago
Hi Boone --
I looked at the email thread, which said that Gary was going to send me a password for the account. I can't find a record of his having sent me a password. However, I can access the email through outlook's "delegate" system. If you'd like, I don't know whether you, too, could do that through the web email interface ( wa.gc.cuny.edu ) if, indeed, you have a GC address. But I'm sure we can set it up if not.
In the meantime, if there is something you want me to check in that mailbox, please let me know
Updated by Boone Gorges almost 7 years ago
- Status changed from New to Resolved
Ah, thanks, Matt. My reading of the email thread was that we'd be granted actual credentials to access this account, but my memory is closer to what you've described - that they'd only grant access via delegation. Unfortunately, delegated access won't work for the purposes of automated bounce handling, since the WP plugin needs to be able to log into the account to check for bounced emails.
Given that the immediate problem described in this ticket is resolved, I'd suggest we not sink any more time into automated bounce handling for the time being. If we get another round of requests from IT on the subject, we can revisit the possible strategies at that time.