Bug #9235
closedBetter RBE error messaging when duplicate content is detected
0%
Description
I can't remember whether we intended for a single email to be able to post to multiple groups, but that is what the GC Digital Fellows tried, and it did not work.
Here's what happened:
1. The digital fellows joined multiple groups (22 of them) to which they want to make announcements;
2. They sent a single email to all groups at once from the email address associated with the account (please find the original email attached to this ticket);
3. The post showed up for one group, but not for others -- https://commons.gc.cuny.edu/groups/new-media-lab/forum/topic/problems-with-python-the-python-users-group-is-here-to-help/#post-61811
Please let me know what the intended functionality is. Should this have worked? Does the posting to multiple groups only work via the web interface?
At any rate, from a UX perspective, it's interesting to know that the Fellows thought this would be possible. And we should look into throwing an error message when such attempts fail.
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Related issues
Updated by Hannah Aizenman about 6 years ago
At any rate, from a UX perspective, it's interesting to know that the Fellows thought this would be possible. And we should look into throwing an error message when such attempts fail.
I thought it was possible, but don't know about the fellows as a whole. I got an error message (23 in fact), but I'm not sure if it was for the original email or for a second one I sent(different title, but same content) in response to the first error email. I assume that first error was due to the gcdi group being emailed twice-once in the TO field and once in the CC field. It would be really helpful though if these error message emails included the subject of the email and the forum the email was bouncing from. The error message is attached. Thanks
Updated by Raymond Hoh about 6 years ago
- Subject changed from Email post to multiple group fails to Better RBE error messaging when duplicate content is detected
- Target version set to 1.13
Hi Matt and Hannah,
No, the Reply By Email plugin does not support multiple "To" addresses or the "CC" / "BCC" addresses to prevent spam. The documentation on the help site should probably be updated to reflect this.
As for posting to multiple groups, that was a feature (#4244) created outside of RBE and is only achievable on the web at the moment.
Regarding the second issue of attempting to create duplicate topics with the same content, a similar issue was reported -- #8991.
Basically to workaround this at the moment, in order to create duplicate topics in the different groups, you'll need to compose a new email for each group and slightly modify the topic content so it is unique.
I'll see what I can do to improve the error email to include the subject and group/forum title.
Updated by Matt Gold about 6 years ago
Thank you, Ray! Hannah, please let me know whether you see a good way forward. To me, the easiest thing to do would be to log into the CAC and post to a group through the web interface, cc'ing to all 22 groups when doing so. Otherwise, you'll have to send 22 different emails, each with slightly different content.
I know this may not seem ideal to you, but I hope you can see/understand the danger of spam that we need to guard against -- if we didn't have this in place, it would lead to a pretty big loophole for someone to exploit in the system.
Updated by Hannah Aizenman about 6 years ago
No, the Reply By Email plugin does not support multiple "To" addresses or the "CC" / "BCC" addresses to prevent spam.
The only email that went through (the New Media Lab), was in the CC field.
Hannah, please let me know whether you see a good way forward. To me, the easiest thing to do would be to log into the CAC and post to a group through the web interface, cc'ing to all 22 groups when doing so. Otherwise, you'll have to send 22 different emails, each with slightly different content.
I could probably script those 22 emails, but I do understand your concern about spam and logging in isn't that big of a deal. I just wanted to know if it was possible, so thanks Ray and Matt for clearing it up.
Updated by Boone Gorges about 6 years ago
- Target version changed from 1.13 to 1.14
Looks like we didn't get time for this in 1.13.
Ray, if this is a matter of simply disabling the duplicate-post check in certain cases, then perhaps it's something we can put into a minor release. If it will involve more complex logic - like sending an error email in various cases - maybe it does need the testing of a major release. I'll put this into 1.14 and let you make the call about whether and when it can be moved back.
Updated by Raymond Hoh over 5 years ago
- Status changed from Assigned to Staged for Production Release
It would be really helpful though if these error message emails included the subject of the email and the forum the email was bouncing from.
For this issue, based on Hannah's feedback, I've added better context to the back-to-sender error emails generated for all forum content, not just duplicate content.
If an error is generated from a bbPress reply, the email will now also include the topic title and topic URL. If an error is generated from a bbPress topic, the email will now also include the forum title and forum URL, as well as the attempted topic title.
For the duplicate topic email, here's what the email will now contain:
Hi there, Unfortunately, your new topic "TOPIC TITLE" in the forum "FORUM TITLE" could not be posted because it appears you have already created this topic before. To visit the forum, click here: FORUM URL We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Here is a copy of your topic: "TOPIC CONTENT"
Reference - https://github.com/cuny-academic-commons/cac/commit/a841718277700ef59b385a74b7f96fbf29afea15
Let me know if you want me to modify the email copy a bit more.
Updated by Raymond Hoh over 5 years ago
- Related to Feature #10659: Post to multiple groups via email added
Updated by Boone Gorges over 5 years ago
- Status changed from Staged for Production Release to Resolved