On 14/07/2011 21:13, simon haywood wrote:
I realise, seeing this list in action, that *exactly* what I want is being done here (I think!) We're all emailing the mailing list, and the mailing list is emailing each of us - with both the From and Reply-To set to be the original sender (rather than the mailing list address).
No; the Reply-To is set to the list address. At least, it is for me - you may have your list settings configured differently (if the list permits that).
How is it done!?
Well, in this case it's done by the list software, which happens to be Mailman. That's not really analogous to what you want to do, although the outcome is similar. But the important thing is that the Sender header is set to the list address, not our individual addresses. That's what avoids it getting caught by smap filters and the like.
Incidentally, if you're using PHP's built-in mail() function, it will do it right by default. That is, if you explicitly pass it the correct From and Reply-To headers (which you want to set to your campaigners' email addresses), then it will set them appropriately and set the Sender header to be your own server.
In one sense, writing a form-to-email application is pretty simple. It's not quite programming 101, but it's not rocket science either. Nearly every popular scripting langauge (and most of the unpopular ones, as well) either has built-in functions for sending mail or has readily available classes and functions to do it. But knowing how to do it is one thing; doing it right is another. Once you allow your software to inflict itself on the wider Internet (eg, by sending mail to arbitrary recipients) then you have an obligation to ensure that you comply with best current practice as regards handling errors, preventing your service being used for abuse, etc. So, if you're at all uncertain about it, then outsourcing it (eg, to WriteToThem.com) makes a lot of sense.
Also, as Matthew has already pointed out, it really isn't a good idea to pre-fill the content of campaign messages. MPs get a pretty high volume of mail (both postal and electronic), and many of them routinely disregard (or, at least, assign less importance to) anything which appears to have not been written by the person sending it. If you're concerned that having to use their own words will put some less articulate campaigners off then don't be: that can actually be a good thing. A small number of well-written, individual messages will have far more effect than a large number of identical or near-identical ones.
For those reasons, I think that writing a wrapper to WriteToThem.com may well be more effective than trying to roll your own here. You get all the benefits of the hard work being done by someone else, and the one thing you think is a disadvantage (the fact that it doesn't allow pre-filled messages) is, in reality, a benefit as well.
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