> > * A cookie that the server remembers, which I originally wrote for
> > soc.religion.unitarian-univ, the original robomoderated newsgroup and for
> > abuse.net.
>
> the majordomo2 concept, and also backported to 1.93.4 (or perhaps
> patched into... I've got the sources around here and I can't remember
> which). Much, much nicer than auth lines. But stll fairly easy for
> naive users to get wrong, especially new users who don't read what
> you send them. On one list I run, we did this for a while -- and had
> 40% dropout rates. Mostly because new users just didn't, or didn't
> realize they needed to.
I put the cookie in the subject line, e.g.
Subject: (wkjewk) Your subscription to the foob list
We've received a subscription request ...
That seems to help a lot, then all they have to do is put the "yes" in the
body. I don't just accept any response with the cookie in the subject line,
that's too easily spoofed by autoresponses, bounces, and broken vacation
programs.
> > * The web kind, with a URL in the confirmation message that you click to
> > confirm. I'm moving to these,
>
> me to. On some of my lists, soon you'll have no way to subscribe via
> email. I expect eventually all will be that way. And so the default
> unsub will be via web, as will confirms. I do plan on keeping an
> email "panic button" unsubscribe, but you can make it SO simple for
> users by going to the web and using embedded links and customized
> email and the like... In fact, I'm soon going to modify my "welcome"
> message to include a customized link to an unsubscribe web page with
> the name pre-encoded.....
Well, sure. If the URLs are compact enough, you can stick them in the
message footers.
Regards,
John Levine, [EMAIL PROTECTED], Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Sewer Commissioner
Finger for PGP key, f'print = 3A 5B D0 3F D9 A0 6A A4 2D AC 1E 9E A6 36 A3 47
