[RESOLVED] Sending email in batches

robkir

My ISP limits me to 100 emails every five minutes. I can live with that because we only have a 1000 names to email. Here's the problem. I don't know how to get PHP to wait five minutes in between email batches. I am using set_time_limit(0) to prevent time out and I used sleep(300) to rest the program for five minutes. All that happens is a window pops up and asks me if I want to download my program...obviously the wrong response.

Any ideas?

thanks,
robkir

bpat1434

If you're getting a window asking you to download your php script, then the server isn't set up to serve PHP properly. Might want to ask for help in the Installation category on here 😉

robkir

Thanks, bpat1434, I'll check.

I'm still wondering about sleep() as the correct mechanism to make the program wait the required five minutes in between batches.

robkir

NogDog

I'd be more inclined to use a periodic cron job in conjunction with some sort of mail queue (probably database-driven). It would check the queue for pending messages, and send the next n number of them, marking them as sent (or just removing from the queue).

PS: You can see the PEAR Mail_Queue package for one possible implementation.

dagon

i wouldn't sleep 300 after 100, rather sleep 3 after every 1.

couple of advantages, spread the resource load, if you not sending a number exactly divisible by 100 it will end sooner, if something goes wrong you are more likely to have at least sent some.

oh and think about using other mail agents than your isp, like gmail, yahoo etc, or even a mixture

robkir

Hi dagon
I like the 'sleep 3 after every 1.' I'm tied up for the next couple of days--but I'll check it out and see if that solves my problem. I've looked at both google and yahoo and both have limits of 500 names per day. The client is looking for a one touch, easy as possible solution (are we all?).

robkir

Hi Nogdog. I read a little about cron and would need to learn a bunch more. I haven't really gotten into PEARs either (there's so many toys and so little time). Thanks for the lead.

dagon

there are companies that send and manage newsletters, i happen to work for one, so i will mention no names, this may be a better option for you (and your client).

robkir

I did a test and your sleep(3) seems to work fine. Thanks.

robkir

I looked at one or two--I didn't spend a lot of time investigating, but it looked like another learning curve and that it required some under the hood futzing around. The client wants to send out a simple message (i.e. "No soccer games today due to rain")--a simple emailer seemed like the best solution.

Cheers,
robkir

dagon

Most host limit sending due to spam that's where dedicated systems do have and advantage.

There is an art to actully getting email in to an inbox and read thats not appreciated by many, but it does sound you have found a suitable solution for your client in this case.

As your business grows you may want to look in to a dedicated server then you wont face such restrictions.

robkir

In this case, I think most of the parents want the message--our subject line hopefully will not get flagged by spam guards.

Not sure if I will ever rise beyond the 'hack' level, but it sure is fun making cool stuff.

Thanks again for lending me your expertise. I appreciate it.