FAQ

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This F.A.Q. page is a work in progress. If you feel like we have missed something, let us know!

Contents 1 General 1.1 What does poMMo stand for? 1.2 I get page not found errors and strange redirects 1.3 I don't get anything but blank pages 1.4 Why does it keep saying my mailing is frozen? 1.5 How do subscribers unsubscribe or update their information 2 Installation 2.1 How do I know if poMMo will work on my server? 2.2 How can I reset the administrator password or email address? 3 Configuration 3.1 Groups 3.1.1 How do I create a Group 3.1.2 How do I import a Group 3.1.3 My groups are not working 3.2 Mail Exchanger 3.2.1 I see three choices.... Which is best? 3.3 Themes 3.3.1 How do I adjust the look of the confirmation page/pages subscribers see?

General

What does poMMo stand for?

poMMo is a reference to Post Modern transmission of information and an acronym for... well, we haven't yet decided. The term was originally derrived by Rolf Rolles of Sabre Security. To him, it meant "pennyless open mass mailing organizer". To me, it means "Post Modern Mass Mailer"/"Post Modern Mailing Management" -- or perhaps better yet, "piece of My Mothers okra".

I get page not found errors and strange redirects

If poMMo directs you to a non existant page, chances are that it improperly detected your base URL. You'll want to manually configure baseURL in the config.php

I don't get anything but blank pages

If you get a blank page it means there was a PHP error, but you do not see it because you have error display disabled (display_errors = OFF in your php.ini). This is a "good thing" for production environments, as PHP is preventing the display of potentially sensitive information to the public. If you have access to your PHP error logs on the server, you can see the errors there. Alternatively, you can turn display errors ON. To do so, either set display_errors = ON in your php.ini or on a linux server edit\create a file in the poMMo root & save it as ".htaccess". It should have the following content;

php_flag display_errors on

Why does it keep saying my mailing is frozen?

poMMo uses a unique mailing processor. All emails are sent using backround mailing scripts. If you experience a frozen mailing, it is most likely because of problems with this background mailing process. The first thing you should do is go to the support page (www.yoursite.com/path_to_pommo/support/support.lib.php) and test the "mailing processor". This test will emulate the mailing process to determine if the server is capable of running mailing scripts. If this test fails, it is most likely related to a protective .htaccess, firewall, hosts setting, SSL, etc. This test must succeed before mailings will take place. If this test passes, seek support at the forums.

How do subscribers unsubscribe or update their information

This feature is often overlooked in poMMo, as there is no default "footer" attached to sent messages.... YET! If a user visits http://www.yoursite.com/path_to_pommo/user/login.php they will be prompted for their email to login to the system. I recommend you append a "footer" to each of your messages providing your contact information and the URL the user can log in to to update their records or unsubscribe. For instance;

---
Your Company, Your Address
To unsubscribe or update your records, visit; http://www.yoursite.com/pommo/user/login.php?Email=[[Email]]

Installation

How do I know if poMMo will work on my server?

Well how can you be sure of anything! Check out the minimum server requirements. Everything should be fine if your server meets these these requirements.

How can I reset the administrator password or email address?

You can manually set the administrator email or password if the forgot password feature is not working. Proving poMMo can send mails (the "mail exchanger" is working), the lost password feature may be used. To check or set the administrator email, execute the following queries on the poMMo database using phpMyAdmin or the MySQL shell;

* NOTE: All example queries assume you have "pommo_" set as the database prefix in config.php

Print admin email: select config_value from pommo_config where config_name="admin_email";

Set admin email: update pommo_config set config_value = "your_email@domain.com" where config_name="admin_email";

After setting the correct email address, access the login page and click "forgot your password?".

Alternatively, you can manually set the administrator password. This password is saved as a MD5 checksum of the intended textual password (e.g. "pommo" becomes "5e79fccdd95c56d37bb66e2f886cec0d"). You can use GTools MD5 Generator to generate a MD5 checksum of your desired password, or have the MySQL engine to automatically do this for you. To set the password using MySQL to create the MD5 checksum, execute the following query on the poMMo database using phpMyAdmin or the MySQL shell;

Set admin password: update pommo_config set config_value = MD5("desired password") where config_name="admin_password";

Configuration

Groups

How do I create a Group

Groups are handled differently in poMMo than most other mailers. Other programs sometimes use a separate database for each group. poMMo's groups are assigned by custom subscriber field values. To create these custom subscriber fields, go to Setup -> Subscriber Fields. Here you can create many types of fields, including text, checkbox, number, multiple choice, etc. Once your subscriber fields have been created, you can define groups based on these field values. Groups are created at Subscribers -> Groups.

Lets say you wanted to make a group of all your female subscribers. There are several way you can accomplish this. One way is you can create a multiple choice field named "Sex" with "Male" and "Female" as options. Then you create a "Female" group and select the "Sex" field to filter. The filter will read "Match subscribers where Sex *is* *Female*"

This method of grouping may seem complex, but after using it, you will learn how powerful it can be.

We have a whole page of detailed information on poMMo's grouping.

How do I import a Group

To import subscribers into groups is fairly simple. You MUST create custom subscriber fields BEFORE you import the subscibers. Then use a spreadsheet program to open/create a CSV file. This file should have one email address per row in the first column. Then you create additional columns as needed for custom subscriber fields. Save the file, and import it into poMMo. Before the import actually takes place, poMMo will recognize the columns and allow you to assign them to subscriber fields in the database, such as email or other custom subscriber fields. For defining checkbox fields in a CSV, use the word *on* as the box being checked and blank as not checked.

Looking at the example above, lets say you wanted to import two groups of subscribers. One group is females and the other group is males. First you create the custom subscriber fields and goups as described above. Then, you open/create a CSV file for the females with one email address per row in the first column and the word *Female* in the second column. Upon import, you assign the first column as *email* and the second column as *Sex*. Then, do the same for the male group.

My groups are not working

After you create a group you must assign a filter. To do so, go to the Groups Page and click the edit link beside the group. Here you will be able to assign filters to that group. See How do I create a Group above.

Mail Exchanger

I see three choices.... Which is best?

Well, it depends! Here is a breif explination:

PHP Mail and sendmail are nearly identical. PHP Mail() dumps a message to the local system's "MTA" (Mail Transfer Agent) which is most likely a "Sendmail" emulator -- the original UNIX sendmail was prone to security issues and bulky and many "sendmail compatible" (understand sendmail commands/mimic sendmail behavior) lighter and faster alternatives have become popular (qmail, postfix, exim, etc.).

So, PHP Mail/sendmail are running on the LOCAL server and are very fast. I recommend using sendmail if it works.

Now, because sendmail is typically a POSIX program (UNIX/LINUX/MAC OSX) it may not be set up on a Microsoft Windows machine. Sometimes PHP Mail() is properly configured on a Windows machine and sendmail is not... but most often Windows servers need to use SMTP.

SMTP can be used to send mail through a LOCAL or OUTSIDE machine -- or a group of machines (you can configure up to 4 SMTP servers to relay through). This method does, however, introduce some small overhead and latency. It is recommended to send through localhost (the webserver) for speed. If you have a webhost which limits your sending of mail, you can use SMTP to send through a machine outside the network (for instance, if you have a SMTP account with earthlink.net).

Themes

How do I adjust the look of the confirmation page/pages subscribers see?

poMMo can be customized by editing SMARTY templates. Any web designer can change the look and feel of all your poMMo pages, including the subscription form. See the Themes documentaion for further details.