Newsletter unsubscribe question

[working stiff]

When testing the newsletter function, I selected unsubscribe option at the bottom of the test newsletter.

As far as I can tell the unsubscribe function didn't do anything.

Is there a delay before the user is deleted from the the newsletter database?

[Karen Mac]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

You have probably NOT refreshed the list so the table could update cuz you were sitting in it while testing. Try going to another area of the builder or signing out and back in.

Also.. I cant remember in this builder, you may get notified of the opt out, and then have to manually delete them.

Karen

[working stiff]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

Thanks Karen!

How do refresh the database? I haven't received any notice of the opt-out, and I have looked.

For legal reasons I really need to make sure this works, or that I know how to make it work.

[Karen Mac]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

Well, stiff..

Did you go over the tutorials and read the manual on this stuff. Have you gone to your email and made an email for this store, and an autoresponder? For legal reasons, you should do the tutorials and read the manual then you wont make me snap answering this stuff when you could take the time to learn it yourself.

If you read the post above.. i told you how to do the refresh and allow the table to update. I just didnt hold your hand while you walked thru it.

Karen

[working stiff]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

For the reference of others who might have the same issue, here is what I have found to date.

Under Main Menu Manager -> Database Tables -> Database Table Manager, there is a label "Clear recent table history".

That appears to be how the database might be refreshed, although there is nothing to indicate that this is the case.

The newsletter unsubscribe function, as found at the bottom of a generated newsletter, does not in fact appear to remove any entry from the database table. This is of real concern as there are specific legal requirements concerning spam and the ability of a recipient to remove themselves from future mailings.

As far as I can determine there are no messages sent to any administrator that instruct the removal of a database entry.

So - There does not appear to be either an automation nor manual answer to this problem.

Nowhere in any of the video tutorials was I able to locate any reference to this issue, nor can I find any references in the Soholaunch Users Manual.

I trust that others will have more success with this issue than I have to date.

[Watdaflip]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

I don't know what newsletter system you unsubscribed yourself from, but generally speaking, there is no delay. Whether it is a database, uploading a file to your website, or publishing a page in bluevoda. The only delay is the second or so it takes for the data to transfer.

Again, generally the only time you see a delay of a couple hours, or a day or week, or whatever it may be is when there is human involvement. When someone has to go in an delete the entry, add something to somewhere, or approve an action to be carried out. Thats about it.

[Karen Mac]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

The database itself did refresh, but the PAGE You are looking at on the browser cant because you have it open so you are going to see the same info until you refresh it or close it and reopen it. In order to recieve a notice you have to set up autoresponders or the email the system generates wont notify you of a response. You then have to put this information in the Preferences area of the Newsletter module. Its on the upper left hand. This email address must also be able to SEND mail, so you cant probably use your isp in most cases.

Either you or the customer can UNSUBSCRIBE and it must be done manually...


In your newsletter module on the bottom.. there is a little link to that and its also in your emails if youve set up the email correctly. Apparently you need new BIFOCALS so you can SEE the solutions more clearly!

All you have to do is LOOK and pay attention and you will find this stuff. I really get ticked when people dont try, but will sit and post for answers, and then criticize because they didnt take the time to do it themselves. Why recreate the whole manual and all the tutorials posting on the forum? Seriously.. pfffffffft watch and see how fast i answer the next one!

Karen

[Karen Mac]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

And while you are getting your eyes checked.. you might look in the system tables for a table thats labeled UNSUBSCRIBE.. ..damn thats hard work.

Karen

[working stiff]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

Gee Karen, you're right, this is hard, especially as THERE IS NO UNSUBSCRIBE TABLE under the system tables. Grin!

Oh, yes, I wasn't looking at the browser to see if something had been unsubscribed, I went to the database itself, then because there might be a hidden field in the database for this function, I sent other test newsletters, and surprise surprise the supposedly "unsubscribed" people were still there.

And I get ticked with RTFM answers to people who are fighting a steep learning curve trying to get something useful together.

My original question simply asked about a possible time delay in a database entry being deleted. You responded that I needed to refresh the database. I spent several hours trying to do just that.

I logged out, flushed the cache, used different browsers, viewed the tutorials several times, checked the online manual and so on before asking you what I was missing.

After running me around in circles trying to refresh the database, you now tell me that it needs to done manually ... gee, that was what the question was about in the first place, the customer MANUALLY selects the option to unsubscribe, and nothing happens. As administrator I can find nothing to let ME know that I need to do anything.

If you don't know the answer to the question, that's a perfectly acceptable response, but to yell at me for asking the question in the first place is not acceptable for anybody, especially for somebody in a support function.

I know from personnel experience how frustrating customer support can be as I was a Unix Systems Administrator for 25+ years dealing with thousands of customers from all around the world. I can also tell from very personnel experience that you need a vacation.

So - let's start over and see if I can get out of your hair for a while (no promises there, but I will try!)

Looking at the database tables that I can see, I find:
Under Recent tables I have: UDT_SUBSCRIPTIONS with 2 entries for testing.
Under User Tables I have:
UDT_CONTENT_SEARCH_REPLACE (Empty)
UDT_MY_NEWSLETTER (With 3 entries for testing the newsletters)
UDT_SUBSCRIPTIONS (as shown above)

Under System Table I have NOTHING AT ALL

From your comments I should have a table there. OK, I somehow doubt that I'm to create that table manually, but also can't locate any instructions on how to do that automatically. Do I need to open a trouble ticket for this?

You also mentioned something about how my email was set up might affect this issue and I have verified that the business info for the site has a valid email address and that nothing has been received at that address relating to this.
Note: that email address is external to this system, if that makes any difference. I also checked the 6 email accounts I set up for the site, but there is nothing in them. I'm not sure what else I should check for that, assuming that it is a part of this problem.

Now that we have both had a lot of fun publicly venting our individual frustrations at each other (grin), I admit it. I'm stuck. I have no clue which direction I'm to head in next. Help!

[Karen Mac]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

Well Stiff

I will go back to my original statement. Run the IT troubleshooter make sure all your permissions are correct.

Secondly, you have to have a system Tables, or you dont have soholaunch installed. click the database icon, when that opens, you have a picture there with two tabs on it. one is titled USER TABLES and the other is titled SYSTEM TABLES. If you cant find it you are truly blind. You need more than help you need an eye doctor, or maybe a proctologist.

Im not going to sit here and school you on the scripting for soholaunch and its newsletter process, its fairly simple, you dont need much experience to do it, you do have to be able to SEE.

Finally if you are REALLY concerned about spam, and plan on having a HUGE list, you should subscribe to an email service like aweber etc, to avoid getting hit with a spam lawsuit etc, and it handles your opt outs for you.

AS to the refresh, i was referring to the fact that soho is a browser run application, and refreshing the screen, if you were sitting in the tables to watch them change it wasnt going to happen, because you can only see whats on the screen.

Karen

[Karen Mac]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

One more thing if you want email notifications, you must set up all the info in all areas of the store including the shopping cart, all these things are tied together, you cant just do one thing and expect the whole cart magically works. Check your shopping cart business info and I believe you MIGHT get notified, as i tested mine, and it notified me just fine. Just like i have a system table full of things.

Karen

[yogesh kavishvar]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

When testing the newsletter function, I selected unsubscribe option at the bottom of the test newsletter.

As far as I can tell the unsubscribe function didn't do anything.

Is there a delay before the user is deleted from the the newsletter database?

aaaa

[working stiff]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

My presenting issue was an attempt to find a way of handling unsubscribe requests for my newsletter. This is a legal requirement to avoid federal charges of being a “spammer”.

Despite the feedback generated when somebody selects 'unsubscribe' at the bottom of a newsletter indicating that their request was handled right then, in fact nothing happened as far as I could determine. Nothing changed in the source database for the mailing; no message was received by me to let me know that somebody had opted-out.


In my case, logging into my website at <websitedomain>/sohoadmin
Selecting "Database Tables"
Selecting "System Tables"
Showed NO system table entries, just a message that says:

“WARNING: Modify system tables at your own risk. Generally, you shouldn't have to mess with these unless you're developing a custom php script or troubleshooting a standard feature that doesn't seem to be working correctly.”

No exactly helpful.

It turns out that there is, in fact, a database entry made to record this opt-out request, but in my case nothing shows up under Database Table Manager/System Tables, and nothing is emailed to the site administrator.

However, I have found a partial workaround for this issue in the CPanel.

Go to CPanel …
Selecting "MySQL Databases"
Scroll down
Select "PhpMyAdmin"
Select "<Database>” in the upper left column
Select the database you want to use, in my case: <LoginID>_sopa1

You should now see a list of available databases on the left.
For my issue, I selected "UNSUBSCRIBE"
Taking the default settings, I then selected "Search"
Then I selected "GO" in the upper box
Scroll down
I can now see all entries for those who have unsubscribed from my newsletter.

I have a long way to go to understand this MySQL database, but I have found this much:

To remove any entries from this database, check the box to the left of each entry, then select the red X located below all the entries.
You can also select "Check All” to select all entries before selecting the red X.

In either case, you will then be presented with a final opportunity to review and accept/reject your changes.

I now have a mechanism to handle any unsubscribe requests.

I have not (yet) found a way to display this database under the "System Tables" heading, or to receive email notification. When I do so, I will post the necessary instructions on this forum in case this is of any assistance to others.


... and this was all done without an eye doctor, or even a proctologist.

[Karen Mac]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

“WARNING: Modify system tables at your own risk. Generally, you shouldn't have to mess with these unless you're developing a custom php script or troubleshooting a standard feature that doesn't seem to be working correctly.”

Well of course it says that.. but, umm.. you do the same thing when access it thru mysql or phpadmin...doesnt change the fact that you can update, create, modify, alter, see, find, and make changes in this area. But continue to do it the hard way. Let me know when youre ready to listen. I may or may not be available to help you out.

Karen

[grandjuke]

Re: Newsletter unsubscribe question

Are you two MARRIED??????????????????