New features for subscribe2

@dan,

1/ Already in the code. Filter on any Registered user group at Tools->Subscribes and see the section at the bottom of the page.

2/ You can only bulk import email addresses which make the user a Public Subscriber. This type of use has no control over categories in their subscriptions. This would need to bulk import registered users into WordPress and then set the categories.

3/ I get asked for that quite frequently but it would essentially setting a cron task for each subscriber that checks if their email is due. I’m not sure that many shared server environments could handle the load that would be placed by that sort of code but it’d be an interesting thing to try.

It would also need a fairly big re-write to move the cron scheduling from the Options menu to the User menu.

Thanks for the response.

On 1) – I don’t see where I get the ability to manage category subscriptions in that list. I have to click each individual user to do that, I can’t do it in bulk. My proposal is to add a set of checkboxes (or possibly a multiselect when there would be too many categories) to allow for the bulk management of category subscriptions.

2) That was the plan – to give the option to create real user accounts and the subsequent ability to manage category subscriptions.

3) Understandable. I’m not keen on the feature anyway (mail filters anyone?)

Let me describe why these features are needed for us: A department here posts all their administrative updates to a wordpress blog, categorizing them logically. They would like to – each semester – load a list of students / faculty into category subscriptions so they can just post to their administrative blog and know everyone is getting the relevant messages.

So a more flexible bulk editing and import feature would get them 99% of the way there, and I’m tasked with getting it to happen. Ideally, I wouldn’t have to fork my work into a separate plugin given that subscribe2 does most of what we need already.

So – if these features sound like something you’d be willing to accept as a patch to subscribe2, I’m happy to do the work and submit them. If not, I’ll just fork it and/or write my own plugin.

If you’re interested, we should probably talk off-list to discuss how we’ll collaborate.

Thanks! Let me know either way.

–DJCP

I too would like to import my subscribers. I’ve filtered on the current subscriber list and made the preferences interface display. I see bulk update buttons for categories and format but no import option. I do see an export option but not anything for import.

Can you help me understand what I’m doing wrong?

john

In looking at the screen it dawns on me I could paste the emails into the add/remove block with comma’s separating the individual emails. Perhaps that’s the easiest way to get them in.

john

Dan,
Did you ever solve the issue in your #2 above? I’m facing the same problem – I have a long list of users, which I’d like to import to Subscribe2 with their subscriptions to specific categories. As it stands now, I can import the list of users, but I’d still have to visit each account to edit their subscriptions. I’m wondering if you solved the problem?
Thanks,
Charlie

@charliem – I abandoned subscribe2 and wrote my own plugin to handle category level subscriptions.

For one, I wasn’t happy with how subscribe2 looked under the covers (very messy code), for two I wasn’t sure the feature enhancements I was proposing to write would get accepted – so the LAST thing I wanted to do was pour a bunch of effort into a codebase I wasn’t happy with when I wasn’t even sure it’d get accepted by the subscribe2 maintainer. For three, paying extra to send HTML annoyed me. No offense to the plugin author, I know many folks have benefited from subscribe2 and you have a right to make money however you see fit.

You can bulk edit subscription prefs from the user list in my plugin, and I’ve made a bunch of fixes to the Simple Import Users plugin to allow for more intelligent, de-duplicated bulk user imports. I haven’t issued a pull request yet for Boone to merge it, but he’s given a preliminary OK to my changes.

My plugin does not have the concept of “public subscribers” – every user has a real wordpress account. Next up is taking some of the auto account generating / importing code from simple-import-users and merging it into my Category Subscriptions plugins. I would like to say that’ll happen sometime in the next month.

Sorry for the non-answer.

Thanks, Dan. I’m not sure why you say “non-answer”. It seemed pretty thorough to me. Do I understand you correctly that the Category Subscriptions plugin does what I want?

And if so, then I’m wondering about a mid-process switch. I’ve already started using Subscribe2 and am manually working through the list of users. If I switch, would you recommend I start all over again, or let Subscribe2 continue with the users I’ve already loaded, and go forward with Category Subscriptions? (In other words, is there any conflict if I have both plugins?)

I’m a bit of an amateur with WP so am trying to tread carefully.
Thanks,
Charlie

@all,

My apologies for not posting back sooner but this topic thread doesn’t show up on my main plugin page and I have 2 other forums to check too!

The Bulk Management section is already in the Subscribe2 code (sorry if you feel it’s messy code Dan but I am not a computer man in my day job – I do this as a hobby).

Filter on some level of Registered User and a new section will appear at the bottom of the page. Since you cannot individually manage category options for Public Subscribers that section is not present if there are Public Subscribers included in the displayed details.

You can bulk change the categories by subscribeing or unsubscribing everyone to or from a category and you can also change the email format.