ISPs are increasingly requiring `confirmed opt in' for all newsletters sent 

through their systems. 

CactuShop's mailing list is such a `confirmed opt in' system that uses industry 

best practice to ensure that addresses are never subscribed to the list without 

the address owner's consent. When someone signs up, a link with a randomly 

generated key is sent to them in a confirmation email. This key is also 

recorded in the database record corresponding to this sign up. The subscriber 

must click the link in the email (which passes the random key to the web site) 

to confirm that they wish to be added to the list. If they do not click this, they 

are not added to the list. Only the real owner of the email address could have 

received the link with randomly generated key   hence only the email address 

owner can approve their addition to the list. 

CactuShop logs the date of sign up and the IP address from which the 

subscriber made the request. This information will be required by your host as 

evidence if someone erroneously makes an accusation of spamming against 

you. 

6.13.2 Send 

mail 

You can mail all the confirmed subscribers to your newsletter from CactuShop. 

Since users can opt for either plain text or HTML email, you can put two 

different versions of the email body text into the fields provided. 

6.13.3 

Scope/scalability of mailing via CactuShop's scripts 

Please note that mass mailing via an ASP script is inherently less efficient that 

using a dedicated mailshot program. Scripts are slower for intensive repetitive 

tasks and most servers have a timeout value of a few minutes set. We would 

therefore not recommend using CactuShop's own mailing functionality for lists 

of more than 1000 recipients. If you reach that level, we would suggest 

copying addresses from CactuShop and mailing with a dedicated mailing 

program. This is not a limitation of CactuShop per se, it is a limitation of ASP 

scripts. 

6.13.4 List/find 

You can view the most recent signups or look for particular people with the 

search feature. 

6.13.5 New/edit 

address 

You can create or edit email address records from the back end. You should 

beware that addresses added in this fashion will not undergo the confirmation 

procedure. By adding addresses in this way, you open yourself up to 

allegations of spamming unless you are 100% sure that the recipient's 

relationship with you is such that they will be happy to receive your mailings. 

6.13.6 

Purge unauthorized addresses 

If users don't authorize their sign up within a reasonable period, the record is 

effectively useless because CactuShop will not send mail to users who have 

not verified their email address by clicking on the link in the confirmation mail. 

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