setting up email discussion groups.

[reptilelair]

:)
Hello,
I was wondering if there is a way to set up a email discussion group (like yahoogroups).. How do I do it?
Will

[SaysMe]

I've just finished setting up our site-- it's going to be used by a group of people who are currently using disc.server.com services. While the disc.server boards are a pretty terrific freebie service, the ads you get bombarded with are getting to be over the top.

I hunted all over the place for some good CGI scripts and found a couple of them that are awesome.

One of them is similar in style to this board, though not as "heavy," in that it loads really fast and the interface seems less cluttered (don't get me wrong, this one is good, but we were looking for a very stream-lined interface). The company I got the script (Encore II) from is located at www.aborior.com. Their commercial version of the program has all the bells and whistles you could want. They also offer a Lite (freebie) version, which is wonderful. Installation is pretty easy overall. Documentation is good-- support is excellent.

The other script I found is a regular messageboard script-- kind of like something from Matt's Script Archives, except that it works great and is remarkably flexible. Installation is easy too. Documentation is wonderful for parts of it. Other parts of the documentation make assumtions in your knowledge level. Support is pretty good-- they've got an active forum with many people helping to answer questions. This script is called WebBBS and can be found at http://awsd.com/scripts/webbbs. You can download and use the main program for free, but if you want to have the Admin part of it, you'll need to pay for it-- which was well worth it, IMO.

Both of these programs are do-it-yourself kinds of things. It's not like buying a piece of software off the shelf at Best Buy, then letting it install itself while you go have a cup of coffee. I'm am soooo not an expert, but I've been schlepping through CGI script installation for awhile now. It's do-able, though frustrating at times. It's also a great adventure. While installing these programs and learning what I did from it, I've gone from taking a week or two to get things working, down to only about half an hour for an installation. I'm a goddess! heh....

If you can use an FTP program and understand a bit of HTML, you can probably install these scripts and refine them to your needs. Be prepared to learn how to change file permissions, using your FTP program, and learn some of the terminology used for perl/cgi scripts.

Good luck!

Nancy

[SaysMe]

Okay, so I should learn to read before posting. I just re-read the original question: you're looking for *email* discussion?

Take a look at the Aborior.com website. I think they probably have something you will be able to use. Both of the scripts I mentioned have options for receiving notification that your post has been answered, but it's board-based, i.e., you need to post messages and respond to them on the board. The WebBBS has an option to set up an emailed Digest for people who sign up for it, but again, you can't respond via email.

~n

[reptilelair]

I am looking for something like yahoogroups, coolist, etc.
I have no knowledge of scripts or HTML, that is the problem. I tried doing some scripts before and could not figure it out. I guest I am dumb when it comes to this. I wish I could figure it out.
Thanks and I hope some one can help me.
Will

[SaysMe]

I know it all seems so hard to do, but you may want to go to those sites I listed and look around anyway. You can read the documentation before you start, so you would get an idea if it's something you want to try.

I think (not sure though) that there's a way to set up a Yahoo Group to run from your domain. I have no idea how this works, but take a look around there and maybe start asking questions about it.

Have fun!

~n.

[reptilelair]

Thanks for the help:)
Will