sending multiple email from site

[benji]

I have a web site, which contains a directory of local businesses, and am after a program or method to use, so I can send the same email to all people listed on the site.

[thecoalman]

Well I guess that depends... do you have like a databse table with your email addresses?

Assuming a server with php you could just pull the emails addresses from the database and loop through an array with the php mail function.

Couple of lines at the most.

[us3.php.net...]

[benji]

Thankyou for the reply. Unfortunatley I do not have a database as yet (should have said bfore!). I am currently studying website design, and am yet to cover databases.
All I have is HTML files - there is an alphabetical list of all businesses, some of which have email addresses. However, there are enough of them for it to be a complete pain to get each email address individually!

[rocknbil]

You need to re-think your implementation. You can use perl., PHP, ASP or any number of dynamic languages to manage both your business directory, email, and other displays of this data.

As you can tell by now, large amounts of data in static pages limits you to that one implementation. If the data is in a raw format - even a plain text database - you can

- output page displays exactly as you have them now, but extracted from the database
- allow the visitor to re-order the output
- make it searchable
- access the data for other functions (email as you mentioned)

Get your feet wet with a "flat file" database at first. This will train you to how you access DB data:

"id","email","fname","lname","address".......

Once you understand how to manipulate the data (probably using PHP) you simply apply those concepts to connecting to a real database: mySQL, posGresSql, etc.

[benji]

Thankyou - I'll have to give it a go when I've got the time..

[piatkow]

There are a number of issues over bulk mailing.

Legal - are you breaching any local anti-spam or data protection regulations? We can't answer that as these vary from country to country and sometimes by state or province within country.

Recipients - will you be regarded as a spammer? This can result in complaints to your service provider or blacklisting. Have they opted in?

Recipients email providers - may block multiple emails from the same source or may otherwise see you as a spammer.