Remember that this is beta software and there will be blood bugs.

Notes:

• There is no documentation available (yet.) As beta testing progresses I will work on documentation.
• After unzipping and uploading the archive to your server, you will need to configure the database (sml_schema.sql) and config file (config.inc.php)
• ALL SUPPORT REQUESTS SHOULD BE ASKED IN THE FORUM. Suggestions, bugs, questions, feedback, etc. sent to me via email will not be answered. I will do my best to answer them in the forum.
• I will be setting up a thread in the forum that will remain pinned that will list known SMTP settings of popular mail servers (e.g. Gmail, hotmail, ISPs etc.).

Enjoy!

The SMTP diagnostics helps you determine the proper settings to use should you want to use an SMTP server instead of your server’s built-in mail application (e.g. sendmail). I will maintain a post in the forum that lists all the known good SMTP settings for the larger hosting companies and mail servers (e.g. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.). IMAP diagnostics is useful if you want to configure bounce checking. Since bounce checking needs to be able to look inside a mailbox, IMAP diagnostics helps you determine the proper settings to use in order to properly configure this option. Finally, SML logs will show you any issues it encounters while the RSS feed shows you the link and feed for your archives.

The next blog posting here will be the announcement of the availability of downloading SML2 beta.

Fig. 1 - Add a list

Fig. 2 - Edit/Delete list

Fig. 3 - List data collection

Figure 3 shows the data collection page. In SML2, you can now have members supply additional data when subscribing to your lists. for example, you can ask them for their name, age, preferences, or any other form field. Creating data fields is a breeze and you can make the fields you create required for subscribing as well. You can even use the data fields in messages you send. SML2 creates special tags for your form fields that you can insert into a message. For example, you could send a message to a list and enter the text “Dear [[first_name]],” and SML will automatically merge the data for your members into your message.

All lists default to the owner address specified in your configuration file, however you can override that when creating a list. You can also close lists so that no new subscribers can join. lists can be duplicated and the HTML needed to create a basic subscription form is shown to you when you edit a list.

Fig. 1

At the top right part of the members area you’ll see two buttons – one for deadbeat cleanup and one for importing members. Deadbeat cleanup allows you to easily remove members who have bounced too many messages back to your server which would indicate a full or non-existent mailbox. Importing obviously allows you to import email addresses into any of the lists you have setup.

The main part of the members are is divided up into three parts. On the left, a listing of the mailing lists you have created, in the middle the list of members belong to the lists you select, and on the right is the detail of any member you select. You can also search for members in a jQuery powered auto complete list.

Members can be imported, deleted, confirmed and unconfirmed via the members interface. Note that the confirmation option is setup in your configuration file and not mandatory.

I’ll be releasing SML2 in beta form first to allow folks to test it and shake out the bugs. Once I feel that it’s been thoroughly tested, I’ll remove the beta moniker. And as always, SML2 will be free just like previous versions.

And now, onto the first round of screen shots. Today’s post will focus on the message composition screen.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

The three figures above show the new message composition screen. The first two figures show the screen if you have a single list, and the third figure shows the composition screen if you have multiple lists (lists listed down the left hand side). In figure 1, (A) shows the drafts link that allows to to load a draft of a previous image. (B) shows the toolbar that allows you to work with templates, drafts, attachments, and toggle the visual editor on and off. (C) shows the sent test message link which allows you to take the message you’re working on and send it to any email address before committing to sending it to an entire list. (D) shows the status and scheduling area.

Figure 2 shows the scheduling area once you select a delivery of later instead of now. Figure 3 simply shows the list of mailing lists down the left side of the composition area.

Drafts are automatically saved, however you can use the Save Draft button to force a save. The visual editor (TinyMCE) can be toggled on and off with one click and you can set your preference for default editor to the visual editor (HTML mail) or plain text editor in the SML configuration file. When sending an HTML message, SML will create a MIME message with an HTML email and a plain text email for those recipients that can’t read HTML messages.

If you’re composing a message and accidentally (or intentionally) leave the page, you’ll receive a warning about possibly losing work so that you don’t inadvertantly lose something you need.

You can upload multiple file attachments simultaneously (without a Flash uploader).

Finally, when sending messages to multiple lists, if a member belongs to multiple lists they will only receive the message once instead of once for every list they belong to.

Coming next, the members area.

In this release we have completely overhauled the logic and made security our primary focus. It’s now impossible to derive the code being generated from the KillBot source files as the logic that generates the code doesn’t exist with the Flash movie. We’ve also added many different Flash effects that obfuscate the code enough to make it virtually impossible for computers to discern the code, yet easy enough for humans to read.  Now characters can fade, rotate, move, blur, and more.

Note that with the release of KillBot Professional 2, we also have updated KillBot Professional with Audio.

Demo: http://notonebit.com/projects/killbot/