Mailster v1.3 ReleasedToday we have released Mailster 1.3 which we consider a major version considering all the goodies that we introduced.

This post will take you through some of the highlights.

As always you find the full list of features, improvements and fixes in the changelog.

Moderation Mode (Business & Ultimate editions)

One of the features we were asked to implement again and again is a moderation mode.

This is especially useful for large discussion lists where the mailing list admin wants to ensure that the messages sent to the list are up to a certain standard.

moderation mode settingsMailster Business and Mailster Ultimate feature the new moderation mode that allows moderating

  • all messages or
  • only messages from a certain group of users
  • and/or auto-approving (white listing) the messages of other users.

The mailing list admin can easily accept/reject the messages by clicking the respective links in the notification emails sent to him or by doing this in the Mailster backend email archive.

Dealing with DMARC

If you have never heard of DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) then you are not alone. Normally this is something that only email providers have to deal with.

This changed in 2014 when several large email providers (most notable: AOL and Yahoo) made a policy change at their email servers. This was done in order to fight SPAM mails. Unfortunately this had a negative side effect on us mailing list operators. Not only Mailster, but every mailing list software is affected.

A simplified explanation of the DMARC policy change is given below. If you are interested in the bits and pieces we recommend to read this email from the IETF mailing list or Yahoo's reasons given in an article.

The DMARC Issue

dmarc mail alertThe issue is about where from which provider is coming from, not to which emails it will be sent to by Mailster.

Yahoo/AOL/others are essentially instructing any receiving domain (= the mail providers of your mailing list recipients) to reject mail that purports to originate from Yahoo/AOL/... domain, but that comes from someone else. They recognize this when the email structure gets altered (e.g. the sender address or the subject gets changed).

However that is exactly what mailing lists are there for: it takes an email coming from one email provider, processes it (where various modifications are done, e.g. footers are added) and forwards it to all mailing list members. Hence mailing list emails are rejected which produces a bounce.

Mailster's DMARC Workaround

The way we deal with DMARC is definitely a workaround, however it is the best we can do for now.

dmarc settingsWith this functionality Mailster will look at where the emails sent to the list are coming from and decides between "normal" email providers and the "DMARC relevant" ones. Nothing will change for the first group.

For the second group, Mailster will take ownership of the emails. That means it will replace the FROM email address (e.g. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) with the mailing list address (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

By default this is done for AOL and Yahoo email addresses, but there is a setting where more email providers can be added if needed (see image).

Auto-Update Mailster

auto update mailster start centerNever miss a Mailster release with our new Auto-Update: you get messages right in your Mailster Start Center when there is a new release.

And you can install the new release without leaving your Joomla backend, by using the Update functionality in the Extension Manager.

auto update joomla extension manager

 

my account download idFor all pro-versions (Essential, Business and Ultimate) you are asked to enter a Download ID to verify your license.

You can find this download ID in your account section at our site.

More Highlights

Here are some other new features and improvements worth mentioning:

  • Mail server host names and connection parameters can be up to 255 characters
  • Significant speed optimization for email threads view in the frontend
  • Double Opt-in subscribe/unsubscribe works again
  • and more than 10 other fixes

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