GodfatherBomb ReadMe -
For questions, tips and tricks, and support,
as well as updates and additions to this ReadMe, please visit the
GodfatherBomb
Forum.
Requirements:
- Unix server (Linux/FreeBSD/Solaris etc)
- Perl 5
- MySQL
- CRON - GodfatherBomb will install CRON for you. You just need to make sure
your host allows it.
The following Perl modules:
- DBI and DBD::mysql
- Net::SMTP and Net::POP3 (both from the 'libnet' package),
- LWP::UserAgent (from the 'libwww' package).
Tip - Finding Your Installed Perl Modules:
If you are unsure of what perl modules you have installed, you may either
ask your host, or this free script will determine which modules are installed
on your host:
http://www.scriptsolutions.com/programs/free/perldiver
Configuration Details:
This info is required for those that order install. Even if you are doing
your own install, it is suggested that you gather this information before
beginning.
FTP
- Host/server:
- Username:
- Password for FTP or shell access:
MySQL
- Host/Database name:
- Username:
- Password, and database for (or access to your website's
admin panel)
Where to Install the Script :
(What folder on your website?)- If you have no preference, we will install
it in a folder called "godfather" in your cgi-bin:
Webmaster E-mail Address:
(notifications will be sent to this address)- When someone subscribes or
needs to contact a real person, this is the email address these messages
will be sent to. This can be any email address you regularly receive email
at, and DOES NOT have to be on the same domain.:
Robot E-mail:
(it's the 'From:' address and the address for bounces and
subscriptions) - The "robot" email address is the address you want to handle
the automated tasks, such as unsubscribe by email, or for checking "bounced"
email.
Note: You will need to add an email address in your
host admin for this email address.
Robot's POP3 Mailbox
Host:
Username:
Password:
Note:
The robot email address must be on the same server/domain as the Gbomb scripts.
GodfatherBomb Admin Password:
(What password do you want to use?)
Paths to Existing Blogbomb/feedsearch.cgi Scripts:
(If you ordered install, we'll take care of this)
Site Title:
Example: GodfatherBomb
Admin Name:
Example: GodfatherBomb Webmaster
Robot Name:
Example: GodfatherBomb News Digest
Installation:
Open the following in your browser:
http://www.YourDomain.com/cgi-bin/godfatherbomb/zinebomb.cgi/admin
(This is for a standard install, your URL may differ slightly).
The login page should be displayed. If not, something is wrong - check the
error message, details below.
Enter the default password:
changeme
Go to 'Configuration' page. (You should see a link to
"Configuration" at the top of the page).
Cron - To install cron, Click "Reset Cron" button. Cron should be
installed for you. If there is an error, you may need to contact your web
host/administrator to install cron for you.
MySQL - Input your info, using the info you gathered above.
To install database/tables, Click "Update MySQL" and GodfatherBomb
will create the tables for you.
RSS Sources:
Note: You must have BlogBomb installed and working.
Please refer to the BlogBomb documentation.
GodfatherBomb uses BlogBomb to store and display the content from RSS feeds,
which allows you to then insert the content into email, newsletters and ezines.
You can enter multiple paths to different "BlogBombs". Just rename BlogBomb
to any other name, and upload/install it. This may be useful to help you
organize your BlogBomb RSS feeds, or to use different configurations for
each version of BlogBomb.
You will need to enter the full server path to the feedsearch .
Example:
/home/virtual/var/www/cgi-bin/blogbomb/feedsearch_ssi.cgi
Tip: For many, it may be best to simply ask your host for the "Full server
path to cgi-bin/blogbomb/feedsearch_ssi.cgi."
Included is the script: test_abs_path.cgi. Install it in your Blogbomb directory on your website, set permissions to 755, then open it in your browser. This script will give you the "path".
Administrator Password Site Configuration
It is strongly recommended that you change the default password. You will
get a WARNING until you do.
Default Password: changeme
Note: You will get a warning message until this password
is changed from the default.
User Fields Site Configuration
The User Fields input forms allow you to choose what information you want
to gather from your subscribers.
Required: Subscribers are required to enter info for this selection. If left
empty by the Subscribers, they will not be able to subscribe and will be
"prompted" to complete all information.
Optional: An input box is offered to the Subscriber, however this box doesn't
need to be completed for the subscription process to take place.
Disabled: This "User Field" will NOT appear in the subscription form.
Notes:
All lists use the same User Input Fields.
The more info you ask from your Subscribers, the less likely they are to
fill out the forms.
It is suggested that you require: I Agree
Cron Job Site Configuration
To install cron, Click "Reset Cron" button. Cron should be installed for
you. If there is an error, you may need to contact your web host/administrator
to install cron for you.
Cron is similar to setting the timer on your
VCR, it tells your website's server when to run GodfatherBomb.
If you set Cron to run every 2 minutes, then GodfatherBomb will start every
two minutes and check to see if it has any work to do.
While your lists are sent out only a maximum of once every 24 hours (unless
in testing mode, see "Mailing Lists", other functions, such as email subscription
notifications will take place on an ongoing basis.
For example, if a new subscriber signs up for one of your lists, the time
you set in cron will determine how long it takes for the new subscriber to
be sent their confirmation email.
The sooner the better, but again this depends on your host/server.
The faster (lower number) you set Cron, the more quickly you'll send subscription
messages, etc.
However, having cron set at a low number will require more server resources.
When testing GodfatherBomb, it's best to set Cron for two-three minutes,
then once you have everything set, increase the time, depending on your own
situation.
Sending E-mails:
Note: The Godfatherbomb installer will try to guess much of the info below.
If you get errors when testing, you will need to check the following:
Mailing Method: Sendmail or SMTP
Sendmail will work on all systems. 'SMTP' will not work if the 'Net::SMTP'
module is not installed or the server does not run an SMTP daemon. But I
believe that 'SMTP' will work on most systems.
Sendmail Path: Enter your path to sendmail here.
SMTP Host: localhost (For most server config's, "localhost" is the default)
Checking Emails
Note: At first, it is strongly suggested that you select "None" for your
checking method. If you are just starting out, "Bounced Email" won't be a
problem, so this will reduce your learning curve. You can always modify this
later, when needed.
If you choose NOT to "Check",
skip down to "MySQL
Connection".
Check: Bounces Subscriptions:
Tip: If you are installing GodfatherBomb for the first time, it is suggested to NOT enable "Subscription checking", as it is one less thing to worry about. You can always modify this at a later time, once your list has grown to a worthwhile number. GodfatherBomb gives your Users a powerful web admin for them to manage their accounts, so subscriptions and unsubscribes can be handled via a web page, meaning email subscriptions/unsubscriptions are not necessary.
If you choose NOT to "Check", skip down to "MySQL Connection".
You can set GodfatherBomb to check for Bounces as well as Subscription emails. "Subscription" emails are those sent by your Users to be handled automatically by GodfatherBomb, for example to subscribe and unsubscribe to your various lists.
A user may subscribe via e-mail. To do this, they must send the subscription e-mail with appropriate "Subject", which will be inserted automatically by GodfatherBomb.
If you enable "Subscription checking", your
Users will find the subscription 'mailto:' link in "Subscription Form" of
the newsletter you send.
If you choose
NOT to "Check", skip down to "MySQL Connection".
Bounces Limit:
This tells Gbomb when to delete an account after a certain number of "bounced"
emails are returned. 2 or 3 bounces is recommended.
Checking Method:
None (recommended for newbies)
MBOX (MBOX is NOT recommended because
of many possible problems)
POP3 (recommended for pros)
Again, "Checking" is optional and since it requires a little extra config,
it's recommended that if you are just "starting from scratch" that you check
your bounces by "hand". You can always reset this feature later, after you've
mastered the other aspects of GBomb.
If you choose
NOT to "Check", skip down to "MySQL Connection".
MBOX Path:
POP3 Host:
POP3 User:
POP3 Password:
POP3 Authentication: Plain APOP
(Ask your host which to use. APOP is suggested, if available, as it encrypts
your details.
Delete Messages:
None
Processed
All
MySQL Connection
Simply enter the info you gathered above into
these fields:
MySQL Host:
MySQL Database:
MySQL User:
MySQL Password:
Site Parameters
Script URL:
Site Title:
Site URL:
Administrator Name:
Administrator E-mail:
Mail Robot Name:
Mail Robot E-mail:
Site Parameters allow you to enter information once, and then insert the
information into multiple lists and messages, by including a custom tag.
Getting Started and Testing Your GodfatherBomb:
For more information on tags and setting
up your templates, please visit:
GodfatherBomb
Forum.
Assuming installation and configuration are completed, you need to do two
things: Create a mailing list AND create at least one
subscriber.
1. Click the "Mailing Lists" link .
Create a Name for your list, such as "The Godfather Weekly Tribune".
Enter a description, for example, "A weekly newsletter packed full of tips, tricks and secrets about Internet Marketing".
Enter a schedule:
Daily : Weekly : Monthly : Testing
Pick a day for "Weekly", or date for "Monthly".
The "Testing" mode is for testing your messages and will send your list as often as every two minutes.Note: If you set the "Testing" mode to 2 minutes, CRON on the CONFIGURATION page must also be two minutes. Simply, the CRON config time must be equal two, or less, than the "Test" mode time. If not, your test messages will only be sent as often as CRON is set in the CONFIGURATION page.
2. Click the
"Subscribers" link and add yourself.
Don't forget to select the mailing list you just created
above.
Archive: Using GodfatherBomb to Automatically Create
Webpages
For more information on ARCHIVES and
AUTO-LINKING, please visit:
GodfatherBomb
Forum: "Archives and Auto-Linking".
The GBomb ARCHIVE function is a powerful feature that turns your email
newsletters into search engine friendly webpages.
As a matter of fact, the archive feature is so powerful as a page creator,
you may not even want to send email lists. Instead, you may want create multiple
lists and have them archive the day's/week's/month's news and automatically
generate huge archives of search engine friendly webpages about a number
of different topics.
Enable Archive: Yes No
If you wish to have an ARCHIVE of all your newsletters, converting them into
tons of search engine friendly pages, then select "Yes".
The ARCHIVE function has a built in "site map/link" builder.
INDEX FILE
First, give your site map file a name, such as:
links-keyword.txt
Or, if you have an existing link file, select it.
To insert the links into your webpages, you will need to use SSI tags.
Archive Directory:
You'll need to tell GBomb were to create your archived webpages. On most
servers, you probably won't be able to create these pages in your
cgi-bin (or subfolders).
If you have a "typical" set-up, this path may work for you:
../../html/archives/
-Now, FTP to your website and create a new folder/directory called
archives in your root directory.
-Set the permissions on this folder to 777, allowing GBomb to "write" new
pages in this folder.
INDEX TEMPLATE:
This controls how you want each link created to look.
The default is:
<a href="{message_url}">{title}</a> - {date}<br>
Whatever you choose for your list's title will be used as the "anchor text"
(clickable text) for your link.
For search engine optimization it is important to have your keyword(s) and
your list title may not match your chosen keywords.
You can customize this, for example, replace the "{title}" above, with your
keywords:
<a href="{message_url}">Your Keywords</a> - {date}<br>
This will probably help the search engine relevancy of all your archive pages.
Tip: Once GBomb has built a nice archive stuffed with pages, log into your
ADMIN and simply change Your Keywords, GBomb will start using the new keywords
as soon as your next newsletter is sent.
TEMPLATES for Email and Archived Webpages:
For more information on tags and setting
up your templates, please visit:
GodfatherBomb
Forum: "Mailing Lists and Templates".
GBomb uses three different templates for each mailing list:
TEXT -You subscribers have the option of choosing to have their newsletter
sent in the text format. Whatever you enter here is what will be sent your
TEXT subscribers.
HTML - Subscribers also have the option of receiving newsletters formatted
using HTML. This is the template that will create your newsletters for these
subscribers.
ARCHIVE - This is the template that controls what you archived WEB
PAGES look like. You can do alot of tinkering with this template and include
ssi tags, etc.
ADDING RSS FEEDS TO YOUR EMAIL LISTS:
This requires BlogBomb and assumes you have already added some RSS feeds
to BlogBomb.
Go to "MAILING LISTS".
Select a list.
Click "PREVIEW AND EDIT TEMPLATES".
If you've set the path(s) to BlogBomb correctly in CONFIGURATION===>RSS
Sources, you will see a number of tags at the top of the "PREVIEW PAGE".
===================================================
User: {email}, {code}, {password}, {status}, {format}, {ip_address},
{first_name}, {last_name}, {country_code}, {country_name}, {state}, {city},
{address}, {zip}, {phone}, {company}, {website}.
List: {title}, {description}, {schedule}, {day}, {weekday}, {hour}, {minute},
{period}.
Configuration: {script_url}, {site_title}, {site_url}, {admin_name},
{admin_email}, {robot_name}, {robot_email}, {date}, {time}. URLs: {manage_url},
{unsubscribe_url}, {open_url}, {message_url}.
RSS Channels:
{rss:1,1}, {title:1,1}, {description:1,1}, {xml:1,1}, {html:1,1}:
daypop rss xml feeds
===================================================
You can put these tags anywhere in your three templates.
Let's say you used these tags:
{first_name}
{city}, {state}
{date}
Your GBomb will take these tags and automatically customize your newsletters
and archive pages with the corresponding date.
For example, using the tags above, your newsletter may look like:
Kurt
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 20, 2003
The tags are dependent upon what you chose CONFIGURATION==>User Fields
and what your subscribers included in the subscription form when they signed
up.
ADDING CONTENT to Templates USING RSS TAGS
Again, you'll need BlogBomb installed and with a couple of feeds and
need to have to correct path set in the CONFIGURATION PAGE.
ESSENTIAL RSS TAG:
There's only one RSS tag that must be included in your templates for Gbomb
to insert RSS feeds as content:
{rss:1,2}
The "1" tells Gbomb to insert the tag from the "first" BlogBomb path you
entered in the CONFIGURATION==> RSS Sources.
The "2" tells Gbomb to insert the User-2 feed from that version of BlogBomb.
If you want to limit the number of items used, modify the tag like this:
{rss:1,2=3}
This tells Gbomb to use:
The first BlogBomb entered on Config page.
The second feed entered into this version of BlogBomb
To use three "items" from this feed.
You can put this tag (and all the other
tags) in all three of your templates and the corresponding results will be
placed into your pages and emails.
For more information on tags and setting up your templates, please visit:
GodfatherBomb
Forum: "Mailing Lists".
Custom Messages
Custom Messages allow you the ability to send a message at any time to one or all of your lists, regardless of the schedule for that list. If one of your Subscribers is on more than one of the lists you select to send mail, they will receive only one email.
You create templates in the same manner as you do for "Mailing Lists". However, these templates are not stored, although you can copy/paste templates from other Mailing Lists or Custom Messages.
Managing Subscribers
This is pretty straight forward. GodfatherBomb tracks and stores info about the Subscriber for protection against SPAM accusations. To view this info for any subscriber, simple click the [Edit] link ti the right of each email address.
It is strongly suggested that you be careful when adding subscribers by hand, or importing them into your lists, as you may not have proof that a USER really did subscribe.
Statistics
GodfatherBomb keeps track of how many of your emails are "Opened" or "Bounced". The "Open Rate" only works with HTML versions of newsletters, so your actual open rate will be at least equal, or higher than the Open Rate statistics shown.
Tip: If you are just starting a list, it's suggested that you don't use the automated "Check Bounces". To administer Bounced email automatically takes some extra configuration. Get GodfatherBomb up and running and build a subscriber list BEFORE worrying about handling bounced email automatically. You can always set it up at a later time.
For questions, tips and tricks, and support,
as well as updates and additions to this ReadMe, please visit the
GodfatherBomb
Forum.