Getting the Message Out

Scott Hardie | June 17, 2007
Here are my options for the GOO announcements list:

- Continue to send emails using my own php code on this site like I do now. Due to server problems beyond my control, only some people receive it. Also, I risk being blacklisted as a spammer even though it's a voluntary-registration list. Not desirable.

- Send emails from old code still sitting at celebritygoogame.com. More people receive it, but I still risk being blacklisted. Not desirable.

- Send emails using a paid listserve company. This is more expensive than hosting the site, for a tool I would use less than once a month. Not desirable.

- Send emails through a free listserve company. My emails get plastered with advertisements. Not desirable.

- Instead of asking users to subscribe on this site, use a popular service like Yahoo! Groups to manage the list. I gain a few tools like announcement archives, but it's tacky, and I don't like using external technology unless I can incorporate it into my site semi-invisibly (like Google Maps and Netflix RSS). Plus there are ads in the emails. Not desirable.

- Eliminate the mailing list. Watch participation levels recede, especially between rounds. Not desirable.

Help me out here. What other options do I have? If I offered announcements via RSS, would you subscribe to that instead? Thanks for the input.

Tony Peters | June 17, 2007
RSS sounds good to me I use it to follow SAC and a few other things

Scott Hardie | June 17, 2007
RSS it is. At the same time as I've been looking for a new off-site method to remind people that the game has resumed, I've been looking for a way to make sure that new reviews and other little-seen updates to the site are noticed. RSS seems like the solution.

Twice before I've had RSS on the site, but both times it stopped working within a day or two. I dunno what happened; my reader stopped getting any of the updates. Part of the problem is that I myself don't subscribe to any feeds online and so I'm kind of working in the dark with my expectations for how it should behave. Once I launch this thing, please tell me whether it's working or what I might be doing wrong. I appreciate it.

Scott Hardie | June 18, 2007
All right, I don't know what I'm doing wrong here: (link) Firefox won't parse the feed, but when I view the source code, everything seems to be in order. I'll continue to investigate.

Scott Hardie | June 20, 2007
Finally! A friend (thanks JP) helped me work out the character encoding issues. The RSS should now work for everyone who wants to use it: (link) So far it only includes content updates, but I may get birthdays and site announcements in there later.

This replaces the announcements email list, so subscribe to it if you have a hard time remembering to check the site again after a break. And please, let me know if it stops working or needs improvement.