Creating A Mailing List Using ASP

[IC]

Hi,

I'm building a website and I want to include a mailing list. I just
want a form where a user could enter their email address, so I could
send them more information. I assume that the best way to do this is
with ASP. Right now, I'm learning ASP by testing pages using Abyss
web sever with Active HTML. I have XP Home, so I can't use IIS. Here
are my questions:

1. Is ASP the best way to create a mailing list
2. Can I just use excel for the database - not access
3. How do I connect to the database. I've read about using ODBC, but
I think that would only work when the web server is on my computer. If
I got someone to host the site for me, I don't think that would work.
4. Is there an easy way to mail to the names in the database?

Hopefully I'm on the right track.

Thanks,
E

 

[Ray at]

Hi,

I'm building a website and I want to include a mailing list. I just
want a form where a user could enter their email address, so I could
send them more information. I assume that the best way to do this is
with ASP. Right now, I'm learning ASP by testing pages using Abyss
web sever with Active HTML. I have XP Home, so I can't use IIS. Here
are my questions:

1. Is ASP the best way to create a mailing list

This depends on how you want your users to sign up. The question isn't so
much is ASP the best way as much as it would be, "Is a Web site the best
way?" I'd say that's the most common or second most common way, the other
being a majordomo type of thing.

2. Can I just use excel for the database - not access

If you want, but why?

3. How do I connect to the database. I've read about using ODBC, but
I think that would only work when the web server is on my computer. If
I got someone to host the site for me, I don't think that would work.

Many hosts allow you to use database connections if they support ASP.

4. Is there an easy way to mail to the names in the database?

Not if your host doesn't allow you to schedule tasks on the server, which
they probably won't let you do if it's a shared plan. Have you considered
using a service that offers mailing lists instead of creating your own? It
doesn't sound to me that you're ready to create your own or willing to
invest in what would be needed to do it right. (I don't mean that in an
insutling way!)


Ray at work

 

[Michael]

If you are just now learning ASP, you may want to consider just starting
with ASP.NET. If you download Web Matrix, it comes with it's own web
server, so you wouldn't have to mess with Abyss. The .NET framework has
built in capabilities for email as well (provided you have an email server),
and probably would make interacting with a database easier. ASP would be a
fine solution for this too, if you are just learning (.NET is sometimes a
little overkill), but definitely, definitely don't use Excel for your
database (I'm an avid hater of people who write applications around Excel).
You can use access files .mdb, even if you do not have access installed
(though it is much easier for debugging if you do have it). If you don't
have access, yea, go ahead and use Excel. There are about a million
different faqs out there for how to connect to a database, if you use ASP
you'll need to study up on ADO. ASP.NET would use ADO.NET.

Have fun,
--Michael

 

[Aaron Bertrand - MVP]

I'm an avid hater of people who write applications around Excel

Ouch! I usually tend to merely laugh at them.

 

[IC]

Ouch! I usually tend to merely laugh at them.

Thanks for your help. I don't have access, so that's why I wanted to
be able to use excel. I do want to do this the "right way" and I want
to learn how to do it myself. The site I'm building is very small...I
can't see the database having more than 100 or so email addresses.
All I really want is a simple form with an action url calling an asp
page. The asp code would write to a database - excel or access - and
have all the email addresses.

 

[Michael]

Yeah it's all funny until the boss man wants you to "work around it" because
they were sold on the presentation layer not the implementation.

 

[Jeff Cochran]

I'm building a website and I want to include a mailing list. I just
want a form where a user could enter their email address, so I could
send them more information. I assume that the best way to do this is
with ASP. Right now, I'm learning ASP by testing pages using Abyss
web sever with Active HTML. I have XP Home, so I can't use IIS. Here
are my questions:

1. Is ASP the best way to create a mailing list

Almost never.

2. Can I just use excel for the database - not access

Yes, even though it's ugly. You could use just a text file as well.

3. How do I connect to the database. I've read about using ODBC, but
I think that would only work when the web server is on my computer. If
I got someone to host the site for me, I don't think that would work.

Most hosts will accept some form of database connection. A text file
wouldn't necessarily need a connection, just an open.

4. Is there an easy way to mail to the names in the database?

You're looking at using CDO or a component if you're using ASP.
Better would be a mailing list package for the SMTP mail server you
use. Might look at:

http://www.aspfaq.com/show.asp?id=2026
http://www.aspfaq.com/show.asp?id=2119

Jeff