Script best practices for newsletter

[igorsr]

Hi all,

I have a VPS server with steadfast and a couple of thousand users whom I wish to send a newsletter. I am using PHP + MySQL. What are the best practices on doing this and not get banned on email server or get email server crashed?

Thanks!

[Kevin]

Well,

You'll be limited mainly by disk speed and CPU limitations when sending mail. For a VPS, we do not limit your ability to send mail at all, though if we receive spam abuse complaints your server might be suspended. You should do your best to accept subscribers from only one source, make sure they are verifiable and if possible, use what's called "confirmed opt-in" where a user has to click a link in an email or respond to an email to actually begin receiving newsletters. For lists under a few thousand, this last item is not required, but for larger lists, we request it as an assurance your lists are built only with people who really control the email addresses they add.

If you send other mail besides the newsletter via your server, it would be advised to send fewer than 1000 messages per hour to avoid delays of other outgoing messages on the MTA.

[kb0kqa]

For a VPS, we do not limit your ability to send mail at all,

What's the difference on a shared server?

[Kevin]

On a shared hosting server you're sharing the same MTA as everyone else with shared hosting accounts, so any action that slows down mail delivery affects everyone. We cannot allow such things to occur so we have to insist mailing lists on shared hosting are kept small.