CraigRichards.com | Software: BigSender Version History

BigSender - online contact manager and email/web publishing system

Improved BigSender List Cleaner's performance.

04/11/2007 – v 3.75

This important update significantly improves BigSender's security:

Blocks malicious users from accessing BigSender. A new "ip address blocking" option in the BigSender Configurator lets administrators set the maximum number of times a user from the same IP Address can submit an add or Opt-In Activator request.

Opt-In Activator requests can no longer contain extraneous characters submitted by users that could corrupt the Activator Link.

The BigSender Message Composer's "match" field maximum has been increased to 5,000 characters for greater flexibility when targeting recipients. (Note: Some web browsers will not render more than 2056 characters in an input field, though more characters will be in your page source.)

Since a colon (:) character in the name of a Custom Field can interfere with Contact Manager search results and Message Composer targeting, BigSender now tests Custom Field names and alerts you when you add one that contains a colon.

03/30/2007 – v 3.74

Resolved a quirk that, in some rare server environments, could cause BigSender's form action to be invalid.
Fixed a bug that could cause name values to be empty when the initial caps feature is disabled.

05/18/2006 – v 3.73

A recently-discovered issue that could potentially disclose limited information about the BigSender installation and its environment is remedied with this security update.
We moved all our domains to our own dedicated server which has already resulted in significant improvements in reliability and performance of BigSender for logged-in administrators as well as for visitors to all our websites including CraigRichards.com.
The tiny "online/offline" ICQ image in the BigSender Contact Manager now functions again since ICQ moved the location of their detection CGI.
We've completed installation of our high-grade 256-bit SSL Certificate so all license purchases and other payments at Craig Richards Design now begin from a secure online form for extra security and confidence.

02/21/2006 – v 3.72

A minor update to resolve an issue that could return an error when attempting to install a new BigSender Gateway.

01/17/2006 – v 3.71

This minor update resolves an issue that could prevent the Color Palette Popup window from being generated for some administrators when using BigSender's new WYSIWYG HTML Editor.

01/01/2006 – v 3.70

The realtime WYSIWYG HTML Editor plug-in integrates into the BigSender Message Composer to help make creating your newsletters, announcements and bulletins so much easier and a whole lot faster. This new interface uses advanced client-side JavaScript code which, while supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer 6+ for Windows and Mozilla Firefox for Mac, may not be fully supported by other web browsers in which case the standard built-in HTML Composer may be automatically substituted. A new "HTML editor" Configurator settings also lets you enable or disable the HTML Editor.
New in this release is the BigSender Message Composer's wordwrap setting that lets you select the number of characters per line for the plain-text version of your message.

These days, lots of people are reading their email on handheld devices while others are still using older email software with limited features. So BigSender's new wordwrap feature helps prevent the need for your recipients to scroll horizontally to read your message. Just select from all the popular character width settings and BigSender will automatically wrap each line of your plain-text message to your maximum character-width setting.
The depth of the Plain-Text Composer and the HTML-Text Editor windows have been increased to help reduce scrolling while creating your compositions.
To help keep your list clean and professional, a new initial caps Configurator setting has been added that, when checked, automatically formats submitted names into standard initial capitalization (as John Smith).
A new "hide Configurator settings" checkbox in the BigSender Configurator gives administrators the option to keep the settings file hidden in most server environments. Because some servers may not permit BigSender to read from and write to a hidden file, BigSender can then perform in such an environment when you uncheck this checkbox.
For even more flexibility, we've added more duration options to the "keep logged in" Configurator setting. Now select browser session, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years or 5 years for the time a BigSender Administrator is kept logged in.

11/01/2005 – v 3.6798

The Italian BigSender Language File plug-in was completed by Moreorless and is now automatically included in all complete downloads and in Instant Updater for use by all licensees.
The "name" field now displays properly in the subscriber form when a non-English interface language is selected by the BigSender administrator.
To help reduce confusion among subscribers, the "remove" link and the "modify" link no longer appear at the bottom of the BigSender-generated email message to the subscriber that confirms they've been removed from the list.
Updated the way cookies are saved to further improve BigSender's ability to keep the administrator logged in across a variety of web browsers.
For administrators performing a first-time installation, BigSender now automatically attempts to resolve common file permissions issues. Diagnostics and error-reporting were also improved to help first-time installers.

10/7/2005 – v 3.6797

A minor update to improve performance of the BigSender Contact Manager when searching records – especially when targeting specific fields in your search criteria.
The character set BigSender Configurator setting now includes more options in the pulldown menu including Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Cryllic, Latin and more.

01/16/2005 – v 3.6796

This minor update provides some performance improvements to BigSender's Automated Bounce Manager, List Cleaner and Contact Manager functions.

09/14/2004 – v 3.6795

Added a new lock option for all Custom Fields that prevents a user from modifying information in any Custom Field set as "locked" once it contains data. Only a logged-in administrator with list edit privileges will be able to modify data in a field set as "locked."
Added a new CREDIT CARD Custom Field type that, upon add/modify tasks, BigSender checks to ensure only numbers are submitted. During modify and remove tasks and in any BigSender-generated email messages, only the last four digits of that field's value are displayed to the user. Only a logged-in administrator with list-edit privileges may view or modify data in a CREDIT CARD Custom Field type.
Improved BigSender Broadcast error reporting to further speed throughput and help prevent interruption of broadcast a session when a connection error is reported by the mailserver.
BigSender List Cleaner now does a better job of detecting a duplicate email address whether lowercase, uppercase or mixed-case.
An issue that could sometimes prevent BigSender List Cleaner from functioning properly under certain circumstances has been remedied.
The BigSender Language File (BLF) plug-in you selected in your Configurator settings now automatically loads when another application "hooks" to BigSender to perform list-management tasks.
Because some webservers may generate a non-fatal error when attempting to change a file's permissions to the same value (chmod from 755 to 755), BigSender now only attempts to change a file's permissions if it's different than the "CGI & file permissions" Configurator settings value.

07/21/2004 – v 3.6794

A persistent bug that could, within certain Configurator settings, cause BigSender to return a "file exists" error upon attempts to modify a record has been remedied.
We also fixed a problem that sometimes caused the incorrect report to display upon completion of a record modification by a user (non-administrator).

07/17/2004 – v 3.6793

BigSender broadcast throughput has been significantly improved with this release.
BigSender Data Guard has been improved to further ensure data integrity and reduce delays when reading and writing records to your list.

07/01/2004 – v 3.6792

When you click "details" from the BigSender Contact Manager, the hyperlink in an ICQ Custom Field and its "online" indicator graphic now perform more reliably.
When only one Bigsender Custom Field has been defined by the list administrator, that field now displays properly in the Contact Manager details popup window.

06/08/2004 – v 3.679

BigSender now permits the ampersand (&) as a valid character within an email address.
BigSender now detects and reports an error when a user submits two or more consecutive periods (..) or "at" symbols (@@) within an email address.
The "privacy url" link functions more reliably when the path or file name happens to contain the value of the "list name" Configurator setting.
Remedied an issue that could prevent users from Activating their new subscription when the BigSender Opt-In Activator setting is turned on.

05/03/2004 – v 3.678

New popup width and popup height Configurator setting lets BigSender list administrators control the dimensions of the popup window (if turned on) which contains the results of user-performed tasks.
The character set functions have been improved for even more compatibility across platforms, operating systems, web browsers and email systems.
Improved interpretation of line-end/carriage return strings in the plain-text version BigSender-generated messages for greater desktop OS and server OS multiplatform compatibility.
Other minor code housekeeping to improve BigSender's performance and reliability.

03/20/2004 – v 3.677

A new list name display Configurator setting lets BigSender list administrators control whether the name of their list automatically appears as a page header at the top of all BigSender user interface pages – handy for those who have set BigSender to reference a template file for user interfaces.
An issue that could cause the encrypted Activator Code to be omitted from the new subscriber's Activator Link and the "add" task from functioning properly under certain circumstances has been fixed.

03/05/2004 – v 3.676

The BigSender "welcome" and "activator" web browser and email messages (set in the Configurator) may now contain special BigSender personalization codes (such as #NAME# and #EMAIL#) for more relevant messages to your new subscribers. The HTML-text verson of those messages are now appended with the text of your "signature" Configurator setting.
BigSender now checks to ensure a new "administrator" is not added with the same login as the list "owner." Also a bug that sometimes displayed the "gateways" button to an administrator that does not have "gateway" privileges has been fixed.
The proper message is now returned to a user who attempts to unsubscribe using an email address that does not exist in your list.
A problem was discovered and fixed that could logout a logged-in (additional) BigSender Administrator after saving their Configurator settings under certain circumstances.
Background and text colors set in the BigSender Configurator are now referenced when BigSender generates automatic confirmation email messages.

02/17/2004 – v 3.675

BigSender no longer returns an error when attempting to modify a record when any Custom Fields are set as "required."
Fixed an error that could prevent subscribers from modifying their records under certain conditions.
Other minor code housekeeping.

02/04/2004 – v 3.674

BigSender greatly expands support for multiple languages with a new character set Configurator setting which lets administrators select from among all character set standards that BigSender uses for web browser pages and for BigSender-generated email messages.

01/28/2004 – v 3.673

A special URL Custom Field Type has been added that tests the web address submitted in that field for valid hyperlink syntax.
The "search" function in the BigSender List Manager and the "match" function for targeting or excluding recipients now supports the "period" (.) character in your criteria.
For those with the "action button disabler" Configurator setting checked (to prevent users from double-clicking), we devised a workaround for a web browser issue that could disable the "action button" after clicking but before submitting.
Improved the reliability of BigSender's evaluation of submitted data in Custom Fields.
A new "align" Configurator setting lets administrators choose from "left," "center" or "right" for the alignment of the logo and/or text above their BigSender subscriber form.

01/21/2004 – v 3.672

BigSender List Cleaner has been improved for greater efficiency when scanning your list for duplicate emails in your records. Records not marked (.unsubscribed, .ban, .bounced or .fraud) are removed first from your list.
A new "border width" Configurator setting lets administrators set the border width for the BigSender subscriber form's surrounding table. "0" (zero) is an acceptable value for "no border" for even more compatibility with your site's look and feel.

01/08/2004 – v 3.671

After a BigSender Broadcast Session, your emailed broadcast report now provides the details of your broadcast above the content of your message (for greater visibility) rather than within an email header.
The BigSender Instant Updater is now enabled on a wider variety of server environments.
BigSender Automated Bounce Manager has been improved to perform more reliably whether you select the "advanced" or "old-style" "contact list manager" Configurator setting.

01/01/2004 – v 3.670

With the new "kill broadcast" button, the list administrator can instruct BigSender to stop your current Broadcast Session.
A new "advanced" Contact List Manager Configurator setting lets an administrator mark any record as "unsubscribed," "ban," "bounced" or "fraud." Your subscribers can only remove the "unsubscribed" status (by re-subscribing) while only an administrator can restore a record to "valid" from all states. BigSender will only send email messages to records with a status of "valid."
We added a new "date format" setting in the BigSender Configurator that lets you select which date format is used in BigSender, the default mo/da/year (US Standard), da/mo/year (UK Standard) or year/mo/da (Internet Standard).
With the new "time zone" setting in the BigSender Configurator, an administrator can select the time zone for date-and-time displays in BigSender interfaces and reports.
BigSender will now detect and reference your own Bounce Criteria file ('bs-mycriteria.txt') for any additional reject notification email structures that, when matched, will automatically remove records with invalid emails from your list.
An error was fixed in which a BigSender Broadcast Session with a value in the "ending record number" but the "beginning record number" is left blank, the Broadcast could be sent to the whole list.
The "annotations" feature has been improved so that previous annotations in a record are not lost when the record is modified with no new annotation.
An issue with the BigSender Gateway Manager in which the "uninstall" button may not produce a result has been fixed.
When you leave the "html" checkbox unchecked and you archive your message, any hyperlinks are now translated into tags and any < and > characters are now displayed instead of being stripped out.

12/12/2003 – v 3.661

A special annotations option has been added to your Custom Field Types in which an administrator can add notes to a record – great for maintaining contact histories.
- Annotations are automatically preceded with a timestamp and the administrator's login who made a new entry.
- To help ensure the integrity of a record's contact-management history, annotation data may only be appended and is not editable.
- Entries to an annotations field type may contain line returns.
- Entries saved in an annotations field is not visible to the subscriber, nor is it available as Personalization Code in the BigSender Message Composer.
- Annotations in a record are visible to an administrator via the Contact Manager and is also displayed at the bottom of the subscriber form when an administrator is modifying a record.
No longer replaced with the spaceband character, line returns are valid in any textarea field.
Normally "hidden" field types in the BigSender subscriber form are now visible and editable text fields for logged-in administrators and hidden now appears to the right of that field.
Improved the reliability of error reporting in the BigSender Instant Updater.
The code associated with rendering the BigSender subscriber form has been improved for compatibility with older web browsers.

12/07/2003 – v 3.660

Using convenient pulldown selectors in the new BigSender Archive Message Date Modifier, it's now easy for administrators to change any Message's publication date as reported in the dynamic BigSender Archive Index.
Other code housekeeping that resulted in faster performance of many routine BigSender tasks.

12/01/2003 – v 3.659

BigSender's Broadcast Session Status report (above the subscriber form) is now smarter with relevant information regarding your current or previous broadcast session.
- Active indicates your broadcast is ongoing and reports the most recent recipient as of the moment the web browser loaded the BigSender Main Menu page.
- Alert indicates your previous BigSender Broadcast Session may have been aborted and provides suggestions for resolving the issue and explains how easy it is to continue your session.
- Complete indicates your previous BigSender Broadcast Session has completed and reports the number of recipients, any targeting criteria and the date and time of completion.
Restored some tags in the HTML-text version of confirmation email messages that were omitted during a previous update.

09/19/2003 – v 3.658

When BigSender encounters a problem writing to your list for whatever reason, the error-reporting page now provides an email link to the list administrator by default or a link to Craig Richards Design technical support when the error is encountered by a logged-in administrator.
BigSender not only ensures its essential Configurator settings file is written but it now also checks to make sure the file contains data and, if not, returns the error reported by the server.
Now providing publishers with much greater flexibility, BigSender now only inserts a <HTML>, <HEAD>, <TITLE>[content]</TITLE>, </HEAD> or <BODY[attribute(s)]> tag in the HTML-version of your document if any of those tags do not already exist in the HTML-text version of your composition.

09/03/2003 – v 3.657

Some of the BigSender Instant Updater subroutines were rewritten to help prevent an error that some users experienced when their BigSender application failed to completely update.

08/15/2003 – v 3.656

Minor update to improve some Configurator layout, further clarify some Smart Spring Popup Helper instructions, and other housekeeping tasks.

06/03/2003 – v 3.655

The BigSender Opt-In Activator, when enabled in your Configurator settings, now features encryption to further prevent an addition to your lists that is not actually authorized by the recipient.
To further prevent unauthorized entries to your list, the Activator Link's validity can now be set for a range of time from one hour to 72 hours or can be set so that the Activator Link never expires.

05/13/2003 – v 3.654

The German BigSender Language File plug-in was completed by Michael Janssen and is now automatically included in all complete downloads and in Instant Updater for use by all licensees.
The "settings" button only appears at the bottom of the BigSender Message Composer when the logged-in administrator has "settings privileges."
Fixed an issue in which a phantom error message was improperly returned in some server environments when attempting to perform a Gateway installation or when clicking the "update" button.

04/28/2003 – v 3.652 – v 3.653

An issue with the "on-modify action" Configurator settings checkboxes saving properly but not correctly displaying upon a subsequent return to the Configurator form was remedied.
This update fixes an anomaly that crept into a previous release that, when an administrator clicked a record's "edit" button from a multiple-page search/browse results page, would report the next page of results instead of the expected subscriber form containing that record's data.
For your recipients who use web-based email systems, your broadcast message's document "title" now diplays in the web browser as the "subject" or your message rather than simply the name of your list.
After an administrator clicks the BigSender Message Composer's "convert" button, the resulting Message Composer now renders properly even when the HTML-text version of the message contains form field tags.
BigSender Snapshot functions now properly screen out the existence of non-data characters in the "starting with" and "ending with" fields in the Message Composer.
The BigSender subscriber form now displays the text default SELECT option in the correct text color specified by the administrator.
The width of pulldown selector (SELECT) field types in the subscriber form now comply with the width of the other fields as set in the "userwidth" Configurator setting by the BigSender administrator.

04/11/2003 – v 3.651

Custom Field Groups now supports both SELECT MULTIPLE as well as SELECT field types.
BigSender's special "label" field may now be edited by a logged-in administrator who has "list edit" priviliges. The "label" field is otherwise a hidden field when the "label" and "label field number" Configurator settings have been defined by the administrator.

04/07/2003 – v 3.65

BigSender now has a handy Custom Field Groups feature. With this plug-in, for example, you can choose "SELECT-COUNTRIES" to instantly add all the countries of the world to your subscriber form!
- More convenient and much faster than adding dozens or even hundreds of Custom SELECT Fields one at a time via the Configurator page. (Your Configurator settings page will render much faster, too!)
- The Custom Field Groups plug-in file is loaded into BigSender via files you can easily edit.
- Each Custom Field Groups plug-in file may contain as many Select Groups as you want.
- Write as many unique Custom Field Groups plug-in files as you want – after uploading to your website, simply choose from among your Custom Field "field type" Configurator settings.
- The default plug-in file comes preloaded with commonly-used settings such as "states," "2-letter states," "states & provinces," "2-letter states & provinces," and the "countries" of the world.
Fixed a mailserver communications issue that could intermittently prevent the mailserver from properly sending email messages.
A glitch was fixed that, under certain circumstances, caused data submitted from a Custom Field to be written twice in that field of the subscriber's record during add and modify functions.

04/03/2003 – v 3.641 – 3.643

Restored the one-click remove function that was inadvertently disabled during some recent modifications to BigSender.
Improved the Contact Manager functionality for those navigating from one results page to the previous or next page.
Administrator "delete checked records" from the Contact Manager was improved for reliable performance.

version history archive for BigSender releases v 1.0 through 3.64