CraigRichards.com | Software: BigSender Version History Archive

BigSender - online list management, email/web publishing system

A new "block duplicates" checkbox option for each Custom Field Configurator setting, when checked, will return an error to the new subscriber who submits data in that field which is identical to data in the same field in an existing record. This feature is similar to the way BigSender prevents duplicate email addresses in your list. Comparisons are not case-sensitive and spaces, punctuation and other non-alphanumeric characters are disregarded.
BigSender Color Themes make it easy, convenient and fast for administrators to select from sets of colors for instantly customizing the color palette in BigSender user interfaces. Use any color theme "as is" or as a starting point for your own customized color palette.
Logged-in administrators can now check a box near any title in the BigSender Message Archive index then click the "delete checked messages" button to remove them from the server.
The "edit" task (from the Contact Manager results page) has been streamlined for improved efficiency via the recently-added "modify" subroutines.
We've improved BigSender's ability to simulate in your web browser any formatting (such as indenting or centering through your use of extra spaces) in the plain-text version of your BigSender broadcast message.
For those who use BigSender only for email/web publishing (and use a different application for managing their contact lists), a new "user remove" checkbox Configurator setting which, when unchecked, does not includes the "remove" radio button in the Subscriber Form and does not add a "remove" link to BigSender-generated email messages. (The "modify" and "remove" radio buttons always display in the Subscriber Form to logged-in administrators.)
The Contact Manager results page and the "view details" popup window both feature click-to-email links so you can simply click to send a quick email message to that contact via your desktop email software.

03/21/2003 – v 3.63

For those who use BigSender only for email/web publishing and have a different application for managing their list, a new "user remove" checkbox Configurator setting which, when unchecked, does not display a "remove" radio button in the Subscriber Form and no longer adds a "remove" link to BigSender-generated email messages. (The "modify" and "remove" radio buttons always display in the Subscriber Form to logged-in administrators.)

03/17/2003 – v 3.62 – 3.621

We've added a new ICQ Custom Field type that incorporates click-to-message technology into the BigSender Contact Manager. After you've added the ICQ Custom form field in your BigSender Configurator settings, click the "details" link in any Contact Manager page and, if the ICQ field contains an ICQ id, a special click-to-message link directly to that contact will appear along with an ICQ "online" status indicator.
Added a new PHONE Custom Field type that, in a future release of BigSender, will incorporate click-to-talk features into the BigSender Contact Manager.
To help prevent Perl from aborting BigSender upon launch, BigSender first queries the server for the location of the requisite LWP (libwww-perl) library then, only if found, loads the Instant Updater plug-in.
A convenient new "target" checkbox has been added to each record in the search/browse results page which lets you simply check some or all the records then click the "compose" button at the bottom of the Search/Browse Report – the BigSender Message Composer's "match" field will be automatically populated with those records that you had checked on any previous Results pages.
- BigSender "remembers" all the records you targeted from one results page to the next.
Invoking BigSender by a logged-in administrator is no longer delayed if, after a few seconds, the CraigRichards.com server does not respond to an attempted connection by the BigSender Instant Updater. The "update" button is also temporarily disabled under that circumstance.
BigSender Broadcast Status Reports and other messages are now unique to each list, rather than a common message displayed to administrators of other Gateways that share the same directory.

03/08/2003 – v 3.6 – v3.61

In addition to being able to search or broadcast to any record in your list that contains a word or phrase you type, this important update to BigSender further refines the criteria matching by letting you optionally specify the field that must contain your criteria.
BigSender Instant Updater originally compared the current time to each component file's timestamp after updating. If the server adjusts that timestamp from the current time, however, BigSender Instant Updater could report an error updating your files even though it had succeeded. Now BigSender Instant Updater grabs each component file's timestamp before updating and compares it with that file's timestamp after attempting to update it and only reports an error when the before-and-after timestamps are identical.
An error that is sometimes generated by the outgoing mailserver but is of no consequence, is no longer reported to BigSender administrators and it no longer triggers an interruption of broadcast sessions. BigSender now flies through even the largest lists at blazing speed without interruption under most conditions.
Administrator interfaces in BigSender get a subtle yet distinctive facelift with the incorporation of an aesthetic background in the top row.
An interactive reporting feature has been incorporated into the Contact Manager Search function so that your web browser will no longer timeout waiting for the results – especially helpful for those with very large lists.

03/03/2003 – v 3.59

We've added a new USER IP Custom Field type that can automatically capture and save the IP Address of each of your subscribers. Should you ever need to, that information (perhaps along with the DATE STAMP field) can be used to verify those records in your list are truly opt-in.
When BigSender adds, modifies or removes a recipient then attempts to send the optional confirmation or notification message(s) and the outgoing mailserver generates an error for whatever reason, BigSender will no longer report that mailserver error to your subscribers' web browser. Instead, the error is recorded then displayed to the logged-in administrator.
Broadcast Session status, whether an error is generated or the session has completed, is displayed to the logged-in administrator above the Subscriber Form in the BigSender Main Menu. To delete that message, simply click on the "delete this message" button.
This release also adds a new Monospace Font Set Configurator setting for those who would like to change that set from 'courier,monospace,mono,fixed-width' that had been previously hardcoded in BigSender.
Those Perl-choking characters (that sometimes creep into your lists when you import data from other sources) are now rendered harmless when using the BigSender List Cleaner. That function is now far more robust and less likely to stall when polishing your lists.
Improved BigSender's ability to detect a conflict between the name of a Custom Field and a field name reserved by BigSender.

03/01/2003 – v 3.58

Instant Updater now features Automatic Notification to administrators when an updated release of BigSender is available.
Now you can easily personalize the query string of a hyperlink in your broadcast message. Just enclose the field name with a pair of pound signs on each side and BigSender will properly encode the data for valid URLs. For example: http://yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/bigsender.cgi?email=##EMAIL##&name=##NAME## (If some characters such as spaces are not properly encoded, the URL may not work on some web browsers.)

02/26/2003 – v 3.57

The new "action button disabler" Configurator setting helps prevent double-clicking by your web visitors on the "go" button so that your new subscribers do not receive a misleading response from BigSender in their web browser indicating they are already a subscriber (because their first click successfully subscribed them).
The BigSender Bounce Criteria Reference file has been updated to include additional phrases generated by some mailservers that do not comply with established standards.

02/18/2003 – v 3.56

With the new BigSender Instant Updater plug-in, simply click on the new "update" button and your installation of BigSender and all its component files are updated to the very latest release.
- No more fumbling for your license key
- No more downloading to your desktop
- No more zip archives to extract
- No more uploading to your server
- Convenient - one-click on the "update" button
- Lightning Fast - BigSender is automatically updated in a fraction of the time, usually 2-3 seconds
Yes, the free Instant Updater plug-in is included in BigSender 3.56 and higher.

02/11/2003 – v 3.558

Added a new SELECT MULTIPLE Custom Field "field type" setting so now your subscribers may choose more than one value from the SELECT options you set in the BigSender Configurator. Then if you like, type "SIZE=3" (for example) in that Custom Field's "attribute" setting to limit the depth of the SELECT options to 3 rows.
Now you can leave blank a Custom Field's "max" value (maximum number of characters permitted) and the "exceed maximum characters" test is not performed by BigSender on submitted data for that Custom Field.

02/07/2003 – v 3.557

You can now turn on or off the display of the publication dates in the Message Archive Index by checking the "display date" Configurator setting.
Improved BigSender's boolean search and broadcast matching subroutines. Now matching criteria can include phrases as well as words separated by and or or operators.
The Automated Bounce Manager's ability to identify the original intended recipient within a reject notification has been improved with this update.

01/31/2003 – v 3.556

To eliminate the possibility of conflict with custom JavaScript some administrator's are now incorporating into the BigSender Subscriber Form, the "action" radio buttons were renamed "task" buttons.

01/30/2003 – v 3.555

New Configurator settings allow you to further customize your BigSender Subscriber Form and the way you collect and save data submitted by your subscribers.
- Insert your own JavaScript (for validation, etc.) or other special tag attributes into the BigSender Subscriber Form
- Insert your own JavaScript (for validation, etc.) or other special tag attributes into any Custom Field (except HIDDEN).
- Custom Fields such as CHECKBOX, RADIO and SELECT may now save a different value than the text that is displayed in the Subscriber Form.
BigSender now checks for certain invalid characters the administrator may attempt to set as the list's field delimiter then, if encountered, returns an error with instructions on how to correct the error.

01/29/2003 – v 3.554

Rather than one at a time, any quantity of previously-saved BigSender Snapshot messages may now be deleted by clicking the "delete" checkboxes then clicking the "snapshot action" button.
The performance of the "name substitution" feature on add and modify tasks has been improved so that whenever submitted, full names or first name and last names appear in the browser window and in the optional confirmation email messages.

01/24/2003 – v 3.553

Message Archive Index Display Styles is a new BigSender Configurator setting that lets you select the formatting you prefer for even more compatibility with your website's look and feel.
When the popup window option is checked in your Configurator settings, the message correctly indicates modifications made to the recipient's record.
BigSender's ability to determine the server path in which it resides has been improved, especially on Windows and Sun servers.
Upon successful "add" and "modify" tasks, the message that is sent to the web browser now includes the recipient's name when submitted from separate "first name" and "last name" fields.
As does standard field data, Custom Field data now preflows into the subscriber form when recipients attempt to "add" themselves and a record already exists for that recipient.

01/17/2003 – v 3.552

When saving your BigSender Configurator settings, the "field delimiter" character setting is checked to ensure does not contain a special character reserved by Perl.

01/15/2003 – v 3.551

Custom Field names and values may now contain the quote (") symbol without choking BigSender.
One error per common Custom Field number is returned to new recipients who do not submit data in a field defined as required by the administrator.
BigSender now checks Custom Field values submitted by the logged-in BigSender administrator.

01/13/2003 – v 3.55

This update further speeds the preparation of list data for segmented broadcast sessions.
Improved the BigSender List Cleaner's ability to identify and repair email addresses containing invalid characters.

01/03/2003 – v 3.548

Significantly improved BigSender's broadcast speed, especially for those who use BigSender to manage very large lists. When you do not provide parameters to qualify the recipients, such as "match" criteria or "beginning" or "ending" record numbers, BigSender now skips the "Preparing List Data" task and immediately begins broadcasting.

12/21/2002 – v 3.547

With this minor update, BigSender administrators may optionally include their own <BODY> tag (and any accompanying attributes) at the top of the HTML-text version of their broadcast messages. BigSender will intuitively provide the <BODY> tag when not provided within the HTML-text version of your message.

12/06/2002 – v 3.546 – 3.5461

The Broadcast Report now also reports the date and time the session was completed.
So that your outgoing message is accessible as soon as possible by your website visitors, BigSender now archives your message (when you check the "archive" checkbox) then begins your broadcast session.
Further refinements were made to the way browser cookies are saved which has resulted in improved administrator login and logout reliability.

11/15/2002 – v 3.5452

New Configurator settings let you check whether the "admin email" and/or the "test email" receive Test Emails sent from the Message Composer and/or if either email addresses should receive Broadcast Reports upon completion of broadcasts.
Documents that were not published by BigSender yet are stored in the Message Archive directory are excluded more effectively from the dynamic index.
Existing "label" values in a record are now passed through when a record is modified by an administrator or subscriber.
A popup confirmation window now helps prevent accidental deletion of one of your Snapshots when checking the radio buttons in the BigSender Message Composer Snapshot table.

11/06/2002 – v 3.544

When an administrator clicks the "preview" button in the BigSender Message Composer, the Snapshot plug-in now loads (as it should) upon completion of the automatic HTML-Text > Plain-Text and Plain-Text > HTML-Text conversion tasks.
Improved BigSender's performance of its file-management tasks on Windows servers.
BigSender Snapshot now verifies the "delete" task and returns an error if the requested action does not succeed for any reason.

11/01/2002 – v 3.543

Streamlined the BigSender Automated Bounce Manager for significant improvements in processing speed.

10/21/2002 – v 3.542

Made further refinements to identify and generate an error when your subscribers inadvertently or maliciously type an email address that contains invalid characters or character strings.

10/14/2002 – v 3.541

BigSender Data Guard has been enhanced to remedy an issue that could sometimes cause BigSender to timeout or respond very slowly to add and remove requests. BigSender now detects when your list has been locked too long (usually caused by a previous list-modification session that was inadvertently interrupted) and automatically unlocks it allowing BigSender's normal list-management functions to be restored.

10/09/2002 – v 3.540

To reduce your need to scroll up and down the Configurator interface window, the set of action buttons at the bottom of the form are now also inserted at the top of the BigSender Configurator.
To help you pinpoint an error, the report that is generated when there is a mailserver problem with your broadcast now only contains data specific to the error from the mailserver.
Extended significantly the set characters rejected by BigSender because they are not valid in email addresses.
Improved the reliability of BigSender List Cleaner tasks.
When a submitted email address contained invalid characters, BigSender stripped them out then automatically accepted the modified submission rather than returning an error to the subscriber. That glitch has been fixed.

09/28/2002 – v 3.533

BigSender's user interfaces and email messages now provide improved support for extended and non-ASCII characters (common in languages other than English).

08/29/2002 – v 3.53 – 3.531

A new optional "Modify Record" function has been added.
- A new setting in the BigSender Configurator can insert a "modify" radio button among the "add" and "remove" buttons in the BigSender subscriber form.
- Users can enter their email address, click the "modify" radio button then the "do it" button to modify the information in their record any time.
- BigSender administrators may also set BigSender to send a confirmation email to the recipient and/or the administrator.
- When "user modify" is checked, "modify" links are automatically added to the foot of your outgoing messages and also included in the "insert" pulldown selector in the Message Composer so you can easily place the proper code anywhere in your broadcast message.
Simplified the user interface / subscriber form by conditionally removing one or more of the add, modify and remove radio buttons during certain functions.
Further refined BigSender-generated messages for greater compatibility on a wider variety of desktop email software, such as Outlook and Outlook Express.
A new feature allows administrators to display only the Message Archive Index when invoking BigSender directly or within any webpage via SSI. [ See Administrator Guide ]

08/13/2002 – v 3.51 – 3.521

The recipient removal tasks in the BigSender Automated Bounce Manager has been rewritten to improve the speed of its performance.
The BigSender Automated Bounce Manager now applies a factor of your "pause frequency setting" to the "remove from list" task as well as when logging in and processing emails in your POP mailbox.
The BigSender user interface now displays the "prompt" only once for each set of checkbox or radio button options with the same field name.
Refinements to the login functions should further improve the reliability of "maintaining logged-in state" for administrators with many lists.
Added more criteria to the Bounce Manager criteria reference file for recipient mailservers that return reject notifications which are not in compliance with RFC standards.

08/06/2002 – v 3.5

The BigSender Message Composer now features true boolean AND or OR matching and partial matching for targeting and excluding recipients in your list during a broadcast.
BigSender Contact Manager Search now features true boolean AND or OR matching and partial matching for narrowing results while searching through your list's records.
To spare us all from having to remember them, a handy pulldown selector can automatically add defined values from any Custom Field into the "match" field in the Message Composer.
Wrote a workaround for a pesky Windows NT bug that could bring down some servers after Configurator settings are saved.
You can now set a "default" Snapshot that will automatically load into the BigSender Message Composer when you click your "compose" button.

08/04/2002 – v 3.44

An "email body background" color setting has been added so BigSender administrators can set a different color for the background color for broadcast messages than from the user interface background color.

07/26/2002 – v 3.4 – 3.43

Further refinements to administrator login and validation for improved performance – especially for owners and administrators managing multiple lists.
The Automated Bounce Manager now functions from all BigSender Gateway installations by correctly referencing the bounce criteria file (bs-criteria.txt).
BigSender and all Gateways now reference the Snapshot plug-in file "bs-snapshot.txt" that is in the directory with the main installation of BigSender. Each Gateway no longer needs a separate Snapshot plug-in even when installed in a different directory on the server.
Erroneous HTML code saved in a Snapshot then loaded into the Message Composer now cannot interfere with rendering of the Message Composer page in your web browser.
Clicking on the "details" text link for a record in the Search or Browse results page no longer returns a JavaScript error when that record is unsubscribed.
The Automated Bounce Manager now reports when any recipients could not be found in your list in addition to reporting when they've been successfully removed.
BigSender's Main Menu / Subscriber Form can now automatically notify the logged-in administrator when there are emails in the POP account designated as your "bounce" mailbox. If you have bounce access privileges and the "email indicator" Configurator option is checked, BigSender will automatically check your POP account and indicate the quantity of messages and the total space those message occupy in that inbox.

07/11/2002 – v 3.3

The HTML Helper pulldown selector in the BigSender Message Composer gets many more often-used HTML tags and hex codes for greater convenience when composing the HTML version of your messages.
Continued to fine-tune the Automated Bounce Manager for more reliable detection of reject notifications.
Aesthetic improvements were also made in the BigSender Configurator for improved readability.

07/08/2002 – v 3.2

Two new special Custom Field types have been added from which administrators may choose: DATE STAMP and DATE STAMP UK. When selected, a hidden field is added to the subscriber form and will automatically add a date & time stamp to the new record.
- Select DATE STAMP for the "07/05/2002 12:00:00" (month then day) format.
- Select DATE STAMP UK for the "05/07/2002 12:00:00" (day then month) format more popular in Europe.
Further refinements to the BigSender Automated Bounce Manager include:
- The report to your web browser is now "interactive" to help prevent a "timeout" if there are a lot emails in your inbox to process.
- The "pause frequency" setting in the BigSender Configurator now applies to the Automated Bounce Manager function to help prevent the server from interrupting the process if it takes too long.
- The POP username or account field no longer return an error if it contains an @ symbol since, on some POP servers, the username may be the entire email address.
Some recipient mailservers or recipient email software may truncate the last character of email messages, so BigSender now includes an extra line-end string to prevent text or HTML code from being deleted.

07/05/2002 – v 3.1

The BigSender Automated Bounce Manager has been updated to also recognize reject notifications from mailservers that do not comply with current standards and the "bs-criteria.txt" reference file has been appended to include more such notifications.
A handy new "view details" link has been added to each line in the Search/Browse Results that, when clicked, generates a Smart Spring Popup report of that recipient's full record, including their submitted name, email address, label, and all your defined Custom Field values – Now you can view and print the details of any record in your list.
The "insert" pulldown menu in the BigSender Message Composer (for personalizing each message) now more reliably includes all defined Custom Fields after loading or deleting a BigSender Snapshot.

07/02/2002 – v 3.0

With one click, BigSender's new Automated Bounce Manager checks your POP mailbox for reject (bounce) notifications, removes them from your list, deletes those emails from your inbox and sends a report of all tasks performed to your web browser upon completion.
- An option lets you remove recipients in your list with reject notifications due to "mailbox full" etc.
- If the POP mailbox you set up is dedicated to only handling bounced emails, you can check an option to delete all other emails from that inbox in addition to reject notification emails.
- You can set BigSender to display all the messages from your inbox right in your web browser after the Automated Bounce Manager Report.
Now in addition to the BigSender owner/administrator who has full access to all of BigSender's features and functions after logging in, you may also set up additional administrators, each with their own unique username and password login – and also check which administrator functions each administrator may access.

06/25/2002 – v 2.512

BigSender administrators can now "browse" through all the records in their list simply by leaving the search field empty then clicking the "find" button from the Main Menu subscriber form.

06/18/2002 – v 2.511

A new Configurator setting lets administrators set the maximum number of records returned per page when searching your list. Any remaining records beyond that limit are broken up into subsequent pages which may be accessed by clicking on the "next matches" link.
Lists may now be searched with OR criteria such as aol or msn and any records containing either values are returned.
For administrators with cookies disabled in your web browser, you can now remain logged into administrator mode throughout all BigSender's functions. With cookies enabled, you'll stay logged in as the administrator for as long as you have selected in the BigSender Configurator.

06/10/2002 – v 2.5

A powerful new suite of convenient contact management tools are now built into BigSender:
- Search
  A search box now appears in the main menu / subscriber form when the administrator logs in (if there is at least one record in your list). Simply type an email address, name, word or partial word, click "find" and BigSender will return the records that contain your characters. For the greatest flexibility, the search function is not case sensitive.
- Edit
  From the search results page, simply click the "edit" button adjacent to any record and modify the information in that record.
- Multiple Remove
  Check a checkbox for any or all records in the search results page, then click the "delete checked records" button. The resulting page will confirm how many records you removed from your list.

06/06/2002 – v 2.41 – v 2.414

Administrators may now opt to have the Subscriber Form's table cell colors left empty (clear) so any page background color or images will show through. BigSender's administrator interfaces remain in the original default color palette to ensure legibility.
Administrators may now select the font size for text in the BigSender Subscriber Form via a new setting in the BigSender Configurator.
Administrators who have opted for the username and password login method and who previously may have had difficulty staying logged in, BigSender should now do a better job of keeping you logged in throughout its various functions.
Administrators may now select the font size for document titles that appear in the BigSender Message Archive Index via a new setting in the BigSender Configurator. A checkbox also makes those document titles appear in boldface text. (Font attributes for "teaser" text [that appears under the document title in the Index] may still be controlled via regular HTML tags before each message is saved in the Message Archive.)
For particularly tricky implementations of CGIWrap on some servers, BigSender can now function properly despite the hobbling of BigSender's auto-detection of the server's environmental variables. For administrators who have difficulty saving your BigSender Configurator settings, this new feature may help you. Contact Craig Richards Design and we'll help you implement this workaround.

05/29/2002 – v 2.4

New and improved BigSender Hybrid™ messages render cleaner on an even wider variety of your recipient's email software and web-based email systems. Now your recipient's mailservers and software more reliably render either the plain-text or the HTML version of your message for an even more professional presentation of your message.
A convenient new "logout" link now appears at the top of the subscriber form for administrators who have chosen the username:password login method. (Typing "logout" in the email field still works, too.)
Your recipients' mailservers now route rejected (bounced) messages more consistenty to the designated "Error Email Address" as defined in your Configurator settings.
List data now automatically flows into any Custom Fields and also the "first name" and "last name" fields in the subscriber form when recipients remove themselves to make it easier for them to resubscribe if they unsubscribed inadvertently.
When administrators make any changes to the Configurator settings, the existing login cookie is now zapped to help keep browser from getting confused when you change the name of your list or your username and password. (Previously, the new cookie was saved but the old cookie remained and caused some administrators some problems staying logged in.)
Thanks to user Gunnar Lundberg's generosity and expertise, new release downloads and new BigSender purchasers will automatically get his Swedish translation of the BigSender Language plug-in included in the zip archive.

05/24/2002 – v 2.34

A new Configurator setting lets you select the amount of time administrators automatically stay logged in before needing to login again. Select from 1 day to 2 years. Administrators can still logout manually any time. (Only relevant for those who use the username:password login method.)

05/18/2002 – v 2.33

A new "teaser" field in the BigSender Message Composer makes it easy to include a compelling tagline, descriptive text, teaser or a byline for display beneath each title in the BigSender Message Archive index.
The values you set in the BigSender Configurator for any RADIO and CHECKBOX field types now display next to that option in the BigSender subscriber form.
If for some reason (usually due to a parent directory's permissions on Unix/Linux servers) BigSender is unable to write its automatic broadcast log for tracking the success of your broadcast sessions, an error is no longer returned to the administrator's web browser.
Now you can use the #DATE# code in the subject line and/or body of your broadcast message and BigSender substitutes it for the current date as of the broadcast – particularly convenient for those of us who use BigSender Snapshots for saving and reloading messages into your Message Composer.

05/15/2002 – v 2.32

When the user or the administrator adds or removes a recipient, any Custom Field values from your list are now returned in the subscriber form – An especially handy new enhancement for those who have inadvertently removed themselves and want to immediately re-add themselves to your list without the need to retype all their information.

04/30/2002 – v 2.31

Any fields you set as "required" in the Configurator are now indicated via the title attribute which displays when your users pass their cursor over that field.
Any Pause Frequency Configurator setting lower than 50 now functions correctly.

04/14/2002 – v 2.3

In this version, I added a new special form field type: EMAIL. Now list administrators may select from TEXT, TEXTAREA, PASSWORD, CHECKBOX, RADIO, SELECT, EMAIL and HIDDEN for any BigSender Custom Field. When the EMAIL custom Field type is selected, the user-submitted data from that field is tested for valid email address structure as well as the presence of invalid characters. Handy for collecting referral emails from your visitors, etc.
BigSender now checks the Custom Field names set by the administrator to ensure they are not "reserved" names such as name, fname, lname, email or label which may not be used.

04/11/2002 – v 2.21 – 2.25

Improved the email report that BigSender optionally generates and sends to the administrator when a recipient is added or removed. The message now includes the "label" field value (if collected) and a more streamlined presentation of all Custom Field values.
Improved BigSender's ability to connect with SMTP mailservers and in-browser error-reporting now provides more information when the mailserver refuses the connection.
Improved BigSender's management of browser cookies, especially for administrators of many lists with unique logins. It still may be helpful to logout when administration of one list is complete as too many cookies from one domain can cause your browser to fail to keep you logged in to BigSender's administrator controls.
Provided additional "Pause Fequency" settings in BigSender for installations on servers that may be particularly sensitive to web applications that run for an extended period of time as BigSender may during broadcast sessions.

03/16/2002 – v 2.19

Though the BigSender Gateway Manager plug-in may be in the same directory as a Gateway, the "gateways" button no longer appears when running BigSender from a Gateway.

03/10/2002 – v 2.18

This version adds the a HTML form field type PASSWORD from which the list administrator may choose for any BigSender Custom Field: TEXT, TEXTAREA, PASSWORD, CHECKBOX, RADIO, SELECT and HIDDEN is now the total set.
For greater flexibility, the BigSender personalization codes for outgoing broadcast email messages (such as #EMAIL# and #NAME#) are no longer case-sensitive.

03/07/2002 – v 2.17

This minor update improves error reporting under circumstances when BigSender is unable connect to the mailserver as defined in the BigSender Configurator or if the mailserver is not configured correctly to accept connections from your domain.

02/27/2002 – v 2.16

Improved the reliability of the BigSender Message Composer's "insert..." pulldown selectors that provide a handy shortcut to customize each recipient's message with data from any Custom Fields that you have defined in the Configurator.
Line returns in data submitted by users from any of your Custom Fields are replaced with a space character and your list's delimiter as set in the Configurator is stripped from any submitted data to ensure the integrity of your list.

02/26/2002 – v 2.15

I added the SELECT form field type to the Custom Fields options so the list administrator may choose: TEXT, TEXTAREA, CHECKBOX, RADIO, SELECT and HIDDEN for any new Custom Fields in BigSender.

02/18/2002 – v 2.12

Added a new Configurator setting that can optionally tell BigSender to return results in a small popup window when recipients add or remove themselves, for a more streamlined experience for your users. For the logged-in administrator, all results continue to return in your main browser window regardless of that new Configurator setting.

02/15/2002 – v 2.1

Added the RADIO button to the field types available in the BigSender Configurator for Custom Fields. Now a handy selector lets you choose TEXT, TEXTAREA, CHECKBOX, RADIO and HIDDEN.
When you add a Custom Field that is a checkbox or a radio button, you can now set the value for it that is saved when your recipients check that option in your subscriber form.
New options for the BigSender Composer lets you set the starting record number and ending record number for your broadcast – great for breaking up your emailing sessions into smaller chunks or for resuming a broadcast that was inadvertently aborted for some reason.
The color palette section of the Configurator settings now has a "background color" that sets the background color of BigSender user interfaces and outgoing HTML-text email messages.

01/25/2002 – v 2.05 – v 2.08

The "match" field in BigSender Message Composer gets a "target" and "exclude" toggle – With the "exclude" option clicked, BigSender will broadcast to all recipients except those with records containing the word or phrase you type in the "match" field. Otherwise, BigSender will send only to recipients with records that contain whatever you type in the match field.
A problem was discovered with List Cleaner when scanning somewhat larger lists that would cause the process to time out. This release contains a rewrite of that subroutine which is now able to process even the largest lists in only a few seconds. A bug that failed to correctly save repaired email addresses was also fixed.
When BigSender installs new CGIs (as with BigSender Gateway Manager) and other support files, some Unix and Linux server configurations don't like permissions (chmod) set at 777 and will abort the process. I added a new selector to the BigSender Configurator that lets administrators choose the permissions BigSender sets for such files. Choose from 755, 775 or 777. (Automatically disabled when BigSender is running on Windows servers.)

01/22/2002 – v 2.02

As when a mailserver connection error occurs during a BigSender email broadcast session, BigSender should now report if there is a mailserver connection failure during an attempt to send an "Activator Request" or a confirmation email to the new recipient and/or the administrator.

01/18/2002 – v 2.01

This release greatly expands your options associated with the new Custom Fields feature first intoduced in BigSender 2.0.
- To further increase your options when setting up BigSender to collect information from your users, when you add or edit a Custom Field, a new selector lets you choose TEXT, TEXTAREA, CHECKBOX or HIDDEN field types.
- Visible Custom Fields will ordinarily display to your users in the Subscriber Form – except when you have the "opt-in activator" checkbox checked. That's because data collected from Custom Fields cannot be passed through the Opt-In Activator Link. Rather if you have defined any Custom Fields, they are presented in the Subscriber Form immediately when new recipients click on the Activator Link.
- User-submitted data in Custom Fields are now included in the confirmation email that is sent to the list administrator.
The English BigSender Language File has been updated for this version of BigSender – please ensure you are using the most current BLF.
I added another "template" field so now the first one is for BigSender User Interfaces, the second for your Message Archive. If a template is not provided for the Message Archive, the User Interface Template is used (if provided). Your "message archive" template can use server-side includes and Apache ECHO directives, etc. Check out my own News2Me Archive and click on a message to see how this greater flexibility can benefit your website.
The "Process Pause" setting now applies to List Cleaner sessions as well as Broadcasting sessions to help prevent the server from shutting down the CGI when its run time exceeds a limit set by the server administrator.
I further refined the instructions in the SMART SPRING Popup Helper to help make your options clearer – especially all the new 2.0 Configurator settings. Now that BigSender can be used to collect lots more information and manage more kinds of lists, "subscribers" are now "recipients" and rather than "subscribed" or "unsubscribed," your recipients are "added" or "removed" for improved clarity in the user and admin interfaces and BigSender-generated confirmation email messages.
In the "personalize" pulldown selector in BigSender Composer, I moved the date to the top (where you'd expect it to be) and by popular demand, I added an item that insert the "remove link" code for recipients to be removed when clicked on.
If BigSender can find them on your server, the path to Sendmail and Qmail are now included in your "mailserver" pulldown selector Configurator settings.

01/11/2002 – v 2.0

New Gateway Manager plug-in can install and administrate as many BigSender Gateways as you want for managing unique lists – all powered by your single licensed installation of BigSender.
Collect and save any information you want from your subscribers – Add as many Custom Fields as you want to BigSender. Optionally display or hide fields in the Subscriber form and you can easily customize each outgoing message with any of your Custom Fields from a handy pulldown menu.
Snapshot plug-in – lets you save a picture of your outgoing message in the Message Composer and load it again any time you want. Now it's easy to keep an entire library of Snapshots to load, modify and send as you need them.
New BigSender List Cleaner lets you automatically clean a new BigSender list to eliminate invalid characters, check for valid email structure and remove duplicate records from your list for trouble-free emailing – in one click.
A handy new "preview" button in the Message Composer lets you check out the appearance of your messages on-the-fly without the need to send a test email message.
- The result pages for "preview," "test" and "send message" now display both the HTML-text and plain-text versions of your message so you can proofread both versions before sending out!
Runs on virtually any webserver – Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac, etc. BigSender automatically adjusts for your webserver's operating system.
With the new "mailserver" selector, you can choose a mail application such as Sendmail or Qmail or a mailserver by name or IP Address at your webhost or elsewhere.
Countless other enhancements to further improve BigSender's reliable performance on all servers!

01/03/2002 – v 1.25

BigSender now automatically generates an error report to help you pinpoint a problem with your email list if the mailserver aborts your broadcast prematurely.

2/19/2001 – v 1.23

This update is designed to provide intuitive support for directory structures on Windows servers. BigSender will automatically detect whether it is being run in Unix, Linux or Windows servers and will adjust file-management functions accordingly.

12/16/2001 – v 1.22

Minor update that further improves on-the-fly HTML-to-plain-text conversion, especially handling of a wider variety of hyperlink tag structures.
Going the extra mile to ensure the integrity of your list data, I have made further refinements to the file-locking mechanism and have incorporated a before-and-after record quantity comparison function that is implemented when a remove request is executed.
Included some additional code for reading/writing files and parsing input when BigSender is run on Windows webservers.

12/09/2001 – v 1.21

Update to improve BigSender's performance (and to reduce server load) under certain conditions. When the administrator is logged into BigSender, the interfaces normally report the number of subscribers (total records excluding those flagged as unsubscribed). However, when the list contains more than 50,000 records, this release of BigSender will instead report the total records. Those on slower servers will most notice the resulting improvement in BigSender's speed.
Administrators using BigSender' Message Composer will notice a new "priority" pulldown menu to set the urgency of outgoing messages. Priority is recognized by most email software and some web-based email service providers.
I've added a handy option in the Configurator to set Message Archive links to generate a new browser window or to display in the same browser window.

12/04/2001 – v 1.2

BigSender now has built-in support for language plug-ins through unique BigSender Language Files (BLF) technology. In addition to the default English language, BigSender Language Files will be posted at CraigRichards.com as they are created by third-party contributors and also automatically bundled with the application upon purchase. Each list can reference a separate BLF no matter how many lists are managed by BigSender!
When the administrator clicks on the "send message" button in the BigSender Composer, a special confirmation box will now pop up which permits him/her to cancel or continue the broadcast. This new safety feature will help prevent the message from being broadcast prematurely when the administrator clicks the "send message" button accidentally.
For easier reference, the Administrator interfaces now indicate which version of BigSender is installed.
The Administrator interface and the Composer interface now report the quantity of subscribers instead of the total quantity of records. The figure now excludes those records flagged as unsubscribed.
I added the new "Broadcast Report Frequency" Configurator setting so administrators can select the number of emails that BigSender will broadcast per interactive reporting cycle. If you sometimes experience a 'browser time out' problem when broadcasting with BigSender, use a lower setting option (fewer emails between reports) to help maintain your connection to the server.
Administrators who use special "label" values in custom forms will be glad to know that, even if the subscriber generates an error, your special value(s) will be passed through to the record.
Some new coding should help resolve a "browser cache" issue experienced by some administrators whereby their Configurator form contained previous settings.

11/14/2001 – v 1.14

Minor update to improve performance of BigSender's errors-to feature that will optionally route bounced email messages to a separate mailbox set up by the list administrator.

08/29/2001 – v 1.10 – v 1.13

Per user suggestions, outgoing email messages and subscriber interfaces no longer contain the tiny BigSender logo for a cleaner uncluttered appearance – no increase in the software license fee.
New Broadcast Report option lets list administrators check a box in the Composer to automatically generate an email containing relevant statistics from the email session.
Further refined the appearance of the plain text version of outgoing hybrid messages.
When the administrator leaves the "name" field number undefined (no value), subsequent Configurator sessions now accurately reports that setting rather than referencing the default value of "1" as was the case in previous BigSender releases.
BigSender now ensures that, when list administrators set BigSender to require subscribers' names, the "show name field" setting is also checked; otherwise, an error is returned to the administrator during the Configurator session.
To help reduce confusion some users may have experienced, the action success result page no longer includes the subscription box, except for a logged-in administrator.

08/08/2001 – v 1.03

BigSender checks for inadvertent field number duplication settings in the Configurator but it has been reported that previous BigSender versions have allowed duplicates to slip through under certain circumstances without generating an error. That function has been rewritten for improved reliability.

07/24/2001 – v 1.02

While BigSender has never had a limit to the number of records in a list, the number of separate fields in a record previously could not exceed 9. BigSender 1.02 increases number of delimited fields per record to 999, vastly improving BigSender's ability to integrate with legacy lists from other sources.
The methodology for file-locking has been rewritten to ensure data protection for the larger lists many BigSender users have. It is possible now, however, that on very active lists with frequent adds and removals, some users may experience delays from a few seconds or longer during their add / remove functions.
Further adjustments to the user interface text for greater clarity. The first steps toward support for BigSender Language Files has begun – watch for it in a future upgrade.

06/19/2001 – v 1.0

Tested on Linux/Unix OS server with Perl 5 and Sendmail.
Tested using Netscape Navigator 4.7 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 though the interface should display perfectly in an older browser as long as it supports table tags and JavaScript.
On purchase, BigSender is encoded with a unique registration key, compressed into a zip archive and posted to a temporary folder on the CraigRichards.com website for convenient download using a standard web browser. Use any zip-compression utility to extract the BigSender application from the archive, then follow the detailed step-by-step instructions provided online in the BigSender Administrator Guide.