MailMan/Joomla Bridge Component

Now with support for Joomla 1.5! This component will allow logged in users to see a list of public Mailman mailing lists (that you've already configured) and subscribe to them by clicking a series of radio buttons and clicking "Subscribe." The component gets the user's Joomla! email address, then shows the user all PUBLIC mailing lists. They select what list(s) they want, and what mode they want (e.g. digest), and click "Subscribe." Both web page and an email tells them what happened. This component DOES NOT require command line access to Mailman commands. You can even support Mailman mailing lists on a different server. You're welcome to try it out at my site, www.backupcentral.com. After logging in, you'll see a menu item called "Forums & Mailing List -> Mailing Lists." Feel free to subscribe to the Testy mailing list and post messages. Please don't use the other mailing lists, as they have thousands of users attached to them. To install: (((1))) Upload the component via your admin screen. (((2))) Point your admin broswer to Components -> Mailman2 -> Config to set the six config variables. Leave the "external lists" setting to off. (((3))) Make a menu item under your user menu of “Link URL” type that points to "/index.php?option=com_mailman2" and is only be available to registered, logged in users. (I call it "E-mail Subscriptions.") NOTE: For this component to work, you must have access to an already-configured Mailman server, the mailing lists must be publicly listed, and (currently) the admin password for all lists must be the same. (2.0.1 fixes a bug for those who don't use the default jos_ naming convention for Joomla! tables.) The Joomla 1.5 version is new, so let me know how it works.

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byDesd on June 11, 2008
I was trying to find a solution to integrate a maillist subscription to my Joomla install. Luckely my host (still on shared server) offers Mailman as a list-solution and this bridge is just superb. Mailman is very user friendly and has many options, but most of the time users don't need them.

If your install doesn't work, try to configure without the "Appended Domain" option, even on a shared server.

If you use Community Builder on your site, you can change the link on the component frontend in the language file.

This component would be great as a Community Builder plugin... That would make it a six star rating.
Clean install, direct subscribe to mailman, the perfect bridge for joomla.

Would like to see a link in the component's front end to the list's infopage, that would be a nice addition.
byJurgentje on October 31, 2007
I'm really glad with this Joomla component. It addresses a very certain need. Furthermore, it does what it claims.

On the other hand, there are a lot more configuration options that can be set, but are not availiable through the component...

The back-end that was added, is written very nicely following the rules of MVC-art. Just hoping the front end may evolve into something similar too. It would make templating much easier... and furthermore I think the upgrade to Joomla 1.5 would go much more fluent too.

Never the less... I use it, and I like it!
byPmoney on October 4, 2007
I am using mailman and wanted to have it integrated into Joomla. I was using a wrapper link but it didn't work perfectly and this component simplifies everything for the user. Simply login to Joomla, click the check box and click submit.

I couldn't get this component working properly but Curtis worked with me for a few days until we figured out the problem (I had a special character "#" in my mailman admin password) This small issue was breaking the script; Curtis sent me several debug versions of the component to try to see if we could figure out the problem.

I was pleasantly surprised how many emails we sent back and forth throughout the days until we noticed the message in the debug emails and figured it out. Great job guys! Excellent support of a great component.
Owner's reply

I'm glad I could help. I added the debug section just for situations like this. What it does is send you emails of the HTML that it's seeing when it attempts to connect to mailman. That allows you to see where things are failing. In this case, it was the admin password with a # in it. My script understood it and passed it, but I don't think it's a valid string to pass in a URL, so it was ignoring everything after that and not succeeding. Long and short of it: Don't have a # in your admin password. ;)

I was looking for a way to permit members to email each other as a group. I wanted to expand on the restriction of private messaging - one on one. This was the only way to go in Joomla.

This app makes an easy connection to MailMan, which is better known as a listserv or a discussion group: i.e. users join a group and each can broadcast an email to everyone by addressing the email to the group (or list) email. MailMain then relays the email to everyone.

Your web hosting service will set MailMan for you...free.

What is notable here is the easy, user friendly interface that this app creates. You simply click on a link and you're subscribed. That's it. The app takes your email address from your login and performs all of the subscription work on the MailMan app that your host installs. Normally, you'd have to navigate through a cumbersome subscription page to get subscribed...these pages are always written by programmers who make it look complicated.

That is the beauty of MailMan2. Simplicity and usability!

Great customer support, too.
This was just what I was looking for to add a solid mail list to site. Component installed without a hitch and works as stated. I used jommlaXplorer to make the 3 configuration entries, so it would be more useful if the update includes an admin interface, but functional now.
Owner's reply

The new version I just put up now includes an admin interface. I hope you like it!