Sending Multiple Emails At Once

(Mass Emailing - kind of)

Just like setting up emailing from a form, in general, is not difficult, neither is sending emails to
multiple people at the same time. First, we need to dimension a variable called M!"ar# to hold all
the email addresses in a string#
Dim MyVar as String
$n inline coding, this would be placed inside the script tag, but outside an! %ub or Function.
&e't we need to set up the ()) field, grabbing all the emails from a database field called
(surprise*) email#
Dim MySQL as string = "Select email from yourTableName"
Dim MyConn As SqlConnection = New
SqlConnection(ConfigurationSettingsA!!Settings(""rA!!Strin
g"##
Dim ob$D% as SQLData%ea&er
Dim Cm& as New SQLComman&(MySQL' MyConn#
MyConn(!en(#
ob$D%=Cm&)*ecute%ea&er(system&ataComman&+e,a-iorCloseCo
nnection#
My.ar=""
/,ile ob$D%%ea&(#
My.ar0=ob$D%("email"#1 "2"
)n& /,ile
My.ar=My.arsubstring(3'(My.arLengt,45##
+he last line merel! removes the semi-colon from the end that will naturall! be placed there due
to the line inside the While section.
,ou might want to check out another +utorial here, called Emailing Form -esults. $t goes over
much of this ne't section also.
Dim ob$)mail as New MailMessage
ob$)mailTo="News67ourDomaincom"
ob$)mail8%(M="7ou67ourDomaincom"
ob$)mail+CC=My.ar
ob$)mailS"+9)CT="T,is is my Sub$ect"
ob$)mail+o&y=":ut te*t or a -ariable w,ic, re!resents t,e
te*t 4 ,ere"
ob$)mail+o&y8ormat = Mail8ormatTe*t
Smt!MailSmt!Ser-er ="mail7ourDomaincom"
Smt!MailSen&(ob$)mail#
+he main sections that needs addressing here are the ()) field, the (./, field, and the +.
field. For most, the +. field will be fairl! trivial. ,ou dont need an! of the people in the email
addresses for this one. $ usuall! use a mail back to me, in order to be sure the email actuall! went
out. $n the ()) field, !ou see that the list of emails in the MyVar variable goes here, without
double 0uotes surrounding it, since its a variable and not an e'plicit email address. +he same
goes for the (./, section. $f !ou wanted to define a section of te't, and assign it to a variable,
before this block of code, then, !ou would merel! put the variable name there, without double
0uotes. &aturall!, the %M+1 server is important, since thats the mail server which !ou assign to
send the emails out.
2opefull!, this takes a little m!ster! out of the whole sending multiple emails at the same time
scenario.
1art 3 e'amines how to accomplish this, sending a single email to each recipient, allowing both
personali4ation and customi4ation in each email.
Sending Mass Emails Part 2
(Sending Separate Emails to each Recipient)
$f !ou havent read 1art 5 in this series, !ou can do so now, b! clicking here#
%ending Multiple Emails 6t .nce
.ne of the ma7or drawbacks of creating a mass emailing like we did in 1art 5, was
personali4ation and customi4ation were practicall! non-e'istent. 6ll email addresses were kept in
a string, which populated the ()) section. Each recipient could easil! see that this was a mass
email. &aturall!, thats normall! .8, but b! being able to personali4e an email gives the recipient
a better feeling when he things that the %ender of the email took the time to send the email to
him, personall!. (! building !our mass email this wa!, practicall! an! level of personali4ation and
customi4ation is all up to !ou. For instance, !ou could create a link in the email itself, that, when
clicked, can run a script on !our web site to delete that user from the email list automaticall!.
For this e'ample, all !oull reall! need is#
5. $mport the %!stem.9eb.Mail namespace
3. $mport the /atabase namespaces necessar!
:. 6 table of /ata, in the /atabase (for this sample, we onl! have two fields (Name and
Email)
;. .ne subroutine for the code (for this e'ample, well use 1age<=oad)
>. 6 label with an $/ of lblEmails (onl! to show the list of emails for the test)
First, well $mport the namespaces. For emailing, we must add#
<%@ Import Namespace=System!We"!Mail %#
For the database (were using %?= %erver for this tutorial), we must add#
<%@ Import Namespace=System!Data %#
<%@ Import Namespace=System!Data!S$%&lient %#
&ow, for the real meat of this tutorial, first, well add two @lobal variables#
Dim sEmail as String
Dim s'ody as String
&e't, in a %ubroutine of !our choice, add this code#
Dim o"(Email as Ne) MailMessage
s'ody = *his is o+r test email to yo+
o"(Email!S+"(ect=*his is my S+"(ect
Dim MyS$% as string = Select Name, email from *estMail
Dim My&onn -s S.l&onnection = Ne)
S.l&onnection/&onfig+rationSettings!-ppSettings/0o+r&onfigSettings11
Dim o"(D2 as S$%Data2eader
Dim &md as Ne) S$%&ommand/MyS$%, My&onn1
My&onn!3pen/1
o"(D2=&md!E4ec+te2eader/system!data!&ommand'eha5ior!&lose&onnection1
While o"(D2!2ead/1
sEmail = o"(D2/email1
o"(Email!*o =sEmail
o"(Email!623M=from0o+@0o+rDomain!com
o"(Email!'ody=s'ody 7 5"crlf 7 Name8 7 o"(D2/Name1 7 5"crlf
7 Email8 7 sEmail
o"(Email!'ody6ormat = Mail6ormat!*e4t
SmtpMail!SmtpSer5er =mail!0o+rDomain!com
SmtpMail!Send/o"(Email1
l"lEmails!te4t9=sEmail 7 <"r#
End While
My&onn!&lose
2ere, in the 9hileAEnd 9hile loop, we do all the real work. 9e iterate through each record of the
table, sending a separate email, personali4ed, to each email address in the table. For the sake of
this tutorial, were also adding each email address to a label to show how man! emails were sent,
and to whom. &aturall!, this is not a necessar! step - its there onl! for visuali4ing what actuall!
has happened.
-emarkabl!, this is all !ou reall! need to get started. +he customi4ation andAor personali4ation is
up to !ou*
5 &et)entral Free Email %ervice - Just-For-Fun
1ersonals Email - Mail39orld - )hat /irector!
Email - 1s!chic Email 6ddress - Email )hoice -
2ot Mail - @eeklife Mail - @raffiti Email - )!ber
$nbo' - )./E) - Jo! Mail - FastMail.fm -
MailE'cite - B/&et Mail - MochaMail - %anrio
+own Free Email - E'treme-1ersonals Email -
@url Mail - /ark %hadow Email - %-Mail (%ecure
Email %ervice)
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
/ail! 9eb 1lanner - )onk*Mail - ,ahoo Mail -
MauiMail - &etscape 9ebMail - =ightspan
EdMail - +he /oghouse - 1ostmark Email - 6ll
+ravel Email - 2omework )entral - Mail 9ire -
Mail )hek - 9.9 Mail - 9ebinbo' -
2avea%hitt!/a! Email - .ne (o' - 6pe' Mail
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
/ogMail - Ben%earch Email - @arfields @-Mail -
&et6ddress - -aging (ull Email - &3 Mail -
2eadbone Bone - Fiberia - Dnbound Mail -
Fetchmail.com - 1rontoMail - Junior Mail -
1arsmail - Friendl! Email - &etForward Email -
&on-English Free Email %ervices
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
,ee 2aa* Email - /oraMail - +urbo%port Email -
FasterMail.com - .4(!tes 9ebMail -
9estcreek Email - 6gMa! Email - Email.com -
FlashMail - )6-E Mail - u-each Email
%ervices - FreeMail - %ports Email 6ddress -
=ovemail - 6ll 6merica Mail - "egas Mail
6non!mi4er - 6dvice(o' 6non!mous E-mailer -
+ruth(!tes - %pame' - 6non!mous Email
%oftware
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
%end Free 2olida! Email )ards - Email =ove
=etters and 1oems - 3EEE @reetings - Email
1s!chic - )ard(last - 9eb %poofs - Email and
$nsult - +wisted 2umor - Free /ail! (or monthl!)
2oroscopes (! Email - 6nno!ing Email -
1ersonal %ongs (! Email - E'treme "irtual
1ostoffice - )lassic +hought Email - Just-For-
Funs "irtual 1ostoffice - %nail Mail @reeting
)ards - Email 6 )elebrit! - %ave +he Earth
Email
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
;55 =ocate - 1eople %earch - 6n!9ho -
)hangeEmail - Meta %earch Email 6gent -
)elebrit!Email - 9orld Email /irector! - Mail.6t
- 6ddresses.com
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
,E.9... looking for a place where !ou can
send F-EE email greeting cardsC ,ou found it.
%end holida! greeting for 6&, holida!. 9e
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
Eudora Free Email - =!cos Email - (ig Foot -
)hristian Email - Jewish Email /irector! -
Bworg Email
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
More at 1 Netcentral.Com
Free 9eb 2osting /irector!* F Free @raphics
/irector!
Free =inks /irector! F %earch Engine /irector!
.nline Education /irector! F %uper %earch
%hopping
Mone! on the 9eb F Free $%1 /irector!
Freebie /irector! F Entertainment /irector!
Movie /irector! F Music /irector!
Site Map F 5 &etcentral 2ome F =inking $nfo
Horoscope Personals Chat Free
Casino Games

2+M= te't and design of this page G 5HHH -
3EE: b! 5&et)entral.)om
even invent holida!s so !ou can send email
greeting cards (like &ational 1otato /a!, =ove
,our /og /a!). ,ou can even upload !our own
graphics and music to create an email greeting
card. $ts fast - $ts eas! - $ts fun... tr! it once
and !oull be hooked... and its F-EE.
"iew +his 1ageC - )lick 2ere
Search 1 NetCentral.Com
Search he !orld For"
8now an! good free email sites that should be
in this graphics director!C
Email the 9ebmaster. $ll )heck em out.
Greg R. Notess
Reference Librarian
Montana State University
Email Address Databases
DATABASE, October 1996
Copyright Online Inc.
"Can you help me find someone's email address" !inding people on the Internet can be
a "ery easy or a "ery difficult process. # successful search depends less upon the
searcher's s$ill than on %hether or not the a"ailable databases contain the re&uested
information and %hether or not it is accurate. !or many years, the standard response to
the email address &uestion has been &uite simple. Call the person and as$ them. 'ools
such as finger and its deri"ati"e netfind pro"ided a beginning for searching, but none of
these tools pro"ided comprehensi"e co"erage and there e(isted no central repository of
all email addresses. 'hat repository still does not e(ist, but a number of databases begin
to offer a partial solution to the problem. 'hese databases contain millions of email
addresses, phone numbers, and other information. )et's see ho% they stac$ up.
LOO!NG U" EMA!L ADDRESSES
'he smart searcher uses multiple databases and strategies for finding someone's email
address. *o one source %ill do, and e"en using all the databases a"ailable, some email
addresses %ill still elude the searcher. If the person's organi+ation is $no%n, one of the
best strategies is to try to connect to the organi+ation's ,eb site to see if they maintain
their o%n local email database. -earching for a friend at the .ni"ersity of -outhern *orth
/a$ota 'ry %%%.usnd.edu and loo$ for an online directory. )ost contact %ith a
colleague at the -uperbig -proc$ets Company library Chec$ %%%.supersproc$et.com
for an employee directory. 'hese directories are often the most reliable source a"ailable.
.nfortunately, only some organi+ations put them up %hile many others do not. In that
case, try one of the general Internet0%ide databases. 'hese general email databases
feature different search options, but they all gi"e results %ith email addresses as hyperte(t
lin$s. In other %ords, 1ust clic$ on one of the resulting records to send email to that
#eat$red Databases
!our11 /irectory -er"ice
http233%%%.four11.com3
Internet #ddress !inder
http233%%%.iaf.net3
O45#
http233o$ra.ucr.edu3o$ra3
.senet #ddresses /atabase
http233usenet0addresses.mit.edu3
,ho,here
http233%%%.%ho%here.com3
address. -ince the directories %ant to gro% in si+e and usefulness, people can add ne%
records and sometimes e"en modify e(isting ones.
6any people on the Internet ha"e multiple email addresses. 'his can occur in a couple
different %ays. !irst, there can be different %ays of referring to the same machine.
-ending email to my address, greg7notess.com, %ill be the same as sending to
notess7comp0unltd.com. 8oth messages %ould end up on the same machine in the same
account. -econdly, some people ha"e more than one Internet account or more than one
email address on the same machine. 'his ma$es it difficult to accurately count entries in
an email database. 'hose that include e"ery email "ariant ha"e a larger ra% number of
records but offer much less precision. ,ith databases such as these, it is usually easy to
bro%se through a longer list of false drops. 'he more common problem is not finding any
hits. !or the broadest search, try all of the follo%ing email databases.
#OUR%%
One of the largest and best organi+ed email address databases is !our11 /irectory
-er"ice, the self0proclaimed "Internet %hite pages." 6ore than 1ust an email directory
ser"ice, !our11 also includes a ..-. phone number database and a much smaller database
of *et9hone users. 'hese are separate databases, currently %ithout lin$s bet%een them.
!our11 is named after the traditional telephone :11 directory assistance number.
)i$e many of these directories, !our11 does not go into great detail about the source of
the database content. In their !#; they claim to be "the Internet's largest %hite page
directory %ith o"er 6.< million listings." !urther do%n, they mention the sources as being
self0registration, public sources, and auto0registration. 'o their credit, !our11 has
attracted o"er half a million self0registrations. 'he public sources are not listed, e(cept a
brief statement that it is primarily from .senet. 'he auto0registration comes from Internet
ser"ice pro"iders registering their users. !our11's merger earlier this year %ith a
competitor, )oo$.p, may also ha"e added to their database.
'he email database search options include first name, last name, domain, city, state, and
country. One uni&ue feature is the "smart name" chec$ bo(. 'his interprets some
nic$names and "ariant forms of first names. Chec$ing this option to search on 8ob %ill
result in retrie"al including 5obert. One negati"e on the !our11 search is that it
automatically truncates first and last names. -earching for a last name of =ohns %ill result
in many hits on =ohnson and =ohnston, though the =ohns are displayed first.
!our11 has a "oluntary, no0fee registration, %hich is partly used to build their database.
.nregistered searchers are limited to output of <> names. 5egistered users can get 1>>
and ha"e an ad"anced search capability. 8ased on registration information, registered
users can search the additional categories, such as past organi+ation, research topics, past
location, and interests. 8est of all, registered users can turn off the automatic truncation
by unmar$ing the "!le(ible -earch" chec$ bo(.
'he !our11 email directory seems to result in far fe%er duplicate entries than some of its
competitors. One reason for this is that it %ill properly interpret a multiterm &uery as an
#*/. Other databases default to O5, %hich ma$es the search results for "=ane -mith"
rather lengthy.
!N&ERNE& ADDRESS #!NDER
,ith about four million entries, the Internet #ddress !inder ?I#!@ is a substantial
competitor to !our11. )i$e !our11, it claims public databases as its source, mentioning
.senet specifically. It also has a self registration option. 'he search fields are first name,
last name, organi+ation, and domain. 'runcation is a"ailable by using the asteris$, but it
is not automatic. One additional and "ery useful search feature that I#! includes is the
email address search. 'his re"erse loo$0up searches on email addresses to pro"ide
additional user information.
'he I#! results display includes more than 1ust the name and email address. It also can
include an organi+ation affiliation and address, the date the record %as last updated, and a
guess at a lin$ to the organi+ation's ,eb site. Aenerally it guesses the .5) by simply
adding a %%% to the front of the domain name in the email address. 'his is often
inaccurate.
#lso note that the organi+ation field is 1ust the o%ner of the domain name. 'hat may or
may not be the indi"idual's actual organi+ation. 'he organi+ation address is also not "ery
dependable. 'ypically it is the address for the department maintaining the Internet
connection, not necessarily the main address for the organi+ation itself. ,hile not &uite
as large as !our11 ?at least at the time of this %riting@, I#! does bring up uni&ue
addresses. It also can bring up more alternate email addresses for the same indi"idual
than some of its competitors.
ORA
'he strangely named O45#, subtitled "net.citi+en /irectory -er"ice," claims %ell o"er
fi"e million entries in its email directory. Only one search line is pro"ided, not multiple
fields li$e the other ser"ices. #s their !#; boasts, "O45# uses a comple( set of
statistical relationships to determine %hich %ords are most important for a gi"en &uery.
'his eliminates the need for %ord grouping, boolean operators, and the "ery annoying
'multiple input bo(' syndrome." 9ersonally, I %ould rather use 8oolean and field
searching than trust a "comple( set of statistical relationships." /espite the blac$ bo(
approach, O45# is a substantial collection of email addresses. 'hey should also be
credited for including a current statistics bo( on the top le"el page, listing the number of
database records and the number of searches run.
!or simple searches, the single line entry %or$s fine. Bet, O45# search results contain
many duplicate addresses. 'herefore, ta$e the fi"e million %ith a hefty spoonful of salt,
since a percentage of those records are duplicates. 'he results display ta$es a %hile to get
used to, particularly the annoying, smiling yello% ball. 'he degree of the grimace
represents ho% close a match to the search &uery the ans%er is. O45# only displays the
name, email address, and date first entered, unli$e the more detailed display from I#!.
O45# limits output to <> records.
'(O'(ERE)
Bet another email loo$ up contender is ,ho,here, claiming to be "the largest
%orld%ide directory of email addresses." Bet I could not find e"en an appro(imate total
number of records in the ,ho,here database. On some &ueries, it came close to !our11
in &uantity but other searches fared less %ell. 'he content, li$e the others, comes from
"public sources a"ailable on the Internet" and self0registration.
'he ,ho,here input form ta$es a middle road bet%een the single line O45# and the
multiple fields of !our11 and I#!. ,ho,here uses t%o search bo(es2 the first for
names and the second for "information about the person," including city, state, country,
company, or email pro"ider. C(cept for common names, a simple name search usually
succeeds best. -earches can be run as either "all matches" or "only e(act matches." #ll
matches is the standard search. 'he e(act match re&uires that the full name match
e(actly, including both first and last names. Do%e"er, the e(act match does not need to
be e(act on search terms included in the second search bo(. !or any search terms in the
"information about this person" section, ,ho,here still treats it as a $ey%ord.
,ho,here uses a different approach to searching than the other databases. 5esults are
listed as highly rele"ant, probably rele"ant, or possibly rele"ant ?denoted %ith different
colored dots rather than the obno(ious faces that O45# uses@. 'he latter t%o categories
start using fu++y matches, %here Aibson matches =ohnson, =ane matches =anet, and 8a$er
matches 8ar$er, 8ec$er, and ,hita$er. ,ho,here then offers another option, the email
%i+ard, %hich uses e"en fu++ier logic to broaden the search. ,hile such search functions
are interesting, it is only useful %hen you are not sure of the name of the person. 6ost
people trying to find an email address usually $no% the name of the person. It %ould be
interesting to $no% ho% many people find useful results in the possibly rele"ant set.
USENE& ADDRESSES
8esides the tools mentioned pre"iously, one longtime standard database to search is the
.senet addresses database. 'his database contains a clearly delimited subset of Internet
email addresses. 'he database description states that it includes "addresses collected from
.senet postings bet%een =uly 1991 and !ebruary 1996. . .'here is no guarantee that the
addresses are correct or usable." 'hus, only people that ha"e posted a message on .senet
ne%s %ill be included in this database. ,hile that by itself greatly narro%s the scope of
this database, remember that many email lists are mirrored on .senet, so those addresses
%ill be included as %ell. 'his database is also one of the primary components of most of
the other email directory ser"ices.
'he mobility of .senet posters creates both a problem and ad"antage for this database.
'he problem is that many people %ill mo"e on and change email addresses and this
database may not include their ne% one. 6any .senet users are college students.
#ssuming that some of them actually graduate and mo"e onto a ne% email address, the
database then includes many defunct addresses. 'o help %ith this problem, the ser"er
displays results in re"erse chronological order. Ai"en the displayed date, the user can
then ma$e an informed decision as to ho% reliable the gi"en address may be. In addition,
the ser"er tries to lin$ to local directory ser"ices from the host. 6any of these do not
%or$, but if they do, they pro"ide more current "erification of the email address.
'he positi"e side to the mobility factor ?if you are not bothered by the pri"acy
implications@ is that it can be used to trac$ a person's acti"ities o"er time. -omeone may
ha"e posted ne%s in college, on the first 1ob, from an indi"idual account, and from the
current 1ob. ,ith all these as separate records in the database, it is possible to ma$e some
interesting deductions about an indi"idual's recent life.
'(O*S &(E +ES&)
*o single one of these databases is clearly better than the rest. Certainly, none of them
yet approach comprehensi"eness. C"en combining all these databases probably does not
approach half the total number of Internet email addresses. !or the fe% distincti"e
surnames that I used in comparing these database, !our11 ga"e the highest number of
non0duplicati"e retrie"als. 8ut it %as not that far abo"e O45#, I#!, and ,ho,here.
'he .senet addresses database also ga"e similar numbers to those three, but it contains
more out0of0date addresses.
.sing a single distincti"e name alone to compare the numbers is misleading. In
comparing these results, I e(cluded false drops due to the automatic truncation and
multiple entries for the same person. 5a% counts of the number of hits are much
different. Cach database has uni&ue records that may not be found in the other databases.
'he most efficient strategy is 1ust to search them one at a time until you find the ans%er.
"ROMO&!ON ,ERSUS "R!,AC-
-ince these databases all accept user added entries, you can help all of them gro% and
become more accurate. #dd your email address and others at your organi+ation. If you
%ant to be sure that email addresses at your organi+ation can be found in these databases,
see if the systems administrator has a list of email addresses that can be contributed. 'hat
should %or$ for all but the .senet addresses database. 'o be found in that one, post
something on .senet. It is not e"en necessary to ta$e part in one of the ne%sgroups. =ust
post a test message to a test ne%sgroup such as alt.test.
On the other hand, do you %ant to ad"ertise your email address 6ost ,eb pages are
designed for public "ie%ing. Cmail addresses tend to be a bit more personal. ,ill your
email address be used for direct mar$eting #re you going to recei"e tons of 1un$ mail by
registering ,ould you prefer not to be found 'he email database pro"iders all address
this concern. It is a common &uestion in their !#;s. 'he companies ta$e steps to limit
the number of addresses that can be retrie"ed from the database to discourage abuse by
direct mar$eting companies. 'hey also state that they do not sell their lists.
!or the pri"acy conscious, you can e"en remo"e yourself from some of the directories.
'hey prefer that you not do that, but they do pro"ide a remo"al ser"ice. #s an alternati"e,
,ho,here offers a ,ho'here ser"ice. ,ho'here maintains a listing for you in the
directory but does not display an email address. Instead, if someone %ants to send you an
email message, it goes through ,ho,here first, and they for%ard it to you.
'hese options for pri"acy protection also create the potential for abuse by others. Could
someone else go in and remo"e your email address Bes, although the company %ill send
an email message to you confirming the deletion. Other possible abuses could include
gi"ing misleading or inaccurate listings for others. 'he companies ha"e begun to grapple
%ith these database integrity issues, but they may not ha"e easy ans%ers. !ortunately,
there ha"e not been many reports of abuse yet.
*etscape has had a page for Internet %hite page directories for some time no%
?http233home.netscape.com3home3internet0%hite0pages.html@. ,ith *a"igator "ersion E, it
has been renamed 9eople and is on the directory buttons as %ell as in the drop do%n
/irectory menu. It includes the databases mentioned here, along %ith other email
databases, phone number databases, and home page directories. Bahoo includes e"en
more under 5eference2 ,hite 9ages2 Indi"iduals
?http233%%%.yahoo.com35eference3,hiteF9ages3Indi"iduals3@. C"en as the uni"erse of
email addresses continues to e(plode, these email address databases begin to pro"ide a
means for searchers to trac$ do%n at least some portion of the uncounted millions in use.
Communications to the author should be addressed to Greg R. Notess, Montana State
University Libraries, P.. Bo! "#$$%&, Bo'eman, MT ()#"#*$$%&+ ,&-.)),*-(-$+
/re/0notess.com + htt12..333.notess.com.
Copyright 1996, Online Inc. #ll rights reser"ed.