[Doc] User Selection 'query' Problem

[larryjbaker]

Hello Dean,

I have listmailpro (version 1.87d.)  Installed, which is being used for a political web site. I have been tasked with building their web site and setting up their e-mail.  Up to this point there have not been any problems.  Today, I have created a major boo-boo with the, "user selection" process.  In an attempt to select out seven individuals who were manually added to the database in one list on March 15th, I set up the following query:

SELECT * FROM lm_users WHERE ((list = '1' and cnf = '1' AND dateadd <= '2007-03-15') AND (list = '1' and cnf = '1' AND dateadd > '2007-03-14'))
 
7 users matched

Then I attempted to send an e-mail, expecting only those seven would be receiving my e-mail.  The e-mail was not to be sent to the rest of the list (137 users), but it was sent to the entire list.  I double checked my query and it looked okay, plus it was finding the seven addressees which I was expecting.  So, I went through the process again and saved the query and reran the e-mail.  It sent the same e-mail to the entire list again.  Am I missing something in setting this up?  Isn't this the way to send mail only to a select number of individuals based on "user selections"?

Now I am in hot water with the web site owners because they said it makes them look like idiots.  I don't want to ever make this mistake again, so is the problem with my query or is it a problem with the software?

Thank you,

Larry Baker
Indianapolis, Indiana USA

[DW]

Hi Larry,

The sending process is set up to generate the query with the same function as used in the preview, so there should be no difference in the # of matches.  I haven't heard -any- reports of this since I implemented User Selection some time ago.  However, there is always the possibility of a bug and I am willing to investigate if required.

When sending your email did you make absolutely sure to choose the selection by name in the "Target List or Selection" box?  I'm assuming you did...  This is quite strange.  Can you submit your info so I can investigate?  I won't send to any live lists.

Regards

[larryjbaker]

Hello Dean,

Thank you for responding so quickly to my question/problem.  After reading your response twice and further investigating the "user selection" process, I realized that it was a mistake on my part, not the software.  The documentation is not clear... at least to me of the process of setting up queries and their relationship to the sending of e-mail from one or more lists.  I was of the assumption that once a "user selection" query was set up and saved, it would act as a filter for the specific e-mail list that was chosen in the "send mail" drop-down list.  After investigating, I realized the error was in not choosing the specific "user selection" query in the list prior to sending out the e-mail.  I suspect I'm not the only one who has made this same mistake, but I could not find any references to this in the forum.

As an aside, the people I have set this e-mail program up for must still be a pretty mad at me for this mistake.  Personally, I think it is an overreaction on their part.  This is relatively new software to me (used it for 1.5 years), far as using it to its full potential and it has a bit of a learning curve to it.  What is funny about this situation is that these people I've set up this web site for and listmailpro would not/do not even have a clue about doing this, yet are so unforgiving.  Oh well, life goes on and in the bigger scheme of things, this is NOT a big deal!

Thank you,
Larry Baker