NewsgroupHosting Support Forum
Re: How do you use MPNews?
Thread Starter: Paul Started: 12/8/2007 12:22 AM UTC
Replies: 4
12/8/2007 12:22 AM UTC
Re: How do you use MPNews?
Reply Quote

Paul

Hi Nick,

Roz and myself have used MPNews since version 2 with great success.
We've not used the newsgrouphosting service ourselves so Chris and
newsgrouphosting users are best for specific advise.

I suspect that this subject would be best continued in the newsgrouphosting
forum mps.mpnews.HostingSupport so I've set replies to this message
to go to that forum :)


I'll jump in and make some quick comments so you can be confident that
MPNews v5 will do all that you ask and be easily tweaked later as your
needs change in the future.  Hopefully others will be able to offer
some hand holding, currently I'm in the middle of seasonal sales with
7 day/evening trading so I don't have much time until new year.
 

In article JayTR says...
Yes, it's a challenge -- especially for non-technical users like me.

MPNews is designed around separate modules so you don't have to learn
everything at once.  Add features later as demands need and time allow
or following advice from Chris or other newsgrouphosting users.


Chris will no doubt advise how he makes the various modules
available to customers to suit their needs.

Yes, it's a challenge -- especially for non-technical users like me.

I'm glad that you set up these forums and I hope other users of the software and/or the newsgrouphosting service will participate.  What I think would help would be for you to send out an email to all of your newly-acquired customers (both the software users and the newsgrouphosting users) letting them know that you set these forums up.  If enough users know about these forums, and enough of them begin to participate, I'm sure that would help everyone.



How do I use (or want to use) MPNews?

I want to be able to have the forums be a primary means of communication, exchanging ideas, posting ads, etc. for a small group of people who are all members of the same organization(s) that I set up.  By small group, I mean approximately 50 to up to about 300 or more members.


MPNews will do this!  
I don't know all of the correct terminology, but I am assuming that:
1) "NNTP-type access" to the groups means the same type of access I am using now to access this Usenet-style newsgroup -- I set up the Outlook Express newsreader software and use that to participate here (via news://news.messagepixels.com );

Correct.


2) "web-based access" to the forums or discussion groups means accessing them through the Internet where the same messages appear in a graphical discussion group type of format (via http://news.messagepixels.com and click on discussion groups);, and,

Yes.


3) there may be an "email-based access" to the forums or discussion groups, but I am not sure of that.

There is a mailing list module for advanced use but you might prefer in the
beginning to see if the email notification options already fill most of your
expectations.

Email notifications simply advise users that a new message is posted and they
should visit your site via NNTP or Web browser to read the new messages.
(Users who are aware of RSS feeds can instead subscribe via some browsers and
all RSS tools to discover new messages postings automatically.  No need to
think about RSS in the beginning unless you know about RSS already ;) - )


Here's what I need:

A) the ability to have members of my organization(s) register or sign up to join the discussion forums and have me approve them by first verifying that the are current members of the organization;

Mark added this facility very recently on request by users.
We run Safety awareness private forums and it's important that teachers are
able to check that students join groups appropriate to their class, age and
school - keeping out bogus signups.


B) the ability to have those members access and participate in the forums by either using the NNTP-type newsreader access or the web-based Internet; and,

This is the default - but imho you should also consider if any or all the groups
should be private (hidden from Google indexing and public eyes.)


C) if at all possible, the ability to have people who do not want to do either of the above, participate in the same discussions entirely through an email-based system the way that Yahoo Groups allow group members to participate entirely via email.

This can be done capably through the MPNews mailing list module.

(We've implemented some tweaks here for software support to allow private support
requests to be made to via email or webpage which are then emailed onward to
support staff.   By keeping copies of requests and answers together on a private
hidden forum other support staff know which requests are answered and can add
supplimentary comments if required.

And, more than anything else, I need someone who fully understands how this newsgrouphosting service works and who can help me one-on-one to get everything set up exactly the way I want it (assuming that is possible).  I would be willing to pay someone to help me with that as long as it isn't too expensive to do so, and it doesn't have to be you or someone from your company - just someone who can help me make this work.

newsgrouphosting service:

Some settings can only be adjusted by Chris (site admin - master server) as opposed
to you (virtual server admin - your personal site at newsgrouphosting) who has
access to the majority of settings.


Any feedback from anyone would be appreciated.  I can explain more if needed, and I will respond if there is any discussion here about this.

Great!

HTH,

Paul


Thanks.


Nick
12/9/2007 8:34 PM UTC
Re: How do you use MPNews?
Reply Quote

JayTR

Thanks Paul.

I haven't tried to do anything with the groups that I set up for the past 6 months or so.  Instead, I have just been paying the monthly hosting fees (two accounts) and hoped to get back to it later and try to get everything figured out.  What you wrote makes me think that I should try taking a stab at it again and see what happens.

When I was working on it before, I was just trying to get something basic working.  I tried creating groups that were open to the public and also groups that would only be open to the members of an organzation I joined, and not be visible to the public.

I may try cancelling one of the accounts and adding the email feature to the other one -- then see if I can get it working.

I don't know how many people use the newsgroup hosting service vs. buying the software and running the groups on their own servers or whatever.  I would do the latter, but I have no clue how to set that up or do that.  I can barely function through the use of the hosting service.

Nick

"Paul" <4@ukf.net> wrote in message news:4753846e$2b75e8a8$5d1@vlad...
Hi Nick,

Roz and myself have used MPNews since version 2 with great success.
We've not used the newsgrouphosting service ourselves so Chris and
newsgrouphosting users are best for specific advise.

I suspect that this subject would be best continued in the newsgrouphosting
forum mps.mpnews.HostingSupport so I've set replies to this message
to go to that forum :)


I'll jump in and make some quick comments so you can be confident that
MPNews v5 will do all that you ask and be easily tweaked later as your
needs change in the future.  Hopefully others will be able to offer
some hand holding, currently I'm in the middle of seasonal sales with
7 day/evening trading so I don't have much time until new year.


In article JayTR says...
> Yes, it's a challenge -- especially for non-technical users like me.

MPNews is designed around separate modules so you don't have to learn
everything at once.  Add features later as demands need and time allow
or following advice from Chris or other newsgrouphosting users.


Chris will no doubt advise how he makes the various modules
available to customers to suit their needs.

> Yes, it's a challenge -- especially for non-technical users like me.

> I'm glad that you set up these forums and I hope other users of the > software
> and/or the newsgrouphosting service will participate.  What I think would
> help would be for you to send out an email to all of your newly-acquired
> customers (both the software users and the newsgrouphosting users) > letting
> them know that you set these forums up.  If enough users know about these
> forums, and enough of them begin to participate, I'm sure that would help
> everyone.



> How do I use (or want to use) MPNews?

>
> I want to be able to have the forums be a primary means of communication,
> exchanging ideas, posting ads, etc. for a small group of people who are > all
> members of the same organization(s) that I set up.  By small group, I > mean
> approximately 50 to up to about 300 or more members.


MPNews will do this!

> I don't know all of the correct terminology, but I am assuming that:
>
> 1) "NNTP-type access" to the groups means the same type of access I am > using
> now to access this Usenet-style newsgroup -- I set up the Outlook Express
> newsreader software and use that to participate here (via
> news://news.messagepixels.com );

Correct.


> 2) "web-based access" to the forums or discussion groups means accessing
> them through the Internet where the same messages appear in a graphical
> discussion group type of format (via http://news.messagepixels.com and > click
> on discussion groups);, and,

Yes.


> 3) there may be an "email-based access" to the forums or discussion > groups,
> but I am not sure of that.

There is a mailing list module for advanced use but you might prefer in the
beginning to see if the email notification options already fill most of your
expectations.

Email notifications simply advise users that a new message is posted and they
should visit your site via NNTP or Web browser to read the new messages.
(Users who are aware of RSS feeds can instead subscribe via some browsers and
all RSS tools to discover new messages postings automatically.  No need to
think about RSS in the beginning unless you know about RSS already ;) - )


> Here's what I need:

> A) the ability to have members of my organization(s) register or sign up > to
> join the discussion forums and have me approve them by first verifying > that
> the are current members of the organization;

Mark added this facility very recently on request by users.
We run Safety awareness private forums and it's important that teachers are
able to check that students join groups appropriate to their class, age and
school - keeping out bogus signups.


> B) the ability to have those members access and participate in the forums > by
> either using the NNTP-type newsreader access or the web-based Internet; > and,

This is the default - but imho you should also consider if any or all the groups
should be private (hidden from Google indexing and public eyes.)


> C) if at all possible, the ability to have people who do not want to do
> either of the above, participate in the same discussions entirely through > an
> email-based system the way that Yahoo Groups allow group members to
> participate entirely via email.

This can be done capably through the MPNews mailing list module.

(We've implemented some tweaks here for software support to allow private support
requests to be made to via email or webpage which are then emailed onward to
support staff.   By keeping copies of requests and answers together on a private
hidden forum other support staff know which requests are answered and can add
supplimentary comments if required.


> And, more than anything else, I need someone who fully understands how > this
> newsgrouphosting service works and who can help me one-on-one to get
> everything set up exactly the way I want it (assuming that is possible). > I
> would be willing to pay someone to help me with that as long as it isn't > too
> expensive to do so, and it doesn't have to be you or someone from your
> company - just someone who can help me make this work.

newsgrouphosting service:

Some settings can only be adjusted by Chris (site admin - master server) as opposed
to you (virtual server admin - your personal site at newsgrouphosting) who has
access to the majority of settings.


> Any feedback from anyone would be appreciated.  I can explain more if
> needed, and I will respond if there is any discussion here about this.

Great!

HTH,

Paul


> Thanks.


> Nick



12/10/2007 3:02 AM UTC
Re: How do you use MPNews?
Reply Quote

Paul

In article JayTR says...

I haven't tried to do anything with the groups that I set up for the past 6 months or so.  Instead, I have just been paying the monthly hosting fees (two accounts) and hoped to get back to it later and try to get everything figured out.  What you wrote makes me think that I should try taking a stab at it again and see what happens.


Sounds like you have forums defined.

Setting up some forums with default settings and testing shouldn't
take more than about 10 mins.  ;)   Perhaps another 5mins choosing
and editing friendly labels for the forums so users know clearly the
use for each forum.  

The bits that took time for us were the more advanced settings,
chatting and working out the settings for admins, moderator,
member and guest.

For the lightly posted TreeWalk DNS and Confetch forums the four
headings below are sufficient.  Sounds like you may only need
Admin (you) and Members.

Admin - virtual server settings, security, filtering etc.

Moderators - write access to read only announcement, FAQ and
private forums (private email messages to support).  Ability
to delete spam and postings by others very rarely required.
No need to offer access to virtual server admin access or
issues of trust.

Members - have protection against others spoofing their username
and can use Avatars/X-Face.

Guests - (limited posting inc messages are filtered) most
visitors choose not to become members due to nature of required
support.  TreeWalk DNS users may only need help setting up
firewalls or installing to PC's running Norton :(
However Confetch is updated very often and has a very large
number of users are polling for changes or using our MPNews RSS
feeds.

As mentioned before our Safety Educational forums go beyond
simple use, several virtual servers, forced membership,
moderation and private communal forums.
   
When I was working on it before, I was just trying to get something basic working.  I tried creating groups that were open to the public and also groups that would only be open to the members of an organzation I joined, and not be visible to the public.

What success did you have?

I may try cancelling one of the accounts and adding the email feature to the other one -- then see if I can get it working.

I believe that Chris needs to set up the email mailing lists,
however the first step is to get the Webpage and NNTP access
forums running and get the access permissions correct.
To use email mailing lists visitors must be members first
so signup and filtering/moderation of signups must be
up and running smoothly before jumping into the email hoop.


I don't know how many people use the newsgroup hosting service vs.
buying the software and running the groups on their own servers
or whatever.

Hosting imho is more efficient and should have far less bandwidth
bottlenecks than trying to run your own local server on *DSL
or cable that may require 24hrx7x52 access.
We have problems when several thousand students try to access
for projects at end or beginning of termtime, though hosting
graphics and files elsewhere on (mostly free) servers mostly keeps
load low.

Local hosting works for us because it allows the MPNews databases
to be used by other Web applications.    

I would do the latter, but I have no clue how to
set that up or do that.  I can barely function through
the use of the hosting service.

Nick

In that case best stick with hosting and ask specific questions
when the menus and helpfiles don't give the answers you need.
Mostly an example from someone here should be enough to get
you moving again.  


Paul

http://forums.treewalkdns.com
http://www.treewalkdns.com
http://www.confetch.com
12/11/2007 2:48 PM UTC
Re: How do you use MPNews?
Reply Quote

JayTR

Thanks again for all of your help and suggestions.

I can't really try any of what you suggested yet because I can't get anything to function where I can access my accounts and try to make any changes.  All that I have set up is the forums that I was working on back in May before I gave up.  One of them is sjforums.newsgrouphosting.com .  They don't work correctly and never did, but I was setting them up just to see if I could get something working.

I may have to try figuring out how to set up my own server, buy the software, and try to find someone in my area that I can hire to teach me how to use the software and create what I want on my own server.  The problem with paying monthly for the newsgrouphosting service is that the whole thing is just too indirect.

Nick


"Paul" <4@ukf.net> wrote in message news:28e09319$1d396a7e$436@vlad...
In article JayTR says...

> I haven't tried to do anything with the groups that I set up for the past > 6
> months or so.  Instead, I have just been paying the monthly hosting fees
> (two accounts) and hoped to get back to it later and try to get > everything
> figured out.  What you wrote makes me think that I should try taking a > stab
> at it again and see what happens.


Sounds like you have forums defined.

Setting up some forums with default settings and testing shouldn't
take more than about 10 mins.  ;)   Perhaps another 5mins choosing
and editing friendly labels for the forums so users know clearly the
use for each forum.

The bits that took time for us were the more advanced settings,
chatting and working out the settings for admins, moderator,
member and guest.

For the lightly posted TreeWalk DNS and Confetch forums the four
headings below are sufficient.  Sounds like you may only need
Admin (you) and Members.

Admin - virtual server settings, security, filtering etc.

Moderators - write access to read only announcement, FAQ and
private forums (private email messages to support).  Ability
to delete spam and postings by others very rarely required.
No need to offer access to virtual server admin access or
issues of trust.

Members - have protection against others spoofing their username
and can use Avatars/X-Face.

Guests - (limited posting inc messages are filtered) most
visitors choose not to become members due to nature of required
support.  TreeWalk DNS users may only need help setting up
firewalls or installing to PC's running Norton :(
However Confetch is updated very often and has a very large
number of users are polling for changes or using our MPNews RSS
feeds.

As mentioned before our Safety Educational forums go beyond
simple use, several virtual servers, forced membership,
moderation and private communal forums.


> When I was working on it before, I was just trying to get something basic
> working.  I tried creating groups that were open to the public and also
> groups that would only be open to the members of an organzation I joined,
> and not be visible to the public.

What success did you have?


> I may try cancelling one of the accounts and adding the email feature to > the
> other one -- then see if I can get it working.

I believe that Chris needs to set up the email mailing lists,
however the first step is to get the Webpage and NNTP access
forums running and get the access permissions correct.
To use email mailing lists visitors must be members first
so signup and filtering/moderation of signups must be
up and running smoothly before jumping into the email hoop.


> I don't know how many people use the newsgroup hosting service vs.
> buying the software and running the groups on their own servers
> or whatever.

Hosting imho is more efficient and should have far less bandwidth
bottlenecks than trying to run your own local server on *DSL
or cable that may require 24hrx7x52 access.
We have problems when several thousand students try to access
for projects at end or beginning of termtime, though hosting
graphics and files elsewhere on (mostly free) servers mostly keeps
load low.

Local hosting works for us because it allows the MPNews databases
to be used by other Web applications.

> I would do the latter, but I have no clue how to
> set that up or do that.  I can barely function through
> the use of the hosting service.

> Nick

In that case best stick with hosting and ask specific questions
when the menus and helpfiles don't give the answers you need.
Mostly an example from someone here should be enough to get
you moving again.


Paul

http://forums.treewalkdns.com
http://www.treewalkdns.com
http://www.confetch.com

12/13/2007 2:36 AM UTC
Re: How do you use MPNews?
Reply Quote

Chris Reich

Paul, thanks for the through reply - I don't have much to add.  Either hosting yourself or with NewsgroupHosting.com, we can provide most any combination of services and software upon request including customizations. We have everywhere from individuals/families to large companies with nearly 5,000 users using our hosting service effectively.

If you (or anyone) have specific needs or requests, e-mail me and I can give guidance and assistance.

Chris
info@messagepixels.com



"Paul" <4@ukf.net> wrote in message news:4753846e$2b75e8a8$5d1@vlad...
Hi Nick,

Roz and myself have used MPNews since version 2 with great success.
We've not used the newsgrouphosting service ourselves so Chris and
newsgrouphosting users are best for specific advise.

I suspect that this subject would be best continued in the newsgrouphosting
forum mps.mpnews.HostingSupport so I've set replies to this message
to go to that forum :)


I'll jump in and make some quick comments so you can be confident that
MPNews v5 will do all that you ask and be easily tweaked later as your
needs change in the future.  Hopefully others will be able to offer
some hand holding, currently I'm in the middle of seasonal sales with
7 day/evening trading so I don't have much time until new year.


In article JayTR says...
> Yes, it's a challenge -- especially for non-technical users like me.

MPNews is designed around separate modules so you don't have to learn
everything at once.  Add features later as demands need and time allow
or following advice from Chris or other newsgrouphosting users.


Chris will no doubt advise how he makes the various modules
available to customers to suit their needs.

> Yes, it's a challenge -- especially for non-technical users like me.

> I'm glad that you set up these forums and I hope other users of the > software
> and/or the newsgrouphosting service will participate.  What I think would
> help would be for you to send out an email to all of your newly-acquired
> customers (both the software users and the newsgrouphosting users) > letting
> them know that you set these forums up.  If enough users know about these
> forums, and enough of them begin to participate, I'm sure that would help
> everyone.



> How do I use (or want to use) MPNews?

>
> I want to be able to have the forums be a primary means of communication,
> exchanging ideas, posting ads, etc. for a small group of people who are > all
> members of the same organization(s) that I set up.  By small group, I > mean
> approximately 50 to up to about 300 or more members.


MPNews will do this!

> I don't know all of the correct terminology, but I am assuming that:
>
> 1) "NNTP-type access" to the groups means the same type of access I am > using
> now to access this Usenet-style newsgroup -- I set up the Outlook Express
> newsreader software and use that to participate here (via
> news://news.messagepixels.com );

Correct.


> 2) "web-based access" to the forums or discussion groups means accessing
> them through the Internet where the same messages appear in a graphical
> discussion group type of format (via http://news.messagepixels.com and > click
> on discussion groups);, and,

Yes.


> 3) there may be an "email-based access" to the forums or discussion > groups,
> but I am not sure of that.

There is a mailing list module for advanced use but you might prefer in the
beginning to see if the email notification options already fill most of your
expectations.

Email notifications simply advise users that a new message is posted and they
should visit your site via NNTP or Web browser to read the new messages.
(Users who are aware of RSS feeds can instead subscribe via some browsers and
all RSS tools to discover new messages postings automatically.  No need to
think about RSS in the beginning unless you know about RSS already ;) - )


> Here's what I need:

> A) the ability to have members of my organization(s) register or sign up > to
> join the discussion forums and have me approve them by first verifying > that
> the are current members of the organization;

Mark added this facility very recently on request by users.
We run Safety awareness private forums and it's important that teachers are
able to check that students join groups appropriate to their class, age and
school - keeping out bogus signups.


> B) the ability to have those members access and participate in the forums > by
> either using the NNTP-type newsreader access or the web-based Internet; > and,

This is the default - but imho you should also consider if any or all the groups
should be private (hidden from Google indexing and public eyes.)


> C) if at all possible, the ability to have people who do not want to do
> either of the above, participate in the same discussions entirely through > an
> email-based system the way that Yahoo Groups allow group members to
> participate entirely via email.

This can be done capably through the MPNews mailing list module.

(We've implemented some tweaks here for software support to allow private support
requests to be made to via email or webpage which are then emailed onward to
support staff.   By keeping copies of requests and answers together on a private
hidden forum other support staff know which requests are answered and can add
supplimentary comments if required.


> And, more than anything else, I need someone who fully understands how > this
> newsgrouphosting service works and who can help me one-on-one to get
> everything set up exactly the way I want it (assuming that is possible). > I
> would be willing to pay someone to help me with that as long as it isn't > too
> expensive to do so, and it doesn't have to be you or someone from your
> company - just someone who can help me make this work.

newsgrouphosting service:

Some settings can only be adjusted by Chris (site admin - master server) as opposed
to you (virtual server admin - your personal site at newsgrouphosting) who has
access to the majority of settings.


> Any feedback from anyone would be appreciated.  I can explain more if
> needed, and I will respond if there is any discussion here about this.

Great!

HTH,

Paul


> Thanks.


> Nick