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Integrating Your Administrative Database and
Mailing List
AIKCU 2015
David Abney – Web Developer/ProgrammerShane Wilson – Senior Systems and Network CoordinatorStacie Yates – Senior Database Programmer/Analyst
Project Overview
• Replace Mailman mailing list system with Sympa• Setup the administrative database (Jenzabar CX)
to act as the source for mailing list members in Sympa
• Setup a user interface for moderators in the campus portal (Jenzabar) to maintain mailing lists
• Create automatic processes to pass mailing lists and list members files from the admin database to Sympa
User Interface
• Why create a separate interface from Sympa?– Encourage use of campus portal– Convenient access (users are more likely to be
in the campus portal)– Easy to query database for user information
and user roles– Have more control over moderator features
• User interface was built using ASP.NET and C#
Public Screen
• All users in the campus portal can view or search all the mailing lists in Sympa
Moderator Screen
• System needed the ability to set moderators
• Moderators needed the ability to add/remove members
• Moderators needed the ability to add non-Centre College email addresses
• Required custom table to hold moderator changes and extra members added by the system
User Interface Problems/SolutionsProblems Solutions
Moderators wanted to maintain lists, but did not want to receive emails (student organizations)
Used roles and permissions inside Jenzabar’s Portal
Moderators shouldn’t be allowed to remove members required to be on a list (students, faculty, etc.)
Setup system to automatically maintain certain roles and add users back daily
Moderators needed the ability to add a list of emails to a mailing list.
Added feature to the moderator screen that would allow a user to copy a list of Centre email addresses
CX Database
• Setup scripts to select user email addresses and create mailing list CSV files based on the user’s roles
• Created files for faculty, staff, and student lists
• Able to create files for student organizations, athletic groups, and Greek organizations
• Mailing list CSV files were placed on a directory accessible by an SFTP connection
CX Database
• Scripts needed to populate the custom table used by the moderator interface, but also pull the moderator changes from the custom table
• Used is_auto flag in custom table label values that were maintained by the system
Why Sympa?
• Feature Rich• Flexible (to a fault)• Scriptable• Uses txt files and MySQL
DB
Thank You
Contact Information:David Abney – [email protected] Wilson – [email protected] Yates – [email protected] www.centre.edu
Questions?
