Email alerts disabled on watched forums, threads, and conversations

Blog Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by Todd, Apr 1, 2024.

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  1. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Over the weekend, our email platform (SparkPost, acquired by MessageBird in 2021) informed me that they're forcing us to a new plan on April 1 (no joke) that would've raised our monthly fee from $299 to $899 (+ 4x the overage fees) for basically the same exact service included in our legacy plan.

    This didn't fly with me (pun intended) for many reasons, so I immediately canceled our account, disabled their API, and switched to using Gmail SMTP under my own Google Workspace account. This mostly impacts the sending of transactional emails (new account confirmations and the like).

    Pros:
    • This is all temporary
    • Saves us a good chunk of change every month (at least for now)
    • I've been wanting to drop SparkPost for years, so this just pushed me to explore alternatives
    • I'll enable email alerts again after the big forum upgrade (to be announced)
    Cons:
    • There are hard limits with how many emails a Google Workspace account can send
    • To ensure that we don't hit these limits, I had to disable sending email alerts for watched forums, threads, and conversations for everyone who previously had these enabled
    • I'm unable to send mass email blasts/updates, but I've been limiting these over the last year due to limitations with our previous SparkPost integration (so no big deal)
    • Increases customer support for me (yes, I'm also customer support), due to losing automation that we had with the SparkPost API integration
    Anyway. I've been working on this since Saturday, and monitoring for issues. Everything is looking good, but please let me know if you run into any issues or have any question.

    Sorry for the temporary inconvenience.

    Time for a beer...
     
    #1 Todd, Apr 1, 2024
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  2. Shanex

    Shanex Grand Pooh-Bah (4,960) Dec 10, 2015 France
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Not worried about these alerts as I’d rather disable them and as I’m on often just use the proper BA notifications instead.

    The mass emails is the possible issue, but I’ve gotten less than you used to send for some special threads, events or just announcing a major change on the site. Cheers.
     
    #2 Shanex, Apr 1, 2024
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  3. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    We get emails?
     
    #3 rocdoc1, Apr 1, 2024
    Shiredave, Bass-n-beerman, barneyrubble and 22 others like this.
  4. NickTheGreat

    NickTheGreat Maven (1,470) Oct 28, 2010 Iowa
    Trader

    I started to get concerned, but then realized he was talking emails and I use the BA alerts as well.
     
    #4 NickTheGreat, Apr 1, 2024
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  5. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Yes, before this update you could opt-in to receive email alerts on forums and threads that you watch, as well as new conversations. And, in the past, the full message text was sent. Might bring that back one day...
     
    #5 Todd, Apr 1, 2024
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  6. cdinardo21

    cdinardo21 Savant (1,142) Oct 29, 2019 Pennsylvania
    Trader

    Thx for the update as always, Todd.
     
    #6 cdinardo21, Apr 1, 2024
    ChicagoJ, Uptownal, PapaGoose03 and 7 others like this.
  7. LesDewitt4beer

    LesDewitt4beer Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,315) Jan 25, 2021 Minnesota
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thank you @Todd! Man, those fee increases are/were harsh. I raise my beer to you :beers:
     
    #7 LesDewitt4beer, Apr 1, 2024
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  8. OldBrewer

    OldBrewer Maven (1,385) Jan 13, 2016 Canada (ON)

    A toast to you for finding another platform. These kind of money-grabbing hikes to long-time customers are a total insult, and the best way to deal with them is to remind them of competitive alternatives.
     
    #8 OldBrewer, Apr 1, 2024
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  9. paulish

    paulish Grand Pooh-Bah (3,264) Feb 2, 2014 New York
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Is it time to index your membership? :slight_smile:
     
    #9 paulish, Apr 1, 2024
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  10. BillAfromSoCal

    BillAfromSoCal Pooh-Bah (2,415) Aug 24, 2020 California
    Society Pooh-Bah

    it is a trivial inconvenience compared to the BA benefits we still get
     
    #10 BillAfromSoCal, Apr 1, 2024
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  11. mickyge

    mickyge Grand Pooh-Bah (4,232) Nov 1, 2014 Massachusetts
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thanks for all you do to keep BA fun.
     
    #11 mickyge, Apr 2, 2024
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  12. chinchill

    chinchill Grand Pooh-Bah (5,541) Feb 29, 2008 South Carolina
    Society Pooh-Bah

    My sympathy and appreciation for your efforts.
     
    #12 chinchill, Apr 2, 2024
    Bitterbill, mickyge, ChicagoJ and 4 others like this.
  13. jjamadorphd

    jjamadorphd Pooh-Bah (2,496) Jul 21, 2012 Florida
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    No problem, thanks for making *all this* possible... ✌
     
    #13 jjamadorphd, Apr 2, 2024
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  14. WunderLlama

    WunderLlama Grand Pooh-Bah (4,820) Dec 27, 2010 Massachusetts
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    [​IMG]
     
    #14 WunderLlama, Apr 2, 2024
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  15. jvgoor3786

    jvgoor3786 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,222) May 28, 2015 Arkansas
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    The only emails I want are the ones for MFA log-ins I need to do every month. As long as I get those, I'm happy.
     
    #15 jvgoor3786, Apr 2, 2024
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  16. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    That's why I didn't get the emails, I would not have opted in at that point. I was still working and got several hundred emails every day and BA emails probably would have gotten lost or ignored.
     
    #16 rocdoc1, Apr 2, 2024
    Bitterbill, ChicagoJ and Todd like this.
  17. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    I recommend using an app for 2FA, but the email method still works. In fact, it probably works better now.
     
    #17 Todd, Apr 2, 2024
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  18. jvgoor3786

    jvgoor3786 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,222) May 28, 2015 Arkansas
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Ironically, I just got it today and saw an email from you! And I'm back in!

    Yes, I need to switch to an app for 2FA. I used one when I was in your Discord, but dumped both at the same time. I also have some old, repetitive passwords I still need to change. But don't tell anyone...

    Edit: I did it. Google Authenticator. Thanks for the push.
     
    #18 jvgoor3786, Apr 2, 2024
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  19. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Update: Some of you might've noticed some emails from watched threads sneaking through. This is due to a default user setting that I missed. Fixed. Anyone who selected to "Automatically watch threads that you create or when you reply" set to also send an email, now has it set to just send an alert.

    And it's crazy how many of you were getting email alerts (just an email with a link to the new reply) on threads like WBAYDN. :grimacing:
     
    #19 Todd, Apr 3, 2024
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  20. BeerJoeM3

    BeerJoeM3 Aspirant (269) Feb 15, 2024 New York

    Hey , understand completely. do what you gotta do . Anyway , it is about the beer and friends. Definitely time for a beer (or 2). Thanks for all you do !
     
    #20 BeerJoeM3, Apr 13, 2024
    Bitterbill and ChicagoJ like this.
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