Email to Post

[PioneeR]

Sometimes I dont have web access yet it would be helpful to be able to post messages.

Possible to translate email sent to a certain POP3 account into a post??

[Mo-Xial-La 2.1a]

I'm no expert on this, but I'd like to drop my $2.00 in on this:
That would be a really funky security hazard, as normal email is FAR from encrypted, and thus leaves someone's username and password wide open during transmission.

Anyone who was bored could retrieve that kind of data, and it could be turned against you, especially if they caught an administrative password.

I can understand the need, as I used to have a need like that, but AFAIK, there is no truly safe, secure, and easy way to implement something like that, IMHO.

- Xial

[PioneeR]

I wasnt thinking about everyone being able to do it.. just me  

But i get your point

[irbrian]

Xial is right of course, but the idea itself has merit. Although even if you find a way to enforce security (say, requiring that users e-mail ONLY from the e-mail addess account they've signed up with, or something) you're looking at a LOT of work. The script on the server has to be able to check an email account for posts whenever someone tries to read the board, for instance.

An idea with merit but FAR more complications than I'd be willing to try and work through. Maybe someday someone with a lot of time on their hands will look into converting a mailing list script, but in the meantime, don't count on it.

[Mo-Xial-La 2.1a]

Xial is right of course, but the idea itself has merit. Although even if you find a way to enforce security (say, requiring that users e-mail ONLY from the e-mail addess account they've signed up with, or something) you're looking at a LOT of work. The script on the server has to be able to check an email account for posts whenever someone tries to read the board, for instance.

An idea with merit but FAR more complications than I'd be willing to try and work through. Maybe someday someone with a lot of time on their hands will look into converting a mailing list script, but in the meantime, don't count on it.

Probably when we all switch to Secure Email from regular email. (Just like people are switching to SSH from Telnet, and SFTP from FTP. Paranoia, anyone? )

[irbrian]

Again, I really think there would be alternate solutions. It would be very foolish to require the user to send their username and password to the board through e-mail; perhaps guest posting only could be allowed by this method, but if the e-mail account the post is sent from coincides with the e-mail listed for an existing user, I don't see any problem with posting it under their name.. perhaps with some kind of flag or icon indicating it was sent by E-mail, so people will know that the user didn't log in to make the post but that it was sent by e-mail, and so moderators can quickly spot and remove the post if its a problem. Or e-mailed posts could require moderator approval first.

Just some ideas. But the real technical challenges are actually not in security so much as in interfacing with specific e-mail accounts on the server.

Granted, its not as much of a technical challenge for some, merely a lot of work. But for me it would be a technical challenge.