If you've ever considered using an application for managing newsletters and mailing lists, to keep the members of your group, project, or organization informed, Ryan McGrath says the PHPList is your best bet.

Setting up PHPList is fairly easy. Before you install make sure you have a Web server and PHP installed, and a MySQL database in which to put all your data. The next step is to install the software -- editing the PHPList config.php file and making sure all the variables -- username, password, database ID, and default language -- are set. Then tailor the signup page to your needs, so you can use them in your mailing process.

Ryan notes the following positives about PHPList:

• Integrating PHPList signup and address management pages into a Web site's existing design is simple, since PHPList templates are fully customizable. You can even apply different templates to different messages and signup pages.
• Using the Free PDF Library, PHPList can automatically create and attach messages as PDF files to ensure that formatting and graphics are kept intact.
• PHPList lets you track the messages you send, so you can tell how many of your users actually opened a message. You can also specify a certain time or date for a newsletter to be sent, and PHPList will wait until that moment to send it.
• The software includes some email bouncing tools that try to prune unused and nonexistent email addresses. In my time using the program, it managed to kick out 95% of the fake addresses I tossed in there. There are options for some advanced bounce handling tools, which help distinguish between situations such as "this email address has never existed" and "this email address may be experiencing some slight downtime."