Php Newsgroup Submission

[Tom Pietrzak]

I work for a company that has blocked newsgroup access. As a programmer, I feel quite handicapped. The only viable option I have for posting is the only viable option I think I have for viewing. That is groups.google.com. Unfortuneatly, it is often several hours before a message submitted to this site gets posted. I was hoping to develope a simple webpage (for my exclusive use --- not for spamming!... death to spammers) that would allow me to type in the group name and the message and allow that to submit to my home isp's newsgroup server. This is sort of an HTML based (or php) newsgroup client.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Tom Pietrzak

[QuickGold]

I dont know about what you're requesting, but I know there are a number of free Usenet servers around. Try searching Google for "free usenet" and you should find a few.

[Tom Pietrzak]

Thanks. That may solve my issue. I would still be interested if anyone has any scripts that would do this. PHP.NET refers to some NNTP functionality, but doesn't give any clear examples.

Tom

[Nick]

Hello Tom

try http://hotscripts.com/

[Herbster]

If you install phpBB, there is a neato mod you can add - NewsSync - that allows you to add newsgroups to your forum. Update posts via cron. You can see it in action here: http://www.deal-club.com/forums/index.php The site is not quite ready for prime time, but the forums are functional. I have the newsgroups set up as read only, but NewsSync gives you the option of a two way connection.

[thevillageinn]

interesting add-on for phpbb.


Originally posted by Herbster@Feb 13 2004, 10:34 PM
Update posts via cron.
you might want to check in with HostPC about this, depending on the frequency and amount of news updated via cron, since it's my understanding that cron jobs can eat up resources.

[Herbster]

I update quite a few newsgroups checking via cron once an hour. It concerns me that it takes so long to run - not because I need the data faster, but because of resource usage - as you mentioned. I suspect it takes as long as it does because I flipped a software switch that causes the program to run as a low priority. It should reliquish the cpu to other tasks. The script uses a cache. I don't believe it uses a lot of RAM.

As far as resource usage, I believe it is metered and factored into our bandwidth. Also, I believe we receive a notice if we exceed our account limits or trip any other system flags.

Early in it's development - beta - NewsSync caused a lot of resource related problems. That was about a year ago and the author added a remedy which others (with server access) have said solved the problem.

[thevillageinn]

that's cool that the config allows for the setting of the priority. I can imagine that it could / would take a long time to update. can you specify particular news groups to update? or do you have to update all or most all?

[Herbster]

It checks all newsgroups. The first time you retrieve messages from a newsgroup is the most demanding. When I saw that, I started adding one newsgroup per hour to minimize the load. After that, there are usually only a few messages at a time and perhaps one third of the groups I follow have new messages each hour. Some have only a few messages per week.

To be more clear, you can't select newsgroups to update via cron. It's all or nothing. But the script adds a module to the Admin Control Panel that allows you to turn off a newsgroup without actually deleting it. Of course, when you turn it back on, you'll end up downloading all of the new messages anyway.

It would be nice if NewsSync had a feature to allow posting to usenet only for admins. As it is, you can specify for each newsgroup that it is either a one-way or two-way connection with the news server, but that setting applies to everyone with access.

[Jeff]

Herbster, I'm curious where you get your news feed for this app. You don't have to tell us the exact source, but I know that the ISPs I've used limit feed access to their own IP addresses, so that option would be out for most folks. Did you have to use a standalone feed subscription service or did you find a free source?

[Herbster]

I would rather not name the service. It's a free service and after wading through pages of gobbledegook I'm certain I'm within their TOS, but that could change. Allowing visitors to post to usenet would be a violation. The potential for abuse is so high, losing the account would be a certainty.

Yes. I discovered that my ISP also limits nntp access to their own ips. However they do offer a free website. Too bad they don't offer php/mysql on the free accounts. Others may have better luck. I've read of one person contacting their ISP and successfully convincing them to allow him access. YMMV.

Another option is to convince Joe to add an nntp server. Bwahahahahahaha!!! :lol: