I'm hoping one of you can help me... I don't have MySQL and have no intention of getting it as I don't have the funds in the website budget to cover it. Is it possible to create a mailing list using PHP? From the front end I need to have an input box for the user to type their email address and 2 combo boxes - one for subscribe and one for unsubscribe. These mail addresses then go into a file (maybe a txt document) which can be added to and deleted using the information given on the mail list form. From the backend I need to be able to upload a file and mailshot it to all the email addresses on that list from a page online. Is anyone able to help me out?
Hi There's no problem doing that but you've shut the door on using excellent tools like phpList as they will ALL require a database. Research fopen / fwrite etc and start playing around.
As PrexFox stated MySQL is free on 99% of hosts, it is not like SQL Server where you need a license to run it. It is free to download and use as you wish. As for using a text file, I would advise against it. As the mailing list grows, the seek time for removing email address's will become rather large.
id recommend as others have done getting mysql.. it is free ffs! I would look into: fopen, explode, fread, fwrite