MaxBulk Mailer - 4.4.2

I didn't just comment my original post since I thought the fix should be more up front. 6.5 runs fine for me now that the developer made one small fix affecting Power PC machines like mine. The version number hasn't changed, but current downloads have the fix.

Developer Stan responded to my query in about 10 minutes. I think that's fast enough.

There's a lot to love in one's experience with MaxBulk Mailer AND a lot to hate.

On the positive side, the program is feature rich and contains some options that are important to those of us who mail newsletters or run small businesses. It is a bargan for the price.

I particularly like the "Burst" feature that allows me to get around the daily message number limit imposed by my domain host, Go Daddy. I'm only allowed 250 messges a day for EACH of my email accounts. Let's say I want to mail to 1,000 people. All I have to do is create 4 email accounts. MaxBulk Mailer allow me to "throttle" or control my output. To send out a mailing to 1000 people, I can use 4 of my email accounts and limit the number of messages that goes out through each to 250. That feature is worth the price of the program.

So where is the paradox?

The documentation for this program is absolutely terrible. It's an insult to the concept of documentation. I am not a slow learner. But this program is almost impossible to learn from the skimpy 8 pages of instructions given. Key terms are undefined. Critical things like how to create new settings accounts are left to trial and error. Some things are done in menu's, others in drop down boxes -- and most of them are never discussed in the anti-documentation. I think most of us will be able to hunch our way through the message section and the recipient section. However, the settings section, where we establish which of our servers to use and when, where we have to put in our authentication -- is so poorly done that it's "YOYOMF" (that's a Texas term for "Your on your own mother friend" -- or something like that.)

Yet, even more paradoxical is the fact that Stan, who is apparently the developer, responds fairly quickly to email requests for support. I admire that.

But, I would much prefer to have a manual that lets me work through the program on my own schedule and frees me from the dependence of having to write him a message and then wait for a response. This is made more difficult by the fact we are in radically different time zones.

Actually this program is not all that complex. It's the lack of proper documentation that makes it so frustrating. If you love to struggle, this is the program for you. If not, you might want to look elsewhere.

And, that's too bad. Because I think that once I master it it will serve me well.