PHP List - How to rate throttle

[Matt]

If you have a php list that has more members in it than the available number of emails that can be sent per hour, there is a solution for you.

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Please Note:
If you have more than 1000 list members we ask you to schedule your lists in "off peak" hours. Off peak is considered to start at 10 PM PST(1 AM EST) Your list should be completed by 5 AM PST (8 AM EST)

Please Note:
If you have more than 5000 list members, you will need a dedicated server. Please open a support ticket with us to check on availability.
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Configuring your List for email throttling:
You need to find the configuration file for your PHP List installation. For example, if you installed your PHP List at http://yourdomain.com/list your configuration file would be located (as of this writing) at:

/public_html/list/config/config.php

Open up your file manager in cPanel or download the file via FTP. In cPanel click the file name and choose the "edit" option. If you FTP the file to your local computer, just open the file with notepad or whatever you use for text editing.

Search for:

MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE
and
MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD

MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE is the configuration option that will "batch" or group a certain number of emails together for a sending.

MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD is the frequency in which your batches will be sent.

For example, if you have a 500 email, per hour limit, and you have a list with 1500 members, you might want to make settings like this:

 
define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_SIZE",450);
 
define("MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD",4200);

What this does is split your list into 4 batches.
Batch one: 450
Batch two: 450
Batch three: 450
Batch four: 150

This equals 1500 list members. It also makes sure you are erring on the safe side by using 450 emails per hour instead of the full 500 because you may have some non-list emails that come in and trigger our system to disable your script.

I've also used 4200 of MAILQUEUE_BATCH_PERIOD which is every 70 minutes to be even more careful with the hourly limits.

Notice we recommend 450 emails per batch instead of 500 emails per batch. the reason for this is it allows you to send 50 other emails from your account in that hour. Meaning regular emails that you are actually typing and sending off to people. If you set the batch at 500 emails, you probably would have problems trying to email people using your mail program like Outlook or Thunderbird.

Once you decide which settings will work best for you, save the file in the cPanel file manager with your new settings, or, if you edited the file locally, upload it in ASCII mode in your FTP program.