On 4/1/23 16:33, Peter Knowles wrote:
Mark,
The whole reason I'm developing my own "frontend" for both "list management" and "archive" access is because Python isn't really the language I speak... I'm a PHP guy, and so I'm working to build with the language I know and love, while utilizing Mailman for what it does best... In addition to implementing the frontend the way I want it (expose/hide feature that are useful/unuseful to our users), I want to fully customize the visual appearance to represent the SaaS offering properly.
This is exactly the reason why Mailman core was decoupled from archiving and the web UI. HyperKitty and Postorius were developed because we knew that almost no one would use Mailman core without archiving and a web management UI, but we always hoped that others might develop and contribute other web based archiving and management interfaces.
Brian Carpenter of EMWD who tragically died of COVID did exactly that with his Affinity and Empathy PHP applications that interface with Mailman core via the REST API. EMWD hosts lists that use those interfaces, and had Brian not died, some version of those might be open sourced, but his initial thrust was to keep them proprietary for his business reasons. There is an early description of Brian's concept for Affinity at https://gitlab.com/mailman/affinity.
*** we're not try to hide that Mailman is in the equation, just how the overall interface is visually represented ***
That all being said, on a slight segway... Aside from using the REST API, is it practical or possible to manipulate the database directly? That is, in doing so would it just work or are there extra moving parts when an API request is issued?
It probably is possible, but I would definitely discourage it. The REST API should provide everything you need without your having to reimplement everything it does.
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan