Sending email (using gmail & C#) Desktop or Web Based?

Question

Friends,

I know there are lots of similar topics, but I'm creating this thread to take expert suggestions/guidance regarding my project for a non-profit NGO website. I'm a volunteer for rotary International and They need a utility which can be used to send their newsletter .

• I'm not aware of the kind of email database they have, let's assume .xls file with three columns (to, cc, bcc), maybe 1000s of data,
• No database is available in their hosting plans , and I can't make them spend now.
• Most probably a msword (.doc) file would be available with some heavy images as newsletter.
• They have google apps ID

So what I'm seeking is: A way which is Right, shortest, quick, and easy to understand.

Lot of code is available on the internet but the right way to do things comes only with experience. So plz suggest me what do u say about this?

Standalone/Desktop, or web based? A WinForm application, or ASP.NET?

Desktop application may hang/crash due to 1000s of mail requests on google. Web application may force them to share their email database on ftp and then I will need to create another way to subscribe & unsubscribe online.

Plz help me start...

Answer 1

Personally I'd use (and do use) an integrated mailing system such as MailChimp

Why re-invent the wheel right? Services like this allow for uploading data from many types of storage, they manage your suscriptions and provide an easy method for users to unsubscribe.

Answer 2

You've suggested in your comment on Jamie's answer that you're worried about there being "nobody to take care of it after development" - but who's going to take care of whatever code you write? At least a system like MailChimp has documentation and is understood by a small but accessible group of people: code you write will only be understood by you, and won't be maintainable or extensible.

As with any project, there is no "right." There are simply tradeoffs. You've talked about automation of thousands of emails, subscribing and unsubscribing, and basing the email on a Word document. That's a lot of functionality to ask for help with on a simple Q&A site.

You say "Desktop application may hang/crash" - but that's equally true of a web application, you just won't see the hang. The trick would be to code your application in a way that doesn't hang.