Once a month, a FreeLists mailing list is chosen to be the month's "Featured List." We interview the owner of the list to find out what the list is all about, and how they've liked our disliked features of our service. If you'd like to recommend a list to be a future Featured List, please drop us a line.

This month's featured list is phpa. We interviewed Nick Lindridge, the list owner.

FreeLists: Please describe your list for us and other readers: What is the general focus of your list? What topics are most-often discussed? How much traffic is generally passed on the list in an average day?

Nick: The PHPA list serves as a support and announcements forum for users of a web tool that I've developed called the PHP Accelerator. For those unfamiliar with PHP itself, PHP is a popular programming language used for building dynamic web pages. Such pages have their content determined each and every time a page is requested, being the only way for many sites to deliver up to date and customised content. The downside for this flexibility is that dynamic pages take longer to generate, and this can become a very real problem for complex and busy sites, as well as sites on modest servers. The PHP Accelerator 'plugs in' to PHP and very effectively reduces web server load by reducing the time taken to deliver typical PHP generated pages by 2 to 3 times. Some users have even reported gains of 4 to 5 times. Matching the Acceleration of the best competition, The Accelerator is particularly attractive because it's free.

FreeLists: How did you hear about FreeLists, and why did you choose our service rather than one of the many others available? What features and/or benefits attracted you? Are you satisfied with the service? Where is there room for improvement?

Nick: For me, a FreeLists list serves as a great way to keep users or potential users informed of developments, new releases, the inevitable bugs and subsequent bug fixes. Of course list members can post too, and member comments, suggestions, and reports of problems in a thread that hopefully ends with a solution, can also benefit others on the list. Advertised as a low volume list, it generally is and this was my intention. I'd like people to be on the list to keep informed of changes, and not to be bogged down with non-specific chat, and wanting to leave as a result. The archive feature is also invaluable, and users with a question who search the archive may well find an answer to the same issue that's been posted in the past.

So why choose FreeLists? Well firstly I wanted an offsite list service. An option would be to run a list service as part of my own site, but I really wanted a site that was dedicated to and had the experience of managing such a venture. After doing some research, and of the sites I examined, FreeLists offered the unique combination of a free, quick, extremely flexible, and no banner ads service. It delivers exactly what it promised, and what I wanted. What has also been welcome is the speed of response. When I joined I did have one gripe and reported a suggestion for an enhancement. I had a near immediate response and the same evening the change was incorporated to the service and I was set to go! That boded well for the future and I haven't been disappointed.

FreeLists: Do you have any advice for other list owners?

Nick: To users with a list or considering one, my main recommendation would be to spend time exploring the features and playing with it. And don't forget to test the list on yourself. Subscribing, unsubscribing, checking that welcome messages say and appear as you want, is all important for your users. Also, and I hope that John wouldn't mind me saying this, if you have a question about the service then ask, but only after checking the FAQ of course :-), as even if you think it can't do what you want, you'll probably find that it can!