Web Form Processing
MailList King can parse all the fields in a submission message from a web form and input the details into your database.
For advice on setting up web forms on your site visit:
If you enable web form processing then when checking for new messages (Home > Check Now), MailList King will search for messages submitted from your web site and process them.
To use this function:
| Action Field | Expects to find one of the permitted web form actions, or be blank. If blank, the entry will be subscribed. You can also specify the text "None" if no action should be performed |
| E-mail Field | This
field is required. Note: MLK also accepts a valid Member ID in place of an e-mail address. If you specify %USE_MESSAGE_SENDER% the sending address of the web form will be used |
| Group | Multiple groups can be subscribed to by separating them with a comma (e.g. List_1,List_2). If the entry is blank your default group will be used. |
| Full Name Field | If this field is not specified then it will be built from First and Last Name |
| First Name Field | Will be extracted from the full name, if you have set the relevant option |
| Last Name Field | Will be extracted from the full name, if you have set the relevant option |
| Other Fields | Can be blank |
Also add any custom fields in the message
If your web forms contain custom fields then you can use this option to advise MailList King to process any custom fields in the message and add them to the user record. You will need to specify the character that separates the field name and its value, e.g. if you have a message line that reads:
Web Site: www.xequte.com
Then the separation character would be a colon
Note: MailList King will only process custom fields that have been specified for the database. To add new custom fields click the "Edit Custom Fields" link
The following items can be specified in the Action field:
| Subscribe | Adds the user and all their details to the mailing list. If the user already exist any changed fields in the web form will replace those in the database |
| Unsubscribe | Removes the member of the specified email address from your mailing list |
| UpdateEmail | This is the same as Modify command used to update an e-mail address in the mailing list. The old email address need to be specified in the "E-mail" field. The new email address must be a field named the same as "E-mail" field but with the prefix, "New" (e.g. Email: old@xequte.com and NewEmail: new@xequte.com) (all other fields are ignored). |
| UpdateUserDetails | Allows you to offer a
web form where users can update their address details. MLK
will locate the member of the specified e-mail address (or Member ID)
and update the address, custom and other fields with those in the web
form message. If the address does not exist in the mailing list the user is subscribed. If your web form contains a field of the same name as the "E-mail" field but with the prefix, "New" (e.g. NewEmail: new_email@xequte.com) then the user's email address will be updated too. |
| UpdateUserGroups | Allows you to offer a
web form where users can select which groups they belong to. MLK
will process the form and set the membership to the group(s) specified
(comma separate multiple groups). If the address does not exist in the mailing list the user is subscribed. NOTE: If the group field is blank the member will be removed from all groups (i.e. unsubscribed from the mailing list) |
| UpdateUserDetailsAndGroups |
A combined version of UpdateUserDetails and UpdateUserGroups so you can use a web form for a user to change their address, group membership and other details |
|
SubscribeInfo |
Sends the members subscription information (optionally for only a specified). Same as the SubscribeInfo command |
|
GroupInfo |
Sends information on the specified group (or all groups). Same as the GroupInfo command. |
|
VacationEnable |
Enables the member's vacation mode, i.e. they will be excluded from any messages you send. You can optionally specify an expiry period for the vacation (in days) by using the "Full Name" field |
|
VacationDisable |
Disables the member's vacation mode, i.e. the member will be included in messages you send |
|
Vacation |
Enable, disable or set an expiry date for the member's vacation mode by specifying the new status in the "Full Name" field (either "Enable" or "Disable" or a number of days such as "90") |
|
ProcessResponse |
Marks a member as having responded to a message you have sent (for message tracking). You can pass a comment describing the response using a field with the name "Comment" |
|
ProcessRead |
Marks a member as having read a message you have sent (for message tracking). You can pass a subject describing the message they read using a field with the name "Comment" |
|
None |
No action is taken (the user is not added or changed in the mailing list) |
Web Form messages will follow your standard settings with regard to delivery of Processing Acknowledgement and Double Opt-In messages. You can override this functionality by adding one of the following to your web form:
| Verbosity: Normal | Default option (so it is assumed if the Verbosity field is not found). Acknowledgements and Double Opt-Ins are sent as per your settings |
| Verbosity: NoOptIns | Acknowledgements are sent (if enabled in Options). Processing occurs without requiring Double Opt-In confirmation |
| Verbosity: NoAcks | Double Opt-In messages are sent (if enabled in Options). Processing Acknowledgement messages are not sent |
| Verbosity: Silent | Processing Acknowledgement and Double Opt-In messages are not sent |
Note: In this example the field separator is shown as a colon, however the separator you have specified for custom message processing is used, i.e. if you have specified "=" as the custom field separation character then the Verbosity field would appear as: Verbosity=Normal
Example Form 1: Subscribe Form with Full Address
Your
web submission message looks like this:
Subject:
Web form submission
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action: Subscribe
Email: jsmith@abc.com
Group: Group_1,Group_2
First Name: John
Last Name: Smith
Company: ABC
Address: 123 Some St.
City: Springfield
State: QD
Zip: 40014
Country: USA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In
the Web Form Message Formatting dialog set up as follows:
(The space after the colon will be ignored)
Example Form 2: Simple Subscribe Form
Your
web submission message looks like this:
Subject:
Web form submission on 11/7/02 3:45
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail=jsmith@abc.com
Group=Group_1
Full Name=John J Smith
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Web Form Message Formatting dialog set up as follows:
Example Form 3: Form for Updating an Email Address
Subject:
Web form submission
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action: UpdateEmail
Email: old@address.com
Full Name: new@address.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example Form 4: Form for Changing Group Membership
Subject: Web form submission
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action=UpdateUserGroups
Email=jsmith@abc.com
Group=Group_1,Group_2,Group_3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example Form 5: Disabling Double-Opt-In and Acknowledgements
Subject: Web form submission
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action: Subscribe
Email: jsmith@abc.com
Group: Group_1,Group_2,Group_3
Verbosity: Silent
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example Form 6: Enabling Vacation Mode for 90 Days
Subject: Web form submission
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action: Vacation
Email: jsmith@abc.com
Full Name: 90
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example Form 6: Disabling Vacation Mode
Subject: Web form submission
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action: Vacation
Email: jsmith@abc.com
Full Name: False
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MailList King includes a wizard to generate the base HTML for all standard mailing list tasks.
The wizard makes the process much simpler, but you may be unsure
what details to specify for the "Technical Details" step.
The FormMail CGI URL will differ for all web hosts, so you will need to confirm with your web host provider what to specify. It will be something like:
http://www.mycompany.com/cgi-bin/formmail.pl
You will also need to specify some hidden fields to pass details such as the message subject and destination email address, e.g.
subject=%SUBJECT%
recipient=%EMAIL%
(%SUBJECT% and %EMAIL% are fields that MailList King will automatically
replace with the "Send to Email" and "Subject of Email"
values you specify).
If your web host provider does not provide a FormMail script you can sign up for a third party service. For more details and other advise visit:
See Also