Developer Tools
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So you want to know more about the Spd E-Letter, eh? Perhaps you would like to integrate the subscription process into an existing form or other registration system. Or maybe you would like to develop additional scripts to handle the things we haven't covered. Here you will find the knowledge from those who built the Spd E-Letter. The information in this document is presented as easily as we could make it without using too many technical terms and is written in an informal tone. You will also need the developer_tools.zip file that can be found in the admin directory for most of these examples.
Table of Contents
1.) Introduction
2.) Subscribe Function If you're looking at the subscribe_function.asp page now, view the source code. On lines 1 & 2, we are using server side includes to include the config.asp file (with the database connection), and the inc_functions.asp file (which contains the code functions needed in this tutorial). You will need these two files in any script you wish to implement this with and can be found in the admin directory of the mailinglist. Make sure you change the paths of the includes to reflect your directory structure. Lines 15-40 will render a basic table inside a form to collect all of the data we need. When using the subscribe function, you need to pass the following information:
If we look at line 44, we see simple validation code that checks to see if the form has been submitted. If yes, then execute the following code, else, do nothing. Line 76 is the "End If" code needed to end that check. Now we need to look at the how to actually call the function. To make it easier to understand for beginners, we set our four variables before executing the function. This is done on lines 19-52. Now that we have our variables set, we simply need to execute the subscribe function which is done on line 54. You will need to use this code to execute the function (which is called from the inc_functions.asp file). Subscribe = subscribeNew (MLName, MLEmail, MLFormat, MLListID, MLSubscriberID) Since this is a simple tutorial, we just want to display the results of the function to the browser. The function will return a number based upon the failure, or success of the subscription. We used an "If then, Else If" statement to determine which message to display:
That's it! You can apply this code in any fashion you need and there is no need to validate the info before hand, all of that is done inside of the function. The Subscribe Function automatically takes the current time and inserts that, a URL Click Count of 0 and a read count of 0. You can change the "If then, Else If" statement to redirect to an error page, display an error message, or you can ignore it entirely if you wish. The choice is up to you!
3.) Un-Subscribe Function If you're looking at the unsubscribe_function.asp page now, view the source code. On lines 1 & 2, we are using server side includes to include the config.asp file (with the database connection), and the inc_functions.asp file (which contains the code functions needed in this tutorial. You will need these two files in any script you wish to implement this with and can be found in the admin directory of the mailinglist. Make sure you change the paths of the includes to reflect your directory structure. Lines 16-21 will display a basic form to collect the SubscriberID of the person we wish to remove. When using the unsubscribe function, you need to pass the following information:
Now we need to look at the how to actually call the function. To make it easier to understand for beginners, we set our variable before executing the function by placing the value received from the form to a variable named MLSubscriberID on line 27. Now that we have our SubscriberID set, we simply need to execute the unsubscribe function on line 28. You will need to use this code to execute the function (which is called from the inc_functions.asp file). remove = RemoveSubscriber (MLSubscriberID, strDBType) The strDBType is the type of database you are using and should be set in the inc_config.asp file. You do not need to set this yourself as it will be picked up from that file. The function will return a number based upon it's success or failure:
To minimize the use of the database, there is no validation before hand to see if a subscriber with that ID exists. That's it! You can change the "If then, ElseIf" statement to redirect to an error page, display an error message, or you can ignore it entirely if you wish. The choice is up to you!
4.) Get Subscriber Function (1) If you're looking at the get_subscriber_function.asp page now, view the source code. On lines 1 & 2, we are using server side includes to include the config.asp file (with the database connection), and the inc_functions.asp file (which contains the code functions needed in this tutorial). You will need these two files in any script you wish to implement this with and can be found in the admin directory of the mailinglist. Make sure you change the paths of the includes to reflect your directory structure. For this demo, lines 17-21 simply write out a quick form that will collect a Subscriber ID to pass to the function. When using the Get Subscriber function, you need to pass the following information:
Now we need to look at the how to actually call the function. To make it easier to understand for beginners, we set our variable before executing the function by placing the value received from the form to a variable named MLSubscriberID on line 28. Now that we have our SubscriberID set, we simply need to execute the Get Subscriber function on line 29. You will need to use this code to execute the function (which is called from the inc_functions.asp file). getData
= GetSubscriber(MLSubscriberID, MLListID, MLListName, MLName, MLEmail,
MLFormat, MLSubscribed, MLClicks, MLReads) There is no need to set values for the other variables as they will be populated if a subscriber is found. The function will return a number based upon it's success or failure and the extra data for the subscriber if successful:
The "If Then, ElseIf" statements are there simply to display the appropriate message. Use your own to determine which action to take.
5.) Get Subscriber Function (2) If you're looking at the get_subscriber_function.asp page now, view the source code. On lines 1 & 2, we are using server side includes to include the config.asp file (with the database connection), and the inc_functions.asp file (which contains the code functions needed in this tutorial). You will need these two files in any script you wish to implement this with and can be found in the admin directory of the mailinglist. Make sure you change the paths of the includes to reflect your directory structure. For this demo, lines 17-27 simply write out a quick form that will collect a ListID and email address to pass to the function. When using the Get Subscriber Function (2), you need to pass the following information:
Now we need to look at the how to actually call the function. To make it easier to understand for beginners, we set our variables before executing the function by placing the values received from the form to a variable named MLListID & MLEmail on lines 34 & 35. Now that we have our information set, we simply need to execute the Get Subscriber Function (2) on line 36. You will need to use this code to execute the function (which is called from the inc_functions.asp file). getData
= GetSubscriber2(MLSubscriberID, MLListID, MLListName, MLName, MLEmail,
MLFormat, MLSubscribed, MLClicks, MLReads) There is no need to set values for the other variables as they will be populated if a subscriber is found. The function will return a number based upon it's success or failure and the extra data for the subscriber if successful:
The "If Then, ElseIf" statements are there simply to display the appropriate message. Use your own to determine which action to take.
6.) Newsletter Archives
First you need to choose the ID Number of the list you want to show the archives. You can get this from the administration section. Go to "Lists" >> "View Lists" and the ListID will be the number to the left of the List Name. Since you may only send out one version of your newsletter, you can choose which version you would like to make publicly available. A value of 1 on showFormat will override the script and only allow the Text version to be viewed. A value of 2 will override and show only the HTML version while a value of 3 will let the visitor choose. In the event that no format is chosen, it will automatically default to Text only. You can change the entire page to look exactly like you want it to and/or add in your site template. Wherever you would like the content returned, simply leave in the server side include. This include will return the results and let the visitor choose the correct Newsletter. Make sure that the path is correct for your server structure. When you have finished editing the file to look like you want, it is suggested that you choose "Save As" and name it something more meaningful. Feel free to edit the inc_archive_action.asp file to display the data you wish or be in the format you want.
7.) Public Subscriber Edit Now the only thing you need to do is include the URL in your newsletter. Whenever you send out a Newsletter and want to include the URL, enter it in like this: http://www.domain.com/mailinglist/edit.asp?i=#SubscriberID#. The http://www.domain.com part of this would be the domain for your site. /mailinglist is the folder in which the edit.asp file resides. The ?i=#SubscriberID# part is a variable passed to the edit page so it knows what subscriber to edit. The i is short for "SubscriberID" and we use the customization provided by the Spd E-Letter to dynamically fill it in. |