Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages

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1 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages This How-to shows how to create your own HTML forms for newsletter subscription and unsubscription. You will find examples of confirmation and error message pages. These pages appear after a user has successfully or unsuccessfully subscribed/unsubscribed. You will learn how the HTML files are set up and how the data is transferred to Inxmail Professional. In addition, you will be shown which contents a subscription or unsubscription form must have, and how you create an HTML subscription/unsubscription form for one or more newsletters. Your contact at the Inxmail Academy Phone: Fax: info@inxmail.com

2 Contents 1 Preliminary considerations (subscription form) Configuration of subscription and unsubscription in Inxmail Professional Note on the use of HTML subscription forms 3 2 Creating HTML confirmation and error pages 4 3 Creating an HTML form Elements that are legally mandatory Overview of the parameters contained in the HTML form HTML code explanations Form for newsletter subscription Form for newsletter unsubscription Multiple newsletter subscription form 15

3 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 3 of 18 1 Preliminary considerations (subscription form) 1.1 Configuration of subscription and unsubscription in Inxmail Professional There are various subscribe and unsubscribe procedures. We recommend the double opt-in subscribe procedure to prevent misuse by third parties. Unsubscription, on the other hand, should not be made complicated. Single or confirmed opt-out is therefore the recommended unsubscribe procedure. A detailed description of the subscribe and unsubscribe procedures, and of the configuration options in the Subscriptions agent can be found in the Inxmail Professional manual, chapter Note on the use of HTML subscription forms When choosing between a JSP template provided by Inxmail Professional and a self-created HTML subscription form, bear in mind that the self-created HTML forms will update all column contents if the Overwrite existing recipient data option is enabled. Fields that are already populated may therefore be overwritten with blank entries. The subscription servlet used for the HTML forms does not check whether columns with missing entries were previously filled with content. The Subscription JSP template takes this case into account: Fields that are already filled with recipient data will not be overwritten with blank entries. Take a moment to consider these points before moving on to the next chapters, where you will learn how to create your own HTML form.

How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 4 of 18 2 Creating HTML confirmation and error pages If a subscription or unsubscription is successful, a corresponding HTML page is

4 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 4 of 18 2 Creating HTML confirmation and error pages If a subscription or unsubscription is successful, a corresponding HTML page is called up. If an error occurs during subscription or unsubscription, an error page appears. For this purpose, create two HTML pages that can be linked in the subscription/unsubscription form. Fig. 1: Example of a subscription confirmation page Fig. 2: Example of an error web page for the subscription process

5 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 5 of 18 3 Creating an HTML form 3.1 Elements that are legally mandatory To ensure compliance with legal requirements, there are certain things you must consider when creating your form: 1. The address is the only mandatory field. 2. Mandatory fields are marked as such. 3. There is a description of what happens with the data. 4. There is a link to the data protection guidelines. 5. There is a link to the legal notice. 3.2 Overview of the parameters contained in the HTML form HTML subscription and unsubscription forms must contain particular parameters: Parameter INXMAIL_HTTP_REDIRECT INXMAIL_HTTP_REDIRECT_ERROR INXMAIL_SUBSCRIPTION INXMAIL_UNSUBSCRIPTION INXMAIL_CHARSET Column name 1 Column name 2 Meaning Path to reply page if successful Path to reply page if error Subscription to one or more list(s) Unsubscription from one or more list(s) Character set of the form Entry of the address in the column in Inxmail Professional Entry in column 1 in Inxmail Professional Entry in column 2 in Inxmail

6 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 6 of 18 Professional The INXMAIL_CHARSET parameter specifies the character encoding of the HTML form. This parameter must be set to the same value as the encoding of the web page in which the form is integrated. If you do not define the parameter in your HTML document, the subscription and unsubscription data is transferred in the encoding for the operating system of the web server on which the HTML form resides. To ensure that your data is correctly passed to Inxmail Professional, you must specify the parameter. 3.3 HTML code explanations When you create the subscription/unsubscription form manually, you must ensure that the form correctly refers to your Inxmail Professional account, in order that the subscriber s form entries may be entered automatically in the required mailing list. For this, you require your server URL as the form s HTTP target. To specify the server address, you require your client name. This can be found in the Inxmail Professional login dialogue.

How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 7 of 18 Fig. 3: Client name in the login dialogue box The complete server URL is made up of the following parts: https://login.inxmail.

7 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 7 of 18 Fig. 3: Client name in the login dialogue box The complete server URL is made up of the following parts: name>/subscription/servlet Replace login.inxmail.com with the website URL web.inxmail.com and the <client name> with your own alias. The server URL for the client name Inxmail_Academy looks like this, for example: You must make the following entries individually in your HTML document: The following instructions are numbered in the diagram below. The example in the diagram is of a subscription form; however, all the settings also have to be made for the unsubscription form. 1. Specification of your server URL 2. Name of the Inxmail Professional mailing list to which a link is to be made. In this example, the name of the mailing list is Newsletter.

8 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 8 of Link to the HTML confirmation page 4. Link to the HTML error page 5. Character set of the form 6. Name in the subscription form (or unsubscription form) 7. Name of the column in Inxmail Professional Please note that the names in the HTML document must match the column names in Inxmail Professional in order that the data may be passed correctly. This also applies to the following definitions. The name entered here links to the column in Inxmail Professional. Fig. 4: Source code of the HTML subscription form

9 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 9 of Form for newsletter subscription Enter the following HTML code in your editor in order to generate the example HTML form for newsletter subscription. Please note that the parameters mentioned in the last section must be adjusted in order for the subscription form to work. <html> <head> <title>sign-ups for newsletter web form</title> <meta HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <style type="text/css"> a:link {text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold; color:#9f9f9f;}</style> </head> <body leftmargin="20" topmargin="20"> <h3 style="color:#9f9f9f">sign-up for newsletter</h3> <p>our free newsletter gives you monthly updates on new products and current marketing trends.</p> <form ACTION=" name]/subscription/servlet" METHOD="post"> <input type="hidden" name="inxmail_subscription" value="[list name]"/> <input type="hidden" name="inxmail_http_redirect" value="[url for landing page "Success"]"/> <input type="hidden" name="inxmail_http_redirect_error" value="[url for landing page "Error"]"/> <input type="hidden" name="inxmail_charset" value="utf-8"/> <table cellpadding="5">

10 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 10 of 18 <td align="right" width="200"><b><font face="arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> address *</font></b></td> <td width="415"><input type="text" name=" " size="25"></td> <td align="right" width="200"><b><font face="arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">title</font></b></td> size="-1"> <td width="415"><font face="arial,helvetica" <input type="radio" name="title" value="mr" checked>mr <input type="radio" name="title" value="ms">ms</font></td> <td align="right" width="200"><b><font face="arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">first name</font></b></td> <td width="415"><input type="text" name="first name" size="25"></td> <td align="right" width="200"><b><font face="arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="black">name</font></b></td> <td width="415"><input type="text" name="surname" size="25"></td>

11 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 11 of 18 <td width="200"></td> <td width="415"><input type="submit" value="subscribe" name="submit"></td> </table> </form> <font face="arial,helvetica" size="-2"> <i>* The address is the only mandatory field! <br/><br/> Your data will be used solely for the purpose of personalising our newsletter and will not be passed on to third parties.<br/> Each edition of our newsletter gives you the option to cancel your subscription. For statistical purposes, we carry out anonymous link tracking. For more information, please read our <a href="/de/data protection guidelines">data protection guidelines</a>.<br/><br/> <a href="/de/legal notice">legal notice</a> </i> </font> </body> </html>

12 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 12 of 18 Fig. 5: Example of a simple subscription form When a user completes the form and submits it, the confirmation page is first called up. Inxmail Professional will then enter the user in the Recipients agent of the mailing list specified in the HTML subscription form. 3.5 Form for newsletter unsubscription Enter the following HTML code in your editor in order to generate the example HTML form for newsletter unsubscription: <html> <head> <title>unsubscribe from our newsletter web form</title> <meta HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">

13 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 13 of 18 <style type="text/css"> a:link {text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold; color:#9f9f9f;}</style> </head> <body leftmargin="20" topmargin="20"> <h3 style="color:#9f9f9f">unsubscribe from our newsletter</h3> <p>you can unsubscribe from our free newsletter here.</p> <form ACTION=" name]/subscription/servlet" METHOD="post"> <input type="hidden" name="inxmail_unsubscription" value="[list name]"> <input type="hidden" name="inxmail_http_redirect" value="[url for landing page "Success"]"> <input type=hidden name="inxmail_http_redirect_error" value="[url for landing page "Error"]"> <input type=hidden name="inxmail_charset" value="utf-8"/> <table cellpadding="5"> <td align="right" width="200"><b><font face="arial, Helvetica, sans-serif "size="2"> address *</font></b></td> <td width="415"><input type="text" name=" " size="25"></td> <td align="right" width="200"><b><font face="arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">newsletter 1</font></b></td>

14 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 14 of 18 <td width="415"><input type="checkbox" name="newsletter1" value="newsletter 1" size="25"></td> <td width="200"></td> <td width="415"><input type="submit" value="unsubscribe" name="submit"></td> </table> </form> <font face="arial,helvetica" size="-2"> <i>* The address is the only mandatory field! <br/><br/> Your data will be used solely for the purpose of personalising our newsletter and will not be passed on to third parties. For statistical purposes, we carry out anonymous link tracking. For more information, please read our <a href="/de/data protection guidelines">data protection guidelines</a>.<br/><br/> <a href="/de/legal notice">legal notice</a> </i> </font> </body> </html>

15 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 15 of 18 Fig. 6: Newsletter unsubscription form When a user completes the form and submits it, the confirmation page is first called up. The recipient in the specified mailing list(s) will then be moved to the Unsubscribed tab in the Recipients agent in Inxmail Professional, and will not receive any more mailings from this mailing list. 3.6 Multiple newsletter subscription form In this section, you will learn how to create a form for subscription to multiple newsletters. If you offer multiple newsletters, it is only possible to list them in one subscription form. The user can subscribe to the desired newsletter(s) by selecting the corresponding check box(es). For this purpose, you must adjust the HTML document created previously. You can no longer define the "INXMAIL_SUBSCRIPTION" value universally in the upper area; instead, you must define it separately for each mailing list offered (see next diagram). As a result, the subscribers are assigned to the newsletters they have selected. To create a form for unsubscription from multiple newsletters, adjust the HTML document for newsletter unsubscription (created previously) according to the following instructions.

16 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 16 of Delete the line with the "INXMAIL_SUBSCRIPTION" parameter. 2. Create check boxes in your HTML document for every mailing list (subscription to two lists is shown in the following diagram). Use the "INXMAIL_SUBSCRIPTION" parameter within the HTML tags for the check boxes. The "value" parameter must pass the name of the desired mailing list. Fig. 7: Source code of an HTML subscription form for multiple lists You can copy this HTML code and paste it into your HTML subscription form to expand the subscription to include multiple lists.

17 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 17 of 18 <td align="right" width="200"><b><font face="arial, Helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">i wish to subscribe to the following newsletter(s):</font></b></td> <td width="415"><font face="arial,helvetica" size="-1"> <input type="checkbox" name="inxmail_subscription" value="[mailing list 1]>Mailing list 1</font></td> <td width="200"></td> <td width="415"><font face="arial,helvetica" size="-1"><input type="checkbox" name="inxmail_subscription" value="[mailing list 2]">Mailing list 2</font></td> The interested party now has a choice of two mailing lists to subscribe to: Fig. 8: Subscription form for multiple newsletters

18 How to Create HTML subscription and unsubscription pages Page 18 of 18 Imprint Editor: Address: Telephone: Telefax: Internet: Updated: Inxmail Version: Inxmail Academy Inxmail GmbH Wentzingerstr Freiburg GERMANY /

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