How do I set up the Clang newsletter provider?

It is possible to register automatic email addresses with Clang from RetailVista Pos and RetailVista ERP. This is done by configuring a few settings and correctly setting up a 'Newsletter provider' in RetailVista. 

Setting up the newsletter provider

• Go to 'Newsletter providers' via Administration > Promotional > Newsletter providers.
• Click on 'Add' (Alt + n).
• Provide a clear description for the provider (e.g. type + customer name).
• Choose the provider type as 'Clang'.
• Enter the correct URL for the Clang API in the 'URL' field (this is the webservice binding URL). This is for Clang 1.23: https://login.myclang.com/app/api/soap/public/index.php?version=1.23&type=literal
• The 'Username' and 'Password' fields can be left empty.
• Enter the customer's obtained token in the 'Api token' field. This may also be referred to as 'uuid'.
• Enter the 'campaignId' parameter in the 'Custom parameters' field. This is required. It should look like this: campaignId=123.
• Set 'Enabled' to 'Yes'. Note that if it is set to 'No', the registration will never take place from ERP or POS.

Settings

The following settings need to be adjusted to enable the Clang provider:

• Relations > Newsletter > Newsletter integration active: Yes
• Relations > Newsletter > Active provider: [The previously created provider]
• Relations > Newsletter > Automatically sign up from ERP: Yes
• Point of sale > Advanced > Questions for newsletter subscription: Yes

Useful to know:

If the 'Automatically sign up from ERP' setting is set to yes, every mutation and creation of a customer's email address with the 'Newsletter status' set to 'Accepted' will result in sending this address to Clang.

If the status field has a different value, the address will not be sent. Also, modifying this field will not automatically add the customer's email addresses.

Other questions

What is Clang?

Clang is a platform from which newsletters can be sent. More information: https://www.e-village.nl/clang

What is called within Clang?

Within Clang, 'campaign_execute' is called with the specified ID in the provider's settings. Within Clang, follow-up actions can be called for a 'Campaign'.

Can I pass additional parameters to the call within Clang?

It is possible to specify additional parameters when creating a 'Campaign' within Clang. In RetailVista, these additional parameters can be specified in the 'Custom parameters' field of the 'Newsletter provider'. The parameters are separated by a pipe(|) symbol. The parameter name and value are separated by an equals(=) sign.Extra parameters can look like this, for example: test1=2|test2=foo

The Clang provider will automatically pass parameters that are not known within the code to the 'Options' object in the 'campaign_execute' function.

What if adding an email address fails?

In the current code, an error message is swallowed by the Retail3000 kernel and will not be exposed. This choice was made because it should be a non-blocking process.