Simple:Press Documentation

Mailchimp

Introduction

The MailChimp component allows you to connect your users with your mailing list. It provides the following features:

  • Add users to a Mailchimp audience (list) when they register on the site
  • Allow the user to elect to subscribe to one or more lists
  • Show different lists on different registration forms
  • Restrict the display of lists to certain user roles.

Setup

Setting up this component requires multiple steps and assumes you already have a MailChimp account.  The over-all process looks like this:

  • Create an audience/list in MailChimp (if you do not already have one)
  • Get an API Key from MailChimp
  • Add the API Key to Simple:Press Member Manager
  • Create one or more lists in Simple:Press Member Manager linked to your MailChimp audience/lists
  • Add the Mailchimp fields to your registration form (or any other forms you like).

Get an API Key from MailChimp

  • Login to your account at MailChimp
  • Click on your user name in the upper right and select the ACCOUNT option
  • Click on the EXTRAS menu option and select API KEYS
  • Click on the CREATE A KEY button  (you might have to scroll down a bit to find this button)
  • A new key should be created.  You can edit the key name so you know which site the key belongs to.

Add the API Key To Simple:Press Member Manager

  • Go to MEMBER MANAGER->SETTINGS->COMPONENTS
  • Click the checkbox for the Simple:Press Member Manager – Mailchimp item and then the Save Changes button
  • Go to MEMBER MANAGER->SETTINGS->COMPONENT SETTINGS->MAILCHIMP
  • Fill in the the Mailchimp API Key using the key you created earlier on the MailChimp site
  • Enable any of the other options you might need on that screen
  • Click the Save Changes Button

Create A Simple:Press Email List and Link It To MailChimp

You can create multiple lists and link them to multiple MailChimp lists.  So there is an entire screen where you can see all your email lists linked to Mailchimp.

  • Go to MEMBER MANAGER->MAILCHIMP
  • Click the ADD NEW LIST button at the top of the screen
  • Give your list a name
  • In the Choose A List drop-down you should see a list of all your MailChimp lists.  Choose the list you would like your users to be added to.
  • Click the checkbox next to Enable This MailChimp List.
  • Fill out the other fields:
    • List Description In Account Page: Set a description that the user will see in their ACCOUNT page – example: Monthly Mailing List
    • List Description In Registration: Set a description that the user will see on their sign up form = example: Sign Up For Our Monthly Mailing List
    • Which roles can subscribe to this list: If you do not choose a role, then the list will be available to everyone
  • Ignore the MERGE USER DATA section and click the PUBLISH button on the right side of the screen.

Add The MailChimp Option To Your Forms

  • Go To MEMBER MANAGER->FORMS
  • Click on any form – we recommend a registration form.  Use the  “Default Registration” form if you have not yet set up any additional forms.
  • Click on the GRAY PLUS sign to add a field in any row.

  • In the pop-up window click the MAILCHIMP button.

  • In the Add New Field window, enter a title and then select a list

  • Click the ADD button to add the field to your form.
  • Click the UPDATE button on your form to save the form with the new MailChimp field.

The End-User Front-End Experience

When the user on the front-end accesses your registration form with the MailChimp field they will see a screen that looks like the following:

 

On their ACCOUNT screen the user will see an EMAIL icon that allows them to manage their list subscriptions:

Important Notes

When a user subscribes to a list, the MailChimp audience/list on the MailChimp site is not updated immediately.  Instead, the data is stored locally in your WordPress site and then it is synced once every 24 hours.  However, you can force a RESYNC at any time by going to the Simple:Press Member Manager dashboard and clicking the SYNC NOW button.

Tips

Many WordPress sites use other plugins and script snippets to collect email addresses for marketing purposes.  Even so, you can still use our MailChimp component to help users manage their subscriptions by only adding the MailChimp field to the user’s account profile form.

Advanced Option: Merging User Profile Data With Your MailChimp List

***Coming Soon***