Double Opt In (DOI)
BACKCLICK is based on guaranteed permission marketing. To make sure that the person who entered an e-mail address is the one who wants to become a subscriber to a newsletter, we built the double-opt-in-function.
This means that a user who subscribed by using the website will not automatically be written into your database, but will receive an e-mail with a link in it to confirm the subscription again. The entry is done after the user confirms the subscription by using the link that will lead him or her onto a subscription page. There the subscriber will be shown a confirmation message that tells them they are now subscribed to a newsletter or mailing list.
These messages may be configured freely, which is done by using the basic settings in your submenu (Main Menu: System Administration). Start by deciding whether or not this function should be activated. If you decide to activate this function, mark the check box Double-Opt-In/Double-Opt-Out. You then need to enter an e-mail account with the corresponding user data. This account will receive the confirmation e-mails.
You also need to enter the POP3 server corresponding to this data, and the SMTP server that will send out the confirmation e-mail.
Finally, you may also limit the time period for the confirmation. Within this time period, the user must confirm his or her subscription. Otherwise, the confirmation link will be invalid, and the subscription process must be started again by the user. So, we need to create a template for this.
You also need to add the TAGs that are necessary for the Double-Opt-in-function within the existing subscription page that connects your website to BACKCLICK.
The sample template we will now use to describe these TAGs properly is the template with ID 2. For better comprehension, open the template while reading this documentation. We will only describe the TAGs that are needed for the DOI function. The programming of common templates is described in Chapter “Subscription.”
Abb. 8.4.2 - Webinterface Templates (Beispiel ID 2)
Preparing the template
Provided that there is an HTML page designed according to your requirements, you may now start to create the template by filling in the BACKCLICK-specific TAGs for the input boxes where the subscribers may fill in their data. Within the HTML-template, you will now fill in a form field where all the necessary variables will be saved. All the required information for your system — such as introduction sentences, error or success messages, and the information for the input boxes — should be inserted between the <FORM>-</FORM>-TAGs.
DOI-spezifische-TAGs
After you have defined the required messages and input boxes, you will add the parts that are necessary for using the DOI
function. As explained at the beginning of this chapter, the subscription will be split into several parts.
- Subscription with personal data — conformity check on entries with database designer
- Display of an "UNCONFIRMED" message that says, “You will receive a confirmation message including a confirmation link.”
- Sending of a defined e-mail including the request to confirm
- Display a "CONFIRMED" message in the template after the subscriber clicked on the hyperlink that has been sent via e-mail
- Saving the subscriber’s data in the BACKCLICK database
Now we will describe how to define the message the subscriber will see on your website prior to final subscription. If the subscriber entered all the required information, you may send them an e-mail in which you announce that they will soon receive a confirmation e-mail.
These messages need to be inserted between the following TAGs:
<!--UNCONFIRMED--> ................... <!--/UNCONFIRMED-->
This message should look like this in your template code:
The content and the layout may be defined freely. The content of the confirmation e-mail will be defined later on when you are programming the template. We will start with how to program the success messages that will be shown in the web browser of the subscriber if the confirmation took place. The subscriber’s data will be saved in the BACKCLICK database.
The success messages need to be in between these TAGs:
<!--CONFIRMED--> .................... <!--/CONFIRMED-->
The message should look like this in your template code:
This is a typical success message. BACKCLICK lets you define this type of success message for every mailing list that exists in your system. For each mailing list, please add the ID of that mailing list separated by “-”. It may happen that a subscriber will click on the confirmation link more than once because of slower Internet connections or for other reasons, even though BACKCLICK already registered the subscription. While saving the subscriber in the database, BACKCLICK sends out a “CONFIRMED” block. After having clicked more than once, the subscriber will receive an “ALREADY-CONFIRMED” block if defined.
This message must be written into the following TAG:
<!--ALREADY-CONFIRMED--> ................... <!--/ALREADY-CONFIRMED-->
The message will look like this:
Confirmation time period and exceeding
BACKCLICK offers the possibility to limit a period of time in which the subscriber must confirm his or her subscription. You may define this value in the basic settings -> confirmation e-mail (Double-Opt-In/Double-Opt-Out). If the subscriber then clicks on the link after the end of this time period, the message "ERROR:DOI-EXPIRED" will be shown within the template.
The input boxes for the subscriber’s data that you would like to get while the subscription is being processed must be added now. This part is also described in Chapter “User Subscription”. All of the necessary information for the input boxes must be put in between these TAGs:
<!--NEW-USER--> ............. <!--/NEW-USER-->
After having finished this block, end the <FORM> TAG and the <HTML> TAG, the definition of the confirmation e-mails for the subscribers will be written after the completed HTML block. Ending the HTML block in the template:
At the end of your subscription page, you will define the content of the DOI e-mail. The following TAGs are all to be added after the HTML code.
DOI-EMAIL
This part is defined by using these TAGs:
<!--DOI-EMAIL--> ...... <!--/DOI-EMAIL-->
To define the content, the system provides the following TAGs to create the sender name and the subject of the e-mail.
The <!--SENDER-NAME--> TAG contains the name that will be displayed in the e-mail client of the subscriber instead of the e-mail address of the sender defined in the system.
Sender name within the DOI e-mail:
<!--SENDER-NAME-->Subscription Link<!--/SENDER-NAME-->
You may define a priority for the confirmation e-mail here. Selectable values are: 1 (Highest Priority), 2 (High Priority), 3 (Normal Priority), 4 (Low Priority), 5 (Lowest Priority). Priority within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--PRIORITY-->1<!--/PRIORITY-->
IBy using the <!--TO-->-TAGs you may define an optional name for the person who is receiving the e-mail. Within these TAGs, you may access all the personalized fields that exist in your system. Do not use line breaks!
Recipient’s name within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--TO-->$$FIRSTNAME$$ $$LASTNAME$$<!--/TO-->
An additional recipient for an e-mail may be defined by using the <!--BCC-->-TAGs (BCC stands for “Blind Carbon Copy”). In this case, the subscriber will not know that there is a second recipient for the confirmation e-mail. All BACKCLICK users may then see an overview in real time of the subscriptions that are taking place.
Recipient’s name BCC within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--BCC--><!--/BCC-->
The subject of the confirmation e-mail must be inserted in this TAG and will be displayed in the subject line of the e-mail client of the recipient. All of the personalized fields may be accessed here, too. Do not use line breaks!
Subject-TAG within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--SUBJECT-->Your confirmation is needed, $$TITLE$$ $$LASTNAME$$<!--/SUBJECT-->
You may now define the body of the e-mail. You may send HTML e-mails as well as text e-mails. For HTML e-mails, you need to start with an <HTML> and end the body with </HTML>.
<!--BODY--> ............. <!--/BODY>
The actual content of the e-mail is written in between these TAGs. The most important thing to remember here is that there must be a special TAG inside the body TAG.
DOI-LINK:
$$DOI-LINK$$
The TAG §§DOI-LINK§§ will be replaced by the subscription link and needs to be included in the body. The rest of the content of the e-mail may be created freely. Please remember that the only link you are replacing is the pure URL.
Example of the replaced subscription link:
http://yourdomain.de/bc/servlet/web.subscribe?tid=2&c=N18xdoi
If you now want to create an HTML subscription confirmation, you need to add the following link to the TAG:
Example for the DOI link inside the HTML confirmation:
<A href="$$DOI-LINK$$">Please click here to confirm your subscription...</A>
It is possible to create additional output for those who have successfully subscribed. These messages will be programmed by using the <!-SUCCESS-->-TAGs.
Complete Example from template ID 2:
Data Fields that cannot be used within this e-mail
Because of the workflow of the subscription using the double-opt-in function, you cannot use a one-click-unsubscribe link in the body of the e-mail.
Prohibited in E-mail Body:
$$UNSUBSCRIBE-LINK$$
CONFIRM-EMAIL
After having clicked on the confirmation link, the subscriber will get the success message displayed in a browser window. BACKCLICK also lets you send the subscriber a success message via e-mail to confirm his or her subscription. This e-mail is defined in your subscription template. If you do not want to send an extra e-mail to the new subscriber, do not enter the following TAG to your template.
The TAGs that may be used there are exactly the same as in your DOI e-mail. But instead of <!--DOI-EMAIL--!> . . .<!--/DOI-EMAIL--> you should use the following TAGs as enclosing TAGs:
<!--CONFIRM-EMAIL--> . . <!--/CONFIRM-EMAIL-->
The <!--SENDER-NAME--> TAG contains the name that will be displayed in the e-mail client of the subscriber, instead of the e-mail address of the sender defined in the system.
Sender name within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--SENDER-NAME-->Confirmation of subscription<!--/SENDER-NAME-->
You may define a priority for the e-mail here. Selectable values are: 1 (Highest Priority), 2 (High Priority), 3 (Normal Priority), 4 (Low Priority), 5 (Lowest Priority).
Priority within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--PRIORITY-->1<!--/PRIORITY-->
By using the <!--TO-->-TAGs you may define an optional name for the person who receives the e-mail. Within these TAGs, you may access all the personalized fields that exist in your system. Do not use line breaks!
Receiver’s name within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--TO-->-->$$FIRSTNAME$$ $$LASTNAME$$<!--/TO-->
An additional recipient for an e-mail may be defined by using the <!--BCC-->-TAGs (BCC stands for “Blind Carbon Copy”). In this case, the subscriber will not know that there is a second recipient for the confirmation e-mail. All BACKCLICK users may then see an overview in real time of the subscriptions that are taking place.
Recipient’s name BCC within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--BCC--><!--/BCC-->
The subject of the confirmation e-mail must be inserted in this TAG and will be displayed in the subject line of the e-mail client of the recipient. All of the personalized fields may be accessed here, too. Do not use line breaks!
Subject-TAG within the DOI-EMAIL:
<!--SUBJECT-->Your confirmation is needed, $$TITLE$$ $$LASTNAME$$<!--/SUBJECT-->
You may now define the body of the e-mail. You may send HTML e-mails as well as test e-mails. For HTML e-mails, you need to start with an <HTML> and end the body with </HTML>.
<!--BODY--> ............. <!--/BODY>
As an example, the template ID 2: