Monday, February 27, 2012

Integrating the JangoMail API Into a Java Application

If you want to integrate JangoMail's web service into your company's existing Java software, this example will show you how to hit the ground running. This example relies on Java's built-in library for processing soap requests javax.xml.soap. Download the source code for this example here.

In the first part of this example, the SOAPMessage is created. In this case, we will call the Groups_GetList_String method, which will return a list of groups on your account. Make sure to set the SOAPAction header to indicate which method you want to call.

// create the connection
SOAPConnectionFactory soapConnFactory 
    = SOAPConnectionFactory.newInstance();
SOAPConnection connection = soapConnFactory.createConnection();

//Next, create the actual message/request
MessageFactory messageFactory = MessageFactory.newInstance();
SOAPMessage message = messageFactory.createMessage();
          
//Create objects for the request parts            
SOAPPart soapPart = message.getSOAPPart();
SOAPEnvelope envelope = soapPart.getEnvelope();
SOAPBody body = envelope.getBody();
  
// set the SOAPAction Header to the desired request
MimeHeaders headers = message.getMimeHeaders();
headers.addHeader("SOAPAction", 
    "http://api.jangomail.com/Groups_GetList_String");
Next, the message is populated with our parameters and sent to the JangoMail servers.
// Populate the body of the request
// create the main element and namespace
SOAPElement bodyElement = body.addChildElement(
        envelope.createName("Groups_GetList_String", 
                            "", 
                            "http://api.jangomail.com/"));
   
// add the parameters
bodyElement.addChildElement("Username")
    .addTextNode("Your JangoMail/JangoSMTP Username");
bodyElement.addChildElement("Password")
    .addTextNode("Your JangoMail/JangoSMTP Password");
bodyElement.addChildElement("RowDelimiter").addTextNode("\n");
bodyElement.addChildElement("ColDelimiter").addTextNode(" - ");
bodyElement.addChildElement("TextQualifier").addTextNode("");
   
// save the message
message.saveChanges();
   
// Send the message and print the reply
// set the destination
String destination = "http://api.jangomail.com/api.asmx";
// send the message
SOAPMessage reply = connection.call(message, destination);
Finally, the response is received and printed.
//Check the output
System.out.println("\nRESPONSE:\n");

//Create the transformer
TransformerFactory transformerFactory 
    = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
Transformer transformer = transformerFactory.newTransformer();

//Extract the content of the reply
Source sourceContent = reply.getSOAPPart().getContent();

//Set the output for the transformation
StreamResult result = new StreamResult(System.out);
transformer.transform(sourceContent, result);
System.out.println();
Make sure to Download the complete source code for this example and populate it with the values from your JangoMail or JangoSMTP account.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Easier account upgrades

We've made it dead simple to upgrade your account.  In the past, if you were a trusted user with a sending history with JangoMail, you had the ability to upgrade your account by yourself through the UI.  If you didn't have an established sending history, you had to contact Support, type out a message to request an account upgrade, and then wait for your support ticket to be answered. This was a cumbersome and frustrating process for users that needed to send more emails instantly.



Now, all users, regardless of sending history, can upgrade their account on their own through the UI.  If you're a trusted user, then your account upgrade will take effect instantly.  If you're not a trusted user, then you can still use the upgrade process in the UI, but your upgrade request will be reviewed by a support team member before taking effect. The review process will only take a few minutes, requests are monitored 24x7.


Monday, February 20, 2012

New feature: Store your Salesforce login credentials with JangoMail

You can now store your Salesforce authentication credentials in your JangoMail account, allowing you to pull email lists from Salesforce Leads, Contacts, and Campaigns, even if you're not logged into Salesforce.

The JangoMail for Salesforce app is an email marketing app that allows you to use JangoMail from within Salesforce. When installed, JangoMail shows up as a separate tab within the Salesforce UI.  You can then connect to Contacts, Leads, and Campaigns.



Now, you can pull the same data from Salesforce without being logged into "JangoMail for Salesforce".

To store your Salesforce authentication credentials with JangoMail, go to Settings --> Integrating JangoMail With Other Systems --> Salesforce Accounts.  On this screen, enter your Salesforce username, password, and Security Token.



You can retrieve your Salesforce API key from your Salesforce account under Setup --> Reset my Security Token.



Once your Salesforce credentials are stored, you can access the same Salesforce functions in JangoMail that would normally be disabled unless you were logged into JangoMail through Salesforce.





Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Is storing my Salesforce login information in JangoMail safe?

Yes. Your Salesforce authentication information is protected with the same level of security that other sensitive account information like usernames, passwords, and credit cards, are protected.

2. Do I have to store my Salesforce credentials with JangoMail in order to access Salesforce data from JangoMail?

No, you don't.  If you've installed JangoMail for Salesforce, and you have the "JangoMail" tab visible from within Salesforce, then you can already access your Salesforce data from JangoMail.  You only need to store your Salesforce credentials with JangoMail if you want to connect to your Salesforce data from JangoMail without being logged into Salesforce.

3. What are the other advantages of storing my Salesforce data with JangoMail?

In the future, we'll be releasing tighter Salesforce integration options, including the ability to write subscriber activity data, like opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and bounces, back to your Salesforce account. In order to write data back to Salesforce, your Salesforce authentication credentials will be required.

Using the JangoMail API in PHP

Since PHP 5 provided developers with the SoapClient class, it's a snap to consume SOAP-enabled web services in a PHP script.

This example demonstrates how to connect to the JangoMail API in order to get the email lists on your account. Download the source code for this example, insert your own JangoMail credentials, and you're ready to start integrating the JangoMail API with your php website.

// create a SoapClient object for the jangomail aPI
$client = 
    new SoapClient("http://api.jangomail.com/api.asmx?WSDL");

// set the parameter array for the
// Groups_GetList_String method
$param=array(
 'Username'=>'Your JangoMail Username',
 'Password'=>'Your JangoMail Password',
 'RowDelimiter'=>'<br/>',
 'ColDelimiter'=>' - ',
 'TextQualifier'=>''
); 

// using the JangoMail API
// call the Groups_GetList_String method
$result = $client->Groups_GetList_String($param);

// print the groups that were returned
print($result->Groups_GetList_StringResult);

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Enhancement: Attaching files to email campaigns

We've improved the process to attach files to your email campaigns in the new user interface.  If you have Flash running in your browser, then attaching a file to your email campaign is as simple as clicking the "Upload" icon, choosing the file from your computer, and then watching the progress bar until the file upload is complete.


If you don't have Flash running, then the file attachment feature deprecates to standard HTML upload functionality.

In either case, attaching files to a broadcast email campaign is easy. You can attach up to 20 files to a single email campaign.

Here are some other nifty things you can do with email attachments:

  1. You can also FTP attachments ahead of time to ftp://client.jangomail.com/Attachments.  Just use your JangoMail account credentials to login to the FTP server.
  2. Soon, we'll be launching an API method to upload file attachments as well.
  3. You can also send personalized attachments, where the attachment file name corresponds to a field associated with the email recipient.  For example, if you wish to attach PDF files in the format of %%LastName%%.pdf, where each recipient is receiving a PDF based on his/her last name, you can accomplish that. Tutorial on personalized attachments



Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Press Release: JangoMail Unveils Sleek New Interface

The completely redesigned interface streamlines workflow, adds new features, and increases usability.

Dayton, OH - February 15, 2012: JangoMail (www.jangomail.com), an industry leader in permission-based email marketing, unveiled a new user interface for its JangoMail and JangoSMTP services. The redesigned interface significantly improves JangoMail's functionality and navigability, giving clients deeper features, streamlined workflow, and an easy to use, "point and click" interaction.

"This is the single biggest improvement we've made to the product," said Ajay Goel, JangoMail founder and CEO. "It's sleek, it's more intuitive and user friendly, and it adds a number of new features to the JangoMail suite. We're excited to unveil it and will continue improving and tweaking the UI in coming months to make it even better."

The new interface focuses on improving the overall user experience. Highlights include updated dashboards for composing and data reporting, streamlined navigation, a clean, modern aesthetic, and newly added deliverability tools. New features include:

  • An enhanced rendering tool that shows previews in 15 different browsers
  • A robust spam scoring tool with scoring from 10 different spam filters
  • The ability to append in-depth social data to email lists
  • Upgraded delivery optimization tools

User response has been overwhelmingly positive, with testers calling the new interface highly navigable, easy to use, and aesthetically pleasing. Client Gregg Stebben of Press4 wrote, "As long-time JangoMail clients, we've always been knocked out by the quality of their UI and performance, their customer support's rapid responsiveness, and how eager they've been to implement suggestions we've offered for making their service even better. Their new UI has raised the bar even higher. There's lots to like and love there!"

Users can expect continued enhancements in coming weeks, as JangoMail releases new features, adds help text and documentation, and incorporates improvements based on customer feedback and suggestions. Clients are invited to share their responses. New users can sign up for a free trial at https://www.jangomail.com/ and http://www.jangosmtp.com/.


About JangoMail
JangoMail leads the permission-based email marketing industry, offering services for transactional and marketing emails. Over 4,000 organizations on six continents rely on JangoMail and its transactional service JangoSMTP to stay in touch with their customers and prospects. JangoMail offers flexible pricing and unique features for entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes and industries. Customers include Washington Gas Energy Services, the Children's Hospital of Atlanta, New York Road Runners, Spirit of America, the San Jose Police Department, and Reuters. To learn more, call 1-888-GO-JANGO or go to https://www.jangomail.com/ and http://www.jangosmtp.com/.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Where things are in the new user interface

Most elements are in the same place in the new interface as the old interface. The most significant changes in the new interface are the eye pleasing aesthetics and improved workflow. A few functions have been moved though, so I'd like to highlight those here.

Upload Images is now Assets

You used to have to navigate to the Messages section to upload images which would be used in your email campaigns. Now all images, documents, and other files are managed from the "Assets" main section, and all of these assets are available to insert into your Messages via any of the available HTML editors, TinyMCE or EditLive.

Old Interface



New Interface




Simplified navigation of Messages

There used to be multiple dropdowns, one for templates, one for FTPd files, and one for your main email campaigns. The Messages main screen has been simplified. It starts showing all of your existing messages, which can be filtered using the Search box. And if you wish to start a new message, you can start from scratch, or from a template.

Old Interface



New Interface








Database Connections are under Lists

All database connection functionality is under Lists. We've consolidated JangoMail-hosted Email Lists with external database connections into the Lists main section. Under Lists you will find two tabs, Lists and Databases.

There used to be a separate "Connect to My Databases" section. That section has now been merged with Lists. So whether you're using a JangoMail-hosted List to store your email data, or connecting to an external database, you do all of this under the Lists section.

Old Interface



New Interface

New features in the new user interface

As of 3:00 PM EST today, the new user interface available for use, and I want to highlight some new features that are now available.
  1. A better email preview rendering tool -- we've integrated with a third party service that renders screenshots of what your email will look like in 20 different email clients. We have replaced our internal rendering tool with this third party service.
  2. A better spam scoring tool -- we've integrated with a third party that provides more robust spam scoring and spam scoring from 8-10 different spam filters. This will replace the old JangoMail SpamAssassin scoring system in the old user interface.
  3. Switch HTML editors on the fly -- while designing your email campaign, you can toggle between both HTML editors that we provide, EditLive and TinyMCE. In the old interface, you had to choose one editor or the other in Settings, and then that editor would load in the Send Email section. Now you don't have to choose, and you can toggle between the two.
  4. Attachments will be uploaded prior to hitting the Send button, and will be remembered when you re-select an old message with attachments.
  5. Hosted opt-in form with form designer. In the new interface, you can easily customize an opt-in form with the colors, fonts, headers, and footers you want, and you have the option of having JangoMail host the form or you can generate HTML code to host on your own web site.
  6. Auto-save when composing Messages.  No more fear of losing your work.  JangoMail will auto-save a message you're working on every fifteen minutes.

    Monday, February 06, 2012

    New Feature: SpamAssassin spam score now available for every email campaign you send

    Every email campaign you send through JangoMail will now be scored by SpamAssassin. That score, and the reason behind it, is now available through Reports and through the API. In Reports, you'll find the score next to each sent campaign, as shown below.


    [Click the score to launch a popup showing the breakdown of the spam score.]


    The scores are based on SpamAssassin's scoring engine.  SpamAssassin is one of the world's most popular spam filtering system.  For more information on SpamAssassin and its rulesets, visit http://spamassassin.apache.org/

    You don't need to enable any settings for the spam score to be generated.  All test emails and regular mass email campaigns will be automatically scored, and the score will appear in Reports.

    API method to retrieve spam score

    You may also call the API method, GetSpamScore, to retrieve the spam score and the breakdown for any email campaign in your account.  The inputs and results are as shown in the test form below.






    Saturday, February 04, 2012

    New API method to share campaigns on social networks


    We've launched a new API method, GetViewAsWebPageURL, that retrieves a URL for a campaign that can be shared on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.


    Below is a screenshot of how to call the method from our test form at http://api.jangomail.com/api.asmx?op=GetViewAsWebPageURL


    The result is a string which is the URL that can then be shared.



    In this case, the URL generated is http://x.browniekitchen.com/w.z?j=7B6617DFC5D14C45B3978D191AD9AEC9. This URL can now be shared on social networks.

    Additionally, if the EmailAddress input parameter is identified, a URL customized for that particular recipient will be generated.  In addition to the j= parameter, an m= parameter will also be present in the URL's querystring.  For mass sharing, however, the most common use will be to share without personalization specific to a recipient.

    Why is this useful?

    If you use the API to create campaigns on the fly, using the SendMassEmail method, then the API will return the campaign ID to your application.  You can then use that campaign ID to immediately generate a URL for that email campaign that can be shared.  This is analagous to the "View as Web Page" link that you can insert at the bottom of an email campaign when using the web interface.

    Friday, February 03, 2012

    Salesforce integration upgraded to new user interface

    Users of our Salesforce integration can now take advantage of the aesthetics and features of the new user interface.  If you're still using "JangoMail for Salesforce" on the old user interface, make the switch! There are many new features available only in the new interface.

    Just click on the New UI link when logged into "JangoMail for Salesforce".



    The new welcome screen looks like this:


    To create a Salesforce connection profile, go to Lists, then click the Databases tab, and click the + sign to add a new Salesforce connection profile.

    Additionally, if you've installed the custom JangoMail buttons throughout the Contacts, Leads, and Campaigns tabs, you can select which contacts to email right from within Salesforce's interface.


    After you've pulled contacts/leads from Salesforce, you'll be taken to the Messages screen where you can compose a new campaign or select a prior email campaign for sending.


    Additional Resources: