Hi Giles,

I am really sorry for the delay of this reply due to the different timezone here at our country.

You can learn more about mailchimp integrations from our docs here, http://stackideas.com/docs/easyblog/administrators/integrations/integrating-with-mailchimp . For now the docs is incomplete but there is some information mentioned there and we will constantly update the docs from time to time.

Eznul,
This is not helpful at all. The link you sent is merely instructions on how to fill in the fields. Not about how the feature works, how to make use of it, how to implement it or what it does.
We have a MC account with users in it and need to know those details.
Can you please provide?
Cheers,
Gilles

Hi Gilles,

I am sorry for the inconvenience caused as we still in a process of updating our documentation. May I know what information do you need to know so that we can assist you on this, thus we can update our documentations as well By the way, we want the documentation to be as simple as possible so that our it wouldn't be a long essay of some sort.

I am sorry for the inconvenience caused.

As mentioned above:
how the feature works, how to make use of it, how to implement it or what it does.
In other words some sort of manual. Having written user manuals myself, I know that simple documentation doesn`t mean useless documentation.


I don't consider an entry such as below... documentation. It's simply stating the obvious:
"Setting the API key and list id in EasyBlog: Once done with the steps above, you will now need to enter the API Key and List id in EasyBlog."
It's like having a field called "User name" and defining it as: "Enter your username here" - Useless.

Once done with the steps above, you will now need to enter the API Key and List id in EasyBlog.
Also note that your link above has no images... only an "img" placeholder. Again, how can you possibly release a commercial product with such poor planning? Really beyond my comprehension and leaves us extremely disappointed.'

So please can you answer my questions above as we need to know more about this feature in order to determine it`s best usage.

In purchasing EB we expected to have documentation. If this is not possible, we'll ask for a refund and remove it from our site to use another extension.

Cheers,
G

Hey Gilles,

The mailchimp integrations in EasyBlog allows you to perform 2 types of integrations:

1) Allow users to subscribe to your list by clicking on the subscribe link in EasyBlog. (You need to set this up in the Mailchimp settings)

2) When you post a blog post on the site, it will also create a new campaign for the particular list.

Also, refunds are provided only if your purchase falls within 30 days. Refunds are only allowed for new purchases and not renewals. Your purchase of EasyBlog was made on 14th March 2014. After using it for over 1 year, you are coming back to ask for a refund? That is really absurd.

Mark,
Thanks for the MC notes.

It's not absurd to ask for a refund for "the upgrade" ... not the full EB. Of course I wouldn't ask for a refund for a product I've used for over a year. However, if I'm not satisfied with the upgrade, due to missing documentation and many headaches, bugs, etc. (review my posts), this would be only good business ethics for you to honour it.

I'm not asking for a refund at this stage. Just that I'm very disappointed in the manner with which StackIdeas has rolled out this upgrade.

Back to MC. If I understand:
1. With the integration/plugin in place, the subscriptions to blogs and posts are all handled by MC? not by EB?
2. If a post is made to a blog, MC will immediately email all subscribers on the list?
3. What if a post is changed... does an email get sent to all subscribers as well?
4. How does one convert the current EB blog/post subscribers to the MC lists?
5. How does one link a MC list with a blog...and with posts of blogs?

Hey Gilles,

Bugs will always slip in and there is no software in this world that has zero bugs at all. Let alone we are talking about Joomla and everyone has different plugins / extensions / modules installed. If you ever find an extension / plugin / module as robust as EasyBlog and doesn't have any bugs at all, let me know.

We did not force you to upgrade and when you chose to upgrade, it's you who decided that it's time to upgrade. Therefore I don't see any point at all honoring any refunds.

Now, back to your original question:

1. With the integration/plugin in place, the subscriptions to blogs and posts are all handled by MC? not by EB?

The behavior has never changed since EasyBlog 3.9. It's still the same. When integration in place, all subscriptions and notifications are handled by Mailchimp.

2. If a post is made to a blog, MC will immediately email all subscribers on the list?

When a post is made, EasyBlog will create a new campaign on Mailchimp and send the campaign.

3. What if a post is changed... does an email get sent to all subscribers as well?

No, it does not.

4. How does one convert the current EB blog/post subscribers to the MC lists?

There is no way to convert this. You need to manually export your subscribers into Mailchimp

5. How does one link a MC list with a blog...and with posts of blogs?

There is no way to link a Mailchimp list with a blog. When the integrations is enabled, any subscribers that subscribed via EasyBlog will automatically be subscribed to the "list id" which you configured in EasyBlog.

Hi Mark,
I don't want to beat a dead horse but note that there is a difference between software glitches, minor bugs and major bugs. I was a programmer for over 15 years working for various corporations and I'll be completely honest with you, had teams released software with incomplete documentation as I've seen here and... with major bugs as experienced here (ie. preview no longer working, avatars being mixed up, image placeholders unexpectedly appearing in posts... to name a few), the team (and I) responsible for the release would have been fired. I'm not being hard on you, Mark, just stating the truth. Perhaps our standards our different... I don't know.

And to clarify, yes I did choose to upgrade but expected working software without the onslaught of headaches encountered. And rightly assumed I would have appropriate documentation to refer to. I have over 30 years of experience in I.T. in know the difference between a well- and poorly-executed upgrade. Having said this I do appreciate that you're trying to help.

Moving along... Thanks for answering the questions....

1. Since MC integration has not changed since 3.9, can you please point me to some documentation so I can better understand and not have to keep asking/waiting for questions/answers here?
2.

There is no way to link a Mailchimp list with a blog. When the integrations is enabled, any subscribers that subscribed via EasyBlog will automatically be subscribed to the "list id" which you configured in EasyBlog. 

If I understand correctly, there is only a single list?...How does this approach then differentiate between lists for the blog subscribers and lists for the Post subscribers?

Gilles

The docs is available at http://stackideas.com/docs/easyblog/administrators/integrations/integrating-with-mailchimp . If you have enabled Mailchimp, regardless of where the user is subscribing to, they will only be subscribed to 1 single list.

Thanks. I was aware of this doc page but it's not very useful as it doesn't describe much.

I'm trying to find the best method of using blog/posts subscriptions for site visitors.
Since there is only a single list, it's not as flexible as using the EB method of subscription since EB maintains several "lists", correct?

Yes, that is correct. If you want to maintain several lists, you should use the built in subscription system in EasyBlog.

OK, in that case I will use the EB subscription approach. I just added a menu item to list the subscriptions for a user, so he/she can manage them.
Many entries (see screenshot) have no names, no way of knowing what I would be unsubscribing from.
Please advise.

Hey Gilles,

Could you update to 5.0.19 first to test this again? When I tested this locally, it seems to be working fine, http://screencast.com/t/kwFsXjLpFZi

Hi Mark,
I upgraded as instructed but it made no difference.
Back to you.
G

I just subscribed to a post on your site and I cannot reproduce this error. This is what I am seeing when I access the "Eb List Subscriptions" menu item, http://screencast.com/t/ZblYZGpn

I've changed my own account's pwd for you to view the issue from there. Use the menu item "wonderlit-List EB subscriptions"
username/pwd included

Hey Gilles,

I am really sorry for the delay of this reply as it is a weekend for us here. Hm, it seems like some of these posts that you have subscribed to are actually already deleted on the site and when a post is deleted, the subscribed item wasn't deleted. This will be fixed on the next release.

Temporarily, I have unsubscribed to those items that has already been deleted

OK,
thanks Mark.

Mark,
In the new release, can you incorporate some intelligence/routine to check for these types of subscriptions and remove them for all users?
If not, if they remain listed, the users will be very confused.
Possible?

This will only happen if they subscribed to a blog and the blog post is deleted but they can always click on unsubscribe as it should still work.

Thanks,
Since this state is a possibility, you may want to consider building in this improvement (clean-up routine) in the future. It's good practice in software development to avoid leaving the users guessing as to what is going on; in this case, "What is this Unsubscribe for?".
Just a thought.
Cheers,
G

I will see what can be done in the next release