MailChimp

MailChimp is a high-octane sportscar for concocting and delivering permission-based email marketing campaigns. It's simple, powerful, and more fun than a barrel of… well, monkeys.

This script uses the FoxyCart XML datafeed to automatically add customers to your MailChimp mailing list(s), if they check the opt-in checkbox during checkout. (The opt-in could easily be changed to an opt-out, but isn't generally recommended.)

• PHP4 or later, built with the XML extensions (you've probably got 'em).
• A MailChimp account.

1. Set Up your MailChimp account.
2. Download the latest .zip of the fox2chimp git repository on github. Alternatively, you may use git, if that's the way you roll. Alternative to the alternative: download right from the Foxy wiki. The goods are in

   fc-mailchimp.php

   Included for good measure are the PHP MailChimp API interface, a PHP4-compatible XML parser, RC4 decryption library, and a test harness.

3. Upload all 5(!) files to a folder your web server. Customize this block at the top of fc-mailchimp.php:

   // ...
    
   $MailChimp_Auth = array(
       'user'  => 'username',     // Replace "username" with your MailChimp username
       'pass'  => 'password'      // Replace "password" with your MailChimp password
       // 'apikey' => 'API Key'   // Optionally, comment out or delete the two previous lines, uncomment this line, and replace 'API Key' with your API key, available from your MailChimp dashboard.  YMMV
   );
    
   /**
    * Use a custom field during checkout?  If true, check for the presence of $Custom_Field below.
    * If false, always subscribe the customer.  Use wisely.
    */
   $Use_Custom_Field = true;
    
   $Custom_Field = 'Subscribe';    // Name of the custom "Opt In" field during checkout.
   $Custom_Field_Value = 'yes';    // The value of the custom field that indicates the customer's agreement.
    
   $Email_Format = 'html';         // The customer's preferred email format.
   $Send_Confirmation = true;      // If true, MailChimp will send a confirmation email to the customer.
    
   $List_Name = 'My Awesome List'; // The exact name of your mailing list.  No List ID required, we'll look it up.
    
   $key = 'CHANGE THIS TEXT to your own datafeed keyphrase';
    
   // ...

4. Point FoxyCart to http://www.your-domain.com/path/to/fc-mailchimp.php
   1. Log into your FoxyCart admin and go to Store → Advanced.
   2. Check the checkbox to turn the datafeed on, enter a SUPER SECRET datafeed key and copy it to your configuration.
   3. Enter the URL to fc-mailchimp.php (e.g. http://your.domain.dom/path/to/fc-mailchimp.php) that you uploaded as described above.
   4. Enter the exact same data key that you entered above into fc-mailchimp.php.
   5. Save your settings.
5. TEST! It should work, but give it a test transaction to make sure. Enter your datafeed key and the URL of your fc-mailchimp.php into test.xmldatafeed.php, then open http://your.domain.dom/path/to/test.xmldatafeed.php in your browser. You should get a page that contains only the word foxy in reply. If you get something else, double-check your datafeed keys in both files and, if all else fails, pop on by the forums.
6. Don't panic. You're done!

Now you have a datafeed receiver all set up on your server, so it's time to let your customers opt in to your mailing list. To do that, we need to add a Custom Field to your checkout template, so that your customer sees a “Subscribe” checkbox alongside their cart contents. There are a lot of cool things possible custom fields; find out more at the wiki page on Custom Fields. Today we're only going to add a single checkbox to the checkout template. Open the template up in your editor (if it's hosted on your server) or edit it directly from the FoxyCart admin interface, and add the following block of code anywhere in the template:

^^custom_begin^^
 
<h2>Newsletter</h2>
 
<fieldset id="fc_custom_fields">
	<legend>Newsletter</legend>
	<div class="fc_inner">
		<div>
			<h4>Subscribe</h4>
			<input type="checkbox" name="Subscribe" value="yes" checked="checked" />
			<label for="Subscribe">Leave this box checked to receive occasional updates about our products. We will not share your email address, and you can unsubscribe at any time.</label>
 
		</div>
	</div><!-- .fc_inner -->
</fieldset><!-- #fc_custom_fields -->
 
^^custom_end^^

You can put the code at the end of the file, or at the beginning – it doesn't matter. FoxyCart will move the <fieldset> into the checkout form when it loads your checkout page, so it can even be after the </body> and </html> tags. Replace “Newsletter” and “occasional updates about our products” with whatever's appropriate for your mailing list.

Save your changes to the checkout template in the FoxyCart admin. Test by adding a product to your cart and going to checkout – you should have a shiny new “Subscribe” checkbox, all primed and ready for your customers to use.

Download the Very Latest .zip from the fox2chimp github repository. Alternatively, download right from the Foxy wiki.