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go4gold
VP-CART New User
151 Posts |
 Posted - December 05 2006 : 03:40:15
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Hi,
I want to make it really easy for people to register for my newsletter by including a simple sign up form at the top right-hand side of the header (where My Account, Login and Checkout appear in the standard template). I know there is a "join our mailing list" page within My Account but has anyone managed to adapt this for newsletter use on every page please? Or is there a better way?
Any suggestions gratefully received. Thanks.
Go4Gold |
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elammers
VP-CART Super User
USA
256 Posts |
Posted - December 05 2006 : 10:01:15
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Quick and easy answer:
In your header or wherever add a link like "newsletter sign up" which simply goes to the VP-ASP file shopmaillist.asp.
What you really want probably:
Open up the shopmaillist.asp code and pull out what you need to add that tiny little sign up form to your header.
Someone else has probably done this and can probably explain more in-depth.
Regards,
Eric in Maine |
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devshb
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1904 Posts |
Posted - December 05 2006 : 15:55:13
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yep; we've done this before, and the how-to method we used was exactly as per elammers' explanation
ie use shopmaillist.asp code as a base, and create a new file based on what it does, and then wrap that around a mini-form (within a iframe is nice because then your current page won't redirect and you won't need to use a popup).
the process is quite a nitty-gritty developer one; there's no really simple/small explanation unless someone provides the actual asps that you want (ie the ones generated from the above process)
I'm not sure if vpasp have any plans to add this in a new version; that's the only reason we haven't knocked it up yet as a little addon.
on a similar subject, we found problems when people signed up to the mail-list that they got caught in a catch-22 situation; after signing-up they're in the database in the customers table but with no pwd or userid, so they can't get a "password reminder" or login (ie they end up stuck if they want to buy anything)
we ended up building totally new/customised screens for it to avoid that problem, which auto-generated a pwd when they sign-up and then sends them that pwd in an email so they can use it if they decide to order anything (and also so they can send themselves a pwd reminder), see:
http://www.bigyellowzone.com/shopmaillist.asp
Simon Barnaby
Developer
[email protected]
www.BigYellowZone.com
Web Design, Online Marketing and VPASP addons |
Edited by - devshb on December 05 2006 16:10:54 |
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go4gold
VP-CART New User
151 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 08:45:00
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Thanks guys for your suggestions. Anything beyond the simple link is probably beyond my current skill level I fear!
Devshb, I'm interested in your comments regarding the catch-22 situation. I'm not sure I understand correctly. Are you saying there is a problem if they want to register as a member/customer if they have already registered for the newsletter/mailing list? I think it could be quite common for someone to opt in to the mailing list with a fictitious username before they are ready to buy and give their real details. Is this going to be a problem?
Thanks.
Go4Gold |
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devshb
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1904 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 11:01:04
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yes, that's the problem that we found. when people sign up to the mail-list, they'd only usually give their email address, and maybe a lastname, but a userid and/or pwd isn't required/set.
so, when they try to register after that or try to place an order as a new user or even try using their sign-up email/last-name to try and get a pwd reminder, then it'll say that they need to login because they're already in the system, but they can't login because they don't have a userid and/or pwd, so they end up stuck.
we found it a major problem because anyone who signed up to our maillist couldn't place any orders if they liked anything.
if you don't use userid/pwd then you might be alright as the last name and email will be in there so they can login, but if you use userid and/or pwd then I think you'll need a fix.
I'd be very interested to hear what experience other people have on this point; the mail-list screens that we've done are on our list of things-to-package-for-sale, but that's a way off if there's no immediate/paying demand for it.
not just a problem for fictitious lastnames etc; it'll also happen (in fact more so) if they use their real info on the initial signup too.
whatever the nitty-gritty of exactly what happens when, the end result was that nobody on the maillist could ever buy anything, so we did the customisation to auto-set pwds and email them with the welcome-email.
Simon Barnaby
Developer
[email protected]
www.BigYellowZone.com
Web Design, Online Marketing and VPASP addons |
Edited by - devshb on December 08 2006 11:06:32 |
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go4gold
VP-CART New User
151 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 13:05:21
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I'm new to all this but isn't something like this classed as a "bug"? Having people join a mailing list or sign up for a newsletter is frequently the critical first step in the sales process that should hopefully encourage them to buy, not prevent them from buying. Do you know if the VP-ASP support team are aware of this catch-22?
Go4Gold |
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devshb
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1904 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 14:33:17
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I'd class it as a bug, but there are so many permutations for the types of logins you can have etc that a full fix is quite a big thing.
Not sure if there's a fix for it in a pending vpasp version.
hopefully support'll spot the topic and let us know
failing that, if someone wants to raise a ticket or email them I'd be interested to hear what they say.
Simon Barnaby
Developer
[email protected]
www.BigYellowZone.com
Web Design, Online Marketing and VPASP addons |
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support
Administrator
4679 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 14:36:51
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Thanks Simon for detailing this.
We know now about this thanks to the above. I have added this to our list for version 650.
Thanks
Cam
VP-ASP Support |
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devshb
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1904 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 14:44:49
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cool; that was quick! 3 minutes is quite an impressive reply-time.
Simon Barnaby
Developer
[email protected]
www.BigYellowZone.com
Web Design, Online Marketing and VPASP addons |
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go4gold
VP-CART New User
151 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 15:36:41
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Thanks guys, great to see this is going to get fixed. In the meantime is there an easy way to avoid creating this hurdle for buyers please? Like most people I guess, I am anxious not to turn buyers off but need to rapidly grow my mailing list. Do we have to set xcheckexistingcustomer to "no" or does that create other problems?
Sorry to labour this point but I can't quite get my mind around how I build my mailing list while this problem exists. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Go4Gold |
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support
Administrator
4679 Posts |
Posted - December 08 2006 : 16:32:09
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For the time being you will need to set xcheckexisingcustomer to No.
Alternatively do not use xcustomerlogin and xpasword and use the default log in method by default.
Thanks
Cam
VP-ASP Support
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