Data exchange between your cobra and [MNR_ProductName]
Because News & Mail Service is a system that works as a SaaS solution in a data center, various data must be exchanged between your cobra and News & Mail Service depending on the process. Below you will find a description of the data for each process:
Newsletter dispatch
Data from the ADDRESS table is used for the recipient list for the newsletter mailing. At least one field of the type e-mail must be available. In addition, any fields from the address table can optionally be selected for personalization.
When the recipient list is uploaded, the email address, the content of all selected personalization fields and the ID of each entry are uploaded to the server. A recipient list that already exists on the server from a previous import is overwritten.
Import of shipping results
The News & Mail Service Add-In creates keywords and contact notes as required for the import of dispatch results.
Contact notes are created in the cobra table CONTACTS and the following fields are filled: SUPERID, ART, NOTES0, CREATEDBY and DATECREATE.
Keywords are stored in the keyword memory selected in the settings.
Results research
When searching for results, the system searches the ADDRESS table for entries with a specific ID. No data is saved or created here.
Import of entries
When importing new entries via a News & Mail Service form, a large amount of data can be generated depending on the scope of the form. This data is always stored in the ADDRESS table stored by cobra. There must be at least one field of the type E-mail address be present.
Addresses
Recommendation: When creating a form, please make sure that the input fields in the form match the fields in your cobra database. Yes/no fields in your cobra are always represented by checkboxes in the form; use text fields as fields for entering texts, numbers and address data. Form fields for selection also return a text and cannot be assigned to a yes/no field.
In addition to the data fields you have selected, [MNR_ProductName] provides the following data for the import:
- Time registration/deregistration form: Time at which the form was sent. Requires a cobra field of the type Date.
- IP registration/deregistration form: IP address at the time the form was sent. Requires a field of the type Text with a maximum length of at least 46 characters.
- Form URL: URL on which the form was called up. Requires a field of the type Text with a maximum length of at least 256 characters.
There are also double opt-in forms:
- Double opt-in granted: Yes/No, according to the value of the checkbox Double Opt-In Confirmation in the form. Requires a cobra field of the type Yes/No. For pure newsletter registration forms, the value is Yes. However, if a double opt-in is optional for your form, this field can also have the value No have. You should therefore configure the field so that the value of the field in your cobra is only overwritten if the old value Nootherwise it may happen that a customer sends the form again at a later date without registering for the newsletter again.
- Double opt-in time confirmation: Time at which the double opt-in process was verified by the confirmation link. Requires a cobra field of the type Date.
- Double opt-in IP confirmation: IP with which the double opt-in process was verified by the confirmation link. Requires a field of the type Text with a maximum length of at least 256 characters.
| Form field | Type | Length | Necessary | Recommended |
| Double opt-in granted | Yes/No | Yes | ||
| Double opt-in IP confirmation | Text | 46 characters | Yes | |
| Double opt-in time confirmation | Date | Yes | ||
| E-mail address | Yes | |||
| IP registration form | Text | 46 characters | Yes | |
| Form URL | Text | 256 characters | Yes | |
| Time registration form | Date | Yes |
Recommendation: If you collect email addresses for your newsletter using the double opt-in procedure, it is necessary to document a double opt-in as comprehensively as possible. The current cobra demo database contains the Yes/No-field Double opt-in issued and the Date-field Double opt-in on before. These fields may be sufficient if you save the detailed double opt-in data separately, e.g. in a contact note.
Nevertheless, it makes sense to save all the data for the double opt-in in your address list and to create all the fields mentioned above accordingly.
Create contact note
Creates a contact note associated with the address in the CONTACTS table. The following fields are filled in: SUPERID, ART, NOTES0, CREATEDBY and DATECREATE. Depending on whether a form was sent with or without double opt-in, a corresponding contact note can be added to the address.
All data collected in the form, including all fields listed in the table above, is saved as text in the NOTES0 field.
Recommendation: When importing forms, be sure to have the News & Mail Service Add-In create a corresponding contact note, as this allows a history to be created and no data can be overwritten during a new import.
Create keyword
Adds a keyword. Depending on whether a form was sent with or without double opt-in, a different keyword can be added to the address.