Event Mail integrates DT Register, Acajoom or JNews, and Community Builder. For purposes of this demo, we are using:

• DT Register 2.6.7c
• Community Builder 1.2.1
• Acajoom 4.1.2
• JNews 4.0

Event Mail will work with any version of DT Register and any version of Acajoom or JNews. It should be used with Community Builder 1.2 or later.

Event Mail works with so many releases because the system reads directly from and writes directly to the database tables. This makes your copy of Event Mail proof against software changes and upgrades. Event Mail does require CB 1.2, as a CB plugin is used to create the file from importing to Acajoom or JNews.

For this demo, we have enabled all features of Event Mail. This is configurable. If you do not have DT Register, for example, then you can set the configuration to not show options related to DT Register.

Note: Event Mail is normally for site admins to use. We have all of the functions exposed here just to let you try it out. On production sites, you would normally have the security set much tighter! Event Mail is Joomla 1.5 Native.

Follow the directions below to test the various integrations. For more information about Event Mail or to buy the extension, visit our CorShops Event Mail page.

DT Register / Acajoom Integration

Background

DT Register from DTH Development is the best registration component for Joomla. We have used it on multiple projects and highly recommend it. The one drawback to DT Register is that after you have gotten attendees to register, you need to communicate with them. Before the event, you need to send them material and reminders. After the event, you need to follow up with them and try to extend the relationship. DT Register has a mailing system built in, but it is very primitive and does not feature any throttling. Trying to email a lot of attendees will almost certainly run afoul of your host's spam limits. DTH Development has released a plugin that integrates with Acajoom. However, that plugin does not let you pick any Acajoom Mailing list the way Event Mail does. Also, it only integrates with Acajoom, but doesn't provide the functionality that Event Mail offers for CB User Lists and to move registered attendees into Community Builder as members!

How to Demo

1. Go to the DT Register page and pick an event. Fill out the registration form completely.
2. Go to Event Mail, and select the option to Update Acajoom Mailing List Subscription from DT Register.
3. Select the Event which you registered for, and then use the drop down to select an Acajoom Mailing List to add all registered attendees for that event to that mailing list as subscribers.
4. Click Submit, and you will get a success message. Everyone registered for that event is now a member of the selected mailing list.

DT Register / Community Builder Integration

Background

To register for an event, attendees give you a lot of information that also overlaps with the information needed to join your Website. Double registration is really a hassle for users. They give you their name, address, phone number, etc. to go to an event, and then have to turn around and key that same information into Community Builder to join your online community. Event Mail gives you the option to just move all that information across from DT Register to CB and build profiles for the people attending your events. For this version of Event Mail, you select the event(s) whose registered attendees you want to build profiles for. The next version of Event Mail (which you get free if you buy the 1.0 version!) will automate this process.

How to Demo

1. If you have already registered for an event, then go to step two. If not, go to DT Register and register for an event.
2. Go to Event Mail, and select the option to Update Community Builder with Registrants from DT Register.
3. Select the event you registered for in DT Register, then click Submit.
4. You will get a success message and the number of new users  added to Community Builder.
5. Your username defaults to the email address used to register for the event in DT Register. The password is the word ‘temppass.’ Both of these fields can be updated after you log in.
6. Users created by Event Mail are set to fully enabled status. To test this, log in to our demo site using your email address and a password of 'temppass.'

Note: The Event Mail system comes coded with mapping to write the standard DT Register fields to the corresponding default Community Builder values. This is a list of the default DT Register fields which are precoded to their default CB values. If you are not using the default fields for this data in CB, then the Event Mail code will have to be changed to do the matching appropriately.

Event Mail can move custom field values from DT Register to CB! The DB names of the fields must be the same. For example, if you have a “Referred by” field for an event in DT Register, and would like to move that field to CB as part of the profile, then the database name for the field must be ‘cb_referred’ (for example) in both systems. The Community Builder system automatically adds the ‘cb_’ prefix to a custom field. The DT Register system allows any valid database name. We suggest setting up the field in CB first, and then ensure that the field is set up with the same name in DT Register.

Community Builder User List / Acajoom Integration

Background

A successful Joomla Website gets members with diverse locations, interests, birthdays, marital statuses, etc. To effectively market to your members, it is often necessary to send targeted mailings to select groups of your members. Community Builder comes with awesome search capabilities built into its User List functionality. However, the big problem is that after you get your search results - they are locked up in your browser. Event Mail unlocks those search results, and allows you to export them to one or more Acajoom Mailing Lists to send effective marketing communications.

How to Demo

1. Go to the Demo CB User List. We have set up some test members, and others have been added via other people demonstrating the system. The act of bringing up a User List enabled in the Event Mail CB Plugin creates an export file. The customizable verbiage at the top of the CB User List alerts you to that effect. Not all User Lists have to integrate with Event Mail. The Webmaster can choose which ones can be used for adding subscribers to a mailing list, and who can see those lists to use them.
2. You can either go directly to Step 3 below, or you can choose to refine your list by performing a search. We suggest searching by City or Interest. You can browse the list of members, look at the various bits of information, and choose something to search for. Everytime you do a search, the export list is narrowed to the results of that search. When you are happy with your export list, move on to Step 3.
3. Go to Event Mail. Choose the option to Update Acajoom Mailing List Subscription from CB User Lists. It is possible to see multiple CB User Lists in Event Mail, but for our demo we have only one set up.
4. Select the User List, select the Acajoom Mailing you want to export the users to, and the click Submit.
5. If any of the users from the User List were new to that selected mailing list, then you will get a success message. If none of them were new, you'll be notified that no updates were needed.

If this were the 'real world,' you would now be ready to create and send a targeted mailing!

Some Notes on the Demo

Event Mail will not perform a function that isn't needed. So if you try to add users registered in DT Register for an event to a specific mailing list, and all of them are already on that mailing list, then Event Mail will tell you that no updates are required. The same applies to DT Register / Community Builder integration and CB / Acajoom integration. We will never create a record more than once. So if have trouble getting the demo to work for you, just follow the instructions and add a DT Registration to the system! That gives you some new, unique data to play with.

For questions about Event Mail, please visit our Forum or our Contact Us page.

To purchase Event Mail, please go here.