Newsletter signups in Go

What it does

Configuration

Nothing to configure in Go: Config has no fields. The Plugins screen holds the three lines of copy a storefront’s signup box can show.

The module reads its Config struct, not the environment. The variable names are the ones the package’s own example or the reference binary uses; in your own main() you choose where each value comes from. Where a setting has a panel label, the admin’s settings drawer can hold it too, and a value typed there wins over Config.

Setting it up

1. Install the modulePass newsletter.New to gocommerce.New, as below, or start the reference binary with -newsletter. It adds one table, and the plugin starts switched on.
2. Post the signupThe storefront posts email, name and source to POST /x/newsletter/subscribe, with a hidden website field that people leave empty.
3. Export for the mailerExport CSV on the Newsletter screen, or GET /api/admin/x/newsletter/subscriptions.csv, downloads the subscribed addresses with name, source and dates.
4. Unsubscribe by tokenGET /x/newsletter/unsubscribe?token=…, or a POST with the token in the body, marks the address unsubscribed. The token lives in the table only; see the limits.

import (
	"github.com/itswadesh/gocommerce/core"
	"github.com/itswadesh/gocommerce/ext/newsletter"
)

app, err := gocommerce.New(cfg, newsletter.New(newsletter.Config{}))

How it works

• Twice is once

  An address is unique per store. The same address posted again changes nothing and gets the same answer; a name given the second time replaces the first. After an unsubscribe, a new signup re-subscribes the row and records its new source.

• A honeypot for bots

  A hidden website field. A request that fills it is answered 201 subscribed, and nothing is kept.

• A quiet unsubscribe

  A token nobody has, or a link clicked twice, gets the same 200. In the code’s words, nothing about the list is learnable from this route.

• An export a mailer can read

  email, name, source, status, subscribed_at and unsubscribed_at, one address per row, in a file named newsletter-<date>.csv. Subscribed addresses only, unless ?status=unsubscribed asks for the others.

• Rights of its own

  newsletter.read, which managers and staff hold by default, shows the list. newsletter.write, given to no role by default, adds and removes. The export needs data.export.

• Masked where it must be

  On a demo store or for an agent key, addresses in the list and the export are masked, and search matches the name only, so an address cannot be read back one character at a time.

What it does not do

Read these before an order depends on it. No store is known to run GoCommerce in production yet, so these come from the code, not from anyone’s experience.

• It sends no mailNo newsletter, no welcome and no confirmation. The list reaches a mailing tool only through the CSV export or the admin list.
• No double opt-inAn address is subscribed on the first POST, with no confirming mail, so an address typed by somebody else is on the list. What the row records is the source and the date.
• The token is not handed outNo route returns an address’s unsubscribe token, and the export has no token column. A mailer working from the export cannot build the unsubscribe link the plugin’s description says every mail should carry; the token has to be read from the newsletter_subscriptions table.
• Opening the link is enoughGET /x/newsletter/unsubscribe changes the status. There is no confirmation step.
• Nothing comes back from the mailerThere is no import and no route for a mailing tool to call. An address that unsubscribes inside the mailing tool stays subscribed here until an operator removes it or the store’s own link is used.
• Removing is deletingRemoving an address deletes its row, and the record of when it signed up and left goes with it. Switching the plugin off closes the signup only: unsubscribing and the admin routes keep working.

Related modules

Each is a directory under ext/, imported the same way. Where this one fits in the store: What modules add to a direct-to-consumer store.

• Product reviews in Go Ratings and reviews on a GoCommerce product page: held for moderation, marked verified from the store’s own orders, and moved in or out as a CSV file.
• Product video showcases in Go Put a store’s own YouTube and Facebook videos beside the products they show: no video hosting, a live label the store sets, and counts down to orders.
• XML sitemaps for a Go store Publish a storefront sitemap from the live GoCommerce catalogue: products, collections and CMS pages, the storefront URL and paths, and the 50,000-URL limit.
• Ecommerce wishlist in Go Let GoCommerce shoppers save products to a list kept by a token, guests included, and see which wished-for products are out of stock. Settings and limits.