Another problem with data not sent to MailChimp

Gravity Support Forums » Plugin Support » Gravity Forms MailChimp Add-On

Teresa
Member

I'm sorry to add yet another post on this topic, but didn't want to simply send login details unless I was asked. Also, if there are common plugin conflicts or other points where I could've mucked something up, I'd like to know.

We have four separate forms set up; all will send out the GF-generated e-mail when the form is submitted. None send the opt-in e-mail or add to a list even when opt-in is unchecked. Just doesn't seem to be talking to MailChimp. I did use new/different e-mail addresses with a couple of the submissions and still didn't get them added.

I can rule out theme; the problem was brought to my attention while I had a new theme in development and persists after setting the new theme live today. Because I'm working on a live site I don't have a good way to turn off all plugins. I disabled some that weren't critical to user experience and I still couldn't get the form data to show up over on MailChimp. Any suggestions re: common plugin conflicts with this add-on would be appreciated.

Help! Thanks : )

Posted 12 years ago on Tuesday March 27, 2012 | Permalink
Nelson
Member

Same issue here. And NO it is NOT the theme. Nor could I find a deactivated that would let it work.
I have tried many combinations of forms and Mailchimp lists with no success. The GF form selection just spins.

Reading through the forums, it seems that GF is very quick to blame other plugins and themes for anything. What I would like to know is why GF has so many conflicts with other plugins and themes. It seems to be far more than most other solutions.

Posted 12 years ago on Thursday March 29, 2012 | Permalink
Carl Hancock
Administrator

@Teresa Gravity Forms doesn't send the opt-in email or welcome email. MailChimp does. So if they aren't being sent, it's either an issue on the MailChimp side, or a problem with your web server being able to communicate with the MailChimp API.

Theme and plugin conflicts typically do not prevent the MailChimp Add-On from communicating with the MailChimp API. Theme and plugin conflicts are typically javascript issues that prevent form functionality and admin functionality that utilize javascript from functioning properly. The MailChimp Add-On communicates with the MailChimp API completely behind the scenes via PHP on the server side and not via javascript. So it most likely is not going to be a conflict. It's going to be either a MailChimp account issue or a server issue.

Because of the nature of the issue, we'd have to take a look at your site directly and then we can determine what is going on. We will also need access to your MailChimp account so that we can test the API integration using your account credentials.

Send the following information to me at carl@rocketgenius.com:

- URL of the site
- WordPress admin login
- FTP login
- MailChimp login

We can take a look and see exactly what is going on so it can be resolved.

The rest of my response is not directed to you, it is directed to Nelson.

@Nelson Your issue is not the same as the users above. They have an API problem. You have a javascript issue related to the admin interface. This is a prime example of why you should post your own support request rather than randomly responding to someone else's request.

Rather than throwing around accusations and berating our support team for how we respond to support requests, maybe you should try politely requesting support for a problem and then our support team can assist you with it.

What you described sounds like a javascript problem. Javascript problems are typically caused by conflicts. However, they can also be caused by server issues such as a lack of available PHP memory.

We'd be glad to look into this for you but first I must respond to your mudslinging and accusations that we immediately blame other themes and plugins.

The fact of the matter is conflicts occur when poorly developed themes and plugins output scripts and code where they should not be outputting script and code. They occur when WordPress developers who have no clue what they are doing and have no business releasing themes and plugins.

It's amazing to me that people think we can prevent themes and other plugins from interfering with Gravity Forms code. If it was possible, we would do it. But the fact of the matter is it's simply not possible.

Gravity Forms cannot prevent other plugins or your theme from outputting scripts or code on the Gravity Forms admin pages. When theme and plugin developers do not follow best practices, they can output their scripts and code on EVERY SINGLE ADMIN PAGE. This is a major cause of plugin conflicts. Believe me, if we could prevent this from happening we would. But it's simply not possible the way WordPress is architected.

Gravity Forms does not have more conflicts with other themes and plugins than other solutions. Trust me. Every commercial theme and plugin developer deals with conflicts caused by poorly developed WordPress themes and plugins. The more javascript that your theme or plugin uses, the more likely you are to encounter a conflict caused by another developer who doesn't know how to properly handle javascript.

Instead of blaming Gravity Forms for the conflicts, maybe you should try blaming the themes and plugins that cause them. There are far too many poorly developed themes and plugins being created by developers who do not fully understand how to follow best practices when it comes to developing for WordPress.

Our support team is more than willing to assist customers and go out of our way to help customers resolve issues with other peoples poorly developed themes and plugins.

Quit trying to play some sort of blame game and cut the confrontational way you have chosen to interact with our support team and simply describe your issue and ask us to help you with a problem and we will.

This is a site specific issue and because it's a site specific issue we'd have to debug it on your site. We would need access to your site to debug it. Send the following information to carl@rocketgenius.com:

- URL of the site
- WordPress admin login
- FTP login

Posted 12 years ago on Friday March 30, 2012 | Permalink
Teresa
Member

Leaving a comment mainly to ensure I'm subscribed to this thread; I missed the reply on Friday and only saw it this AM when I checked back.

@Carl - You should already have the requested info by the time you read this. Thanks!

Posted 12 years ago on Wednesday April 4, 2012 | Permalink
Carl Hancock
Administrator

@Teresa I received your email and have responded. I am including my response here:

I am unable to reproduce any issues with the MailChimp integration on your site.

I submitted the Information Request form, and selected "Join Email List" from the "I'd like to..." field to trigger the MailChimp integration you configured, and the integration worked just fine. I received the opt-in confirmation email from MailChimp soon after submitting the form.

You can view the form entry that was created from my form submission by viewing entries for that form submitted using my name.

Here is a screenshot of the MailChimp opt-in confirmation email I received via email:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/185347/Slingshot/Pictures/Screen%20Shot%202012-04-04%20at%204.07.12%20PM.png

I did not click on the confirmation link in the MailChimp email, so I wasn't added as a subscriber. But would be had I done so.

The MailChimp integration appears to be working correctly and exactly as configured in the MailChimp Feeds you created for your forms using the Add-On.

Posted 12 years ago on Wednesday April 4, 2012 | Permalink
Teresa
Member

Thank you for looking into the problem, Carl. I hoped that it had somehow been an intermittent API issue that was resolved by the time you looked at it, but we're still not able to get an opt-in sent by MailChimp.

We have tried to trigger the opt-in e-mail by signing up using unique addresses that haven't been subscribed before. We did this before you took a look today, as well as after. We've done finds on the spam folders of the various accounts we've used - the opt-in e-mail is not there. Looks like you got the MailChimp e-mail right away, so I don't think it's that there's a delay in sending. I've tried subscribing using a different browser that isn't logged in to the WP admin, in case that has anything to do with it. Absolutely no luck.

I have a feeling that it's a small detail that we've overlooked but I've checked everything I know to check. Somebody - help! Why would it work perfectly for Carl but not for us?

Posted 12 years ago on Thursday April 5, 2012 | Permalink
ScottSakamoto
Member

I'm having the same issues with the MailChimp integration.

It worked when I "First" tested the form ( http://bit.ly/HydroRush_SamplePage ).

With any and all subsequent subscribers, the Form Content didn't get inputed on MailChimp.

I'm using Version 1.6.3 of the MailChimp Add-On.

Currently I have to download the CSV file from the Gravity Form and then upload it to MailChimp = that's not what I was expecting from this Plugin and Add-On.

I would like a resolution to this please.

Posted 12 years ago on Thursday April 12, 2012 | Permalink
Carl Hancock
Administrator

@Teresa What you describe doesn't make much sense and you may need to contact MailChimp support and get them involved. Submit your own test and note the date and time that you do so. Then contact MailChimp support and provide them with the exact date and time and have them look at the API interaction to see if the user was added, etc.

MailChimp handles sending the opt-in email so i'm sure they can tell when a user has been added but hasn't confirmed via the opt-in email to see if you have registrations sitting there in limbo.

In my tests, on your site, I encountered absolutely no issues with the functionality as you can see in the screenshots I provided of my tests. Everything worked correct.

@ScottSakamoto I'll be glad to look into this for you. In order to do so you'll need to email me the URL of the site, a WordPress admin login and your MailChimp login. You can send this to me at carl@rocketgenius.com

I will say that so far every time i've had someone say MailChimp integration isn't working, when I go to their site and test it out... it works fine. So you may want to do another quick test and use a brand new email address that you haven't used before to do so before you provide me with the login information via email.

Posted 12 years ago on Thursday April 12, 2012 | Permalink
ScottSakamoto
Member

Carl,

I've had two new Form Submissions today from disparate eMail addresses = neither of which got integrated with MailChimp.

I just sent you via your eMail address the access information you requested.

Thank you

Posted 12 years ago on Thursday April 12, 2012 | Permalink
Carl Hancock
Administrator

@ScottSakamoto As mentioned in my email response to you, I encountered no issues testing your Gravity Forms and MailChimp integration. In my tests on your form there were no issues adding me as a subscriber to your mailing list.

One thing to keep in mind is just because someone submitted your form, does not mean they will be added to your MailChimp mailing list the way you have it configured.

Because you have the Double Opt-In option enabled, which is enabled by default and MailChimp highly recommends using it, this means the user is not going to immediately be added to your mailing list.

With the Double Opt-In option enabled, after the user submits your form they will receive a subscription confirmation email which is sent by MailChimp. The user must click the link in this confirmation email to confirm his subscription (thus the double opt-in). Until they do this, they will not be added as a subscriber to your mailing list.

So you cannot compare entry data to MailChimp data in this situation. It's not a 1 to 1. If the user didn't confirm the subscription by clicking on the link in the MailChimp doublt opt-in confirmation email... they will not be added to your list in MailChimp.

Another thing to keep in mind is MailChimp sends the Double Opt-In email and I have seen delays in that email arriving. Sometimes arrives immediately, sometimes it takes quite a while... possibly hours... for it to arrive. We have no control over that as it is completely handled by MailChimp.

Posted 12 years ago on Thursday April 12, 2012 | Permalink
Teresa
Member

Carl,

We realized after you took a look at the Info Request form that it is the *only* one working. The Newsletter/Volunteer form is not working. Would you please have a look at the setup for it to see if I have done something wrong? The login information I shared with you via e-mail is active and working again if you still have that e-mail; if not, let me know and I will re-send.

We have received no complete signups as a result of the Newsletter/Volunteer form mentioned above, whether it's us testing or a user submitting it. The only additions have been where the information from the Gravity Forms notification was manually entered or there was a signup from somewhere other than our Gravity Forms on the site.

Thank you for your help.

Teresa

UPDATE:
I contacted MailChimp and discovered that we have the ability to look at all calls to the API over the previous 24 hours. To do this, log in to your MailChimp dashboard and go to account > API keys & info. There is a table near the bottom of the page that shows the calls.

I've posted a screen grab from the account here: http://thesimplerweb.com/files/failfailfail.jpg

The fail near the bottom at 5:05AM is from a user signup. I tried one at 7:15PM that did nothing, probably because it was an e-mail address I'd tried before. Then I created a new e-mail address and used it for a signup, which failed and is shown near the top.

So we now know it's being sent to MailChimp but the listSubscribe is failing. There's got to be something I've set up incorrectly - what???

Posted 12 years ago on Monday April 16, 2012 | Permalink
Teresa
Member

I have gotten somewhat further down the road in troubleshooting my problem, and because I can now see what's going on with API calls I know the problem is *not* that data isn't being passed to MailChimp. I think I am going to start another topic about where I believe the failure point is (Groups) so that hopefully it'll be resolved and others with similar issues may find it helpful. Anyway…

I want to stress the importance of using an absolutely clean e-mail address. There can be numerous variables in the mix of Gravity Forms, MailChimp and your specific form and feed setup. When you're troubleshooting and testing if you're trying to use addresses that may have already been submitted to MailChimp you're just adding another potential failure point. I created a new e-mail address for each test and just had it feed into my main e-mail account so I didn't have to do any additional setup for it in an e-mail client. Setting up a new e-mail address for every form test was a minor pain in the butt, but it let me take the variable of the already-existing e-mail address out of the mix.

Also, be proactive and log into your MailChimp dashboard and go look at the API calls before getting generally frustrated about your form not working. It *is* frustrating, but even if you don't 100% understand what's going on, the data there will either help you or help someone help you. The API calls are updated every time you refresh the page so you can see exactly what fails because you can match up the submit times with the e-mail GF generates (note that the times in the API are GMT).

Posted 12 years ago on Wednesday April 18, 2012 | Permalink
jamesashford
Member

We seem to have a similar problem. We have forms on our site and when I complete them from our office they do not send the data through to Mailchimp,. I do receive the Gravity form confirmation email but Mailchimp is not updated. What is very bizarre is that from our tech guys office I can add details and they add to mailchimp. This is so frustrating as I've been adding people thinking they are on but not all are, only those entered from a different office. Any ideas, frustrated in Doncaster.

Posted 12 years ago on Monday May 21, 2012 | Permalink