Mailchimp Integration

RSVPMaker includes an email utility (RSVP Email Newsletters and Notifications), which can be used to send email broadcasts. Using the email capacity into your web hosting may be adequate for sending to small lists (for example, a follow up message to attendees at a recent event, based on the RSVP list). However, many web hosts prohibit the use of their services for bulk email to prevent abuse.

For mass email distribution, we recommend integration with Mailchimp or Postmark (see related article).

The Mailchimp integration may make sense if you create some messages within your WordPress site but still want access to Mailchimp’s email designer and other services through mailchimp.com. Otherwise, we recommend Postmark as the more flexible option.

After creating an account with Mailchimp, you can obtain an API key to enable the integration. Under Settings -> RSVPMaker and the Mailing List tab, you can paste in the API key and set other options, such as what users should be allowed to send an email broadcast.

You create and edit RSVP Mailer documents like posts or pages, using the WordPress editor.

When you save and view an RSVP Mailer post, it will be displayed in an email template rather than your regular website template. At the top of that page, you will see the controls you can use to set the list you want to send to. Make your choices, and click Send Now.

Here is an example of a RSVP Mailer message as received in GMail.

The email template can be edited on the RSVP Mailer -> Email Design Templates screen. RSVP Mailer does not use the templates in your Mailchimp account, but you can adapt the template stored in WordPress to resemble one of your Mailchimp templates. Both use the same system of placeholder codes for elements like an unsubscribe link.