Use the Mailchimp API - node.js

Question

I'd like to use the Mailchimp Node.js API in my Parse Cloud Hosting app to subscribe a user to a mailing list. Parse doesn't support NPM but, given that the Mailchimp API has no dependencies, I thought I'd be able to copy the code into my project. However, the Mailchimp API uses the "https" module which Parse doesn't support.
Does anyone know of a way around this?

Answer 1

I've been unable to use the Mailchimp API directly but the REST API is pretty easy to use.
In main.js, create a Cloud Function. Enter your API key and update the REST URL to point at the correct Mailchimp data center (http://apidocs.mailchimp.com/api/2.0/)
var mailchimpApiKey = "<<REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_KEY>>";
Parse.Cloud.define("SubscribeUserToMailingList", function(request, response) {
if (!request.params ||
!request.params.email){
response.error("Must supply email address, firstname and lastname to Mailchimp signup");
return;
}
var mailchimpData = {
apikey : mailchimpApiKey,
id : request.params.listid,
email : {
email : request.params.email
},
merge_vars : request.params.mergevars
}
var url = "https://<<REPLACE_WITH_DATA_CENTRE>>.api.mailchimp.com/2.0/lists/subscribe.json";
Parse.Cloud.httpRequest({
method: 'POST',
url: url,
body: JSON.stringify(mailchimpData),
success: function(httpResponse) {
console.log(httpResponse.text);
response.success("Successfully subscribed");
},
error: function(httpResponse) {
console.error('Request failed with response code ' + httpResponse.status);
console.error(httpResponse.text);
response.error('Mailchimp subscribe failed with response code ' + httpResponse.status);
}
});
});
Then, in the code which calls this function... (replace your list ID)
Parse.Cloud.run("SubscribeUserToMailingList", {
listid : "<<REPLACE_WITH_LIST_ID>>",
email : email,
mergevars : {
FNAME : firstName,
LNAME : lastName
}
})
.then(function(success){
console.log("Successfully subscribed");
// ...
},
function(error){
console.log("Unable to subscribe");
// ...
});

Answer 2

Install mailchimp in your project
npm install mailchimp-api
From client controller call the server-controller with required data
Don't forget to add $http to the top of controller
$http({
method : 'POST',
url : '/mailchimp-users/subscribe',
data : {user:this.name}}).
success(function(response) {
console.log("hai this is basic test" + response);
$scope.send = response.message;
}).error(function(response) {
$scope.error = response.message;
});
In server controller
Add this to the beginning of page
var MailchimpUser = mongoose.model('MailchimpUser'),
_ = require('lodash'),
mcapi = require('mailchimp-api');
var apiKey = '4bf6fb8820c333da4179216c3c2ef8fb-us10';
// Change this to your Key
var listID = 'ebbf193760';
var mc = new mcapi.Mailchimp(apiKey, {version: '2.0'});
Add this function
exports.subscribe = function(req, res) {
var entry = req.body.user;
var mcReq = {
apikey: '4bf6fb8820c333da4179216c3c2ef8fb-us10',
id: 'ebbf193760',
email: {email: entry + '#gmail.com'},
merge_vars: {
FNAME: 'subscriber-first-name',
LNAME: 'subscriber-last-name'
},
'double_optin': false,
'send_welcome': true
}
// submit subscription request to mail chimp
mc.lists.subscribe(mcReq, function(data) {
console.log(data);
}, function(error) {
console.log(error);
});
};
Add this route your route file
app.route('/mailchimp-users/subscribe')
.post(mailchimpUsers.subscribe);

Answer 3

Here's how I got it to work using the MailChimp API v3.0, the method below supports adding/updating a subscriber, as well as adding/removing him to/from a Group!
Prerequisite:
You need to get an MD5 hash method to convert the user's email into a hash.
Here's the one I used: http://www.webtoolkit.info/javascript-md5.html#.Vuz-yjZOwXV
Copy the code in the link, and paste it into a newly created file, name it "md5js.js" for example.
Update the code you copied to start with exports.MD5 = function (string) {
You can test the conversion you got from the copy/pasted module by comparing the result with this online tool: http://www.miraclesalad.com/webtools/md5.php
var jsmd5 = require('cloud/md5js.js');
// here replace that with your own data center (by looking at your API key).
var datacenter = "us13";
var MAILCHIMP_URL = "https://<any_string>:<apikey>#" + datacenter + ".api.mailchimp.com/3.0/";
var MAILCHIMP_LIST_NEWSLETTER_ID = <yourlistId>;
Parse.Cloud.define("SubscribeUserToMailingList", function(request, response) {
if (!request.params ||
!request.params.email){
response.error("Must supply email address, firstname and lastname to Mailchimp signup");
return;
}
var email = request.params.email;
var firstName = request.params.firstname;
var lastName = request.params.lastname;
// this converts the email string into an MD5 hash.
// this is Required if you want to use a "PUT" which allows add/update of an entry, compared to the POST that allows only adding a new subscriber.
var emailHash = jsmd5.MD5(email);
var mailchimpData = {
'email_address': email,
'status': "subscribed",
'merge_fields': {
'FNAME': firstName,
'LNAME': lastName
},
'interests': {
"<groupID>": true // optional, if you want to add the user to a "Group".
}
};
var url = MAILCHIMP_URL + "lists/" + MAILCHIMP_LIST_NEWSLETTER_ID + "/members/" + emailHash;
// using a "PUT" allows you to add/update an entry.
Parse.Cloud.httpRequest({
method: 'PUT',
url: url,
body: JSON.stringify(mailchimpData),
success: function(httpResponse) {
console.log(httpResponse.text);
response.success("Successfully subscribed");
},
error: function(httpResponse) {
console.error('Request failed with response code ' + httpResponse.status);
console.error(httpResponse.text);
response.error('Mailchimp subscribe failed with response code ' + httpResponse.status);
}
});
});