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Implementing unsubscribing

The unsubscribe Web page allows a user to unsubscribe from a Mailing. You can implement unsubscribing of a Contact in several places:

  • Somewhere on your Web site add an "Unsubscribe" link which directs users to a page where they can unsubscribe.
  • Include a link to this Web page in all e-mail messages that Audience Manager sends to the user.

A visitor or e-mail recipient can use this link to reach the login screen for unsubscribing. The visitor or e-mail recipient then fills in an e-mail address and password and submits this information to unsubscribe. The following image shows the basic Unsubscribe page:

Implement or customize unsubscription as follows:

  • For ASP.NET Web sites—modify or customize the unsubscribe.aspx and the unsubscribe.aspx.cs pages and deploy them on your Web site
  • For JSP Web sites—modify or customize the unsubscribe.jsp page and deploy it on your Web site

Add code to your Page Templates to insert unsubscription links in E-mails using one of the following frameworks (see details below):

  • Modular Templating Framework
  • VBScript Templating Framework

Modular Templating Framework

Create a link in an e-mail to a unsubscription page as follows:

  • Add a OutboundEmail_UnsubscribeURL method to the Dreamweaver Template, used in your Page Template Building Block, to create a link to the Web page in which a subscriber can unsubscribe. For example:
    <a href="@@OutboundEmail_UnsubscribeURL@@">Click here to unsubscribe</a>
  • Define a query string in the Unsubscribe Query String parameter, in the PreProcessing Template Building Block, to define a query string to add to the Unsubscription URL. The Unsubscribe page URL is the URL of the Web page in which a subscriber can cancel their subscription and is defined in a Publication's Audience Management tab.

VBScript Templating Framework

Create a link in an e-mail to an unsubscribe page using the following VBScript function in the E-mail Page Template which retrieves the URL that this link should point to:

OutboundEmail.GetUnsubscribeURL()

This function returns the URL of the Unsubscribe page. For example:

Do you want to unsubscribe from this mailing list?
Click <a href='[% WriteOut OutboundEmail.GetUnsubscribeURL() %]'>here</a>

This function has one optional parameter:

Optional ByVal customQueryStringParameterValue As String = ""

You can use this parameter to add one custom parameter, called custom, to the URL you create. The value of this custom parameter is the value of customQueryStringParameterValue.

By using this parameter, you can, for example, add a Publication ID to the URL. The Unsubscribe page can then retrieve this Publication ID and change its behavior accordingly.

The actual Unsubscribe page is, by default, unsubscribe.aspx or unsubscribe.jsp, depending on the scripting language used by the Presentation Server. It displays a form in which a user can enter their e-mail address and password. The page sets the Subscription status of the Contact to "Unsubscribed".