Content sources

In Acumbamail you can now define content sources. These allow you to upload a list of elements defined by an image, a title, short descriptive text, long descriptive text, a link, author and publication date. You can attach the information to the list of elements by uploading a file or by providing a URL from which they are retrieved periodically and automatically. These elements can then be easily inserted into your email or landing page designs. Imagine, as a paradigmatic example, being able to include the products of your e-commerce or a new entry from your blog in the emails of your campaigns.

In this article:

• Access to feature
  • Features according to plan
• Content sources
  • Create a content source
  • Supported formats
  • Edit a content source
  • Delete a content source
• Include a content source from the editor

Access to feature

You can access content sources from the "Integrations" option in the main side menu. From "Integrations" select "Content Sources" from the top menu.

Features according to plan

The following table describes exactly what each user will be able to do depending on the plan or plan assigned to them.

Content sources are limited in two different ways:

• Number of content sources – This determines how many different content sources you can create and configure, from which content will be retrieved.
• Number of Items – This determines the maximum number of items that will be retrieved from each content source. This means that even if we find 50 items in a content source, if your plan limits you to a maximum of 10 items, then only the first 10 items detected for each content source will be visible.

Content sources

When you access this section, a list of available content sources is displayed, from where you can manage them.

Create a content source

To add a new content source, click on the "New Source" button. A popup will appear from which you can select how to add the content:

• From URL : In this option you will have to provide a URL that we will call periodically and automatically to retrieve the content. A GET request will be made to this URL and the returned content must be in RSS/ATOM feed (XML) format or JSON listing.
• Upload a file : In this option you will have to upload a file with the content you want to have available in the editor. This would be a static content source. Just as if it were retrieved from a URL, the format must be RSS/ATOM feed (XML) or JSON listing.

Depending on the option you choose, you will need to enter a name to identify the source and provide the URL or select the file with the source's predefined content.

Pressing the "Create" button will create the new content source and you will be redirected to the editing view, where you can check if valid content has been detected or if there have been any issues.

If the number of detected contents is not equal to 0, then the contents have been successfully recovered. If the number of detected contents is equal to 0, then one of the following problems has occurred:

• Content could not be retrieved from the provided URL or the uploaded file contains no content.
• The detected content does not have a valid format.
• The content has a valid format but contains 0 entries or an empty listing.

When a problem occurs while retrieving content from the source, a warning will appear both in the edit view and in the main content source listing (along with the date and time of the last reload).

Supported formats

Please note that it is possible to provide content from a source in two different formats.

RSS/ATOM feed (XML)

If you have a website, such as a blog or an e-commerce site, where you have configured an RSS/ATOM feed or source, you will simply have to enter its associated URL and you will be able to access the list of items described in said feed.

JSON Listing

If you do not have an RSS/ATOM feed, you can also prepare an endpoint that, when making GET requests, returns a JSON list describing items of interest, such as products from your online store. In this case, the JSON object must have specific keys to be able to recognize the different elements, these being:

• title : This represents the title associated with the element
• author : This represents the name of the person who created the item
• published : This represents the date the item was created
• summary : This represents the short descriptive text associated with the element. This can be HTML text.
• content : This represents the long descriptive text associated with the element. This can be HTML text.
• link : This represents a link to redirect the user to for more information about the item.
• id : This is a unique identifier that allows the element to be distinguished from others.

Remember that the image associated with the product will be attempted to be retrieved from the content associated with the " summary " and " content " keys if they are defined as HTML and contain an image type node.

Click here to see an example of valid content in this format.

Edit a content source

From the list, click on the name of the source you want to edit or from the associated menu, select "Edit".

Preview

Whether the content was added from a URL or uploaded from a file, you can review the detected content by clicking the "Preview" button, which will open a popup showing the associated image (if an image has been detected), the title, the short description and the link for each element.

Reloading content (for URLs only)

If you have provided a URL, the content will be refreshed automatically every 8 hours. If you need to reload the content immediately, you can click the "Reload" button.

Update source

If it is a URL, you can update the internal name and the associated URL. If you have uploaded a file, you can edit the internal name and upload a new file. You must click on "Save" to save the changes, at which point the contents associated with the source will be reloaded.

Please note that the detected content is not cumulative , meaning that only the elements currently present in the source will be available. If you uploaded a file with 10 sources and within the same file you upload a new file with another 5 sources, the first 10 are deleted and only the new 5 would be available.

Likewise, if you update the URL and it returns different elements, the elements originally detected for the first source will not be accessible. The old elements will not be selectable for insertion into your new designs, although if you have included them previously, those designs will preserve this content.

Delete a content source

From the list, click on the menu associated with the source you want to delete and choose the "Delete" option. When you delete a content source, it will no longer be selectable from the editor, but any content you've already added to your landing page and email design templates will remain visible.

Include a content source from the editor

All fonts can be embedded into any of your landing pages or newsletters. To do so, simply go to the “Content” tab in the editor and drag the “Content Source” element into your design.

Click the "Add Content" button. A popup will appear listing all your active sources (those with at least 1 selectable item). Choose a source and press "Next."

Next, you'll need to select the content you want to add, its orientation, and the individual elements you want to be visible for each piece of content. Once you confirm your selection, the content will appear in the queue.

Choice of content

Regarding the choice of content:

• This editor element ("Content Source") adds an entire row to your layout.
• In the row you can include one, two or up to three of the contents of your source.
• If you need to display more content, you can drag more "Content Source" elements into your layout.

Orientation of each content

There are two possible orientations. The orientation is applied individually to each added content:

• Vertical . A single column is used to display the elements of each content in a stacked manner.
• Horizontal . Two columns are used to display the elements of each content.

Visible elements

Depending on which orientation you have chosen, you can decide which elements will be visible or not in the column or two columns available for each content. By default, the image, title, short description and link with a button are displayed.