Plugin: Mandrill SMTP Integration

[doberer]

Located under the store admin
>>Plugins>>Email>>>

When did this show up as an option under plugins? So if I understand this correctly 3d is starting (started) to consider offloading emails from their server to another provider? Or is this just part of the mailchimp integration? If so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider a google mail integration so we can fully bypass 3dcart's email servers for outbound system generated emails.

Mandrill - Transactional Email from MailChimp

Mandrill for 3dcart is a plugin that allows your 3dcart store to send transactional emails via Mandrill The only thing you need to do is to provide your Mandrill SMTP Credentials on 3dcart under the Mandrill settings page and enable the plugin. After that all emails (new user registration, password reset etc) will be sent through the Mandrill service.

[jimmy3dcart]

The Mandrill integration is new and will be on the June release notes next week.

You're right, it allows you to send emails through their SMTP servers instead of using 3dcart. It's a solution from Mailchimp and we ran into it while working on the MC integration.

I'm not familiar with the gmail SMTP service, but you can enter the server name and credentials under the Mandrill settings page and give it a try. It simply points to the server specified there (the Mandrill server is not hardcoded), so you can trick it to work with a different SMTP.

Let me know if that works.

Jimmy Rodriguez

[doberer]

we would need a place to enter a password...and a button to test if the connection works (like UPS/Fedex) would be beneficial for those using the plugin too.

Pop or SMTP for gmail
Set up POP in mail clients - Gmail Help

[elightbox]

we would need a place to enter a password...and a button to test if the connection works (like UPS/Fedex) would be beneficial for those using the plugin too.

Yes please! Thank you.

[kbscoatings]

Password

We would really like to see this work with Gmail as well. Please allow us to enter a password and also a test button. I agree.

[GonzaloGil]

The Mandrill plugin lets you use their service, but, you could use it to use any third party SMTP service. And, it appears that Google does allow this, however, I've never tested it. Found some info here;

How to use Gmail as your SMTP server

if you want to give it a whirl and report back :).

There is one issue though which is that Google will change the FROM to the from on your Google account, so, if you are using [email protected], even if you have [email protected] as the FROM it will overwrite that with [email protected], probably to prevent spam.

I've heard reports of it working just fine for other third party SMTP providers like sendgrid.com

[elightbox]

, but, you could use it to use any third party SMTP service. And, it appears that Google does allow this,

Confused now! by "it" above, do you mean the Plugin or Mandril??

There is one issue though which is that Google will change the FROM to the from on your Google account

I don't think this is the case for the Google Apps Mail Accounts. You get up to 10 e-mail addresses free and you can send and receive with each address.

Here are the instructions for setting up the Google Apps Mail
Configure email delivery - Google Apps Help

[doberer]

maybe I am missing something but where does the password get entered? Entering it in the Madrill API Key field doesn't work with the test emails I have sent.

[kbscoatings]

Password

The Mandrill plugin lets you use their service, but, you could use it to use any third party SMTP service. And, it appears that Google does allow this, however, I've never tested it. Found some info here;

How to use Gmail as your SMTP server

if you want to give it a whirl and report back :).

There is one issue though which is that Google will change the FROM to the from on your Google account, so, if you are using [email protected], even if you have [email protected] as the FROM it will overwrite that with [email protected], probably to prevent spam.

I've heard reports of it working just fine for other third party SMTP providers like sendgrid.com

OK, so where do we put the password in? Please let us know so we can use it for gmail.

[jimmy3dcart]

OK, so where do we put the password in? Please let us know so we can use it for gmail.

The API KEY for Mandrill = SMTP Password.

So, just enter the SMTP password you have in the API field and it should work properly.

Jimmy Rodriguez

[doberer]

does the plugin support SSL?

I believe the config would be this
Sending mail from a printer, scanner, or third-party application - Google Apps Help

update:...after a few hours of testing and configuration options this doesn't appear to be integrated with anything but mandrill. this could have been a HUGE home run for 3dcart to allow a fully functioning smtp forwarder vs yet another paid for plugin.

if somebody does get this to work let me know or post the gmail settings and configs that you used.

[kbscoatings]

Not Working

Jimmy,

I did what you suggested but it does not seem to be working. As you know, when you use gmail for smtp, it automatically puts a copy of any email sent in the "Sent" folder. I sent several emails after setting up the settings the way you suggest and none of them are being routed through the smtp server as set up under the Mandrill settings.

We would love this ability and hope you can explain what I need to do to make it work.

Thanks!

[netretailstores]

Mandrill Template feature not part of API

I saved a template in mandrill and would also like to use the headers to tag my messages and use the full feature set. Unfortunately, it looks as if the 3dcart API does not support this level of integration.

I can get the emails to go out using mandrill's SMTP, but can't call the template that I created in Mandrill or use any of the other features.

I read the documentation on 3dcart KB and it says:
All of your store’s emails will now be sent through Mandrill and you can enjoy the added template and analytic features available with the service.

I don't think this is true. The API is only integrated to send out the emails, not to pull in the templates in mandrill. There is nowhere on the 3dcart system to add the headers, tag, etc.

We have been going back and forth with support on this for 1 week. Can someone just please confirm that indeed the API is limited to just sending emails, or if someone has figured out how to do this please let us know.

[cbsteven]

Can anyone explain the benefit of using Mandrill/Mailchimp for the transactional emails? I have been poking around on their site a little and I don't get get the benefit.

[NMTEACO]

Can anyone explain the benefit of using Mandrill/Mailchimp for the transactional emails? I have been poking around on their site a little and I don't get get the benefit.

Higher rates of delivery (perhaps)...

Its also nice to be able to see what links people are clicking on on your transaction emails... Lets say you have a link to your facebook page on your invoice. You will be able to see if anyone ever clicks on that.

I can also see that in the last 14 days two people have requested their passwords. Both people also clicked the link to reset the password.

In the future 3dcart might support mandrills templates, but right now its basically just an analytics service, with perhaps less transactional emails going into peoples spam filters.