CKAN Monthly Newsletter - investigate delivery + update welcome email #258
Description
Description
Users have reported that they don’t receive the CKAN Newsletter after subscribing. This raises concerns about whether the Mailchimp integration is functioning correctly. Additionally, we want to:
- Confirm whether Mailchimp is integrated and working as expected
- Replace the outdated welcome email with a new version
- Fix the broken confirmation redirect after double opt-in - currently, users land on the homepage (
ckan.org) with no message.
The full subscription flow end-to-end must be as follows:
- Submit the newsletter form (footer + blog)
- Verify subscriber is added to the correct audience list
- Check that the welcome email is sent
- Confirm via the double opt-in link
- Ensure user is sees a final success message after they click on the double opt-in link
Tasks
1. Mailchimp integration + subscription audit
- Investigate if the subscription is working properly
Yoana: I managed to subscribe from the blog but not from the footer. See screenshot below.
- Investigate whether the Mailchimp integration is functioning as expected
Where are subscribers being sent? Can we confirm the target list?
- Check if new subscribers are correctly added to the audience list
- Test full flow: form submission → Mailchimp → welcome email
2. Welcome email – replace old version
- Locate the current welcome email template
Yoana: It’s not in Mailchimp. If possible, I’d prefer to manage and edit it there.
- Replace it with the improved version (see below)
- Test the new welcome email for formatting and deliverability
3. Fix newsletter confirmation redirect (double opt-in)
Problem: After confirming subscription, users land on ckan.org with no message — unclear if subscription was successful. We want to display at least an on-site confirmation (e.g. a success pop-up) to let users know their subscription was successful.
- Add a clear thank-you message confirming successful subscription
Thank you! Your subscription to the CKAN Monthly Newsletter is confirmed.
We’ll keep you updated with open-source news, events, and product updates. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Current email
Sender:
noreply
Subject: Thank you for subscribing to the CKAN Monthly Newsletter!Hello,
Thank you for subscribing to the CKAN Monthly Newsletter! We're excited to share the latest news, articles, and updates about CKAN with you! Rest assured, our mailing frequency won't exceed twice a month, as we value your time and dislike spam as much as you do.
To confirm your subscription and ensure you don't miss an email, please follow these two steps:
- Click the link below to activate your subscription. If clicking doesn't work, copy and paste the URL into your browser. If you received this email by mistake, simply ignore it, and we won't contact you again.
- To prevent our emails from landing in your spam or promotions folder, add our email address noreply@ckan.org to your contacts. In most email clients, you can do this by opening the email, clicking on our email address, and selecting "Add to Contacts.”
Please note that this is a notification-only email. Do not reply to this message.
Best regards,
The CKAN Project Team
Share Your Experience
Join the conversation on @CKANproject and share your experience using #CKANMonthlyNewsletter! Don’t forget to subscribe to the CKAN Association YouTube Channel to receive updates!
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Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube and join our LinkedIn Group! You can also visit our website and blog to learn more!
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[Footer]
New email
Sender: comms@ckan.org (instead of
noreply— improves deliverability and allows whitelisting)
Subject: You're Almost In – Confirm Your Subscription to CKAN Monthly NewsletterHi there,
Thanks for subscribing to the CKAN Monthly Newsletter — your gateway to the latest updates, community stories, and product news from the world’s leading open-source data management system.
We send no more than 1-2 emails a month, and every one is packed with real value — no spam, ever.
One last step to confirm your subscription:
Click the link below to activate your subscription. If the link doesn’t work, copy and paste it into your browser.
If you received this email by mistake, feel free to ignore it — you won’t be subscribed.Make sure you get our updates:
Add comms@ckan.org to your contacts so our emails don’t end up in your spam or promotions tab.Explore more:
- CKAN Blog
- Community Events
- CKAN on X/Twitter
- CKAN on LinkedIn
- Join our LinkedIn Group
- CKAN on YouTube
Welcome aboard!
The CKAN Project Team[The footer remains as it is]
Screenshot from footer
button was inactive and the email field changed colour for some reason as if there is an error
I assume this error message is desplayed when user is already subscribed - in any case, it is not expected (we need to replace with eg. you are already subscribed or sth like that)
