Setup Guide

Setting up YIKES Inc Easy MailChimp Extender is as simple as generating and retrieving a MailChimp API key from your MailChimp account dashboard.

In the following steps we'll outline how to generate a MailChimp API key for use in connecting your self hosted WordPress.org site with your MailChimp account. Linking up the two accounts allows for some really awesome functionality you won't find in other plugins.

Once you have your site linked to your MailChimp account, you'll be able to import forms you've previously setup, view campaign statistic data (including but not limited to click, bounce and open percentages, number of unsubscribes and more...), add edit or remove fields and interest groups from your lists and so much more.

So let's begin by generating an API key for use with YIKES Inc Easy MailChimp Extender.

 

Step 1) Log into Your MailChimp Account

Lets start by first logging into your MailChimp account. Once logged in and on your account dashboard, in the left hand menu you'll want to click your profile image , and when the sliding menu appears, click on 'My Profile'.

 

Step 2) Navigate to the API Keys Page

Once on your profile settings page, in the menu towards the top of the page you'll want to click on 'Extras' and then select 'API Keys'.

 

Step 3) Navigate to the API Keys Page

Once on the API screen, you'll want to start by clicking on 'Create a Key' towards the bottom left hand corner of the page. A unique API key will then be generated for you.

Please Note : This API key should be protected in the same way you protect your passwords. The API key we just generated is, essentially, another password into your MailChimp account. If your API key ends up in the wrong hands, that person would then have unrestricted access to your account via API calls. Which means they could do nearly anything you could from the MailChimp site.

 

Step 4) Enter the API Key into the Plugin

Now that you've generated the API key, you'll just need to enter it into the settings page. First copy the API key from the input field on your API settings page. Then you'll want to Navigate over to the YIKES Inc. Easy MailChimp Extender Settings Page and paste in your newly created API key.

After pasting your key, you should get response back stating that your API key was valid with a little green check mark.

If for one reason or another you receive an error response back (such as invalid key), it's worth noting that each error returned from the MailChimp API will be logged into the error log found on the 'Debug Options' settings page.

 

Common Issues and Errors

Error Response : Invalid API Key

The API key input field on the YIKES Inc. Easy MailChimp Extender settings page is set to type="password" for security reasons. Otherwise this would leave your API key in plain text, and on multi-site or multi-author sites this would be a security concern. On top of type="password", we've base64 encoded the API key using php MCRPYT and a custom encryption key.

If you use a password manager with your browser, ( such as LastPass, TeamPassword or 1Password ) you may want to temporarily disable them while you enter the API key. Password managers have been known to auto-populate the API key field with your sites stored password, which then returns an invalid key error.

 

Error Response : "SSL certificate problem, verify that the CA cert is OK."

This bug first appeared when the Shell Shock bug swept the web. In an attempt to prevent attacks to your site many web hosts invalidated your servers CA (or certificate authority). With an invalid CA, MailChimp is unable to validate your site. As a workaround, we've included a setting on the options page'