General Info
What is an API?
API stands for Application Programming Interface. Simply put, the API allows a software's functionality to be extended to 'the outside world.' Programmers can write their own code that exercises the functionality that the API exposes. It's best to show this through examples:
We've all used Google Maps at some point. Google opened up an API to the Google Maps and with it, some developers have come up with some neat websites which use the mapping functionality:
What is the VR API and how can it benefit you?
The VR API extends VerticalResponse's e-mail marketing functionality out to your environment. Think of it this way: an action that you perform with a mouse click in VerticalResponse (e.g. create a campaign, append members to a list) - could be executed via a custom script/application that lives on your systems. If you have access to a software devloper, he/she could write a program which perform some of these manual tasks for you, without ever opening up a web browser.
- Creating/updating a list of campaign recipients
- Creating/editing an email campaign
- Launching an email campaign
- Downloading campaign statistics
How much does it cost to use the VR API?
Customers who sign up early on to use the VR API will not be charged to get setup with or use the service. At some point in the future, we may charge a setup/access fee to those customers who are new to the API.
Technical Info
How do I connect to the VR API ?
The VR API is a SOAP based API, so you can connect to it from the development language of your choice (e.g. Perl, PHP, Java, C#). Prior to connecting to the API, you'll need:
- the login credentials for your account (e-mail address & password)
- Contact us to enable API access on your account
- Optional SSL certificates (available upon request)
Are all transactions with the VR API secure?
Yes. All interactions with VerticalResponse's API service are secured using the optional SSL certificates. Additionally, API calls must be made via HTTPS requests.
What kind of sample code is available?
We will be creating sample code in a variety of popular development languages and posting them here. If you have sample code that you would like to contribute to the VR community, please contact us - we'd love to share it with others!
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