Configuring Strands recommendations email widget

Development model: MVC Portal Engine
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Kentico EMS required

Features described on this page require the Kentico EMS license.

You can add personalized recommendations for products from the store into the marketing emails by placing aStrands recommendation widget into the content of the emails. Strands services then monitor the activity of users on the site and prepare personalized recommendations for every user. Integration of Strands services into marketing emails in Kentico is provided by macro methods to access Strands API using widgets.

Before creating this widget, you need to make sure the following steps have been taken:

  • Strands Recommender has been integrated into the system.
    • API ID and Validation token need to be filled in the Settings -> Integration -> Strands Recommender.
  • An email template has been created on the Strands website.

The Strands recommendation widget is implemented on the Dancing Goat sample site. You can use this widget as a reference.

To create a new Strands recommendation widget:

  1. Open the Email marketing application and switch to the Email widgets tab.
  2. Click New email widget.
  3. Specify the display name.
  4. (Optional) Set the email widget thumbnail (a custom image or a font icon).
    • Thumbnails are used to represent individual email widgets when listed on an email’s Email builder tab.
  5. Click Save.
    • The system creates the email widget and opens its Widget editor tab.
  6. Obtain the HTML code for the widget from the Strands website and paste it into the widget editor text area.
  7. Modify the code using dedicated macro methods listed below and click Save when finished.
  8. (Optional) Define email widget properties on the Properties tab for greater customization options.

Macro methods

In the table below, you can find a list of macro methods, which are useful when working with Strands services. Use these macros to replace constant strings in the widget code obtained from the Strands website. For a list of additional macros check the email marketing macro reference.

Macro

Description

Usage

{% Recipient.StrandsUserID %}

Resolves into the user ID used to identify individual users in the Strands services.

Use this macro instead of a user name in the widget code.

You can use this macro directly in the user text box when obtaining code from Strands website to save yourself some work.

{% Settings.CMSStrandsAPIID %}

Resolves into the Strands API ID used to connect Kentico to the Strands services.

(Optional) Use this macro to replace the API ID in the code of the widget. The ID typed into the code without the use of macros works as well.

{% PropertyName %}

Resolves into the value of a given property.

(Optional) Use the name of your properties instead of PropertyName. This macro allows for more customization. It can be used to choose from different templates, as seen on the Dancing Goat sample site example.

Assigning widget to email template

After a new widget is cretated in the system, it is not automatically displayed in the Email builder. To display the widget, you need to assign it to an email template.