Implementing netFORUM Enterprise

Before you begin

• Review the netFORUM Integration Overview to answer general questions about the integration - more detailed information can be found in the Integration Articles.
• The netFORUM integration with Higher Logic Thrive Marketing Professional (Thrive Marketing Professional) will require its own xWeb License - even if you already have one with the community platform. 
• Ensure that your Thrive Marketing Professional is licensed for an integration - you can do this by confirming with your Implementation Project Manager or creating a case via support.higherlogic.com.

Getting Started

Requirements

The integration requires the following: 

• Absolute Tokens - if Sliding Tokens is enabled the integration will not function 

Configuring netFORUM Enterprise

1. Create a case with Abila Support 
   1. SUBJECT: Informz integration with netFORUM Enterprise 2014 - [Client Name]
   2. SUPPORT PRODUCT: netFORUM Enterprise
   3. SUPPORT PRODUCT TYPE: Integration
   4. PRODUCT APPLICATION: eMail
   5. PRIORITY: Severity Level 4
   6. CASE DESCRIPTION:
      1. Please provide the following information to establish the integration for [Client Name]:
         • xWeb Address (URL)
         • xWeb Username
         • xWeb Password
      2. Create a sample "Informz" query to facilitate testing of the connection. Please configure this query to contain a single record with a distinct and valid netFORUM Enterprise ID and a distinct and valid email address.

Abila Support will

• Work with client contact to provision the xWeb license
• Create the xWeb login and password for the integration
• Create a sample query that will appear in Thrive Marketing Professional as a target group (the target group type will be "Individual")
• Update the support case with the xWeb address and login credentials 

Activate the Integration

1. Log into Thrive Marketing Professional with an account that has Administrator privileges.
2. Navigate to Admin > System Settings.
3. Scroll down to the Integration Settings area and click Edit Integration Settings.

4. On the resulting page, check the Active box.

5. Enter the URL to the netFORUM Enterprise web service in the Web Service Address field.
6. Enter the username and password (provided by Abila).
7. Click Update.

Check Connection

1. In Thrive Marketing Professional, navigate to Admin -> Setup -> Bridge Configuration
2. Under Diagnostics, click Check Connection

Post-Configuration Steps

Once the integration is completed: 

1. Review the integration documentation and learning materials
2. Refresh a target group under the netFORUM Individual Queries folder 
3. Enable Writebacks

Functionality testing

Syncing - Target Group List Sync

1. In Thrive Marketing Professional, navigate to Subscribers -> Target Groups
2. Select the "netFORUM Individual Queries" target group folder
3. Click on "Refresh Target Group List"
   • Confirm that the sample distribution list that Abila Support created is visible in the Target Group List

Syncing - Individual Target Group Sync

1. Hover over the sample distribution list and click "Info"
2. Click on "sync"
   • Confirm that the sync successfully displays the record in the sample distribution list

Personalization - View List of Personalization Attributes

1. In Thrive Marketing Professional, navigate to Admin -> Setup -> Bridge Configuration
2. Under Personalization Attributes, click List of Personalization Attributes
   • Confirm that the personalization attributes are available under netFORUM Individual Queries

Unsubscribe - Confirm Write-Back

1. In Thrive Marketing Professional, navigate to Subscribers -> Target Groups
2. Find the sample target group that Abila created, and drill down to view the subscriber record in the target group
3. Unsubscribe the subscriber
4. Navigate to Admin -> Setup -> Bridge Configuration
5. Under Writebacks, click Writeback List
   • Confirm that the unsubscribe write-back has a status of "Sent" (write-back may take a few minutes to be sent; periodically refresh the page until status is updated)
6. Once the write-back has a status of "Sent," update the Abila Support Case requesting for Abila to confirm that the test record has been updated with the unsubscribe write-back
   • Abila confirms that the record was successfully updated with the unsubscribe

Resubscribe - Confirm Writeback

1. In Thrive Marketing Professional, navigate to Subscribers -> Search
2. Search for the test record that was previously unsubscribed
3. Resubscribe the subscriber
4. Navigate to Admin -> Setup -> Bridge Configuration
5. Under Writebacks, click Writeback List
   • Confirm that the resubscribe write-back has a status of "Sent" (write-back may take a few minutes to be sent; periodically refresh the page until status is updated)
6. Once the write-back has a status of "Sent," update the Abila Support Case requesting for Abila to confirm that the test record has been updated with the resubscribe write-back
   • Abila confirms that the record was successfully updated with the resubscribe