Logs are a powerful tool to help you understand what’s happening with your integration.
Every sync creates two log records: a record of the actual details of the communication between CCB and Mailchimp + a log cleanup record.
A manual sync log shows you what has changed. The top log shows you what happened from CCB to Mailchimp. The lower log shows you the reverse.
A cleanup sync happens with each automatic or manual sync. The cleanup sync removes from Mailchimp any accounts that you have already made inactive in CCB. Our assumption is you will not be looking to send emails to these accounts. If a record was inactive in CCB and has been reactivated, we add that email back to Mailchimp. Again, the top log is the activity from CCB to Mailchimp and the lower log is the reverse.
GETTING TO YOUR LOGS
ON YOUR DASHBOARD (OPTION 1)
Click on your Dashboard if you are not already in it (cloud icon, turquoise box in image below). Then click on the blue Manage Logs button.
IN SETTINGS (OPTION 2)
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From your dashboard, click on Settings (gear icon at the bottom of the black column). Choose Logs from the dropdown menu (pink box in the image on the left).
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The Logs page will open.
SEARCHING YOUR LOGS
Reduce the time it takes to find log records with the Search feature.
You can search by
first name
last name
both names
or email
Look again at the images in the section above. The search box is highlighted by a brown box.
Type your search key (first name, last name, both names or email) into the blank space. Then, click on Search.
For example...
If we type "steve" into the search bar, we will get one of the displays below:
NOTICE:
If an email has a check mark next to it, this means it is the primary record we are syncing to. You will see the checkmark when there are duplicate emails. If, for example, there were two or more "steve.1@example.com" emails, you would see a check mark next to the one we are syncing to.
You get results from CCB to Mailchimp as well as From Mailchimp to CCB (as available).
The link in the CCB column is the contact's CCB ID number. If you click on this link AND are also logged in to CCB, you will be taken to this contact's profile in CCB.
The links in the Logs column will bring you to a new page with specific information about this log entry. Note that there are clickable links to further pages with more information.
LOGS ABOUT SYNCS
Notice that each and every sync generates 2 logs.
The main log gives you valuable information about what happened during that sync. Perhaps more importantly, the log gives you a rollback option. This means that in case of technical glitches or human errors, you can rollback your lists to a previous point in time when all was ok.
Automatic rollback is currently limited to the last 3 syncs. Automatic rollback to a date outside the last 3 syncs is a server-intensive process for both CCB and our CCBchimp application and requires involvement from our team. Preparation and a small fee might be required. Please contact support@ccbchimp.com to discuss your options.
The secondary sync log is our automatic cleanup. Notice that every main sync is paired with an automatic cleanup sync. Here’s what the cleanup sync does: We remove from Mailchimp any accounts that you have already made inactive in CCB. Our assumption is that you will not be looking to send emails to these accounts. We also do the reverse. If a record in CCB was made active from an inactive state, we will re-add that contact email in MC when synced.
You may not see daily logs shown due to the syncing options of the different plans. Remember that every plan, paid or free, has unlimited manual syncing. This means that you can log in any time and click ‘Sync Now’ to fully update your lists. The lowest plan does not include automatic, overnight syncing. So, users of that plan will need to manually sync their lists every time. Depending on your usage, it may be more convenient to upgrade to a plan which also includes automatic, overnight syncing.
SEEING FURTHER DETAILS
To see more information about a log, click on its Details link (pink boxes in image above). In this second layer, you can see a summary/count of subscribers added, the number of duplicates, how many people have no emails or have unsubscribed, and the number of errors.
Remember that you are not seeing the total number of people in the group, just the things that have changed. Note that the top section shows you what happened from CCB to Mailchimp. The lower section shows you the reverse.
Clicking on one of the group names in this detailed log will show you a third and final layer with more specific information. The data in this layer is what actually happened during the sync for this mapped record.
There are six categories of information.
Added: Was an email added in CCB? Was that email in a group which is being synced? If yes and yes, then CCBchimp adds that email to Mailchimp. Each line in this report section shows the added email, custom fields, and CCB ID.
Updated: Has a contact updated some information (last name after marriage, new phone number, etc.) in CCB? Is this contact in a group being synced? If yes to both, the information is updated in Mailchimp, too.
Duplicates: Duplicates are defined as subscribers with the same emails. Why does this happen? Mailchimp uses a contact’s email as a unique identifier. So what happens when there are several contacts with the same email (as in a family that may share one email between the parents and the children)? During a sync, CCBchimp will take the details from the primary record first; if not, then the spouse; if not, then another.
What can you do to solve this issue?
Duplicates are handled depending on your plan and how you set up step 1a. You have the option of letting CCBChimp store and manage your data. If we are managing things, on a duplicate, we will choose the primary record first. If that doesn’t exist, we will choose the spouse. If that record is not in the database, we will select any other. The designation of primary record is done by CCB. In the CCBchimp Tools section, you can set your CCBchimp primary profiles to override what the CCB app is doing.
If you prefer that we don’t manage your data, then we randomly pick one of the profiles. To correct this, we suggest making one duplicate inactive, so you are not sending double emails to the same subscriber.
Removed: All users will see a list of contacts removed from Mailchimp because you removed them from CCB. If you enabled 2-Way syncing, you will also see contacts which were removed from CCB because you removed their emails from Mailchimp. Since churches use CCB groups in different ways, not just for newsletters, CCBchimp now allows you to opt out of this Mailchimp to CCB removal. In your CCBchimp Tools section, you can enable the “Don’t Remove Unsub Mailchimp email from CCB Group” tool.
No email / Unsubs: As we said earlier, Mailchimp uses a contact’s email as a unique identifier. So, if there is no email, Mailchimp will not accept a contact, so we could not successfully sync the people on this list. You will also see any contacts who unsubscribed.
Errors: There are a variety of errors which will cause a contact to appear on this list. One of the most common is a suspicion of a fake email. Mailchimp is very diligent about checking out email names and flagging ones which look suspicious.
And there you have it... an overview of your logs with how to drill down into the layers of each one, moving from a general view to finding out what is happening specifically. We encourage you to visit our Helpdesk FAQs to learn more about anything at any time. Please remember that we are always available for any additional support you may need.
PLEASE NOTE
CCBChimp only manages the pairs you set up in our platform. In other words, the pairs which are actively being synced. We do not interfere with anything else. So, if you are using Mailchimp for other things and with other apps/platforms, we do not look at any of that.