Hey everyone! I’ve been playing around with Mailgun’s API and got it working. But I’m stuck on something. I want to track when someone opens a specific email, but only once. Right now, it’s counting every time the email is opened.
I’m using webhooks, but I’m not sure what’s the best way to identify a specific email. Should I use the data Mailgun provides or add custom variables when sending?
Any tips on how to set this up? I’m using PHP, if that matters. Thanks for any help!
As someone who’s implemented email tracking for several projects, I can share what’s worked well for me. Mailgun’s API is quite flexible, but for unique opens, you’ll want to combine a few approaches.
First, definitely use custom variables when sending. Add a unique identifier for each email using ‘v:’ prefix, like ‘v:email_id’. This gives you a way to distinguish individual messages.
In your webhook handler, you’ll need to maintain a list of opened emails. When you receive an ‘opened’ event, check if that email_id is already in your list. If not, add it and record the open. This ensures you only count the first open.
One trick I’ve found useful is to store this data in a database or cache system like Redis, rather than in memory. This way, you don’t lose track of opens between server restarts.
Also, don’t forget to consider privacy regulations. Make sure your open tracking complies with laws like GDPR if you’re dealing with EU recipients.
Hope this helps with your implementation!
hey, for unique opens try using custom variables when sending emails. add a unique ID to each message with o:tag. then use mailgun’s events API to fetch opens filtered by that ID. this way you’ll only count each recipient’s first open. hope that helps!
I’ve dealt with this exact issue before. Here’s what worked for me:
Use Mailgun’s custom variables when sending emails. Add a unique identifier for each email using the ‘v:’ prefix. Then, in your webhook handler, check if you’ve already recorded an open for that identifier.
Something like this in PHP:
$opened_emails = ;
if ($_POST[‘event’] == ‘opened’) {
$email_id = $_POST[‘v:email_id’];
if (!in_array($email_id, $opened_emails)) {
$opened_emails = $email_id;
// Record the open in your database
}
}
This way, you’ll only count the first open for each email. Just make sure to persist the $opened_emails array between requests.