Simply having the system be able to POST contact information (even if that did require a a seperate confirmation) would allow many apps to use AWeber that currently either can’t or get hung up in the complexity of the “email parser”.

iContact’s email system is very robust, and their API is sweet … though setting up apps is very complicated, and the inability to change the confirmation link URL is a serious problem – but the API is sound enough that you can write your own app, if necessary.

I think the nicest thing about Aweber is it’s simplicity. Clients can catch on to how it works pretty quickly, compared to iContact or MailChimp.

I think instead of asking “where’s the API”, documenting the features that you specifically want. (saying ‘everything’ is generally not helpful to programming folk) and sending it into Aweber might get results.

Aweber does have a way to “post” variables to the thank you page, which is probably what you are referring to.

And that can work if your designing a system from scratch, and if you are willing to make the auto-responder signup the most important (first piece) of the process.

For most systems … I develop for Joomla, WordPress and a few other CMS’s, that’s just impractical to do.

Not to mention making your customers leave your sight during the signup process, even if it’s only for a moment.

Aweber does not, to the best of my knowledge, have a callback function similar to Paypal [IPN]. The downside of a systems is that the customer / potential customer must go all the way through the process before you are notified: in many cases, what you actually want, is their contact information _before_ they start checkout, so that you can contact them and “save the sale” if they drop out partway through.

Both GetResponse and iContact have elegent, API-based solutions to this problem. Aweber just seems to be falling behind.

Nico: Yes, a lot of integrations would be possible of Aweber would just allow a form POST to their signup forms, or have a alternate (lighter weight) API for signing people up. As it is now, your only option is the email parser, which seems to be stable over the last few weeks, anyway, but is always at the mercy of filters and email deliverability issues from your ISP (which is why most people use aweber in the first place!)

i smell the death of aweber.