Getting Started
This page contains information that will get you started using the Notifications Subscriptions API quickly and correctly.
API credentials
Before using the API you first must get API keys and shared secret keys.
Two credentials are required to use the Notifications Subscriptions API: an API key and a shared secret key. The API key is used in every request. It identifies who is making the request and allows us to provide metrics on API usage. The shared secret key is used to encrypt and decrypt email address which ensures that your users' privacy is maintained. Also, because it is a shared secret between Bazaarvoice and our client we can verify that the requests comes from a trusted source.
| Key Type | Usage | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Public API key | Required for any API request. | One key per environment. |
| Shared Secret Key | Encrypt and decrypt user email addresses. | Issued on a per API key basis. Known only to you and Bazaarvoice. |
Shared secret keys will be provided after your API key request is approved.
Environments
The Notifications Subscriptions API supports two environments:
| Environment | Domain | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Staging | https://stg.api.bazaarvoice.com/ | Used while developing your application. |
| Production | https://api.bazaarvoice.com/ | Used when your application is complete. |
Even though email addresses are always transmitted via the API in an encrypted format, we nevertheless strongly recommend using HTTPS due to the sensitive nature of email addresses.
Important concepts
Notification types
Notification types categorize the scenarios in which Bazaarvoice will trigger an email notification. For example, the REVIEW_APPROVED notification type triggers an email when an author's review has been approved by our moderators. For a complete list, refer to Notification Types.
Opt-in list
The opt-in list for a particular notification type is a list of all email addresses that have been explicitly subscribed to that notification type. An email address must be on the opt-in list for that notification type to receive a notification. Adding an email address to the opt-in list will remove it from the corresponding opt-out.
Opt-out list
The opt-out list for a particular notification type is a list of all email addresses that have been explicitly unsubscribed from that notification type. Adding an email address to the opt-out list will remove it from the corresponding opt-in.
Updated 11 months ago