Integrations connect a Newspack site with the external platforms you use for donations, subscriptions, CRMs, and marketing, while keeping the website as the source of truth for reader registration and identity.
Integrations are part of Audience Management. As readers register, sign in, donate, or subscribe, Audience Management builds a profile for each one. Integrations let that profile flow to and from the other tools you use, so the same reader is recognized everywhere.
What this lets you do
- Recognize the same reader in every tool. A contact in ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp and a signed-in reader on the site are one person, with one profile.
- Target on-site prompts using CRM data. A contact score, a donor tier, or a “last gift” date from the connected platform becomes a segment criterion in Newspack Campaigns.
- Gate content using CRM data. The same fields become access conditions in Access Control, so, for example, readers who give a set amount every month can read premium content.
- Keep the connected platform current. Reader activity on the site is sent back as it happens, ready for email automations and reporting.
The rest of this page explains how the pieces fit, then walks through one example end to end.
What an integration can do
Each platform supports some or all of the following, depending on what it offers:
- Capture reader registrations. When a reader identifies themselves on the site, for example by donating or submitting their email, they are registered as a reader.
- Send reader data out. Up-to-date reader information (donor status, subscription status, lifetime giving, and similar fields) is sent to the connected platform as it changes.
- Pull data in. Fields from the connected platform are brought into the reader’s profile on the site, where they drive segmentation and content gating.
- Add a My Account section. Some integrations add an area to the reader’s account where they can manage the service directly on the connected platform.
Not every integration does all of these. Each integration’s own page describes exactly what it supports.
Available integrations
| Integration | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Gravity Forms | Registers readers from Gravity Forms submissions. |
| ActiveCampaign | Sync contacts both ways, use contact scores and custom fields for segmentation and gating, and record orders as deals. |
| Mailchimp | Sync reader data with a Mailchimp audience, and use its fields for segmentation and gating. |
More integrations are on the way. Check back here as new platforms are added.
Configuring integrations
Integrations are managed under Newspack → Audience → Integrations. Each integration is a card: Enable it, then, if it has settings, Configure it to enter credentials and choose which fields sync. A configured integration’s screen has up to three sections:
- Settings: credentials and options specific to that platform.
- Inbound: the platform’s fields you want pulled into reader profiles. Each field you enable gets a dropdown (Text, Number, Single value, Multiple values, or Date range) that decides how segments and gates can match it.
- Outbound: which reader fields are sent to the platform, and how account deletions are handled. The Outgoing fields reference lists every field an integration can send and what each one holds.
See each integration’s page for step-by-step setup.
Using integration data for segments and content gates
Once a field is enabled under Inbound, it appears in two places, named after the integration, for example ActiveCampaign: Latest Gift Amount:
- In Audience → Campaigns → Segments, in the Integrations card of the segment editor. Segments decide which prompts a reader sees.
- In Audience → Access Control, as a condition under Paid Access in a content gate. Gates decide which content a reader can open.
The control matches the choice made under Inbound: a minimum and maximum for Number, presets such as Last 30 days for Date range, checkboxes for Multiple values, and a dropdown or text box otherwise.
Segments and gates are separate on purpose. A segment is matched in the reader’s browser and is for targeting, so it cannot be used as a gate condition. A gate condition is checked on the server every time a reader opens a gated post. Use the same field in both: the gate lets the right readers in, and the segment stops showing them the pitch.
Example: monthly donors get premium content
This example uses ActiveCampaign as the CRM, with Newspack Campaigns and Access Control on the site. The goal: a reader who gives at least $10 a month can read posts in a “Premium” category, and stops seeing donation prompts.
- A donor has a reader account on the site. The account uses the same email address as their ActiveCampaign contact, which is how the two are matched.
- The donation is recorded in ActiveCampaign. Keep a custom field on the contact that says how much they give monthly, for example
Monthly gift, filled in by the donation platform or CRM sync the newsroom already runs. Newspack’s own outbound sync keeps the contact’s identity and on-site activity current alongside it. - Pull the field into Newspack. Under Audience → Integrations → ActiveCampaign → Inbound, tick
Monthly gift, set the dropdown next to it to Number, and save. - Gate the content. Under Audience → Access Control, click Add Content Gate. Choose Choose specific content and select the “Premium” category. Under What’s required to access this content?, turn on Paid Access, then turn on the ActiveCampaign: Monthly gift condition and set Min to 10. Save, then choose Set to active from the gate’s menu.
- Stop the pitch. Under Audience → Campaigns → Segments, click Add Segment, name it “Monthly supporters”, and in the Integrations card set ActiveCampaign: Monthly gift to Min 10. Assign a thank-you prompt to this segment. Donation prompts assigned to other segments no longer reach these readers, because a reader only sees prompts from the first segment they match.
From then on, a reader signed in on the site with a Monthly gift of 10 or more opens Premium posts without hitting the gate. A reader below that amount sees the gate’s paid-access layout and the donation prompts. Changes in ActiveCampaign reach the site on the reader’s next signed-in visit: right away if their data has not been pulled in the last 24 hours, otherwise within a few minutes.
Good to know: pulled values are added and updated, never removed. If a plan is cancelled, set Monthly gift to 0 in ActiveCampaign rather than clearing it, so the gate closes.