I'm happy to announce that Cmandrill 3.0 is now available for download.

Version 3 introduces a major change to the way we handle the Mandrill templates. In previous versions you had to specify the component, view and task that send the template. This was working most of the time, but it was not working when templates were sent out of plugins (because the view and component could be different each time). In this version CMandrill no longer relies on those, but it actually looks for the class & function name that send the mail. This way we can be pretty sure that the correct template will be selected all the time. If you are updating from version 2, you'll need to modify your templates! Check our docs for more info.

Apparently I've spent too much time with the Mandrill service. So much time, that I really love it, but people around me just don't get it. That is why before I introduce to your our new extension, I'll spent few minutes explaining what transactional emails are, why they matter and why Mandrill is so awesome!

So what is a transactional email? Basically it is an email sent to an individual based on an action. It could be:

• an action they took directly
• an action they were the target of
• even an inaction (such as a reminder mail telling your users to log on to your website)

For example - if you register on compojoom.com, first you'll get a mail asking you to confirm your registration. This mail is a transactional email (it was sent due to an action) & it is extremely important that it lands in your inbox. If it doesn't, then you cannot complete the registration process.

In the beginning of the month Mailchimp unveiled a new service called Mandrill. Mandrill is a service that allows you to send transactional emails.

The core features of it can be summarized in the following lines: