This step does two things: first it creates a template on your account via POST /templates/add, then it shows how you'd use that template to send email via POST /messages/send-template with per-recipient merge variables.

Part A — Create a template

trim($_POST['name']), 'from_email' => trim($_POST['from_email']), 'from_name' => trim($_POST['from_name']), 'subject' => trim($_POST['subject']), 'code' => $_POST['code'], 'publish' => $_POST['publish'] === '1', ]); // --------------------------------------------------------- if (!mandrill_is_error($result)) { $slug = $result['decoded']['slug'] ?? ''; echo '
Template created. ' . 'Slug: ' . h($slug) . ' — use this slug when sending.
'; } render_debug($result); } ?>

Part B — Send using a template

Once a template exists, you don't use /messages/send — you use /messages/send-template, which takes a template slug plus merge variables. The HTML and subject come from the template itself.

Recipient not on the test whitelist. ' . 'Add ' . h($_POST['to_email']) . ' to ALLOWED_TEST_RECIPIENTS ' . 'in config.php, or clear that list to allow any recipient.'; require 'footer.php'; exit; } // --- Parse the NAME=value lines into Mandrill's shape ---- $vars = []; foreach (preg_split('/\r?\n/', $_POST['merge_vars']) as $line) { if (strpos($line, '=') === false) continue; [$n, $v] = explode('=', $line, 2); $vars[] = ['name' => trim($n), 'content' => trim($v)]; } // --- The send-template call ------------------------------ $result = mandrill_call('/messages/send-template', [ 'template_name' => trim($_POST['template_slug']), 'template_content' => [], // only used for editable regions (advanced) 'message' => [ 'to' => [[ 'email' => trim($_POST['to_email']), 'type' => 'to', ]], // "merge_vars" is per-recipient; "global_merge_vars" applies to all. // For a single recipient, either works — using global is simplest. 'global_merge_vars' => $vars, 'tags' => ['template-demo'], ], ]); // --------------------------------------------------------- if (!mandrill_is_error($result) && is_array($result['decoded'])) { foreach ($result['decoded'] as $r) { $s = $r['status'] ?? '?'; echo '
' . '' . h($r['email']) . ': ' . h($s); if (!empty($r['reject_reason'])) echo ' — ' . h($r['reject_reason']); echo '
'; } } render_debug($result); } ?>

The /messages/send-template call, annotated

mandrill_call('/messages/send-template', [
    'template_name'    => 'welcome-email',   // the template slug
    'template_content' => [],                // for <div mc:edit="..."> regions
    'message' => [
        'to' => [
            ['email' => 'jane@example.com', 'type' => 'to'],
            ['email' => 'mike@example.com', 'type' => 'to'],
        ],

        // Same for every recipient
        'global_merge_vars' => [
            ['name' => 'COMPANY_NAME', 'content' => 'Acme Corp'],
        ],

        // Different per recipient (overrides globals)
        'merge_vars' => [
            [
                'rcpt' => 'jane@example.com',
                'vars' => [
                    ['name' => 'FIRSTNAME', 'content' => 'Jane'],
                ],
            ],
            [
                'rcpt' => 'mike@example.com',
                'vars' => [
                    ['name' => 'FIRSTNAME', 'content' => 'Mike'],
                ],
            ],
        ],
    ],
]);

Merge var syntax in the template

Inside your template's HTML, reference variables with *|NAME|*:

<h1>Hello *|FIRSTNAME|*,</h1>
<p>Your activation code is <strong>*|CODE|*</strong>.</p>

This is identical to how Mailchimp's newsletter templates work, so you can copy-paste between the two sides.

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