Getting started with Velocity scripting

[Phillip_Wild]

Hi all

I've got a couple of team members that I'd like to use more email scripting with Velocity. The problem is that they are marketers - and the Velocity documentation I've found so far isn't something very comprehensible for those who haven't used programming languages before. Is there something you know of that gives very simple examples of how to do different things in Velocity - and how to build a "programming mindset"?

If there is nothing specific to Velocity, even a general programming concepts document would be great. Thanks in advance.

[Justin_Norris1]

The official Velocity documentation provides the basics (this is likely what you've found already): Apache Velocity Engine - User Guide

There's nothing simpler out there that I've seen.

The only person publishing anything about Velocity that I know of is Mr. Sanford Whiteman​ - but his stuff is mainly more advanced use cases (although it is quite helpful for demonstrating what a programming mindset looks like).

[SanfordWhiteman]

Hey Phillip,

Have you sent them to TEKNKL::Blog? (Thought you were subscribed yourself, but I don't see you right now.)

Not only is it the only place with accurate Velocity examples for Marketo (I must say) but in the Code Anatomy series of posts, I break down some "think like a programmer" concepts. Those posts are long, don't get me wrong, but I try to keep them beginner-friendly.

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Sanford's blog is one of the most useful piece of documentation available around Marketo, I should say. I personally learnt a lot, and still learning a lot, reading it.

-Greg

[Grégoire_Miche2]

And BtW, Sanford Whiteman, is there a way to subscribe to your blog, excepted through the RSS Feed ?

[SanfordWhiteman]

Sure, it should pop up a SumoMe form at the base of the page? Maybe you dismissed it?

[Grégoire_Miche2]

HI again,

If I dismissed it, it was so long ago that I do not even remember having seen it

I cleansed the storage and reloaded, and it worked.

Thx.

-Greg

[Anonymous]

Hi Phil,

I have the same problem 🙂  I actually found that the User Guide is not so bad, and was able to create a couple of simple scripts based on that. Let me know if you need help with anything specific, I may have templates for that.

[Phillip_Wild]

Thanks everyone!

Yep, familiar with the Apache user guide Justin. Sanford's stuff is indeed excellent - but before now I had thought it might have been a bit too "teknkl" (sorry, couldn't help myself!) But Sanford, I am a subscriber ( I get the new post notifications anyway), so I might have a bit of a poke around to see whether there is some more introductory stuff. It's perfect for my level, but for my staff, they might need a gentler landing.

Sanford, it might be my inability to use your site properly....but is it possible to search for some of the more introductory posts? When I land on the website I can go back through posts chronologically, but I can't find anything that allows me to search for keywords in posts. For example, how would I find the "Code Anatomy" posts all under one tag?

[SanfordWhiteman]

For example, how would I find the "Code Anatomy" posts all under one tag?

Like http://blog.teknkl.com/tag/code-anatomy