Updating Publication list with SSJS

Question

We were requested to create a dynamic subscription/unsubscription center using Cloudpages on Marketing Cloud.

We're trying to implement this using SSJS, but code does not work (throws "Error"):

SSJS

<script runat=server>
  Platform.Load("core","1");
  var newSubscriber = {
    "EmailAddress": "[email protected]",
    "SubscriberKey": "[email protected]",
    "EmailTypePreference": "Text",
    "Attributes":{ "First Name": "test.1", "Last Name": "test.1" },
    "Lists": {"Status": "Active", "ID": "1****8", "Action": "Update"}
  };
  var status = Subscriber.Upsert(newSubscriber);
  Write(status);
</script>

We tried both lists and publication lists (being the second one our main goal).

What's wrong with this code? How do I fix it?

Answer 1

As shown in the documentation you need to call the init function on the Subscriber object first.

<script runat=server>
  Platform.Load("core","1");
  var newSubscriber = {
    EmailAddress: "[email protected]",
    SubscriberKey: "[email protected]",
    EmailTypePreference: "HTML",
    Attributes:{ "First Name": "test.1", "Last Name": "test.1" },
    Lists: {"Status": "Active", "ID": 12345, "Action": "Upsert"}
  };
  var subObj = Subscriber.Init("[email protected]");
  var status = subObj.Upsert(newSubscriber);
  Write(status);
</script>

I tested the above and it upserts to a publist successfully. I actually find that using WSProxy much more flexible and simpler to use, but it's personal preference. Here's an example:

<script runat="server">
    Platform.Load("core","1.1.5");
    var prox = new Script.Util.WSProxy();
    var options = {SaveOptions: [{'PropertyName': '*', SaveAction: 'UpdateAdd'}]};

    var props = { 
        SubscriberKey: '[email protected]',
        EmailAddress: '[email protected]',
        Lists: [{
            ID: 12345,
            Status: 'Active'
        }]
    };
    var data = prox.updateItem('Subscriber', props, options);
    Write(data.Results[0].StatusCode);
</script>