Emails. We send them every day. Newsletters, invoices, password resets… you name it. But how do we know what happens after we hit send?
Did the email arrive? Was it opened? Was it rejected? Running an email system can feel like shouting into a void — unless you have a dashboard.
Let’s build a dashboard that shows real-time email delivery logs, statuses, and reports. It will be simple, useful, and a little bit fun.
🏗️ What You’ll Need
Before we begin, here’s a quick checklist:
- Email service provider (like SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark)
- Backend server (Node.js, Python, Ruby, etc.)
- Frontend framework (React, Vue, or plain HTML/CSS/JS)
- A database (MongoDB, Postgres, MySQL)
Yes, you’ll need to write a bit of code. But don’t worry. We’ll keep it clean and straightforward.
🎯 Step 1: Choose Your Email Provider
You need a provider that offers webhooks. A webhook lets them notify you when stuff happens — like an email bouncing or being delivered.
Popular email providers and what kind of events they support:
- SendGrid: Delivered, Opened, Clicked, Bounced, Dropped, Spam reports.
- Mailgun: Accepted, Delivered, Failed, Opened, Clicked.
- Postmark: Delivered, Bounced, Opened, Spam Complaint.
Pick one you like and sign up. They all have free tiers to start.
🔌 Step 2: Set Up the Webhook
Now, create an endpoint on your server to listen for events. When your email provider sends delivery info, this endpoint will catch it!
POST /email-events Host: yourserver.com Content-Type: application/json
This is where the magic happens. Your server will process incoming logs in real time.
If you use Node.js and Express, it looks like this:
app.post('/email-events', (req, res) => {
const events = req.body;
// Save events to database
console.log('Received events:', events);
res.status(200).send('OK');
});
Don’t forget to secure it. Verify that events really come from your email provider (via an API key or a validating signature).
📥 Step 3: Store the Logs
Your email provider sends data like this:
{
"email": "user@example.com",
"event": "delivered",
"timestamp": 1707770000,
"message_id": "abc123"
}
You want to store this in your database. Suggestion:
- Message ID
- Email (recipient)
- Status (delivered, opened, bounced, etc.)
- Time
Each time a new event comes in, you update your existing record or add a new one.
Bonus tip: Clean up data after 30 days to keep things snappy.
📊 Step 4: Build the Dashboard
This is where things get fun. You’ll show all the data you’ve collected in a visual way.
Even if you don’t use a frontend framework, a simple HTML table can go a long way:
| Status | Time | Message ID | |
|---|---|---|---|
| alice@example.com | Delivered | 2024-06-04 11:30 | abc123 |
| bob@example.com | Bounced | 2024-06-04 11:31 | def456 |
If you want to get fancy, use Chart.js or D3 to make pretty graphs. Show total sends, open rates, bounces, and more.
Here’s a cool idea: color code the rows by status.
- Green = Delivered
- Blue = Opened
- Orange = Deferred
- Red = Bounced or Failed
⌚ Step 5: Make It Real-Time
Your backend already listens to webhook events. But your frontend doesn’t know right away when a new event happens.
Let’s fix that using one of these:
- WebSockets: Great for real-time push updates.
- Polling: Simpler, just ask every 5 seconds, “Anything new?”
If you’re using WebSockets, here’s the vibe:
// Frontend
const socket = new WebSocket('ws://yourserver.com');
socket.onmessage = (msg) => {
const data = JSON.parse(msg.data);
updateDashboard(data);
}
Now your dashboard gets new info in real time. Magic!
📈 Step 6: Add Summary Stats
This part will impress everyone.
At the top of your dashboard, add cards like:
- Total Sent: 1,204
- Delivered: 1,102
- Bounced: 45
- Opened: 892
- Spam Reports: 2
You can calculate these from your database in real time.
Add little graphs and color bars. Your users will love it.
🔒 Step 7: Secure and Monitor
Don’t forget these things!
- Authentication: Only show data to authorized users.
- Rate limiting: Make sure your webhook handler can’t be abused.
- Logging: Keep track of failures and request errors.
And, yes, back up your data. You’ll thank yourself later.
🎁 Bonus Features to Consider
If you’re feeling fancy, here are ideas to take your dashboard to the next level:
- Search: Filter by email, message ID, or status.
- Retry failed emails: Click a button to resend.
- Geo + device data: For opened emails, show what device they were opened on.
- Dark mode: Always a fan favorite.
🏁 Summary
That’s it! You just built an epic real-time email dashboard. Here’s how it flows:
- You send emails using an email provider with webhooks.
- They send logs of delivery, opens, bounces, etc. to your server.
- Your backend stores them and notifies your dashboard.
- The frontend updates in real time. Everyone’s happy.
It’s more fun when you can see your emails working. With just a bit of setup, your system goes from mystery box to insightful rocket launcher.
So go forth. Build dashboards. Let your emails shine in the spotlight.