Subscribe2 Email Plugin Version 6.5 Beginner s Guide Everything you need to install, configure, and enjoy the Subscribe2 WordPress plugin. Written for beginning and intermediate level WordPress users. No CSS customization included.
About Us Matt Robinson is a spare time web developer who writes websites for himself and his family. His day job is in healthcare, and he writes code and answers questions in his leisure time. He writes Subscribe2 to handle email subscriptions and notifications on one of his work sites and makes it available for free in the same form and also as a paid upgrade to HTML features for all users. Deborah Hanchey is a virtual assistant with a passion for WordPress plugins. She has written several ebooks for WordPress plugin users including Contact Form 7 and My Calendar. Her blog is about WordPress plugins: My WP Works. Lately, Infusionsoft has become a passion also. Visit http://infusionsoftservices.com to learn more. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 2 of 61
How to Use This Book Version This ebook references plugin version 6.5 and WordPress version 3.2.1. Find Use the Find feature of your pdf reader to search by keyword. Links External links are clickable and will direct you to the webpage. Internal links are clickable and will direct you to another part of the book. The table of contents is linked. Click on a line item to be directed to that page. Intent This book is designed to cover the plugin defaults and act as an installation and common usage guide. This book does NOT explain how to configure the CSS or JavaScript of the plugin. Begin Here To begin using the plugin, read Suggested Steps for First-Time Setup. Screenshots Take the time to examine the screenshots provided. This will give you a picture of what the plugin is capable of and what it will look like on your site. Some features are customizable, and the instructions are included. Input/Output To see what your site visitor sees, you must logout. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 3 of 61
What s Not Included There are several features of Subscribe2 that will not be covered in this book. That is because they are advanced, and usually anyone who can understand them does not need this book. But just so you know what Subscribe2 is capable of, here is a list: Wrapped all KEYWORDS in curly brackets {} so capitalized keywords can be used in content without being replaced Added support for Custom Taxonomies Introduced 's2_registered_subscribers' filter to allow other plugins to dynamically add or remove email addresses to the 'registered' array Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 4 of 61
Table of Contents Subscribe2 Email Plugin... 1 Everything you need to install, configure, and enjoy the Subscribe2 WordPress plugin. Written for beginning and intermediate level WordPress users. No CSS customization included.... 1 About Us... 2 How to Use This Book... 3 Version... 3 Find... 3 Links... 3 Intent... 3 Begin Here... 3 Screenshots... 3 Input/Output... 3 What s Not Included... 4 Meet the Subscribe2 Plugin...10 Components...10 Subscribe2 Admin Panels...11 Types of Users...11 Public Subscribers...11 Registered Users...12 Suggested Steps for First-Time Setup...14 Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 5 of 61
Install the Plugin...15 New to WordPress Plugins?...15 Install Subscribe2...16 Understanding the Subscriber Process...17 Public vs. Registered...17 Subscribing...17 Registration...19 Registered User Preferences...23 User Categories...25 Other Access...26 Subscribe2 Settings...27 Notification Settings...27 WP Crontrol...29 Email Templates...29 Email Preview...32 Message substitutions...32 Excluded Categories...34 Appearance...35 Auto Subscribe...37 Barred Domains...38 Reset Default...39 Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 6 of 61
Setup Subscription Page...40 Insert the Opt-In Form...40 Create S2 Link to Subscription Page...41 Add Subscribers...42 Add/Remove Subscribers...42 Import List...42 Current Subscribers...42 Subscriber List...44 Save Emails to CSV File...45 Unconfirmed Subscribers...45 Subscribers from Blog Comments...45 Add Signup Form to Sidebar Widget...46 Enable Subscribe2 Widget...46 Install Subscribe2 Widget...46 Configure Widget Information...46 Subscribe2 Counter Widget...48 Enable Subscribe2 Counter Widget...48 Install Subscribe2 Counter Widget...48 Configure Subscribe2 Counter Widget...48 Subscription Process...50 Steps in the Subscription Process...50 Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 7 of 61
Unconfirmed Subscribers...51 Select Unconfirmed Subscribers...51 Send Reminder Email...51 Manually Subscribe Them...51 Managing Subscribers...52 Locate Subscribers...52 Bulk Management of Registered Users...53 Sending Emails...54 Why aren t my emails sending?...54 Does Subscribe2 have a workaround?...54 Why do I receive 4 emails when I click Send Preview?...54 Why is my admin address getting emails from Subscribe2?...55 My webhosts limits the number of emails I can send each hour...55 How do I exclude a post from sending?...55 How do I send a one-time email to my subscribers?...56 Shortcode Formatting...57 Hide the Subscribe or Unsubscribe Button...57 Change the Return Page...57 Examples...57 Frequently Asked Questions...59 How do I send a post to Registered Users only?...59 Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 8 of 61
I can't find or insert the Subscribe2 shortcode, help!...59 My digest email didn't send, how can I resend it?...59 Can I suggest you add X as a feature?...59 I'd like to be able to send my subscribers notifications in HTML....60 Why doesn't the form appear on my WordPress page?...60 Can I put the form elsewhere? (header, footer, sidebar without the widget)...60 I'd like to be able to collect more information from users when they subscribe, can I?...60 More Information...61 Email Notifications from My WP Works LLC...61 Support...61 Satisfaction...61 Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 9 of 61
Meet the Subscribe2 Plugin Components Displays in a: Widget Page Post Function: Provides a comprehensive subscription management and email notification system for WordPress blogs Sends email notifications to a list of subscribers when you publish new content to your blog Sends a one-time email to subscribers at your discretion Email Notifications: Sent on a per-post basis or periodically in a digest email. Certain categories can be excluded Posts can be excluded on an individual basis Subscribers: Public Subscribers submit their email address in the opt-in form Registered Users register with your blog which enables greater flexibility over the email content for per-post notifications for the subscriber Admins: Have control over the presentation of the email notifications Can bulk manage subscriptions for users Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 10 of 61
Manually send email notices to subscribers Email format: Customize for per-post notifications Generate emails for each of the following formats: plaintext excerpt plaintext full post (Registered Users only) HTML full post (Registered Users only) NOTE: If you want to send HTML emails to Public Subscribers, upgrade to the paid HTML version of Subscribe2 http://wpplugins.com/plugin/46/subscribe2-html). Subscribe2 Admin Panels Posts -> Mail Subscribers: Allows users with Publish capabilities to send emails to your current subscribers Tools -> Subscribers: Allows you to manually (un)subscribe users by email address, displays lists of currently subscribed users and allows you to bulk subscribe Registered Users Users -> Subscriptions: Allows the currently logged in user to manage their own subscriptions Settings -> Subscribe2: Allows administrator level users to control many aspects of the plugins operation. Types of Users There are basically only 2 types of subscribers: Public Subscribers Registered Subscribers Public Subscribers Public subscribers have provided their email address for email notification of your new posts. When they enter their address on your site they are sent an email asking them to confirm their request and are added to a list of Unconfirmed Subscribers. Once they complete their request by clicking on the link in their email, they will become Confirmed Subscribers. They will receive a limited Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 11 of 61
email notification when a new post is made or periodically (unless that post is assigned to one of the excluded categories you defined). The general public will receive a plaintext email with an excerpt of the post: either the excerpt you created when making the post, the portion of text before a <!--more--> tag (if present), or the first 50 words or so of the post. Registered Users Registered Users have registered with your WordPress blog (provided you have enabled this in the core WordPress settings). Some blogs require visitors to register before they can comment. Registered users of the blog can elect to receive email notifications for specific categories (unless Digest email are selected, then it is an opt-in or out decision). The Users->Subscription menu item will also allow them greater control to select the delivery format (plaintext or HTML), amount of message (excerpt or full post), and the categories to which they want to subscribe. You, the blog owner, have the option (Options->Subscribe2) to allow registered users to subscribe to your excluded categories or not. This function can be confusing for newbies. If your site visitors know how to use WordPress, they will know to go to yourdomain.com/wp-admin to login. But most WordPress users don t know that. You will need to set up a place on your site for them to login. If you want something easy, just create a text widget with a hyperlink to your login page. That would be something like: <a href= http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin >Sign in Here to Post to the Calendar</a> There are several WordPress plugins that can set up nice looking login widgets for your site. One I experimented with was Members by Justin Tadlock. Click on the words to visit the plugin site. If you need help with it, email me at Deborah at My WP Works dot com. Note: You can send HTML emails to Public Subscribers with the paid version of the plugin: http://wpplugins.com/plugin/46/subscribe2-html. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 12 of 61
Once registered, site visitors will not see the opt-in information. Instead, they will see the option to visit and configure their profile. Clicking profile will direct Registered Users to a page where they can choose categories, colors, etc. Remember: you must logout to see what non-subscribers see. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 13 of 61
Suggested Steps for First-Time Setup To set up the Subscribe2 plugin: 1. Install the plugin. 2. Go to Settings/Subscribe2 and configure plugin. 3. Create page for subscription sign ups. 4. Go back to Settings/Subscribe2 and link to the page. To add subscribers, go to Tools/Subscribers. To configure a signup form in your sidebar, go to Appearance/Widget/Subscribe2. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 14 of 61
Install the Plugin New to WordPress Plugins? If you ve never installed a WordPress plugin before, please take the time to visit these websites. No use reinventing the wheel, everything you need to know is right here: Installing WordPress Installing WordPress plugins WordPress Lessons Working With WordPress Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 15 of 61
Install Subscribe2 Follow these steps to install Subscribe2: 1. Go to Dashboard/Plugins/Add New. 2. Search for Subscribe2. 3. Install and activate the plugin. This is what the plugin looks like in the WordPress Plugin Repository: If you need more help, visit this link: Installing WordPress plugins. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 16 of 61
Understanding the Subscriber Process Public vs. Registered Visitors to a website may opt to subscribe to your blog using the Subscribe2 plugin. It should be noted that before you begin configuring interface for the plugin, a decision should be made if your site is going to limit user access to public subscribers or if you will allow user registration. If you choose to allow user registration, this must be set in Dashboard/Settings/General Anyone Can Register. Subscribers will receive all blog postings via email that are marked for distribution at the time of their creation. If you have a wide range of topic categories and you want to allow subscribers to opt-in or opt-out of postings for individual categories, then a user registration process should be utilized. Subscribing The interface for accessing the subscription options may be imbedded in a sidebar widget (Subscribe2 Widget) or through a more traditional page interface (Subscription page with the [subscribe2] shortcode). Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 17 of 61
Once a subscriber enters an email address and selects Subscribe, an email is sent to that email address for confirmation. Users electing to remain as public subscribers (or any subscriber if the site admin does not allow registration) need to do nothing more. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 18 of 61
Confirmed subscribers may be viewed via the Subscribe2 settings. See Add Subscribers for more details on confirming subscribers. Registration Subscribe2 utilizes the WordPress registration engine. Once a subscriber has registered, WordPress controls login and access. Registered users may select categories for blog updates. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 19 of 61
When a subscriber chooses to register, they can do so via the WordPress registration login page, with the login form styled for registration. Subsequent visits to the site would present the user with the standard WordPress login form view. WordPress registration form WordPress login form Note: WordPress manages the registration and login form interface. The path for the login form is: Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 20 of 61
www.yoursite.com/wp-login.php while the path for the registration form is: www.yoursite.com/w-login.php?action=register The registration form has entry fields for username and email whereas the standard login form prompts for username and password. If a prospective registrant chooses the register option at the bottom of the form; the registration form changes to display Username and email instead of Username and Password. A visitor to the site may toggle between form views. To customize the login page, use a WordPress plugin similar to Theme My Login. Once a user registers with the site, an email is sent to that user s email address, providing the username and a system generated password. Using this information, the user may now login to the WordPress site. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 21 of 61
The S2 plugin registers everyone as a public user. If that public user is already a WP registered user, the plugin picks that up and assigns them as such. Public Subscribers: The Public Subscriber is the domain of Subscribe2. It is providing a quick and easy way to capture users. Subscribe2 is working within the native WordPress user structure, so one could replicate its function if they logged in as an administrator, created a new user, and gave them subscriber level access. What Subscribe2 does is allow the site visitor to drive that process from a web page or widget, get a tailored reply for verification and verify, all without the site admin being involved. (Of course, Subscribe2 also manages the emailing of posts and that is the main reason people choose it.) Registered Users: If you have checked in your WordPress preferences (under General Tab) to allow anyone to register, then one can access a variation of the login page with registration verbiage (wp-registrar.php instead of wp-login.php) See images earlier in this section. In Subscribe2 settings, you can also check a box to put the register link right in the general WordPress login page so you don t need two different pages, simply a login/register link on your menu to the wp-login.php page. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 22 of 61
Registered users, of course, have more privileges than Public Subscribers. Not in terms of creating or editing content but in terms of what they want to see. First of all, they can log-in. Public Subscribers cannot. Secondly, they can choose what categories they wish to receive updates on. For example, if someone went to a website for technical documents, they may want updates (notices of new publications) for Wordpress but not for.net. Registered users can also choose their own profile specifics like Gravatar and screen name etc. Again, Subscribe2 is only facilitating the access, sending confirmation emails, and making the links appear in efficient ways (e.g. on only one login page and/or via a widget). No additional information is being captured on the Registered Users. Registered users can see limited content on the Dashboard, and they can edit with their profile and category choices. Registered User Preferences The advantage of registering subscribers is that the subscriber may choose what post categories they would like to receive via email (generated by the Subscribe2 plugin). When a registered user logs into a WordPress site, his user access is controlled by the WordPress user privileges functions. The user s profile page is the primary area for a registered subscriber to customize his profile. The standard WordPress fields for user information are presented in the Profile view. A registered user would have already created a user name, provided an email, and been issued a password. These fields would be automatically populated when the user visits their profile page. The user has the option to provide additional information. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 23 of 61
WordPress registered subscriber profile page. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 24 of 61
User Categories In configuring Subscribe2, the site administrator may choose to exclude some categories from users. The following example shows a small boutique store categories with the category of ADMIN selected to be excluded from subscribers. Subscribe2 Excluded Categories Once logged in, a registered subscriber may choose from the available categories for updates. Posts to the chosen categories will be emailed to the subscriber. Posts for categories not chosen by the subscriber in their preferences will not be sent to the registered subscriber. Additionally, the subscriber may choose the type of email formatting they wish to receive. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 25 of 61
Subscriber Preferences note the absence of the Admin Category Other Access Registered subscribers have limited access to administrative functions. Subscribers may manage their profile and subscription, but they also have access to a limited view of the WordPress Dashboard. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 26 of 61
Subscribe2 Settings IMPORTANT: Before the Subscribe2 plugin can be used, Settings MUST be configured. Go to Dashboard/Settings/Subscribe2 Notification Settings Restrict the number of recipients per email to (0 for unlimited): 0 Edit Your webhost may limit the number of recipients per email. If your emails are not being delivered, check with them and set the limit here. Send Admins notifications for new: Subscriptions Unsubscriptions Both Neither Set the emails administrators receive for subscribes, unsubscribes, both or neither. Include theme CSS stylesheet in HTML notifications: Yes No This will create HTML emails that match your WordPress theme. Send Emails for Pages: Yes No This will send emails to your list when you create pages. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 27 of 61
Send Emails for Password Protected Posts: Yes No Send Emails for Private Posts: Yes No This sets email preferences for password protected and private posts. Send Email From: Post Author This sets the From name in the emails. The names of registered users are included in the dropdown. Send Emails: For each Post Once Hourly Twice Daily Once Daily Weekly 12am Send Digest Notification at: This option will be ignored if the time selected is not in the future in relation to the current time For digest notifications, date order for posts is: Descending Ascending For each Post This selection will send the post when published. Digest Emails Once Hourly The first digest is sent one hour later than when published, and then hourly afterward. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 28 of 61
Twice Daily The first digest is sent 12 hours after being published, and then every 12 hours afterward. Once Daily The digest is sent at the time selected. Weekly The first digest sends a week in the future from the day it is published. So, if you publish for the first time on a Monday, the weekly digest will be sent every Monday in future. For greater control over when posts are emailed, use WP-Crontrol. WP Crontrol To use WP Crontrol with Subscribe2: 1. Install and activate WP Crontrol. 2. Select one of the digest email options in Settings/Subscribe2/Notification Settings. (Anything other than per post) 3. Go to Tools/Crontrol. 4. Locate s2_digest_cron. 5. Click Edit to change the email schedule or Do Now to send the digest immediately. Email Templates New Post email (must not be empty): Subject Line: [BLOGNAME] TITLE BLOGNAME has posted a new item, 'TITLE' (The name of your blog and the title of the post.) POST You may view the latest post at PERMALINK (The URL WordPress assigns to the blog post.) You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted. Best regards, Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 29 of 61
MYNAME EMAIL This is the email template for post mailouts. Subscribe / Unsubscribe confirmation email: Subject Line: [BLOGNAME] Please confirm yo (Please confirm your request) BLOGNAME has received a request to ACTION for this email address. To complete your request please click on the link below: LINK (Subscribe / Unsubscribe link) If you did not request this, please feel free to disregard this notice! Thank you, MYNAME This is the email template for subscribes and unsubscribes. The better email autoresponders like Aweber and MailChimp all require a double opt-in, and so does Subscribe2. The link the user clicks to confirm is the second opt-in. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 30 of 61
Reminder email to Unconfirmed Subscribers: Subject Line: [BLOGNAME] Subscription Rem (Subscription Reminder) This email address was subscribed for notifications at BLOGNAME (BLOGLINK) but the subscription remains incomplete. If you wish to complete your subscription please click on the link below: LINK If you do not wish to complete your subscription please ignore this email and your address will be removed from our database. Regards, MYNAME This is the email template to send a reminder email to unconfirmed subscribers. Click here for instructions. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 31 of 61
Email Preview Click here Send Email Preview and this message appears: Preview message(s) sent to logged in user The preview goes to the logged in user s email address. There will be four emails: one for each email format. Message substitutions These are the shortcodes you will use to change the email messages. BLOGNAME BLOGLINK TITLE POST POSTTIME Your Name http://yourdomain.com the post's title (for per-post emails only) the excerpt or the entire post (based on the subscriber's preferences) Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 32 of 61
TABLE the excerpt of the post and the time it was posted (for digest emails only) a list of post titles (for digest emails only) TABLELINKS PERMALINK TINYLINK DATE TIME MYNAME a list of post titles followed by links to the atricles (for digest emails only) the post's permalink (for per-post emails only) the post's permalink after conversion by TinyURL (for per-post emails only) the date the post was made (for per-post emails only) the time the post was made (for per-post emails only) the admin or post author's name Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 33 of 61
EMAIL the admin or post author's email AUTHORNAME LINK the post author's name ACTION CATS the generated link to confirm a request (only used in the confirmation email template) Action performed by LINK in confirmation email (only used in the confirmation email template) TAGS the post's assigned categories COUNT the post's assigned Tags the number of posts included in the digest email (for digest emails only) Excluded Categories Posts assigned to any Excluded Category do not generate notifications and are not included in digest notifications Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 34 of 61
Select / Unselect All S2 Category S2 Category 2 S2 Category 3 S2 Category 4 Allow registered users to subscribe to excluded categories? (These are categories created for the purpose of writing this book.) You can exclude certain posts from being emailed by assigning and excluding the category they are in. You can allow registered blog users access to excluded categories by checking here. These settings override any other settings selected by users. Appearance Set default Subscribe2 page as ID: Subscribe2 Version 6.2 Note: You must create the Subscribe2 signup page first! Set the number of Subscribers displayed per page: 25 Edit When you view your subscriber list, this sets how many are on each page. Show a link to your subscription page in "meta"? Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 35 of 61
Meta is where you and your users login. Click here for more information. It is controlled at Appearance/Widgets/Meta. Or use the WordPress Customize Meta Widget plugin to create your own. Show the Subscribe2 button on the Write toolbar? The Subscribe2 button inserts the signup form shortcode into your post or page. Enable Subscribe2 Widget? If you want a signup form in the sidebar widget, this must be checked. Enable Subscribe2 Counter Widget? The counter widget shows the number of signups to the blog. Disable email notifications is checked by default on authoring pages? If you DON T want your blog posts to go out each time, check Disable email notifications. Then you can decide post-by-post if they go out. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 36 of 61
Auto Subscribe Subscribe new users registering with your blog: Automatically Display option on Registration Form No People may register with your blog to comment on posts. The default option Display option on Registration Form lets them choose to also receive post emails from you. Auto-subscribe includes any excluded categories: Yes No Another way to decide who receives email from excluded categories. Registration Form option is checked by default: Yes No Auto-subscribe users to receive email as: HTML - Full HTML - Excerpt Plain Text - Full Plain Text Excerpt Remember, Public Subscribers can only receive full HTML emails with the paid HTML version of Subscribe2. Registered Users have the option to auto-subscribe to new categories: Yes No New categories are immediately excluded This sets the permission for Registered Users to receive emails on new categories. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 37 of 61
Option for Registered Users to auto-subscribe to new categories is checked by default: Yes No This places a check in the auto-subscribe to new categories when Registered Users sign up. Display checkbox to allow subscriptions from the comment form: Before the Comment Submit button After the Comment Submit button No Anyone who comments on your blog can now opt to become a Public Subscriber. Decide if you want this option, and if so, where you want the checkbox to display on the comment form. Barred Domains Enter domains to bar from public subscriptions: (Use a new line for each entry and omit the "@" symbol, for example email.com) In this field you can block subscribers. If you are getting a lot of spam subscribers from Yahoo and MSN, for example, place this in the text box: Yahoo.com MSN.com IMPORTANT: SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND SUBMIT YOUR CHANGES! Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 38 of 61
Reset Default Use this to reset all options to their defaults. This will not modify your list of subscribers. RESET Is everything a hopeless mess? Click Reset and all defaults will be restored. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 39 of 61
Setup Subscription Page Dashboard/Pages/Add New Insert the Opt-In Form Note the instructions in the editor above. You MUST place a space before AND after the Subscribe2 shortcode. Clicking the yellow S2 in the Visual editor will insert the shortcode for you. The yellow S2 must be checked in the Settings for it to show in the editor. Another way to insert the shortcode: 1. Go to the HTML editor. 2. Create a space. 3. Insert [subscribe2] (Click here for information on how to customize the shortcode.) 4. Create a space. Preview and check the page. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 40 of 61
Create S2 Link to Subscription Page Go to Dashboard/Settings/Subscribe2 You must tell the Subscribe2 plugin which page will display the opt-in form. Go back to Settings/Subscribe2 and look for this: Click the dropdown and find the page you created for the opt-in form. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 41 of 61
Add Subscribers Go to Dashboard/Tools/Subscribers Add/Remove Subscribers Enter addresses, one per line or comma-separated Subscribe Unsubscribe Import List Most lists can be exported as a.csv or comma separated value file. You can copy and paste that list into this text field, click Subscribe, and transfer your current list. Email addresses can also be unsubscribed here. Current Subscribers Use Filter or Search Subscribers to manage your subscription list. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 42 of 61
This dropdown tells me: There are 5 subscribers total. 3 subscribers are public not registered with my blog. 2 confirmed their subscription by clicking the link in the confirmation email. 1 did not confirm his subscription. 2 users have registered with my blog. The 2 registered users are signed up for Categories 1 through 3, but I excluded them from Category 4. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 43 of 61
Subscriber List The 2 email addresses with the are registered with my blog. To remove them, go to Users in the WordPress Dashboard. The 2 subscribers with a are public subscribers who confirmed their subscription. The subscriber with a!signed up but has not confirmed his subscription. To confirm, check the box under the and click Process. The is to unconfirm the email address. To unconfirm, check the box under the and click Process. The is to delete the email address. To delete, check the box under the and click Process. The date each subscribed is after the email address (YYYY-MM-DD). Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 44 of 61
Save Emails to CSV File Use this button to export your email addresses to a CSV, comma separated value, file for import into another email list program such as MailChimp. Check first. Some of these providers do not allow you to import lists. Unconfirmed Subscribers Click here for instructions for sending an email reminder to unconfirmed subscribers. Subscribers from Blog Comments You can allow anyone who comments on a blog post to become a Public Subscriber if you have enabled that feature in the Subscribe2 Settings. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 45 of 61
Add Signup Form to Sidebar Widget Enable Subscribe2 Widget 1. Go to Dashboard/Settings/Subscribe2/Appearance 2. Locate Enable Subscribe2 Widget 3. Check this function. Install Subscribe2 Widget 1. Dashboard/Appearance/Widgets 2. Locate the Subscribe2 widget. 3. Drag and drop it into the appropriate sidebar or widget area. Configure Widget Information Title Title of your opt-in form. Div class name: If you want to style your form, enter the div class name here. How-to information is NOT covered in this book. Pre-Content: Text placed before signup information. Basic HTML is allowed. Post-Content: Text placed after signup information. Basic HTML is allowed. Hide button: By default, two buttons display Subscribe and Unsubscribe. Either can be hidden by selecting the corresponding radio button. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 46 of 61
Post form content to page: Select the page you set up in Settings/Subscribe2/Appearance or use the Subscribe2 default setting. NOTE: The use of the paragraph <p> tags places a space before and after the signup information. The signup form displays like this: Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 47 of 61
Subscribe2 Counter Widget Enable Subscribe2 Counter Widget 1. Go to Dashboard/Settings/Subscribe2/Appearance 2. Locate Enable Subscribe2 Widget 3. Check this function. Install Subscribe2 Counter Widget 1. Dashboard/Appearance/Widgets 2. Locate the Subscribe2 widget. 3. Drag and drop it into the appropriate sidebar or widget area. Configure Subscribe2 Counter Widget Widget Title Default is Subscriber Count. Color Scheme Adjust body and text colors to match your site. Width, Height and Font Size Manage the size of the widget and font here. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 48 of 61
The Subscribe2 Counter Widget looks like this on a webpage: Unconfirmed subscribers are NOT included in the count. I was logged in when I took the screenshot, so my view is to manage my profile. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 49 of 61
Subscription Process Steps in the Subscription Process 1. The site visitor signs up through the opt-in form. 2. Is directed to a message: A confirmation message is on its way! 3. Receives an email with a confirmation link 4. Clicks confirmation link 5. Is directed to a message: You have successfully subscribed! Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 50 of 61
Unconfirmed Subscribers If they do not confirm, you have two options: send them a reminder email manually confirm them Go to Dashboard/Tools/Subscribers Select Unconfirmed Subscribers Click the dropdown and select Unconfirmed. Click Filter. Send Reminder Email To send a reminder email, click Send Reminder Email. -- OR -- Manually Subscribe Them To manually confirm, select the checkbox under the green arrow, and click Process. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 51 of 61
Managing Subscribers Locate Subscribers There are two ways to locate subscribers: 1. Enter a name or search parameter and click Search Subscribers. 2. Filter them by public user, registered user, or category by clicking the dropdown and making your selection. You can manage subscriptions for registered users under Dashboard/Tools/Subscribers. Click the dropdown to see subscribers by category. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 52 of 61
Bulk Management of Registered Users To make changes to all registered users simultaneously, go to Tools/Subscribers. Choose Registered Users from the dropdown and click Filter. A new view will open that looks like this: You can Subscribe/Unsubscribe and change categories or email format. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 53 of 61
Sending Emails Why aren t my emails sending? Some webhosts restrict the number of recipients in any one email message. Some hosts block all emails on certain low-cost hosting plans. Check with your webhost. They have access to your server logs and can tell you where and why the emails were blocked. Does Subscribe2 have a workaround? You can purchase the WordPress Mail Queue plugin from Matt. This plugin replaces the default WordPress wp_mail() function so that emails sent by Subscribe2 (or optionally all emails) are queued in a database and sent in batches, so sites don't exceed hosting restrictions on outgoing emails. Access it here: http://wpplugins.com/plugin/76/wordpress-mail-queue-wpmq/ Or try this free workaround: Go to Settings/Subscribe2 and find this line: Restrict the number of recipients per email to (0 for unlimited): 0 Edit Click Edit and enter the limit amount per email your webhost has set. Note: because subscribe2 places all recipients in BCC fields, and places the blog admin in the TO field, the blog admin will receive one email per batched delivery. So if you have 90 subscribers, the blog admin should receive three post notification emails, one for each set of 30 BCC recipients. Why do I receive 4 emails when I click Send Preview? Subscribe2 supports 4 potential email formats for Subscribers, so you will get a preview for each of the different possibilities. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 54 of 61
Why is my admin address getting emails from Subscribe2? This plugin sends emails to your subscribers using the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) header in email messages. Each email is sent TO: the admin address. There may be emails for a plain text excerpt notification, plain text full text and HTML format emails. and additionally, if the BCCLIMIT has been set due to hosting restrictions, duplicate copies of these emails will be sent to the admin address. My webhosts limits the number of emails I can send each hour. This is commonly called 'throttling' or 'choking'. PHP is a scripting language, and while it is technically possible to throttle emails using script it is not very efficient. It is much better in terms of speed and server overhead (CPU cycles and RAM) to throttle using a server side application. You should try to solve the problem by speaking to your hosting provider about changing the restrictions, move to a less restricting hosting package or change hosting providers. If the above does not work for you, then consider purchasing the Mail Queue script for Subscribe2 that adds the mails to a database table and sends then in periodic batches. It is available, at a price, by visiting this URL: http://wpplugins.com/plugin/76/wordpressmail-queue-wpmq. How do I exclude a post from sending? Scroll to the bottom of the page or post you are working with. Place a check in the box. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 55 of 61
How do I send a one-time email to my subscribers? Go to Dashboard/Posts/Mail Subscribers Click the dropdown to select the recipients. Click Preview to have a test email sent. Click Send to send the final version. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 56 of 61
Shortcode Formatting The default form contains two buttons, one each for subscribing and unsubscribing. You may, for example, only want a form that handles unsubscribing, so the shortcode accepts a **hide** parameter to hide one of the buttons. Hide the Subscribe or Unsubscribe Button If you use the shortcode [subscribe2 hide="subscribe"], then the button for subscribing will be hidden, and similarly, if you use [subscribe2 hide="unsubscribe"], only the button for subscribing will be shown. Change the Return Page The new shortcode also accepts two further attributes, these are **id** and **url**. To understand these parameters you need to understand that Subscribe2 returns a user to the default WordPress Page on your site where you use the shortcode or token. However, in some circumstances you may want to override this behavior. If you specify a WordPress page id using the id parameter or a full URL using the URL parameter, then the user would be returned to the alternative page. Examples This code: [subscribe2 hide= subscribe id= 3 ] hides the subscribe button directs the subscriber to the page with id of 3 This code: [subscribe2 hide="unsubscribe" url="http://deborahhanchey.com/shortcodes/"] hides the unsubscribe button direct the subscriber to the page url There are many scenarios in which to use the new options, but here is an example: Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 57 of 61
Two separate WordPress pages: "Subscribe" that shows only the Subscribe button, and "Unsubscribe" that shows only the Unsubscribe button. Both pages also have text that should help users in the use of the form. In the widget, show only the Subscribe button and post form content to the page "Subscribe" In the Subscribe2 email template for a new post, add text "You can unsubscribe on the following page:" which is followed with a link to the "Unsubscribe" page. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 58 of 61
Frequently Asked Questions How do I send a post to Registered Users only? 1. Create a category Registered Users Only. 2. Exclude that category in Settings/Subscribe2. 3. Check Allow registered users to subscribe to excluded categories? 4. Go to Tools/Subscribers, filter on Registered Users, and bulk subscribe them to the Registered Users Only category. I can't find or insert the Subscribe2 shortcode, help! If for some reason the Subscribe2 button does not appear in your browser window, try refreshing your browser and cache (Shift and Reload in Firefox). If this still fails, then insert the token manually. In the Rich Text Editor (TinyMCE) make sure you switch to the "code" view and type in [subscribe2]. To customize the form, click here for the shortcode instructions. My digest email didn't send, how can I resend it? In order to force sending you'd need to change the date of publication on the posts from last week or amend the date stamp in the database regarding when the posts should be included from. If you opt for the latter way, look in the options table for the subscribe2_options settings (it's an array) and you'll need to change the 'last_s2cron' value to a timestamp for last week. Then force the cron event to run again with WP-Crontrol http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-crontrol/. Can I suggest you add X as a feature? I'm open to suggestions, but since the software is written by me for use on my site and then shared for free because others may find it useful as it comes, don't expect your suggestion to be implemented unless I'll find it useful. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 59 of 61
I'd like to be able to send my subscribers notifications in HTML. By default, Public Subscribers get plain text emails and only Registered Subscribers can opt to receive email in HTML format. If you really want HTML for all, you need to pay for the Subscribe2 HTML version http://wpplugins.com/plugin/46/subscribe2-html. Why doesn't the form appear on my WordPress page? This is usually caused by one of two things. Firstly, it is possible that the form is there but because you haven't logged out of WordPress yourself you are seeing a message about managing your profile instead. Log out of WordPress and it will appear as the subscription form you are probably expecting. Secondly, make sure that the shortcode ([subscribe2] is correctly entered in your page with a blank line above and below. The easiest way to do this is to deactivate the plugin, visit your WordPress page, and view the source. The token should be contained in the source code of the page. If it is not there, you either have not correctly entered the token or you have another plugin that is stripping the token from the page code. Can I put the form elsewhere? (header, footer, sidebar without the widget) The simple answer is yes, you can, but this is not supported so you need to figure out any problems that are caused by doing this on your own. Read <a href="http://subscribe2.wordpress.com/2006/09/19/sidebar-without-a-widget/">here</a> for the basic approach. I'd like to be able to collect more information from users when they subscribe, can I? Get them to register with your blog rather than using the Subscribe2 form. Additional fields would require much more intensive form processing, checking and entry into the database, and since you won't then be able to easily use this information to personalize emails, there really isn't any point in collecting this data. Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 60 of 61
More Information Email Notifications from My WP Works LLC Your name has been added to an email list to be notified of changes. There will be an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. Should you not want to receive these emails, please click there. These emails won t be more than once a month, probably less, and will be very useful to keep you notified about changes to the plugin. Support If you need further support or have a feature request, go here: Subscribe2 Forum http://getsatisfaction.com/subscribe2/ WordPress forums http://wordpress.org/support/ Subscribe2 Blog FAQs http://subscribe2.wordpress.com/category/faq/ Paid support is available here for a donation of at least 20 UK pounds to the plugin author: https://www.paypal.com/cgibin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2387904 Satisfaction If this book is not what you need, if it does not help you get the plugin working correctly on your site, please contact me at Deborah@MyWPWorks.com for a full refund. Best, Deborah Hanchey Deborah Hanchey MyWPWorks LLC Page 61 of 61