MailChimp Subscribe Form Plugin via @CrowdFavorite

Decided to update my email subscription feature and in the process set out to find a more effective solution.

I had been rocking the Jetpack  plugin and using their subscription module, but it left a lot to be desired. Mainly the lack of control, or appeared lack of control over my own data (my emails). For the average site though it might be perfect, and right what the doctor ordered.

For me however I was looking for something specifically to integrate with MailChimp. I actually didn’t even know that there was a MailChimp plugin, I thought I would have to do a form myself (as I had done before), but oh how the things have changed.

Turns out that in my absence, a few months – maybe years, things continue to evolve. How awesome is that!

Turns out our friends at Crowd Favorite built a free MailChimp plugin. #hattip

The MailChimp List Subscribe Form

After creating your list in MailChimp, all you have to do is install the plugin via your WordPress administrator panel.

Once you install the plugin it’ll be embedded within the Settings menu, I always hate this, but I suppose it works.

As if that wasn’t easy enough, the rest is even easier. You’ll be greeted with a simple log in page, where you’ll establish a connection with the MailChimp Service:

Once connected it’ll pull in all available lists, similar to mine below:

For me, all the defaults worked, with exception to how they handle affiliate links. Turns out they levae it on by default and it shows up as such when you add it to your sidebar:

I was a bit annoyed, but mostly because I’m a bit of a premadonna, but refusing to allow a cool feature to be ruined I pinged them via the WordPress.org Support Forums. They responded very fast, always a good sign!!

Turns out disabling the affiliate link is even easier, just disable the Monkey Rewards feature under List Option. I can live with that.

MailChimp List Option – Disable Rewards

Once that was done, all I had to do was move the MailChimp widget into the appropriate sidebar and I was off the races.

Accounting for Security

While we have not finished a review of the plugin, I do have other controls in place that might affect you as well.

If you’re leveraging the Sucuri Website Firewall you might have issues when first connecting, depending on your configurations. If you get an error like the following, don’t freak out, it just means your security configurations are working.

No worries, this has to do with the restrictions on the Admin panel, all you have to do is navigate to [Your Domain] > Settings > Security and under Security Options disable the Admin panel restricted to only Whitelisted IP addresses.

Once this is disabled, takes a few seconds, try again and the connection should go through. Once the connection is established, reenable the feature and your website will be none the wiser.
Hope this helps. Enjoy!