Danny van Kooten’s Newsletter Sign-Up is a free plugin that can be downloaded from WordPress.org. It has several interesting features. It can insert a newsletter sign-up checkbox on the comments and registration forms. It allows you to easily insert an opt-in sidebar widget and place opt-in forms within your post content.
Here’s a full review of all the capabilities of this plugin and my thoughts on them.
Installation & Ease of Use
Newsletter Sign-Up is very easy to to install and use. You can install it from within the plugin installer of WordPress admin area. Once installed, you just have to configure your newsletter provider settings. The plugin is pre-configured for MailChimp, YMLP, AWeber, iContact, PHPList, and Feedblitz. However, it could work with any newsletter service provider–you just have to configure it correctly. And there’s a full guide on that.
The plugin has a single settings page, which keeps things easy and simple.
Support & Documentation
The plugin is fairly easy to use, so detailed documentation isn’t necessary. Regardless, there are some posts on the blog of Danny, the developer, that cover many important aspects of configuring the plugin, such as this post.
The developer also provides voluntary support for the plugin on his blog as well as the WordPress.org forum for the plugin.
Types of Opt-in Forms
In addition to integration with comments and registration forms, Newsletter Sign-Up supports two types of opt-in forms: sidebar widgets and in-post forms. There aren’t many options or settings to adjust either one. And if you want to style the form, you’ll have employ good old CSS–for example, in your main CSS file.
Design & Built-in Templates
The plugin does not come with any built-in templates. The forms that it creates are just plain. However, every UI element of the form is strapped with a CSS class that allows you to select it and style it.
Opt-in Form Options & Settings
Newsletter Sign-Up is kind of a barebones plugin. It covers the basic, most essential requirements. Other than the setup and configuration settings, there aren’t many settings for visual behavior or user preferences.
You can set the forms to display and require a “name” field, you can have the comment newsletter checkbox pre-checked, you can hide the checkbox from those who’ve already subscribed, and that’s about it.
Integration with Comments and Registration Forms
Newsletter Sign-Up does a great job with integration with the WordPress comments and registration form. This is one of its main features, in fact. You can specify the text for the checkbox, style it with CSS, and hide it from those who are already subscribed. However, Newsletter Sign-Up doesn’t support the black hat tactic of adding commenters stealthily to your newsletter as other plugins in this category do.
Money Matters
Danny van Kooten’s Newsletter Sign-Up is completely free. You can download it from WordPress.org or install it from your WordPress site admin.
Visit the homoepage of Danny van Kooten’s Newsletter Sign-up »»
