# Newsletter

Collect email signups on your website and send them to your mailing list.

Source: https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/newsletter/

Every website has this screen.

It puts a signup box on your website. A visitor types their email address,
and it goes to your mailing list. The mailing list itself lives with an email
company, such as Mailchimp. We call that company your provider.

Go to **Plugins**, then **Newsletter**. It sits in the **Marketing** group.

There are three tabs:

- **Provider**: which company gets the signups, and how the form asks.
- **Settings**: the form layouts you can place on a page.
- **Subscribers**: everyone who has signed up through your website.

Only an **Admin** can change the first two. Editors can see **Subscribers**.

**Important**
Nothing shows on your website until you pick a provider. No footer box, no
signup block, and no newsletter popup. Choose one first.

## Choosing a provider

1. Click the **Provider** tab.
2. Pick your company in the **Provider** box.
3. Fill in the boxes that appear. A box marked with a star must be filled in.
4. Click **Save**.

You get a message reading **Newsletter settings saved.** The change is live on
your website right away.

![The Provider tab of the Newsletter screen. Four numbered marks: 1 on the Provider box, 2 on the Show in the site footer checkbox, 3 on the Consent text box, 4 on the Save button.](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/_astro/newsletter-provider.CHbFfDTV_1Vg2hE.webp)

*The Provider tab, before a provider is picked.*

The numbers in the picture:

1. **Provider** picks your email company.
2. **Show in the site footer** puts a signup box in your footer. See
   [The footer box](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/newsletter/#the-footer-box).
3. **Consent text** adds a checkbox. See [Consent](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/newsletter/#consent).
4. **Save** makes the change live.

The choices are Lookout Send, Mailchimp, Kit (ConvertKit), beehiiv,
MailerLite, Brevo, Klaviyo, Buttondown, EmailOctopus, ActiveCampaign, and
listmonk (self-hosted). Two more only link out: **Substack (link only)** and
**Ghost (link only)**.

**None - newsletter sections render nothing** turns the signup forms off.

### Your key

Most providers need a key from your account with them. A key is a long code
that lets your website add people to your list. You copy it from the
provider's own website and paste it here.

A card on the right, headed **Setting up** and the provider's name, says where
to find each value. Each box has a short hint under it, too.

Once a key is saved, the box shows dots, and the line under it reads **Saved -
leave blank to keep.** Leave it blank and the saved key is kept. Type in it
only when you are replacing the key.

To delete a saved key, click **Clear** next to it. The line changes to **Will
be deleted when you save.** Click **Save** to delete it, or **Undo** to keep
it.

**Tip**
This is your own account with your own provider. If you are not sure where the
key is, that company's help pages are the fastest answer.

### Lookout Send

**Lookout Send** is our own newsletter service. We set up the link to it, so
there is no key to paste.

1. Pick **Lookout Send** in the **Provider** box.
2. Under **Lists**, click **Load lists from Lookout Send**.
3. Click **Add** next to each list you want to offer.
4. Click **Save**.

A list can only be added once public signup is on for it. Until then, the
list's name says to turn on public signup for it in Lookout Send first. See
[Lookout Send](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/lookout-send/).

**Add** fills in the list's **List signup key** for you. You can also paste
the key by hand: click **Add list**, and paste it in the second box. The key is
in Lookout Send, on the list, under **Signup**.

If a visitor picks more than one of your lists, they get one email asking
them to confirm, not one per list. One click confirms them all.

If Lookout Send is not part of your plan, ask us. Signups are still kept on
the **Subscribers** tab until it is set up.

### Link only providers

**Substack (link only)** and **Ghost (link only)** have no way to take a signup
from another website. So the signup box becomes a button. It sends the
visitor to that company's own signup page.

### Confirmation emails

Many providers send a new subscriber an email asking them to confirm. They are
only added once they click it. Whether this happens is set in your account
with the provider, not here.

Two are different. **Brevo** and **ActiveCampaign** add people right away,
with no confirmation email.

### Switching providers

Your settings for each provider are kept. Switch to a new one and back, and
the old keys and lists are still there.

Only the provider picked when you click **Save** gets new signups.

Keys you saved for other providers are listed under **Saved keys for other
providers**. Done with an old provider? Click **Clear** next to its key, then
**Save**. The key is deleted, and the provider you picked stays as it is.

## Lists

Some providers let one account hold more than one list. For those, a
**Lists** card appears under the provider.

Each list you add shows up as a switch on the signup form.

1. Click **Add list**.
2. In the first box, type the name visitors see, such as "Monthly tips".
3. In the second box, paste the list's ID from your provider.
4. Set the **Required** switch.
5. Click **Save**.

**Required** on means everyone who signs up joins this list. The switch shows
on and cannot be turned off by the visitor. **Required** off means the visitor
chooses.

**Remove** takes a list off the form. It does not touch the list at your
provider.

With no lists at all, signups go to your account's main list.

## Consent

The **Consent** card adds a checkbox to the form.

**Consent text** is the wording next to the checkbox, such as "Yes, send me
the monthly tips." Leave it blank and there is no checkbox.

**Privacy policy link** shows inside that wording. It starts out pointing at
your privacy policy page. Change it, or clear it for no link.

## The footer box

**Show in the site footer** puts a signup box in your website's footer. It is
on to begin with.

Uncheck it and click **Save** to take the box out of the footer. Signup blocks
on your pages stay.

## Display layouts

The **Settings** tab holds your form layouts. A layout is a saved look for the
signup form. You pick one each time you put the form on a page.

1. Click **Add layout**.
2. Type a **Name**, such as "Homepage".
3. Pick an **Arrangement**: **Full width (single line)**, **Stacked**,
   **Narrow** or **Two column**.
4. Turn on **Ask for the subscriber's name (First / Last)** if you want their
   name as well.
5. Turn on **Draw a border around the form** if you want a box around it.
6. Click **Save**.

You get a message reading **Layouts saved.**

![The Settings tab with two layouts, Homepage and Blog sidebar. Four numbered marks: 1 on the second layout's Arrangement box, 2 on its Ask for the subscriber's name switch, 3 on the Add layout button, 4 on the Save button.](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/_astro/newsletter-layouts.C9cBI4zj_2lxiuq.webp)

*Two layouts. The second one asks for a name and draws a border.*

The numbers in the picture:

1. **Arrangement** sets how the boxes line up.
2. This switch asks for the visitor's name.
3. **Add layout** adds another.
4. **Save** keeps them all.

**Remove** takes a layout away when you next click **Save**. A form that used
it goes back to the plain look: stacked, with no name boxes.

## Putting a signup form on a page

Use the **Newsletter signup** block. Add it the way you add any block: type
`/` on an empty line, type `newsletter`, and click it.
[Pages](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/content/pages/) shows how.

The form holds:

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Heading** | The wording above the form. Starts as "Subscribe to our newsletter". |
| **Text** | Optional. A line or two under the heading. |
| **Button label** | The wording on the button. Starts as "Subscribe". |
| **Message shown after signing up** | What the visitor reads once they have joined. |
| **Layout** | One of your display layouts. |

The block only holds the wording. The provider, lists and checkbox come from
the **Provider** tab, so every form on your website sends to the same place.

The same signup form can show in other places too. Each one uses the
provider, lists and checkbox from this screen:

- a popup, with **Newsletter signup** picked as what it holds. See
  [Popups](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/popups/).
- the side rail of your blog posts and projects, with the **Newsletter**
  module. See [Article Sidebar](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/article-sidebar/).
- your [Bio Page](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/bio-page/) newsletter section.

## What a visitor sees

The button is a solid block in your site's colors. After a visitor clicks
**Subscribe**, or your own wording, the button spins while it sends. Then it
turns green, with a check mark and your **Message shown after signing up**.
Nothing else on the page moves.

On a narrow button, a long message would not fit. The button then reads
**Subscribed**, and your full message shows on the line under it.

If something goes wrong, the form says so, and the visitor can try again.

## The Subscribers tab

Every signup on your website is kept here, as a copy.

The boxes at the top count them: **Total**, **Sent** and **Failed**.

- **Sent**: your website passed it to the provider.
- **Failed**: it did not reach the provider. **Reason** says why. It shows
  **unconfigured** if no provider was set up, or **provider** if the provider
  turned it away.

Click **All**, **Sent** or **Failed** to show only those. Type in the search
box to find an email address.

To get a spreadsheet, click **Export CSV**. A file called `subscribers.csv`
downloads. It holds whatever the list is showing, so filter first if you want
less. Open it in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.

### Deleting a subscriber

**Warning**
**Delete** removes your website's copy for good. It does not take the person
off your mailing list, and it does not stop your emails.

To unsubscribe someone, do it in your provider's own account. Every email
they get from your provider also has an unsubscribe link.

1. Check the box on each row you want to remove.
2. Click **Delete** on the bar that appears.
3. Confirm.

**Clear** unchecks them all.

**Tip**
Want to know the moment someone signs up? Turn on the **Newsletter signup**
event in [Notifications](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/notifications/).