Subscribe forms
Design an email signup form and embed it on any other website, so visitors there can subscribe to your publication.
What a subscribe form is
A subscribe form is a small signup box you can put on a website other than your Inkwave site, such as a blog, a portfolio or a shop. Visitors type their email address and press the button, and they join your publication exactly as if they had signed up on your own site. Double opt-in and referral links work the same way. Private publications are the one difference (see below).
You manage them under Tools, Subscribe forms. The list shows each form's Name, Description, Created At and Updated At. Use Search forms to find one by name or description, and Date created to narrow the list.
Creating a form
Click New Form. A panel opens with sensible starting text, and a Preview at the bottom that updates as you type.
| Section | What you set |
|---|---|
| Name and Description | For you only. Readers never see them. The name can be up to 100 characters. |
| Content | Header, Subtitle, Input placeholder (the grey hint in the email box) and Button text. All four are required. |
| Color palette | One of four ready-made colour sets: light, dark, warm and pale blue. |
| Typography | Title font, Subtitle font and Button font, from Inter, Roboto, Poppins, Montserrat, Open Sans, Oswald, Geist and Anek Latin. |
| After submission | What happens once someone subscribes. See below. |
Click Save. Your form now appears in the list.
Getting the embed code
The embed code needs the form to exist first, so save a new form, then open it again with Edit from the menu on its row. An Embed section appears with the code to paste.
- Leave Resize automatically on unless you have a reason not to. It adds a small script so the box grows to fit its content. Without it the form keeps a fixed height of 360px.
- Click Copy code.
- Paste the code into the HTML of the page where you want the form. Most website builders have an "HTML", "Embed" or "Custom code" block for this.
Click Preview to open the form on its own in a new tab.
The form is served from your publication's website address. If you have a verified custom domain, that is used; otherwise your Inkwave subdomain is.
Changes you save later, such as new wording or colours, show up on every page where the form is embedded. You don't need to paste the code again.
What happens after someone subscribes
Under After submission you choose what the visitor sees.
Show a success message is the text shown inside the form after signing up. If you leave it empty, visitors see "Thanks for signing up! If this address needs confirming, we've emailed you a link."
Redirect to an external page sends them to a page of your choice instead, such as a thank-you page on your own site. It must be a full web address starting with http:// or https://. Anything else is ignored and the success message is shown.
By default, the visitor's email address is added to the end of the redirect address, so your thank-you page can use it. Turn on Remove emails from the redirect URL to keep the email address out of it. A subscription ID is added instead when there is one. For someone who was already subscribed, neither is added.
Someone who unsubscribed from you before is never added back straight from the form. They are emailed a confirmation link and rejoin only once they click it, whatever your double opt-in setting.
With double opt-in
If Double Opt in Email is on for your publication, a new subscriber first has to confirm their email address. The form says "If this address needs confirming, we've emailed you a link." When they click the link in that email, they are taken to your redirect page, or back to the form's success message if you didn't set one.
Private publications
If your publication is private, the form shows "This publication is private and isn't accepting new subscribers." instead of the signup box. This is true even if you require approval for new subscribers: on a private publication an embedded form has no email box, so visitors can't send a request to join through it.
Deleting a form
Choose Delete from the menu on the form's row and confirm. This can't be undone. Every page where that form is embedded stops showing it, so remove the code from those pages too.
Troubleshooting
The Embed section says to add a domain: your publication has no website address yet. Add one under Settings, Domains, then open the form again.
There's no Embed section: you are creating a new form. Save it, then open it with Edit.
The form is cut off or leaves a big gap: turn on Resize automatically, copy the code again and replace the old code on your page.
The form shows an error after someone submits: "Failed to send confirmation email" means the double opt-in confirmation email couldn't be sent. Ask the visitor to try again in a moment.
The redirect doesn't happen: check that the address starts with https:// and is spelled correctly. On a private publication the form takes no signups, so there is nothing to redirect.
The embedded form disappeared: the form may have been deleted, or your publication may be suspended. A suspended publication's forms don't load on other sites.