email confirmation check box-member profile

[dancarp]

Yes, send a mailing list confirmation email to this User.
On the member profile, does the checkbox need to be checked even though the autoresponder interface is complete?

I had notification today that I had a new member added to my membership which looks like spam. I checked MailChimp and the member is not added there. When I checked the user profile I as a newbie, saw the check box was not checked. I understood the confirmation emails to be automated with the MailChimp API, so checking wouldn't be necessary.

In the event this was spam, does that mean I will always have these duds on my users list in s2member?

Now I am confused.

[Cristián Lávaque]

Hi Dan.

Sorry, I got a bit confused myself. Could you explain again what exactly happened? If you can add screenshots so I see what you see, much better. Thanks!

[dancarp]

This is my first member signup from the field with s2member activated, and has me confused.

1st question:
Will all new signups be added to my members list in s2member before the confirmation email is confirmed? If so, will I have to manually delete all of these if not confirmed or will they drop after (x) days?
Gold member is s2member level 0 label. This user looks like spam.

The user that was added to my membership

s2member user.png (34.87 KiB) Viewed 6238 times

The "Yes, send a mailing list confirmation check box"

2nd question:
(Process List Servers check box) Yes, send a mailing list confirmation email to this User.
On the member profile, does the checkbox need to be checked even though the MailChimp autoresponder interface is complete?

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for your inquiry, and for the screenshots!

Will all new signups be added to my members list in s2member before the confirmation email is confirmed? If so, will I have to manually delete all of these if not confirmed or will they drop after (x) days?

No. They won't be added until they actually confirm. This is controlled by MailChimp, and is not affected by s2Member. So this is completely under the control of MailChimp. By default, MailChimp does not add them until they confirm.

[Jason Caldwell]

(Process List Servers check box) Yes, send a mailing list confirmation email to this User.
On the member profile, does the checkbox need to be checked even though the MailChimp autoresponder interface is complete?

No. You can leave it unchecked. That box is only there in case you'd like to re-process List Servers. @TODO: Perhaps we should change the wording in that panel to make it clearer.
Thanks for pointing this out.

[dancarp]

@Jason or Christian- This is obviously spam to me, however, it is still in my "users" list, but not on MailChimp. It did get past Akismet spam filter. Is this common? Do others have this same problem?

[Jason Caldwell]

@TODO ( COMPLETED ):
Perhaps we should change the wording in that panel to make it clearer.
Thanks for pointing this out.

This has been re-worded in the development version. Coming soon.

This is obviously spam to me, however, it is still in my "users" list, but not on MailChimp. It did get past Akismet spam filter. Is this common? Do others have this same problem?

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean exactly.
How is this spam? By default, MailChimp does not add them until they confirm.

[dancarp]

My Wordpress Users listing still shows this member, even though MailChimp does not.

Screenshot of the User added by s2member.

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for the follow-up.
Your list of Users/Members is not 100% synchronized with your MailChimp List(s), nor should it be. An account on your site provides access to your content, while a subscriber on your mailing list just receives email communication from you. Does that help to clarify?

[dancarp]

Jason, why would I give anyone access to my secured content if they don't agree to being on my mailing list? As a former senior systems analyst, and entrepreneur, membership and autoresponder should be synchronized. So, I disagree with you there.

I will take another look at how I get around this. If clients don't agree to a list, they don't get membership. Period.
Thanks for your help,

[Cristián Lávaque]

Jason, do AWeber or MailChimp allow in any way to just add them without a confirmation email? They're members, they're in the list, having paid for that access seems a strong will to be in, no need to make them say it again. I know list servers impose these requirements, but maybe you know a way? I guess that's what Dan is looking for.

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for the follow-up.

Jason, why would I give anyone access to my secured content if they don't agree to being on my mailing list? As a former senior systems analyst, and entrepreneur, membership and autoresponder should be synchronized. So, I disagree with you there.

I will take another look at how I get around this. If clients don't agree to a list, they don't get membership. Period.
Thanks for your help,

I completely understand. Sorry, I should have stated that a bit differently. I was just explaining the way s2Member operates in this regard, I didn't mean to say it *should always* be that way.

Here are some ideas for you.

1. MailChimp has a feature built-in, that allows you to charge for access to your mailing list. It connects with Amazon Payments nicely. You'll find this in your MailChimp account under:
List -> Settings -> Charge For Access. http://blog.mailchimp.com/mailchimp-lau ... mazon-ses/

2. In the next release of s2Member ( coming any day now ), you will have the ability to silently subscribe Users/Members to your MailChimp List(s) by adding this file:
/wp-content/mu-plugins/s2-hacks.php

Code: Select all

<?php
add_filter("ws_plugin__s2member_mailchimp_double_optin", "__return_false");
?>

After adding this file, you could configure your s2Member options to NOT display the checkbox either if you like, and this way all Customers get on your list during registration, no choice about it, no confirmation required. Be careful with this though, as this practice is generally frowned upon.

[dancarp]

Thanks, Jason. I wonder if the direct add to the list couldn't be a double opt-in with an "agreement" clause that that includes, upon registering, clients will automatically be added. Then the button of "agree" or "accept" as an option vs "do not agree" or "do not "accept". This would be similar to agreeing to terms and conditions as in downloading "iTunes" et al. If you don't agree, you don't get the goods. Simple. It also covers off the frowned upon practice.

Clients can still unsubscribe later if they choose. At that time I can cancel membership if I choose.

Food for thought. I guess this could be added with extra form code at anytime, as long as the option to add to the list is available without the confirmation email.

[Jason Caldwell]

Certainly, and you could create that "Agreement" checkbox with s2Member's Custom Registration Fields panel. You could create a checkbox that is "required", using it in conjunction with the hack I mentioned about double opt-in being disabled.

[MarkMBravura]

Hi Jason,

With the new update release that just occurred...

1) is the above hack now in effect?

2) Also, beyond the above instructions/code snippet, is there any other settings/code that would also need to be in place.

3) Lastly, how would I create a custom field that incorporated a forced checkbox for a new member to single optin subscribe (i.e. a TOS indicating that they will automatically be subscribed with no further action required on their part)?

Many thanks in advance for your most excellent support!

Best regards,

Mark

[Cristián Lávaque]

Yes, it should work with the current release, and I don't think you need to do something else for it to work.

You can create a Custom Registration Field that's required on registration, to use as the Agreement to the TOS of your website. WP Admin -> s2Member -> General Options -> Custom Registration Fields

[MarkMBravura]

Absolute sweetness - I will report back with my findings after I config/test above solution.

Thanks again, Christian - your help is always greatly appreciated!

Best regards,

Mark

[Jason Caldwell]

2. In the next release of s2Member ( coming any day now ), you will have the ability to silently subscribe Users/Members to your MailChimp List(s) by adding this file:
/wp-content/mu-plugins/s2-hacks.php

Code: Select all

<?php
add_filter("ws_plugin__s2member_mailchimp_double_optin", "__return_false");
?>

After adding this file, you could configure your s2Member options to NOT display the checkbox either if you like, and this way all Customers get on your list during registration, no choice about it, no confirmation required. Be careful with this though, as this practice is generally frowned upon.

This item at #2, is still required, and is only possible with s2Member v110605+ installed.
( Please use this hack with caution. Generally speaking, MailChimp® doesn't like it when people are subscribed without a double opt-in email confirmation ).

[dancarp]

Thank you Christian and Jason!
In the interest of those actually signing up, if they are provided with the option at sign up to accept the terms, knowing full well they will be added to the mailing list(transparency), then that should suffice even for Mailchimp. I understand their point of view on ordinary signups where only an email and name are entered. I find it a royal pain when signing up for something I want and have to go through the confirmation crap every time. The confirmation emails are not always instant and waste my valuable time waiting for it. It is also such a waste of resources(bandwidth and traffic) when you think of it if there are alternatives like agreeing to TOS at sign up.

The concept of capcha is good except there are so many unreadable capchas out there that an alternative might be to put the command in a capcha phrase then compare the input. My thoughts are to have a capcha phrase concept of "enter your last name in the field/box below". The spam bots wouldn't know what to enter so the add wouldn't happen.

I like the idea "no ticky-no laundry"!

[MarkMBravura]

Hi,

I believe I got all the pre-requisite steps accomplished and was about to add the above PHP hack to /wp-content/mu-plugins/s2-hacks.php except that I have no such sub-directory by default. These are the subdirectories under /wp-content:



So is this (and the s2-hacks.php file) something I need to create from scratch? And if so, does anything else need to be in the s2-hacks.php file other than the above code snippet?

As always, your help is most gratefully appreciated!

Best regards,

Mark

[Cristián Lávaque]

Hi Mark.

That screenshot seems to be of the /wp-content/plugins/ directory. The s2hacks.php file would go in the /wp-content/mu-pluglins/ directory, which you need to create if you don't have it yet.

You also need to create the s2hacks.php file if you don't have it yet, and you don't need to add anything else than the above code, but you can add more customizations if you want to.

It's important that there's nothing before the opening <?php or after the closing ?>, in other words: nothing outside the PHP tags, not even a space or empty line.

[MarkMBravura]

Hi Christian,

Yes, I went up one directory level - not there either. I'll do exactly as you've recommended. This is going to be extremely exciting if it works. Thanks again for your most excellent support!

Best regards,

Mark

[Abercorn]

Jason, Christián,

I have the type of setup that dancarp describes above. Subscriber checks box agreeing to receiving emails from us and also agreeing to the Terms & Conditions. Subsequently, the plugin sends an email out to them with a link to our website's login form and a system-generated password. I checked today with MailChimp's customer support, and they agree that such procedure as I have described is considered a "double-opt-in" process. They said that as long as that double-opt-in process is implemented on our website, they don't have a problem with their confirmation emails being disabled. They directed me to the following page which indicates that a list is OK to be imported into MailChimp if the subscribers have opted in to the list "on your own website":

http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/can-i-u ... -mailchimp

Anyways, just a little background as some people appear to be under the impression that disabling the Mailchimp confirmation email would be frowned-upon by MailChimp.

Having said all of that, I have a question for you. If the hack is implemented and the mailchimp confirmation email is disabled, will Mailchimp continue to receive the original ip address of the subscriber as collected by the S2Member plugin? Or will they end up collecting the IP address (and for that matter date and time) of my host (as S2Member exports the data via the API through the host)?

In other words, is MailChimp gathering the IP address directly from the subscriber through their confirmation email ? Or is that a field that the plugin sends to MailChimp?

Please advise as this issue would impact how MailChimp would handle potential SPAM complaints.

[Cristián Lávaque]

That is wonderful to know! Thank you very much for sharing that, Abercorn.

And not just the point on collecting the addresses on your own website applies, the one that reads "people who purchased one of your products, or attended an event, and gave you their email address so they could receive updates from you" seems to describe very well those that purchase a membership.

I'll leave the IP question for Jason to answer.

[Preston324]

Hello,


This is very exciting to know about it, thank you very much for posting it here

Thank you