Hey hey,
Thanks for posting. Sorry to hear about the issues you’re seeing! Hmm, it’s definitely a bit odd to hear that while you’re successfully adding the plugin to your widgets area, that the form isn’t appearing on your site!
Would you be able to try adding the shortcode version of the plugin’s form instead?
[mailchimpsf_form]
If you’re looking to troubleshoot the widget-specific issue, could you confim for me the name of the theme you’re using on your WordPress site?
Look forward to hearing back!
-tk
Where would I put that short code? I really would like it to be in the grey side area of our site.
http://www.visualmarketingpartners.org
Theme – Twenty Eleven
This is what the plug-in settings look like (while the widget says there are no options when I click it from ‘appearance’ menu)
Logged in as: VisualMarketingPartners
Your Lists
Please select the List you wish to create a Signup Form for.
— Select A List — Visual Marketing Partners NewsletterVisual Marketing Partners Newsletter
Note: Updating your list will not cause settings below to be lost. Changing to a new list will.
Monkey Rewards:
turning this on will place a “powered by MailChimp” link in your form that will earn you credits with us. It is optional and can be turned on or off at any time.
Use Javascript Support?:
turning this on will use fancy javascript submission and should degrade gracefully for users not using javascript. It is optional and can be turned on or off at any time.
Use Javascript Datepicker?:
turning this on will use the jQuery UI Datepicker for dates.
Include Unsubscribe link?:
turning this on will add a link to your host unsubscribe form
Header content:
Sign up for Visual Marketing Partners Newsletter
You can fill this with your own Text, HTML markup (including image links), or Nothing!
Sub-header content:
Our monthly newsletter includes tips for improving your presence on the web, social media news, and promotions from us!
Monkey Rewards turned On!
Fancy Javascript submission turned On!
Datepicker turned On!
Unsubscribe link turned On!
Successfully Updated your List Subscribe Form Settings!
The shortcode is meant to be added to a visible area on your site. So, for example, you could use a “text” widget in your WordPress admin area and add that shortcode, and it should add the signup form onto your site in place of that shortcode. This means you can insert the shortcode anywhere that you have access to post something onto your site.
You mentioned that you’re looking to insert it in to the side area of your site. Do you have the ability to add any content there through your widget area? For example, does your widgets area allow you to use a normal text widget, to add content to your side area?
-tk
I can do that (http://visualmarketingpartners.org/subscribe-to-our-newsletter/)
But it Looks awful with the heading over to the side….How can I have it display on the side of the static page?
What’s the short code not for the entire form but a small box where it says newsletter sign up and they just type in an email and submit?
Hey there,
In trying to access that URL that you provided, it looks like the page no longer exists with the form, so I wasn’t able to take a look. It sounds like there may be some conflicts with the pre-existing CSS on that site, which is causing an unexpected design. If possible, can you reactivate the plugin so that I can take a look? Otherwise, another option would be to activate it, take a screenshot, then post a link to that screenshot here (you can also choose to email it to mailchimptk[at]gmail.com).
As far as a shortcode just for a shortened version of the form, I’m afraid that that is not currently an option. The plugin only has the one shortcode, and that will always point to the single instance of the form you’re creating in your MailChimp plugin’s settings.
In the plugin’s settings, you can choose to hide/show certain fields on your list. What’s selected on that settings page will ultimately be the sole version of the form that the shortcode retrieves. So if you were to make it so the plugin only shows he email address field, that shortcode is going to show a form with only the email address on every page that you add it to.
If you’re looking to maintain different forms on different pages that have varying displayed fields on each page, you’ll need to incorporate the embed form code (which is available in your MailChimp account) to maintain that.
-tk
Hope you’re still following this thread since I have a kind of related question. I will start a new thread if that’s better but…
Trying to add a signup/opt-in form connected to a new MailChimp mailing list. Our WordPress site is custom designed with no widget areas 🙁
Is the shortcode method useful on pages where there isn’t really a space for the form itself to appear?
Would I be better to try to embed a form?
Appreciate your help on this – haven’t used your signup forms before.
Hi IreneLinda,
Thanks for hopping in the forum. The shortcode can be added to any post or page in wordpress. When the shortcode is added to an area, the full form will appear in that area. If it’s appearing too large, fields can be removed from the form from the Merge Variables Included area. On the plugins settings page, look for that area and uncheck the ‘Include’ box beside the field to remove it from the form.
If your page doesn’t have space for a form, it might be best to use the MailChimp hosted form. With every list in MailChimp, there’s a hosted webpage with the form. A link to this form can be added to your webpage. This guide from the MailChimp knowledge base has details on grabbing the url for the hosted form. http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/how-do-i-share-my-signup-form#url
Let us know if you have any other questions.
-mc_d
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, mc-dominic … in true MailChimp fashion! No wonder we think you guys are great!!
You’re right: given the limited space on the key Home page, the hosted form will be the better idea. Think we can squeeze in a line of text with a link.
Will investigate your link for more specifics and appreciate your hunting it up and sending it!
Linda
