Setting up double opt-in in Boldem

Michal Michal Krejčí
15. September 2023

Double opt-in, also known as double confirmation of consent, is a traditional way of requesting the recipient’s consent to receive email communications immediately after subscribing to them. At the same time, the recipient is confirming the existence and functionality of their email address.

Double opt-in is primarily a spam protection measure that involves verifying the email addresses you collect, such as through a website/subscription form. Subscribing to a newsletter, subscribing to training, setting up an account, placing an order, etc., are all examples of its usage.

Prerequisites

Double opt-in is most commonly used when collecting email addresses through subscription forms or through the Boldem API. To use a subscription form successfully, you will need the following:

  • Transactional template.
  • Mailing list set for double opt-in.
  • Subscription form that has been created and enabled, containing at least one field designed for collecting email addresses.
  • Verified domain.
  • Website integrated with Boldem where you can access and view the subscription form.
  • 3 URLs or landing pages on the site integrated with Boldem
    • The page where you display the subscription form to the user.
    • The page that will be displayed to the user after successfully completing and submitting the subscription form.
    • The page a user is redirected to after clicking the confirmation email for subscribing.

Creating transactional templates

First, it is necessary to create a transactional template that will be dispatched to the recipient once the form has been submitted. Therefore, it should include reasons for the user to confirm their email subscription and provide information about the content they can expect to receive.

  1. Click Templates to create a new smart template. You can edit a sample template or use a blank one.
  2. Insert the corresponding text and at least one button into the template.
  3. Click the button text and rewrite it by inserting the string {{subscribeUrl}} into the Button hyperlink field on the left. You can also use a text block and insert this string as a URL. However, it is more user-friendly to provide a larger element like a button.
  4. Double click back, and on the Information tab, fill in the template name and Subject.
  5. Toggle on the Template is for transactional emails (automations and API) switch.
  6. Enter Sender’s email (ideally, the sender’s email should be on the same domain as your router, i.e. a verified domain).
  7. Save the template.

Creating or setting up mailing lists

  1. Navigate to Mailing lists and choose an existing mailing list to store the collected recipients and to send them confirmation requests. Alternatively, you can create a new list as well.
  2. From the right-hand menu (three vertical dots), select Edit list.
  3. Click Use double-opt in.
  4. Select a transactional template from the drop-down menu.
  5. In the Redirect to the following URL field, enter the URL of the web page to which users will be redirected after submitting the form on the web.
  6. In the After confirmation, redirect to the following URL field, enter the URL of the website users will be redirected to after clicking the button/link in the email.
  7. Select the domain router and click Save.

Creating subscription forms

  1. Click Forms and select Create a new form.
  2. Fill in the details and select the primary mailing list created above, then click Create a form.
  3. In the editor, click Add content and select Text field.
  4. Click inside the text box. Modification of the block then appears on the left.
  5. From the The custom field where the data will be stored drop-down menu, select Email.
  6. Edit the title and description.
  7. Additionally, you can add any other content, images, text, or make necessary adjustments to colors, backgrounds, etc.
  8. Go back or click the empty space in the form and insert a button.
  9. Click Enable in the top right corner of the page.
  10. Save the form.
    Note: Don’t let the form background, which shows the page of the sending domain rather than the site where you plan to display the form, confuse you. Your site address can be found in Settings/Websites.

By default, the subscription form is displayed to each visitor only once and immediately after all pages on the integrated site are loaded. The Window configuration on the Settings tab allows you to customize the behavior and display of the form. Most often, you will need to modify the Condition to show the form. To display the form only on specific pages, insert individual URL paths into this field without a domain on either side separated by slashes; for example “/contact/” or “/my-blog-article/”. Confirm each path by pressing the Enter key.

Displaying a form on the web and testing its functionality

  1. Go to Settings and open Websites.
  2. Click the address of the site for which you have configured the form.
  3. If the site is correctly integrated with Boldem, the form will be displayed on the site based on the rules you set in the form properties.
  4. Enter a functional email address in the form and submit it.
  5. Check whether you have been redirected to the first URL you entered in the double opt-in settings.
  6. Navigate to the inbox of the email address entered in the form. There will be a confirmation email containing the transactional template you used above.
  7. Click the link in the email.
  8. Check whether you have been redirected to the second URL you entered in the double opt-in settings.
  9. Go back to Boldem and open the mailing list selected when you created the subscription form.
  10. Make sure it contains the email address you tested.

By default, the subscription form is displayed only once for each user. If you require a different form behavior, or if you want to test the form more than once, you can modify the settings. To do that, proceed as follows:

  1. Return to the form editor and go to Window configuration in the Settings tab.
  2. Toggle off the Show only once switch, and click Done/Save.
  3. Go to the subscription form website again and refresh the page.
  4. The subscription form will be displayed again.

After testing, make sure to change the settings back to the way you want the form to appear to your site visitors.

Go to the Settings/Window configuration tab again, toggle on the Show only once switch and click Done/Save.