Page

Logo sits above the headline. A transparent PNG or an SVG sits best on a coloured design.

Headline is the one line people read. Message is the sentence or two under it, and takes links, bold and italics. Footer text is set smaller at the foot — a company number, an address, a phone line that is still answered.

On a site translated with WPML or Polylang, these words can be translated like any other: the headline, the message, the footer text, the sign-up form's heading, button, thank-you line and consent line, the line asking new subscribers to confirm their address, the password link, the Sign in link, and the search title and description. They appear under WPML's String Translation (admin texts) or Polylang's string translations, and each visitor gets the page in their own language. The launch email is written once, in the words you type here, and so is the page shown during WordPress updates, which appears before any translation plugin has loaded.

The countdown counts to the opening time set under Settings. The panel says which of those it is doing — counting, waiting for a time to be set, or not drawn because the time has gone by — and every one of those says it with a link to the screen that holds the date.

Collecting addresses#

The form is the one thing a holding page can do that a blank screen cannot. It posts to your own site, the list is yours, and it works with JavaScript switched off — the script only stops the page reloading. While it sends, the button says it is busy and ignores a second press, and a keyboard or screen-reader visitor stays on it, with the answer read out beneath.

Also ask for a name is off by default. Every extra field costs sign-ups; it is worth it only if you will use the name.

Consent text is where a line about what you will do with the address belongs. A link to your privacy notice is allowed.

Thank you message is what the page says once somebody has signed up. Until you change it, the default, "Thank you. We will be in touch.", is shown in the language of the page rather than in the language of whoever last saved this screen. That includes a default an earlier version saved in English, Spanish or French. Emptying the box gives the default back, so a sign-up is never answered with nothing.

Ask new subscribers to confirm their address is off by default, on every site. Switched on, a new sign-up is not on your list yet: your site emails the person a link, and only people who follow it, and press the button on the page it opens, join the list and get the launch email. That keeps mistyped addresses and addresses somebody else typed in off your list. Message asking them to confirm is what the page says after they sign up; the default is "Nearly there. Check your inbox and follow the link to confirm your address." Until you change it, the default is shown in the language of the page, like the plugin's own wording, rather than in the language of whoever last saved this screen.

• The email is plain text, in your site's language, from the same sender name and reply-to address as the launch email. It says the address is deleted within 30 days if nobody confirms it.
• The link opens a page with a Confirm my address button. Opening the link on its own changes nothing, because email security scanners open every link in a message; pressing the button is what confirms. The link works while your page is up and after the site opens, for 30 days from when they last signed up, as the email says. After that it opens a page saying the link has expired, and they can sign up again for a new one.
• Signing up again within an hour sends nothing more, so the form cannot be used to fill somebody's inbox. After an hour, signing up again sends the link again.
• Somebody already on your list who signs up again is sent nothing and shown the same message as a new sign-up. While your site's email is failing, they are shown the same "try again later" message a new sign-up gets, so the wording never gives away who is on your list. The email counts as failing from the moment a confirmation email could not be sent until your site next sends one, or sends a test email or the launch email. The answer can come back a moment sooner for them, because no email is sent.
• If your site cannot send the email, the visitor is told to try again later and nothing is kept.
• The time they confirmed is kept. No IP address, browser or other detail is stored.
• People already on your list when you switch it on stay on it, and still get the launch email. Nobody is asked to confirm again.
• Switching it off again leaves anybody still waiting as they are: they can still confirm with their link, and are deleted after 30 days if they do not. Sign-ups from then on join the list straight away.

If your database did not accept the change this needs, the switch is greyed out with a note under it. Switch the plugin off and on again under Plugins to try once more; until then sign-ups work as they always did.

Nothing is sent anywhere else. A sign-up is a row in a table on your own database, and it stays there unless you connect Mailchimp yourself.

Where else to find you#

Somewhere for people to go while they wait. Fill in the addresses you have and only those appear. The marks are drawn into the page rather than loaded from an icon service, so they cost nothing and cannot fail to arrive.