Seems to work, but…

Hey @linkomatic.

there should instead be a simple link in the confirmation email that the requester can click on and be done with it

A simple link. We tried that and do you know who loved it the most? Spam bots. It’s pretty easy for them to opt in to your site, become a user, and start emailing viagra ads to everyone in your community. So we made it a bit more difficult.

Here’s an article about why, and how it works:
https://davidwalsh.name/improving-wordpress-commenting-postmatic

Postmatic Premium is the same way. Our users have had great success with it.

Best,
Jason

Thanks for the reply. I’ll take your word for it that the process I suggest may have some challenges to do right, but it’s the way the rest of the world seems to be dealing with. I do take to heart the point in the article about webmasters needing to be more vigilant and proactive about preventing spam — that is certainly valid.

A couple questions: where is the list of subscribers stored? In the WP database? On your server? Both? Is there a way to easily view/download that list?

One other thing: the idea of forcing a user to go through a double-opt-in process that entails replying with the right answer to a customized question frankly seems ludicrous to me. Good luck with that. I would never ascribe to that kind of process.

There is no way to do a simple click to subscribe *right* when you’re talking about giving people the ability to send email to dozens or hundreds of your friends and family. The risk is too high. Spam bots have evolved to easily work around single-click confirmations.

That’s fine if you are using email as a one-way street. Postmatic is about conversations, not just notifications.

The subscribers are stored as native WordPress users in your database. You can view, manipulate, and export them from there.

Here’s some more information on our technology and how it works:
https://gopostmatic.com/technology/

Best,
Jason

@linkomatic – In Canada, double opt-in is the law, as per the new CASL legislation that came into effect last year. So, if you have Canadian subs (even if you don’t live in Canada), you need to have that or face a fine of up to $10 million (no more Mr. Nice Canada!) ??

Part of that legislation requires you to provide proof of double opt-in, method, time, etc. Due to this, I find the Postmatic approach ideal, because confirming by email shows definite intent to subscribe. That, and it actually starts to get you into the mindset of hitting reply on an email to leave a comment – so, win-win. ??

I get it’s not for everyone, but I know my own subs have commented before that they may have forgotten, or bypassed, the subscription if it wasn’t so interactive. I won’t argue with that. ??

Interesting to hear that about Canada @dannybrown. Wasn’t aware of it. Clearly double opt-in is the way to go, regardless of the law. And if one has that requirement to “show proof of intent”, then obviously the Postmatic approach is worth consideration, regardless of concerns about spambots. Will be interesting to see how this process morphs over time. Can see a time when you’ll need to submit your fingerprints to subscribe to a blessed blog! ;0)

Yeah, I think it seems to have passed a lot of folks by not inside Canada, which would suggest better overall education by the agency behind it.

If I recall, there are some other countries that follow the same route, especially in Europe. I think (but don’t quote me) the UK has a similar law through the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), and Germany has a pretty strict law too.

There needs to be some form of global body/consortium that makes these things clearer, because there have been some example already of non-Canadian businesses being fined due to breaking the CASL legislation.

Fun times!

Thanks for chiming in, Danny.

Right – the nice thing about Postmatic is that we make sure you are in compliance with spam laws at an international level… as well as always keep things firmly in the interest of the user.

@linkomatic – I hope all this helps you better understand and appreciate our approach. Be well.

Jason

For anyone reading this thread, a bit more experience to share…

On the plus side…plugin author is extremely responsive — two thumbs up!

On the not-so-plug side: per the support ticket I opened on WP.org, there apparently was a “temporary glitch” of some kind in the Postmatic process that held up opt-in confirmations to be processed right away. Not a huge deal in itself (it was quickly resolved), but the author wants you to log your tickets on their website, rather than on WP.org. This makes it impossible to see whether others have run into similar problems, how often this kind of thing happens, etc. Would like to have more transparency about this.

My 3-star rating is unchanged, but I may still use the plugin.