Will unsubscribed users be autosubscribed again?

It is not that I want the users to be autosubscribed agaig, just the opposite. There should be a way for the plugin no to add the users once again if they have opted-out.

I have the same question. Before I send emails out to this list, I want to make sure that users can unsubscribe and not be synced back to the list.

Don’t want to make our users angry.

Hi both,

Right now, the plugins really acts as a 1 on 1 sync between your WP users and your MailChimp list, with the former taking precedent.

So, unless someone removes his/her account on your WP site, the plugin will make sure that person stays subscribed to your list. Sorry.

It’s definitely something we’re working on though – we’re hoping to introduce an opt-out feature to the plugin soon.

So let’s say a user unsubscribes via the link on a MailChimp email. Does the plugin autonomously checkin with the MailChimp list on a cron schedule? …it looks at the list, realizes one is missing and adds it back in?

OR…

Would this only happen on a manual force sync?

(Either way, I’m thinking MailChimp would frown on this. If a user wants off the list, they want OFF THE LIST and not see the emails anymore. I’m sure it violates some anti-SPAM act. No judgment here, just sayin’)

+1 on this. Really important that a user can unsubscribe from the list but remain a member on the site.

We will also definitely need site members to remain intact without causing a conflict with MailChimp if they unsubscribe on that end.

I am fairly new to WordPress and all things technical, but, while we wait for the opt-out feature to be added, would creating a custom role for those site members who have unsubscribed from the mc list work? I think I’d rather have the manual task of changing role status for those members as I receive notification of their opt-out than give up the sync and have to gather and export new registrants’ info to mc on a regular basis.

What workarounds are people currently using? Although I can imagine the potential for these, I don’t have the level of technical understanding to make them happen. So any tips are greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that we definitely have not forgotten about this. I’m having trouble thinking of the correct way to implement this but I hope to be able to show you something real soon.

The trouble is that users can subscribe via MailChimp so for this to work, the webhook has to be configured. Here’s how you can do that: https://mc4wp.com/kb/configure-webhook-for-2-way-synchronizing/

@sjh25, that is definitely an option. If you set the plugin to only sync a certain role and then switch a user’s role whenever he or she subscribes, he won’t be subscribed again.

If you want, I can provide you with some sample code that hooks into the webhook that will set a flag and prevents users from being subscribed again.

Danny, when I first looked at sync possibilities, I dismissed the idea of having a 2-way sync, thinking “Oh, no, I don’t want MailChimp to be making changes to the WP user list.” But now that you put this in context, it sounds as if there is more control over that process than I assumed. Let me see if I understand you.

Are you saying it would be possible, through the webhook, to have the plugin listen for MC changes (like an opt-out) and carry out a specific action, and ONLY that action, specified in the code? For example, the update of a user’s Role?

If there would be no other repercussions from the 2-way sync– like, for example, new “subscribers” that originate in the MC list being auto-added to the site’s user list (not something we’d want)– then, please, I would like to know how to do that. (I don’t expect the site members segment of the MC list to ever have records changed manually or added, but I’d just like to know that we aren’t opening up some kind of two-way street there, with unexpected consequences.)

I would love help with the code. Thanks. I don’t know right off the bat how to create the custom role, but I know it’s possible without installing a plugin and would prefer to do it that way. I am thinking of just having a clone of subscriber role, with all the same capabilities, but named something like subscriber_optout (or dash instead of underscore? does it matter?)

Again, I think it’s great you are on top of the support here. It’s been very helpful to have fairly speedy response from you here. I realize plugin developers have a life outside their plugins. ??

Sync with the updated versions is working! Thanks again. I’ve been reading up on webhook options in the MailChimp knowledge base and am getting a better sense of what happens. Looking forward to learning more.

It seems the user role switch isn’t going to work– at least not in a simple, manually implemented way. On testing, an MC-unsubscribed user was added back before I could get to manually change the user role (it was in listening mode). Once I did change the user role, I hoped that the software would respond to the “missing subscriber” the way it does a deletion- but it does not. The record remains on the active list in MC.

Danny, if I wasn’t clear before, I would like to take you up on your offer of “sample code that hooks into the webhook that will set a flag and prevents users from being subscribed again.” And, if you would, please include details about where it goes and what setup is necessary on the MC end of things.

Thanks.

Hey all,

I handled this with sjh25 over email but forgot to update this topic, sorry about that. Here’s how we did the trick:

1. We configured the webhook for 2-way synchronizing.
2. We added some custom code to the theme its functions.php file that does the following things:

– It adds a custom role to every user that unsubscribed in MailChimp.
– It prevents users with this role from ever being subscribed again.

Now, you can manually add users to this role to prevent them from being subscribed OR you can have the plugin take care of it automatically. Or a combination of the two. ??

Extra: If you’re a developer, it might be interesting for you to hear that we’re working on a dedicated GitHub repository full of example code snippets for customizing our set of MailChimp plugins.

It’s still a work in progress but we’re working hard on filling it as we go. ??

Hi, is it possible to have this action mailchimp_sync_webhook_unsubscribe only but disallow syncing other profile fields from Mailchimp to wordpress?

Hi,

I was wondering if this plugin would allow user’s to manage their Mailchimp subscription preferences in their account on my site? So, when they create their account, they could check/uncheck the box that says to subscribe to the newsletter.

And then, to that point… if the user had originally said they wanted to subscribe and then changed it at a later time, would they then be able to be removed from the Mailchimp list at that point (when they change their preferences)?