Add subscribe option to side menu
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I would like add the subscribe option to my side menu. I’m frustrated because it would be very simple for WordPress to add this as a standard widget. Instead, I’m finding posts on shortcode, how to create widgets, which tell me to create functions, etc. I’ve spent the entire morning trying to figure this out. I don’t know how to do any of this and I have found the online articles to be confusing at best. Is there a widget that I can just add to my site? If so, please give me step by step instructions on how to do so. By the way, I will not use the email follow option because it instructs individuals to create a WordPress account. I don’t think people should have to become WordPress users in order to follow my blog. I can only guess that WordPress makes the subscribe option so difficult because they want people to sign up for WordPress, but that’s not helpful to me.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there!
We try to make it as easy as possible for your readers to subscribe to your blog with or without a WordPress.com account. There are some follow options built into your site already. Anyone who is logged into a WordPress.com account will see this Follow button at the top of your site:
Anyone who is not logged into a WordPress.com account will see this at the bottom of their browser window when visiting your site:
https://cloudup.com/cVBiwM8eAnJ
In addition, we have two widgets that give your readers easy ways to follow your blog.
1. The Follow Blog widget adds a box where viewers can subscribe to your site via email.
2. The Follow Button widget adds a button that WordPress.com users can click to follow your site.
The email options will not require your followers to create a WordPress.com account. However, they will need to confirm that their subscription by clicking a link in a confirmation email from WordPress.com.
If you have followers who are being directed to create an account in order to follow your site, can you direct them to our contact form or the forums and we can follow up with them directly?
Let me know if I can help with anything else!
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Hi, Shawn.
When I added the “follow by email” widget previously, users were directed to the “get started with WordPress.com” screen where they needed to enter an email address, username, password, etc. I just added it again to see if it would work correctly, and it seems to be showing up now as just an email entry. I changed my theme over the weekend. Could this be the reason? Are different themes directing the widgets differently? I was using the Motif theme before I changed to Evenbrite. It seems that the different themes have different capabilities. It would be great if this were explained somewhere. I apologize for the rant on the follow button, but it was very frustrating to spend so much time on something that should be so simple. I don’t want to “advertise” my blog until I have the kinks worked out. Thanks so much for your help.
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Hi there!
I totally understand. These little pieces can be very frustrating. We have found a bug in the Motif theme that makes the text box to submit the email address invisible to viewers.
I assure you, we do not require viewers to create a WordPress.com account to follow sites hosted here.
You can search through our themes at theme.wordpress.com. If you click on “Find a Theme” you’ll see a menu of different options you can search for. The info page for each theme also explains how its features work. For example here’s Eventbrite Multi Event’s info page. Is there a particular feature you’re looking for? I can help point you in the right direction. And if you need help with anything else, just let me know! :)
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