Subscribers/Newsletters/Follow Question
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Expanding up on a staff comment on another thread that has now veered off into different subjects, LOL
(https://wordpress.com/forums/topic/subscribe-block-queries/)
The Staff member’s reply said that the Subscribe option and the Newsletter settings work together. Here’s my question (btw, I am a Classic Editor user; no blocks):
By choice, I do not have a ‘Subscribe’ widget on my page, but of course by default I do have Newsletter settings, and there is the usual default WP “Follow” button at the bottom of the page. So my first question is: Is ‘Follow’ the same as ‘Subscribe’, or does Follow simply mean that any new posts that I create will appear in the Follower’s Reader feed?
If Follow and Subscribe are indeed different functions, does that mean that in the absence of a Subscribe widget on my blog, no Newsletter/email notification of new posts is generated?
If not, is it possible to disable the Newsletter function entirely? To be honest, I’d rather not have it, but I also don’t want to make the site Private either (because people tend to be too lazy to bother to log in just to view a post.) There is no global ‘disable’ option on the Newsletter tab.
Thanks!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there @not2tidy,
Great questions. I can see you’ve been thinking this through carefully!
On WordPress.com, the Follow button and Subscribe options are part of the same system. When someone clicks Follow (like the button at the bottom of your site), they’re subscribing to your site updates. This means:
- Logged-in WordPress.com users will see your new posts in their Reader.
- Followers (whether logged in or not) can also choose to receive email notifications of your new posts — this is what’s often referred to as the “newsletter” functionality.
Even if you don’t use a Subscribe block or widget, people can still follow your site using that default Follow button, and they will continue to get email updates if they opted in to that.
At the moment, there isn’t a global setting to disable email notifications or the newsletter function entirely without making the site private. The best option would be to avoid adding Subscribe blocks or widgets, but existing followers would still receive updates according to their preferences.
Check this guide for reference: https://wordpress.com/support/newsletter-settingsIf you’d like, could you share a bit more about what your goal is with disabling the newsletter? Are you mainly trying to limit email notifications, or is there something specific you’re aiming to achieve?
I look forward to your reply so I can help you further.
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@josefhtest , thanks for the comprehensive response. So basically the system builds in a Subscribe OPTION within the Follow function, as a sort of ‘upgraded delivery method’ compared to only seeing that site in their Reader. Got it. :)
As to reasoning, basicallly it’s because I’ve had (and still have) other blogs here in the past and I know from experience that random ‘followers/subscribers’ tend to pop up, especially when a site is relatively new. I assume that WP does this as one way to give new(ish) sites more exposure, especially if the site owner doesn’t choose to link it to social media (which I avoid like the plague, lol). Usually these random assignees never interact with the ‘followed’ site at all.
For example, my other WP site here (which is on an entirely separate WP account) deals with a very small niche subject within a larger niche subject and yet I’d bet money that at least 40% of the users on the Subscriber list would never have the slightest inclination to follow that site themselves, and never did. Stats show that those users have never viewed any of my site’s pages, opened any of the emails, or clicked on any of the emails. Which means that all of those email notifications are completely useless, and all of those subscriptions do nothing but clutter up my Subscribers list. Every year (I have had the other site for almost a decade) I go into that list and manually delete every user that has not interacted with my site for the past 12 months, but honestly I’m annoyed that they are there in the first place. My guess is that either the initial WP setup for a new site either asks the new user to choose blogs to follow, or the WP algorithm selects some automatically.
My current site exists mainly for my own enjoyment in creating it, and is also aimed at a relatively small group of family and friends who share the same interests but whom I know would probably never read it if they had to bother logging into a Private site. They have the homepage bookmarked, to check occasionally, but that’s it. A few of them say that they never go to a website where they have to use a password, because “it’s too complicated, and I’d only forget it anyway” (these are the same people who won’t shop or bank online, so this is no surprise to me, LOL). I don’t use social media and don’t care about clicks or views (on this site anyway); I simply share the site addy with those whom I want to see it, and they can bookmark/visit if/when they want or remember to. But I also know that ALL of them would be annoyed if it was something that they had to log into in order to see. They simply wouldn’t *shrug*
Anyway, that’s the rationale for wanting to confirm how the whole Follow/Subscribe thing works. :-)
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You are welcome @not2tidy!
I can see you’re trying to keep the experience simple and enjoyable for your close circle without worrying about extra notifications or inactive followers.
To clarify, when someone follows your site, they can choose to see new posts in their Reader, or also receive them by email. Even if you don’t add a Subscribe widget, the built-in Follow button at the bottom of the page allows readers to follow you that way.
That said, there isn’t currently a way to disable the Follow feature on a public WordPress.com site. Followers can come organically from Reader suggestions, especially when a blog is newer or updated regularly. If you want to restrict who can read your site completely, making the site Private or using password protection would give you full control — though as you mentioned, that can add friction for your readers.
Here’s a guide with more information on managing followers and the Subscribe feature if you’d like to review the options:
https://wordpress.com/support/followers/
You can also find more information on how the Reader works here: https://wordpress.com/support/readerLet me know if you have any other question.
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