Perhaps you enabled the ‘double opt-in’ feature from your SquareSpace newsletter block, but now have no idea how to edit the ‘confirm subscription’ email in MailChimp. Or, maybe you have no idea how to even enable a double opt-in in the first place.

Not to worry, in this video and post we’ll go over:

  • how to edit all emails associated with a sign up form
  • where to find the ‘confirm subscription’ email so you can edit it
  • how to enable the double opt-in in MailChimp
  • how to enable the double opt-in in SquareSpace
  • how to enable editing the double opt-in confirm subscription email in Mailchimp if you enabled it in SquareSpace

What is a double opt-in and why do I want one?

Chances are that you’ve come across the double opt-in many times before. This is the practice of sending a new subscriber a ‘confirm subscription’ email in which they need to click a link double opting in (the name makes sense now, eh?) prior to being added to your list.

This is a good practice because 1) it prevents most spammers from ending up on your email list, and 2) it makes sure that the people who get on your list are interested enough to complete this next step and will therefore be engaged members of your audience.

Got it. So how do I get one in MailChimp?

There are two ways to do this (that I know of anyway).

First, any MailChimp user can enable the double opt-in from their Audience Settings tab.

To get there: Audience -> Settings -> Audience Name and Campaign Defaults

In this last tab you’ll find the following options:

Here, you’ll select the ‘Enable double opt-in’ option. You can enable reCAPTCHA (this is the math problem or ‘select crosswalks’ picture you see on some forms) if you’d like. I only recommend this option if you’re having some serious issues with spam.

The second way to enable the double opt-in is through SquareSpace. When you connect your MailChimp account to a newsletter form block, you have the option of selecting for the double opt-in right there. Note, if you want to edit the ‘confirm subscription’ email generated by MailChimp, you’ll need to enable the double opt-in the first way within MailChimp as well.

Now that you have the double opt-in, here’s how you edit the ‘confirm subscription’ email in MailChimp:

Once you’ve enabled the double opt-in, you probably want to edit that confirm subscription email so that it doesn’t look like this:

(Note: I’ve blocked out the email address as this was generated through a client’s account).

It’s not terrible, but let’s be honest, this doesn’t look great. And if you want people to confirm that they want what they signed up for, it follows that you should make the request look nice.

To edit this email, you’ll need to go to Audience -> Sign Up Forms -> Form Builder.

In the dropdown pictured above you will see the option to edit the ‘double opt-in confirmation email’. Select that and style away. If you don’t see that option here, it’s because you have not correctly enabled the double opt-in, so double check the steps above.

For information on styling the form including changing the button color, please refer to the video above.

Best of luck! Xx, Kara

Ready for more?

Be sure to check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel. You can also view SkillShare courses (and a free two-week trial) here.