Configure Newsletter Widgets

The newsletter/subscription box areas in your theme use a plugin called Genesis eNews Extended.

Genesis eNews can be set up with most mailing list services (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Flodesk, and others). Mailchimp is one of the most popular — it's free for up to 2,000 subscribers, simple to configure, and offers lots of great features. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through how to set up Genesis eNews with Mailchimp. Instructions for integrating different services can be found at the end of this tutorial!

How to set up Genesis eNews with Mailchimp

1. If you haven't already installed Genesis eNews Extended, go to your WordPress dashboard > Plugins > Add New. Search the plugin, install, and activate it.

2. Log into your Mailchimp dashboard. If you haven't created an Audience yet, do that first following these instructions.

3. In your Mailchimp dashboard, go to the  Audience tab, then select Signup Forms.

4. Select Embedded Forms.

5. Click Continue at the top right corner of your screen (no need to modify anything on this page).

6. Next, you'll see this page:

Scroll down in the code box until you find <form action=" and copy the URL between the quotes. Be sure to NOT copy the quotation marks, only the URL in between. The URL will end with a unique ID number for your form.

Please note that your Form Action URL will look different than the example shown above. Your own username and ID number will be displayed.

7. Go to your WordPress dashboard > Appearance > Widgets. You can either: (1) Drag a Genesis eNews Extended widget into the widget area of your choice, or that's required by your theme, or (2) Open and edit a Genesis eNews Extended widget that is already inside a widget area on your site.

8. Locate the Form Action field and paste the Form Action URL you copied in Step 7.

9. In the email field, type EMAIL. In the first name field, type FNAME. If you would like to collect last names, type LNAME in the last name field. These three fields must be uppercase.

10. Configure the input placeholders and subscription button text how you’d like. Our demos are usually set at:

11. Save the widget, and then you’re all set!

How to send emails through Mailchimp

With Mailchimp, you have the ability to send different types of emails depending on your needs.

  • If you're a business, you may want to send periodic newsletters to your subscribers detailing a promotional offer, an upcoming event, etc.
  • If you're a blogger, you may want to set up an RSS Feed campaign so your subscribers automatically receive your blog posts in their email each time you publish a post.

Mailchimp has a great help center on their site with all the information you need to get started creating beautiful emails to send your subscribers. If you have any questions about how to use Mailchimp or set up email campaigns, you can contact Mailchimp here.

Using other email services with Genesis eNews

It's possible to use other mailing list services with the Genesis eNews Extended plugin. Here are links to some tutorials:

*Most common and easiest to integrate!