Add A Newsletter Subscription Box to Your Blog

Recently I was asked how to add a newsletter subscription box to a WordPress theme. Because this is a question I’ve been asked more than once, I’ve decided to do a short tutorial. There are only a few things you’ll need to get started.

• Text or HTML editor
• Your subscription box code which can usually be copied from your newsletter service provider
• The theme’s sidebar.php file, assuming that is where you’d like to add the subscription box
• FTP client to upload the file to your theme folder once finished. (You can edit it from the WordPress admin panel, however, I don’t always recommend that route.)

For this example, we’ll go over adding the code to the top of the sidebar. Before we begin, make a back up copy of your sidebar.php file.

1. Open the sidebar.php file in a text or HTML editor.
2. Just under the opening unordered list tag (
   ), add a new list item (
   • 
     
   ) and between it, type the title of your subscription box.
   • Below your section title, copy and paste your subscription box code. (If the code you’re provided with isn’t compliant, you may need to edit it; otherwise it may throw off your design. )
   • Save the file and upload it to your theme folder, making sure to overwrite the previous sidebar.php file.
   • Go to your blog, refresh, and feel good about your work.

There you have it. Your blog should now have a newsletter subscription box in place if all went well.

Note: If you’re using the widgets plugin, adding code to your sidebar is slightly different. You will need to create a new text box from your admin panel and copy the newsletter code into it.