Enabling double opt-in for email campaigns

Double opt-in functionality, also referred to as confirmed opt-in or closed-loop opt-in, adds an additional security layer to email campaign subscription.

When double opt-in is disabled for a campaign, anyone may simply submit an email address for subscription, without any steps to ensure that the address actually belongs to that user. With double opt‑in, new subscribers are not immediately activated and do not receive emails. Instead, the system sends an automatic email containing an activation link. Upon clicking the link, users are redirected to a special page and their subscription is confirmed.

The main advantages of double opt-in are:

• Confirming that the email addresses of subscribers actually exist
• Preventing users from being unknowingly subscribed to a campaign by someone else (either intentionally or by mistake)

Enabling double opt-in

To configure an email campaign to use double opt-in:

1. Open the Email marketing application.

2. Edit () an email campaign and switch to its Configuration tab.

3. Enable double opt-in in the bottom section of the properties.

4. Set the following properties:

   Property	Description
   Double opt-in template	Selects the template used for the subscription activation emails that are sent to users. You can only select templates of the Double opt-in type. See also: Preparing email campaign templates
   Approval page URL	Sets the URL of the page where users can confirm their subscription to the campaign. The Subscription approval web part must be placed on the specified page to ensure the required functionality. This URL is used by the Activation link field, which is typically inserted into the Double opt-in template. If left empty, the value of the Settings -> On‑line marketing -> Email marketing -> Email campaign double opt-in approval page URL setting is used. If the setting is also empty, approval link sends users to a default system page.
   Send double opt-in confirmation	If checked, the system sends a confirmation email to users after they successfully activate their subscription to the email campaign.

5. Save to confirm the changes.

Now any users who subscribe to the email campaign will receive an email.

When a user clicks the Confirm the subscription link, they are redirected to the default ~/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/SubscriptionApproval.aspx page, where the system displays a confirmation message and activates the subscription. The identifier of the exact subscription is passed to the page as a parameter in the query string of the URL in the activation link.

Creating custom subscription approval pages

If you wish to use a custom subscription activation page:

1. In the Pages application, create a new page on your website with the required design.
2. Place the Subscription approval web part onto the page.
3. Assign the custom approval page to email campaigns by entering its URL into:
   • The Approval page URL property of the individual email campaigns.
   • Globally in the Email campaign double opt-in approval page URL website setting in Settings -> On‑line marketing -> Email marketing (assigns the page to all email campaigns that do not have an approval page specified)

The double opt-in confirmation links now send users to your custom page.

Manually approving subscribers

Email campaign administrators can activate subscriptions manually using the Approve action or Reject existing subscriptions.

See Managing email marketing subscribersfor more information.