Website newsletter signup to Mailchimp: confirmed subscribers only
Anticode's Mailchimp connector sends newsletter sign-ups, and only those, to one Mailchimp audience. Each address is added with the status pending, so Mailchimp emails the person to confirm before they count as subscribed. You need an API key and the audience id.
Only sign-ups, on purpose
A website has several forms that collect email addresses: bookings, contact messages, invite requests and the newsletter box. Only the last one is a request to receive email. The connector ignores the rest, so a person who asked about prices or booked a class isn't quietly added to your marketing list. If you want enquirers in a CRM instead, the HubSpot connector creates contacts without subscribing them.
How double opt-in works here
When someone uses the newsletter form on your site, Anticode calls Mailchimp's add member endpoint with the address and status: pending. Mailchimp's own contacts quick start explains that sending pending makes Mailchimp send the confirmation email itself, whereas sending subscribed on a double opt-in audience skips that email. Anticode always sends pending, so every website newsletter signup to Mailchimp goes through Mailchimp's confirmation step, whatever the audience's own setting.
- The visitor sees your site's thank-you message straight away.
- Within about a minute, Anticode passes the address to Mailchimp, and Mailchimp sends its confirmation email using the audience’s opt-in confirmation template.
- Until they click, they’re pending and won’t receive campaigns. Pending members aren’t counted as subscribed, so a new sign-up can look missing from your subscribed list; that’s this step, not a failure.
- Once confirmed, they're a subscribed member like any other.
Confirmed opt-in gives you a record that the person owns the address and asked to join, which is useful evidence of consent in places with strict email marketing rules. It also keeps typos and fake addresses off your billable list.
Get your API key and audience id
- API key
- Create one in Mailchimp under your profile's Extras › API keys. It's 32 characters, a dash and a data-centre code such as
us21. Anticode uses that code to reach your account's API server, so paste the key whole. - Audience id
- In Mailchimp, open Audience › Settings › Audience name and defaults. The audience id is a 10-character code. It isn't the audience's name.
- In Anticode's dashboard, open Connectors › Mailchimp.
- Fill in API key and Audience id, then Save and turn on.
- Press Check the connection. It reads the audience to confirm both values, without adding anyone.
- Sign up through your own published site with an address you control, and confirm from the email Mailchimp sends.
Customise the confirmation email
The email people receive comes from Mailchimp, not from Anticode, so its wording, logo and sender name are set in Mailchimp's audience forms and response emails. Match it to your site: name the newsletter, say what people will get and how often, and make the confirm button obvious. A confirmation email that looks like spam is the main reason pending sign-ups never turn into subscribers.
Several sites, one audience
Connectors belong to your Anticode account, not to a single project, so if you publish a bakery site and a cookery-class site, both send sign-ups to the same Mailchimp audience. Mailchimp receives only the email address, not which site it came from. If the two need separate lists, keep them on separate Anticode accounts, or route sign-ups through the webhook connector to an automation that picks the audience by the site field.
Security
The API key and audience id are sealed together with AES-256-GCM, bound to your account and this connector, and never shown again; to change either, enter both. A Mailchimp API key can do much more than add members, so treat it like a password: Anticode uses it only on its server, only to call Mailchimp's API, and never places it in the builder or your pages. If you suspect a leak, disable the key in Mailchimp and create a new one.
Limits
- Email only. The newsletter form asks for an email address, so no name, tags or interest groups are sent.
- Already on the list. Mailchimp refuses to create a member who already exists, and Anticode treats that as fine. Their status isn't changed, so an unsubscribed person isn't re-subscribed.
- One audience. Every site on your account sends sign-ups to the same audience.
- Sent once. If Mailchimp is unreachable, that sign-up isn't retried; it's still in your Anticode Submissions.
- Sign-ups held on a free site past its monthly allowance aren't sent.
Questions people ask
Can I skip the confirmation email?
No. Anticode always adds sign-ups as pending, so Mailchimp always asks them to confirm.
Will people who book or send a message be added?
No. Only the newsletter form's sign-ups reach Mailchimp.
Why can't I see a new sign-up in my audience?
They're pending until they click the confirmation link. Check their inbox and spam folder.