Why Subscribe to Comments doesn’t let you check the subscription box by default
At one time, my Subscribe to Comments plugin would allow you to have the subscription checkbox checked by default. This is no longer the case. I get a lot of e-mail asking about this change, so I’d like to explain it.
In short, having the box checked by default was causing people to subscribe unwittingly, as it was an opt-out thing. I was getting a lot of flak about this, because a lot of sites had enabled this option without thinking about the ramifications (even I had it enabled for a while!). Opt-out is a bad way to operate, and it doesn’t provide a good user experience. A lot of users see it as being sneaky. Obviously if you want to edit the plugin to re-enable this option, I can’t stop you — but I no longer wanted to be encouraging use of this option.
“But what if you have a user who wants to subscribe to every post?” you ask. Well, here’s how it works now. If you subscribe to an entry’s comments, you’ll get a cookie that remembers that you subscribed. And when you visit other posts, the checkbox will be checked by default (for you only). So you only have to opt-in once. Naturally if you then leave a comment with the box unchecked, your personal default will revert to unchecked. I think this is a much better solution.
Yes, you are correct, this new behavior is much more kind to users. Thanks for taking steps to reduce spam and other forms of email abuse.
Michael Clark
April 24, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I never enabled it by default, but had thought about it after really enjoying the similar experience on LJ. It really depends on the nature of the conversation I think.
Lloyd Budd
April 24, 2008 at 4:32 pm
That is a much better solution. I’m a big fan of Subscribe to Comments and the cookie-based opt-in is perfect. Thanks, Mark.
Ian Stewart
April 24, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I think this is probably a better solution, although as Lloyd says, my setting the box to “opt out” was influenced by the way livejournal works (and my own inability to remember where I’ve commented).
Lloyd, you never got back to me about what browser was hiding my checkmarks
sunburntkamel
April 24, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Smooth.
Andy
April 24, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Good work Mark. I toyed with the idea of switching it on by default some time ago, but gave it up as “opt-out spam”. When you upgrade the plugin, does it modify the default settings automatically?
Gerard
April 24, 2008 at 5:02 pm
On one of my sites I admit, I have tweaked it around to be enabled by default.
It’s a website for Teenagers, and a lot of them don’t even notice that little box to check. @_@
Kevin Paquet
April 24, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Mark-
you are entirely right to not allow it to be checked by default-
however, setting it to be automatic does get your readers really going on their own community
On my “political” site I overrode the code to make sure the people stay engaged- and no one has complained.
I think this is one of the most important WP plugins for any site.
Thanks again for writing it.
David Esrati
April 24, 2008 at 7:45 pm
The option doesn’t exist anymore, and isn’t obeyed even if it were hacked in. You’d have to change the code to re-enable it. So upgraders move to the per-user opt-in solution.
Mark Jaquith
April 24, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I recommend the subscription box should not be checked by default!
let users decide.
Imran Khalid
April 24, 2008 at 8:16 pm
You sure about the cookie thing?
I’ve checked the box and posted comments on our blog, and I don’t see new posts having that box checked by default.
And yes, I have cookies enabled.
Chris
April 24, 2008 at 8:20 pm
For me, I put the checkbox in a conspicuous place so that people who really want to subscribe to follow up comments can do so before hitting the “submit” button, not after.
deuts
April 24, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I agree with your decision to do that because it is sneaky and especially if you visit a busy site, I don’t want the excess email and the annoyance of trying to unsubscribe after the fact.
Keishon
April 24, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Great Tips as always
Paul
April 25, 2008 at 5:08 am
It’s the right way, I think. Congratulations.
HighToro
April 25, 2008 at 6:57 am
That is the way to go. Good initiative.
Brajeshwar
April 26, 2008 at 2:08 am
[...] Subscribe To Comments ne permet plus de cocher automatiquement la notification des commentaires [...]
Une semaine avec Wordpress #12
April 27, 2008 at 5:07 am
That’s an excellent and well-rounded choice.
Just for information : in France, « opt-out » is forbidden and « opt-in » mandatory (well, mandatory if subscription is possible, of course
.
Comme une image
April 27, 2008 at 6:47 am
I want to HUG you for this! THANK YOU. It’s been long awaited and I’m so glad. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been subscribed and how much time I’ve wasted unsubscribing, sometimes several times a day. This is wonderful news.
Lorelle VanFossen
April 29, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Good choice Mark. Far better to error on the side of caution when it comes to user happiness. We all get more then we need in our email boxes these days.
Megapixels
April 30, 2008 at 5:19 am
Absolutely, not question, the right choice. Time and attention are such rare commodities. Anything we can do to *not* take it away from people is appreciated.
Ro
May 2, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I too allow users to ‘opt-in’ rather than ‘opt-out’ – some people are very protective over their inbox.
I have one related, but slightly off-topic yet burning question (and I have looked elsewhere and beyond for the answer) – is your most essential and most excellent ‘Subscribe to Comments 2.1.2′ compatible with WordPress 2.5.x ??
Nommo
May 6, 2008 at 9:33 am
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May 7, 2008 at 10:23 pm
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Subscribe To Comments: Checked By Default Removed | More Than Scratch The Surface
May 11, 2008 at 7:33 am
Hi
a simple question : it’s a good to think about the users. But YOUR users are not my readers, it’s me ! And I want to have the choice on this option.
On my blog, for example, the thing is not to be user-kindly, but to allow for strong discussion.
So, please, could you tell me what changes i have to do to have the checkbox checked by default ?
thanks a lot, though, for this great plugin amongs great plugins…!
lomig
July 2, 2008 at 9:20 am
oops,
i saw David Esraty comments after sending mine. David, could you explain the way you did it. I have a political blog too, and keeping everybody in the discussion is the main point, i confirm.
thanks
lomig
July 2, 2008 at 9:22 am
Congratulations. +1
elsa961
July 28, 2008 at 10:42 am
ah, now I understand.
Ben
September 6, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Today I started looking for the option mentioned above in Subscribe to Comment plugin and realized that it is gone. I use your plugin on all my blogs but probably you are right – the checkbox should be left unmarked and if a reader wants to subscribe – he can do it himself.
Good work!
Тодор Христов
October 4, 2008 at 5:04 am
i see why there is no checked by default. I think it’s annoying if checked by default for our commenter
alhakim
November 21, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Банально канешна, но спасибо за диз :Р
Олег
November 26, 2008 at 12:44 pm
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