This article explains opt-in confirmation, plaintext confirmation emails, and how to identify confirmed opt-in contacts.

When a contact signs up to receive marketing emails, they fall into one of two categories: single opt-in or confirmed opt-in. The latter is also known as double opt-in or verified opt-in.

When a contact first fills out an Emma signup form, they fall into the single opt-in category. However, Emma forms automatically send a plaintext confirmation email that contains a verification link. When a contact clicks that verification link, they are confirming their opt-in, moving them into the double opt-in category.

All Emma forms have the plaintext confirmation email enabled by default, but it can be disabled if desired. If your organization requires a confirmed opt-in process, you'll want to make sure that plaintext confirmation email remains enabled for all your forms.

	In This Article
	Editing a Plaintext Confirmation Email Turning Off Plaintext Confirmation Emails Viewing a Contact's Confirmation Status Creating a Confirmed Opt-In Segment Additional Resources

Editing a Plaintext Confirmation Email

All Emma forms, including lightbox forms, send plaintext confirmation emails by default. You can turn this off or edit the plaintext email, but you cannot replace the plaintext email with an HTML campaign.

☑	Tip
	If you want to use an HTML mailing for your opt-in confirmation process, you can do that by turning off the plaintext confirmation email for each form and creating an automated workflow using the signup trigger. You'll just need to make sure that you include the [% optin_confirm_url %] tag in the automated campaign.

 

It is not possible to edit the font, color, or style of a plaintext email. However, you can edit the copy in the subject line and body. To edit the plaintext confirmation email for a specific form, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
2. Click on the Forms section in the panel on the left.
3. Click on the name of the form whose plaintext email you'd like to edit.
4. If the form was built in the current form builder, click on the Messages tab. If the form was built in the legacy form builder, click on the Confirmation email tab.

✎	Note
	Confirmation emails must be edited on a per-form basis. There is no way to edit these plaintext emails in bulk. The plaintext confirmation email connected to a lightbox form cannot be edited at all, it can only be disabled.

 

In the subject line and body, you'll see some tags which are replaced with text, or a link, when the email is sent. Here's what they do:

Tag	Type	Function
[rsvp_name]	Plaintext	Displays the sender name set up for your account.
[optin_confirm_url]	Plaintext	Generates the verification link that a subscriber must click to confirm opt in.
[% optin_confirm_url %]	HTML	Generates the verification link that a subscriber must click to confirm opt in.
[manage_prefs]	Plaintext	Generates a link to the Subscription Center or, if your account has not set up the Subscription Center, a manage preferences form.
[opt_out]	Plaintext	Generates an opt-out link so the recipient can unsubscribe immediately.

Turning Off Plaintext Confirmation Emails

To turn off a lightbox form's plaintext confirmation email, simply open the form, navigate to the "Confirmation message" step (step 8), and click on the toggle. For detailed steps, please refer to our lightbox form article.

For all other forms, navigate to the screen where you edit the form, as described above. Underneath the sender information, there is a checkbox that says "Send a confirmation email after signing up" or, if the form was created in the legacy form editor, "Send confirmation?". Uncheck the box and save your changes.

Viewing a Contact's Confirmation Status

You can view a contact's confirmation status via their contact record at any time by following these steps:

1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
2. Click on the Contacts section in the panel on the left.
3. Find and open the contact record.
4. Click on Contact Details in the left-hand panel.
5. Locate the “Confirmed Status” field.
   • If the contact has confirmed their opt-in, this field will list the date and time that they clicked the verification link.
   • If the contact has not confirmed their opt-in, this field will read "This contact has not confirmed opt in".

Creating a Confirmed Opt-In Segment

When you create a segment, it will retrieve any contacts who meet the criteria, as long as they are in the Active status. As a result, if you want to send a campaign to only contacts who have confirmed their opt-in, you'll need to create a segment that includes confirmed status as one of the criteria.

1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
2. Click on the Segments section in the panel on the left.
3. Click on the Create a segment button on the right.
4. Select Create from scratch and click Continue.
5. Give the segment a name, such as, Confirmed Opt-Ins.
6. Click on the Segment type dropdown menu and select Confirmed opt-in.
7. Click on the Condition dropdown menu and select Is not empty.
8. (Optional) Add any other criteria to the segment, as needed.
9. Click on the Save button.

This segment will collect any contacts who have confirmed their opt-in. Additionally, any new contacts who sign up and confirm will be added automatically.

☑	Tip
	You can also create a segment to find anyone whose Confirmed opt-in field Is empty. This can be useful if you want to send a re-engagement campaign or try to encourage more contacts to confirm opt-in. It can also be used as an exclusion segment when sending a mailing.

Additional Resources

• How to Add, Edit, Archive, Delete, and Restore Contacts
• How to Create a Subscriber Re-Engagement Campaign
• How to Create and Edit a Lightbox Form
• How to Create and Edit a Signup Form
• How to Use the Automation Workflow Builder
• Trigger Events: Email Signup
• Ways to View or Change a Contact's Status