Unchecking Anyone Can Subscribe

Carol,

I don't have any experience with Mail Chimp but my guess is, the WP "unblock" box is only going to affect the signups that take place through the WordPress system where visitors can register at your site. It shouldn't affect any other additional email signups that you get via Mail Chimp, aWeber, etc. You should end up with two separate email lists.

Steve

Yes I assumed that, but wondered what others thought. I don't understand why they go to the trouble to register through the back door - they get nothing in return except my (unwanted) Newsletter emails.

They aren't included in my rss so I have no idea what they expect to get with even bothering.

Do you know how they do that backdoor registration? Is it just the url plus /wp-login.php?action=register?

I know! I can start doing it myself on other websites! Then I would see what other people do with this type of back door subscriber/user. I can call it research, and then blog about it. Or maybe not....

Maybe these people are just fishing in case I have set up my WordPress Settings so they can get in, and Write or have other privileges etc. Bad luck, people. You get nothing, and now you won't get emails either when they obviously don't want them - hard to believe, I know, but some people don't know when they are onto a good thing.

I visited your website, Steve - an unusual design and color schemes which is nice for a change. I don't often find websites that have a design that is different to the way everyone else designs.

Thanks for your input.

As Steve said, they should be two separate systems. Turning off "Anyone Can Register" shouldn't cause you any problems.

I do a lot of work with Wordpress. I've noticed the same issue with "registrations". I actually think they're spammers of some sort. There's no other explanation for it. Normal users would never go through a back door.

There's two WP plugins I would look at. The first is called "Better WP Security". It will harden your Wordpress site against attacks. I see those fake backdoor registrations as a form of attack.

To me, someone's sniffing around looking for unlocked doors. If they're doing fake registrations, what else are they trying to pry into? If you've got a site with any PR at all this is a concern. If it happened to Neville it can happen to anyone.

Second, take a look at the Gravity Forms plugin. They have an option that makes MailChimp integration dead easy. I LOVE Gravity Forms and use it religiously for all the sites I put up! To me it's the absolute easiest way to create any form. They have lots of options for processing the data once the user hits submit. It costs some money but is well worth it.

(No, I'm not affiliated with either plugin)

I hope that helps! :-).

Alright - I've done some research: when you enter that www.domain-name.com/ wp-login.php?action=register

The first one said: 'Registration not allowed' up front before I entered anything.

Others had an open WordPress Name and Password Sign in form. When I entered my name and my password, I got the WordPress message, "Incorrect username or password"

But one had her own nicely designed Logo and her own Login Form (not the standard WordPress one) with Name, Password text boxes. I entered name and my own password and clicked Log In. Then I got the WordPress 'Incorrect password' message like the others.

But then.....after a couple of seconds I was whisked away automatically to her own 'Register by Signing up for my Free ebook' squeeze page inside her website. Pretty cool eh? I don't know how she did that. I think I'll ask her.

Update: I have news!

Ever since I closed the backdoor, people are subscribing through the front door. Yipppee.