Newsletter Signup Block

A custom Gutenberg block that renders a newsletter signup form and handles subscriptions via a custom REST API endpoint.
Includes double opt-in confirmation emails and a lightweight honeypot for spam prevention.

Features

• Gutenberg block for inserting signup forms anywhere on your site
• Submits to /wp-json/newsletter/v1/subscribe (custom REST route)
• Secure database storage - Custom table for persistent subscriber management
• CSRF protection - Nonce verification on REST endpoint
• Cryptographically secure tokens - 256-bit tokens for email confirmation
• Validates email addresses before sending confirmation
• Sends confirmation email with one-time token (double opt-in)
• Token expiration (24 hours) with automatic cleanup
• Honeypot field for basic bot protection
• Fully dynamic: form markup rendered server-side in PHP
• Works with Local, Mailpit, or any SMTP setup
• Action hook for integrations: nsb_subscriber_confirmed

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0 or later
• PHP 7.4 or later
• Node 14+ (for building block assets, if editing source)

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository into your WordPress wp-content/plugins/ directory:

   git clone https://github.com/turnpiece/Newsletter-signup-block.git

2. Navigate to the plugin directory and install the dependencies:

   cd Newsletter-signup-block
   npm install

3. Build the block assets:

   npm run build

4. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress.

Database Schema

The plugin creates a custom table wp_nsb_subscribers (prefix may vary) with the following structure:

The table is created automatically on plugin activation.

Usage

1. Insert the 'Newsletter Signup' block into a post or page.
2. Publish or update the post/page to see the form.
3. Users will receive a confirmation email with a 24-hour expiration link.
4. Expired pending subscriptions are automatically cleaned up after 7 days.

Developer Hooks

Actions

nsb_subscriber_confirmed - Fires when a subscriber confirms their email

add_action( 'nsb_subscriber_confirmed', function( $email, $subscriber_id ) {
    // Add to your email service provider
    // Example: mailchimp_api_add_subscriber( $email );
}, 10, 2 );

Accessing Subscriber Data

Query subscribers directly from the database:

global $wpdb;
$table_name = $wpdb->prefix . 'nsb_subscribers';

// Get all confirmed subscribers
$subscribers = $wpdb->get_results(
    "SELECT email, confirmed_at FROM $table_name WHERE status = 'confirmed' ORDER BY confirmed_at DESC"
);