Configuration

Subscribe has four settings, all on one screen: WooCommerce → Subscribe (page slug subscribe-settings, gated behind the manage_woocommerce capability). They are stored together in a single option, subscribe_settings, as an array. Subscribers are reviewed and exported under WooCommerce → Subscribers.

Where it appears

Enable opt-in

enabled, on by default. The master switch. When off, the checkout service does not register its hooks at all: nothing renders, no assets load, and no new subscribers are collected. Existing subscriber records are untouched.

Checkout checkbox

checkout, on by default. Adds the opt-in checkbox to the classic checkout, with the source recorded as checkout. Turn it off to keep the opt-in disabled while leaving the master switch on (there is currently no other built-in placement, so with this off the checkbox does not appear anywhere).

The checkbox renders on the woocommerce_checkout_after_terms_and_conditions hook, immediately after the terms-and-conditions area. The position is fixed; there is no placement picker.

Consent and wording

Checkbox label

label, the consent text shown next to the checkbox. Leave it blank to fall back to the translated default, Yes, sign me up for the newsletter. State plainly what the customer agrees to receive; vague wording weakens GDPR consent. The value is sanitised with sanitize_text_field on save. The settings page renders a live preview of the opt-in row as you type.

Default state

default_checked, off by default. Leave it off (recommended): the customer ticks the box deliberately, which is what GDPR consent requires. Turning it on pre-ticks the box, which may make the recorded consent invalid in the EU/UK. This setting only controls the box’s initial state, consent is recorded only when the box is actually ticked at order time.

What is fixed by design

These are deliberately not settings:

• Placement is always after the terms and conditions on the classic checkout.
• Block checkout, the field renders on the classic checkout only. The plugin declares cart_checkout_blocks compatibility (so it raises no WooCommerce warning) but does not inject a field into the block checkout.
• Admin notifications, there is no built-in email-the-admin option. A new subscriber fires the subscribe/subscriber_created action; wire your own notification onto that if you need one (see Usage).

The subscriber list

Subscribers are a private custom post type, subscribe_subscriber, surfaced under the WooCommerce menu. The list table shows three custom columns, Email (a mailto: link), Source and Subscribed (sortable, mapped to post date), and each record has a Subscriber details meta box showing Email, Consent, Source and Subscribed-at. The post type is public => false, excluded from search and the REST API, and creating subscribers from the admin UI is disabled (create_posts => do_not_allow).

Each record stores four meta values: _subscribe_email, _subscribe_consent (1), _subscribe_source and _subscribe_consented_at (a Unix timestamp). The email is also the post title.

Theme templates

There are none. The checkout row is rendered directly in PHP (escaped output) and styled by assets/css/checkout.css, which exposes themeable --subscribe-* CSS custom properties (accent colour, radius, gap). To restyle the row, override those variables in your theme rather than copying a template. There is no yourtheme/subscribe/ override path.

Storage and uninstall

• Settings live in the subscribe_settings option; a schema marker lives in subscribe_db_version.
• Deleting the plugin runs uninstall.php, which removes only those two options.
• Subscriber records are intentionally left in place on uninstall, they are merchant data with recorded consent that should survive a reinstall. Remove them manually from the Subscribers screen if you want them gone.

Related

• Getting started, install and verify a signup.
• Usage, the capture flow, the admin list and the developer action.
• FAQ, common questions.