Ask users to verify unsubscribe action when using the unsubscribeUrl link in an email?

[ec-propaganda]

Support Request

I've had issues recently with some newsletter recipients using email security systems that scan and visit every link in an email, including the unsubscribe link sent in the footer of my Campaign emails. This causes them to become unsubscribed from the list without realizing it. Is there a way to require the user to, instead of immediately unsubscribing them, require them to click a confirmation button or something similar before they are fully unsubscribed? I know about the unsubscribe form functionality, but I'm concerned that if we send an unsubscribe verification email, their security system will scrape and click that link too, leaving us in the same situation as before, now with more steps. Plus, I'd like to avoid the additional step of requiring them to submit that form and then click a link in an email (extending the current flow from 1 step to 3, instead of the desired 2). Any help would be appreciated!

Plugin Version

2.18.0

[bencroker]

I’m aware that this is a potential area of improvement in the plugin. GDPR requires a one-click unsubscribe process, so the implementation requires careful consideration.

In the meantime, you should be able to create your own unsubscribe page that you send users to, containing a button that redirects them to the actual unsubscribe URL, in order to make it a 2 step process, so it becomes:

1. User clicks a link in the email which takes them to a page containing a button linked to the actual unsubscribe URL.
2. User clicks the button that redirects them to the unsubscribe URL and they are immediately unsubscribed.

You can generate the link to your template as follows:

{{ url('custom-unsubscribe', { cid: contact.cid ?? '', sid: sendout.sid ?? '' }) }}

And you can then generate the actual unsubscribe link in your custom-unsubscribe.twig template as follows:

{% set cid = craft.app.request.param('cid') %}
{% set sid = craft.app.request.param('sid') %}
{{ actionUrl('campaign/t/unsubscribe', { cid: cid, sid: sid }) }}

[ec-propaganda]

Awesome, thank you for the quick response! I figured it had something to do with legal requirements and such, and the onus should be on the email security software to not scan links in a way that's going to randomly unsubscribe their users, but I digress. Thank you for the code snippets, too! Very clear.