This task can be undertaken by users with the following roles: OC Site Manager and OC System Administrator.
There are two ways that your site visitors can subscribe to content they’re interested in: page subscriptions and search subscriptions. You will first need to turn on Subscriptions for your site. After you've done that, you can turn page subscriptions on for individual modules and individual pages.
The option to subscribe to listing search results is only available site-wide, not on an individual module level.
See how it's done
Turn on the Subscriptions module
The Subscriptions module must be turned on and configured for each site you wish to use it on.
Here's how to do it:
- From the main menu, go to More > Site Management > your site > Settings > Subscriptions.
- Select Turn on for this website and select your settings.
- Select Save Settings, then Save.
Subscriptions module settings
| Turn on for this website | Check this box to turn on the Subscriptions module for this site |
| Site-wide setting for pages |
Choose the setting for module content. This can be changed for each module in the module settings. The 2 settings available are: Show on pages by default: Subscriptions will automatically be shown on pages, with the option to turn it off. Hide on pages by default: Subscriptions will not show on pages, with the option to turn it on. |
| Site-wide setting for lists | Check this box to show subscriptions for search results on OC Module Interface pages with a listing template. This is a site-wide setting and cannot be adjusted for independent modules. |
| Subscription management page |
Choose the URL that your visitors will be taken to if they unsubscribe from anything. We've already set up a subscription management page for you, and we recommend that you don't change this. E.g. [Public]/Manage-subcriptions |
The site-wide setting for page subscriptions will apply to all pages on your site unless you choose a different setting for a particular module. We recommend choosing the Hide on pages by default setting. This way, you can switch it on later for individual modules and important pages, and you won’t find page subscription forms on unexpected pages.
Turn on page subscriptions for a content type
Once Subscriptions have been turned on, you need to configure the settings for each content type before your subscription forms start appearing on pages.
- Go to More > Site Management > your site > Settings > content type > Page subscriptions.
- Use the dropdown menu to select your default Page subscriptions setting for that content type.
- Save your changes.
Default Page subscriptions settings
Your options for the Page subscriptions settings are:
| Disabled |
Page subscriptions will not be shown for this content type. |
| Turn on and use site-wide setting | Page subscriptions are turned on and will be shown or hidden based on your site-wide settings for the Subscriptions module. |
| Turn on and show on pages by default | Page subscriptions are turned on and will always be shown for pages of this content type unless it is disabled at a page-level. |
| Turn on but hide on pages by default | Page subscriptions are turned on but will not be shown for pages of this content type unless enabled at a page-level. |
Turn Page subscriptions on or off for individual pages
Once your page subscriptions have been set up for a content type, pages will inherit your chosen default setting. As long as it is not Disabled, you can turn it on or off for individual pages.
- Go to the page you want to edit and select Update if it has been published.
- Go to the Engagement tab, and scroll down to the expandable Subscriptions menu.
- Select the Show page subscriptions on this page checkbox to turn page subscriptions on for this page, or deselect it to turn it off for this page.
- Publish the page.
Whenever you update a page that has subscribers, you’ll see an option to Notify Subscribers. If you check this box, they’ll get an email informing them that the page has been updated. We provide this option so you can make small edits without having to notify your subscribers.
When you set up subscriptions, you might want to check the styling of the emails that OpenCities sends on your behalf. From the main menu, go to More> Site Management> your site > Settings> Email.