iContact Widget for WordPress

iContact for WordPress

Download the widget from WordPress.org

This widget helps you install an iContact signup form on WordPress without any hassle. Don’t use iContact? You need it for this widget to work, so test drive it with a 15 day free trial.

Benefits of the iContact Widget

• iContact Widget – the Best of Both Forms
  The iContact Widget has the flexibility of the Automatic Signup Form: that you don’t need to deal with lots of HTML code, and when you update the form in iContact, simply re-save the widget, and your form will update. Your users won’t experience a Javascript loading delay, and all is good in the world.

• Improve the Code of iContact Forms
  iContact forms are generated using imperfect HTML. The iContact Widget fixes this code. An example: the form has an input field with `name=redirect`, which should be `name=”redirect”`. The form corrects this, and 10 other HTML formatting issues.

• Define Custom Form Widths
  The iContact form generator does not give you an option to change the width of the form. This widget allows you to define width in pixels or %.

• Define Custom Input Width
  iContact forms have no default width, leaving the size of the text field up to the styling of the website’s theme. The iContact Widget allows you to set the size of inputs from 15 to 40 characters.

How to install

1. Generate a signup form from iContact’s functional Signup Forms generator. Once completed, you are given two code options: Automatic Sign-up Form: (recommended) and a Manual Sign-up Form.
2. Copy the Automatic Sign-up Form code
3. Upload the iContact Widget to your website’s `wp-content/plugins` folder, or install it using WordPress’ Add New Plugin feature.
4. Activate the plugin, then go to the Appearance > Widgets page
5. Add the plugin to your sidebar by dragging it into the sidebar box.
6. Paste the Automatic Sign-up Form code into the text area labeled “Automatic Sign-up Form Code.”
7. Configure the other settings, and click “Save.” 
8. Your form will now be in your sidebar!

Common issues

• Fatal Error: Class ‘WP_Widget’ not found
  This widget requires version 2.8 of WordPress. If you have any version previous to 2.8, this widget will not work.
• Form does not update after making changes to the settings
  To fix this issue, just hit save again until it displays properly. This will be addressed in future versions. – Fixed in Version 1.0.5

Next steps for the newsletter widget:

• Add HTTPS option to automatically switch form to secure mode – Version 1.0.1
• Add better error handling when there is no form code entered – Version 1.0.2
• Implement recommendations left in the comments! (leave some!)

Changelog

= 1.0.9 =
* Should fix "The iContact file was not accessible for some reason." issue that was experienced by users with certain hosting configurations

= 1.0.8 =
* Fixed incompatibility for servers running PHP4 by adding `str_ireplace()` function definition

= 1.0.7 =
* Updated form to compensate for changed iContact javascript formatting (if your form shows `");` at the end of it, this will fix it)
* Updated widget so that it will not load for users < WordPress 2.8, preventing errors
* Improved wording for widget's code override option

= 1.0.6 =
* Added support for `curl` for servers that don't support `file_get_contents()`
* Fixed issue where you had to save widget two times for it to update

= 1.0.5 =
* Added support for multiple widgets, and multiple instances of the same widget on a page
* Improved iContact code validation by adding closing slashes to
s
* Fixed issue with multiple instances of same form preventing javascript validation
* Added option to not display form in sidebar, if only using the  shortcode
* Changed shortcode structure to ``. Once configured, widget now provides a reference ID
* Fixed shortcode bug that had inserted form before content, instead of where inserted in content.
* Improved code to save update form on the first save

= 1.0.4 =
* Added `name=clientid` formatting cleanup

= 1.0.3 =
* Added missing closing  tag to signup form.
* Added widget description for the wp-admin Widgets page.

= 1.0.2 =
* Improved error handling, and prevented form from being shown until it works properly.
* Added settings: Edit HTML capability, Change input width, Change Submit input text, Change form width

= 1.0.1 =
* Added PHP `file_get_content()` error handling
* Added HTTPS form option

= 1.0 =
* Launched widget

Note: this widget is not managed or created by iContact; it’s by Katz Web Services, Inc. (KWS). KWS is not associated with iContact and iContact should not be contacted with any widget issues. 

If you have problems with the widget, please leave feedback below.

If this widget does not work for you, use this iConctact Form tool instead and paste the generated code into a text widget.

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Related posts:

1. Katz Web Services Featured in iContact’s Email Marketing Monthly

Tagged as: iContact, iContact Form, iContact Javascript, iContact Signup Form, iContact Widget, iContact WordPress