ISSUE: I used an “unstyled” MailChimp form for my newsletter signup, and it’s still formatting incorrectly.

This article is relevant for users who are adding either a Subscription widget to an EmPress Theme, and/or implementing our Newsletter Pop Up Plugin.

If you have embedded a MailChimp subscription form in your EmPress Theme using the recommended “Unstyled” form, and the formatting still looks off or appears to be MailChimp’s Classic styling, please check the below:

Double check you have used Unstyled form code

Be sure that you have carefully followed the instructions on MailChimp form setup, which includes selecting  Unstyled form code, and checking/unchecking particular items. Do not use any other form style from MailChimp, including Classic, Condensed, or Horizontal.

• How to create MailChimp form code for the Newsletter Pop Up Plugin
• How to create MailChimp form code for the Subscription Widget

Are using Unstyled form code in all other instances around your site?

The #1 reason most customers report issues with incorrect form formatting is because they have embedded Unstyled forms into one area, but a different version into another area. 

For example, if a footer widget is featuring "Horizontal" form code from MailChimp, the Unstyled form code in a sidebar will inherit that Horizontal form styling. Carefully think through all places you have embedded MailChimp code on your site, and ensure each is featuring Unstyled code. You can also navigate to Appearance > Widgets to double check old form code isn't living in an unused widget area you may have forgotten about.

Check that you do not have GDPR options turned on in MailChimp. 

Enabling this options may add a huge amount of copy to your form, and it will not look like the example in our demos. Please reference this article on how to manage GDPR settings in MailChimp.

Check that you are not running MailChimp plugins

Navigate to Plugins from your WordPress dashboard and  ensure you do not have any plugins installed related to MailChimp. For example, if you previously installed a plugin such as MC4WP, settings in this plugin may override the theme settings. If you do not plan on using this plugin anymore, deactivate and delete it.