How to Add a Mailchimp Newsletter Signup to SmugMug

Create a Mailchimp audience

If you haven't already, set up an audience (mailing list) in Mailchimp:

1. Click Audience → Audience dashboard
2. Click Manage Audience → View audiences
3. Click Create Audience and fill in the details
4. Configure opt-in settings (double opt-in recommended for GDPR compliance)

Create an embedded signup form

1. Click Create in Mailchimp
2. Select Signup Form
3. Choose Embedded Form from the dropdown
4. Name your form (e.g., "SmugMug Newsletter")
5. Select your audience

Configure form settings

Adjust these settings for best results on SmugMug:

Form Fields: Keep it simple — email only, or add first name at most. More fields reduce signups.

Settings:

• Turn OFF the form title for a cleaner look
• Delete the default width value (600px) so the form adapts to your layout

Important: Select Disable all JavaScript since SmugMug doesn't support JavaScript in HTML content blocks.

Copy the form code

Click Continue, then Copy Code to copy the HTML to your clipboard.

Add to SmugMug

1. Navigate to the page where you want the signup form
2. Click Customize Design
3. Add an HTML content block
4. Paste the Mailchimp code into the HTML tab

Extract and add CSS styling

The form won't look great by default. Here's how to fix it:

1. Find this line near the top of your pasted code:

   <link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-061523.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">

2. Copy just the URL: cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-061523.css

3. Open that URL in a new browser tab

4. Copy all the CSS code that appears

5. Paste it into the CSS tab of your HTML content block

Customize for dark themes

If your website has a dark background, the white form won't look right. To fix this:

1. In the HTML tab, find background:#fff
2. Change it to background:transparent or your preferred color