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MailChimp Opt-in Form Problem on WordPress: “Subscription Error: An error occurred, please try later.”

Apr 13, 2018 | Plugins, WordPress Troubleshooting

I ran into an issue today where we were setting up a simple email opt-in form for a client on their site to add email addresses to their MailChimp list. We set up the integration to MailChimp and set up the email opt-in form properly, but when testing it got the error message “Subscription Error: An error occurred, please try later.”

… well that’s not super helpful.

When digging into the full error message we noticed that MailChimp was rejecting the submission because the ‘merge fields weren’t valid’, but particularly that there was no value for First Name and one was required to work properly.

Our form only had an EMAIL field, so we logged into MailChimp and discovered the First Name merge field was marked as Required.

SOLUTION: By unchecking the ‘REQUIRED’ box for the First Name Field in MailChimp (under our List’s Settings) the form was able to submit properly with just the email address.

Alternatively, we could have simply added the First Name field to the opt-in form, but that wasn’t our desired user experience. We just wanted to ask people for their email address to create as few barriers to subscribing as possible.

We were using Divi theme with the client in question, but based on what we can tell the error message is from MailChimp rather than the theme, so I’m hoping this can help out EVERYONE with this issue, not just fellow Divi users and agencies.

Funny – this was another one of those topics I couldn’t find a post about online so HERE YA GO WORLD, either I’m the only one who’s ever had this problem or I’m a techie that can’t Google 😉

 

76 Comments

  1. Jean

    I got the same thing on clients website using Divi. Did you ever get a resolve?

    Reply
    • Torre

      Hey Jean! Yes, I went into the Mailchimp List Fields settings page and made First Name NOT REQUIRED. That did the trick. I hope that helps!

      Reply
    • krishnan Madhu

      Today I Tryed Torre instructions..

      Just Select First Name Not Required

      Goto Divi Optin Form Again Fetch It.

      Now it will works.

      Reply
  2. Lex

    Thank you!! I had the same issue but couldn’t find any other solves either.

    Reply
  3. Ana

    Hello Torre,
    I have made it work thanks to your post. But I have a problem.
    Because the “name” field is not required, the name of the subscriber is not saved in the list. I need to be saved. Do you know how to solve this?
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Torre

      Hey Ana! Is the name field present on the opt-in form? If it’s present, but not transmitting that data to Mailchimp, is it possible you created the name field as a custom field, instead of just ‘turning on’ the First Name field option in the module?

      Reply
  4. Ashley

    Heya,

    Thanks for making this post — I can’t find anything online either — BUT I have a DIVI theme and mine just started doing this. I checked my Mailchimp and I have the first name and email as a required field and that’s the information I am asking for on my website through Bloom plugin and STILL an error!! I just don’t understand what the issue is 🙁

    Reply
  5. Anne Verberckmoes

    It looks like this is a recent thing?
    I just moved host and rebranded.
    My site is build with divi and the opt in forms made with bloom

    I have the same issue (So I guess I can’t google either 😉 )
    The first name is also a required field, because I need that field.

    Reply
    • Torre

      Hey Anne! Sorry to hear you’re having issues too! Does your Bloom form have the first name field in it and it’s not working properly?

      Reply
      • Anne Verberckmoes

        Yes, that is correct.
        My webpeople fixed the issue. The problem is coming from the Mailchimp api.
        They are now bypassing the API and all is working like it should be.

        Reply
        • Torre

          It can be so tough when the issues are out of our control, but I’m so glad to hear you got it sorted!

          Reply
        • Stan

          Hello Anne, I have exactly the same issue… If I require the fields Family and first name, an error occurs… If I don’t require the fields, the registration works but I don’t have the family name recorded in mail chimp database… Can you be more precise how you fixed this issue?

          Reply
  6. M

    Thank you so much! This article was a life saver!

    Reply
  7. Philip

    Thank you for this.

    I’m having the same issue right now and it still hasn’t been resolved.

    I added phone number as a custom field and created a corresponding entry in Mailchimp. But it is causing the error described.

    When I uncheck the ‘Required’ box for phone number the form submits.

    But that means we can’t collect phone numbers, and we really want to.

    Please would you kindly advise on how to proceed?

    Reply
    • Torre

      Philip, sorry to hear you’re having an issue with adding a custom field (Phone) and having it sync to Mailchimp. It sounds like the issue might be HOW the phone field was created in the Divi opt-in module. It’s important that you create it by clicking ‘Add Custom Field’ and then choosing the phone field from the options provided. Take a look at this video by Elegant Themes – it shows what I’m referring to between 0:59 and 1:10: https://youtu.be/dBgUImUs9t8?t=59s

      Reply
      • Sagar Singhal

        I’ve done it hundreds of times. Sometimes phone numbers comes in the list. Sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve gone crazy. I think Divi doesn’t have very good integration with MC. I’ve created an entire new API, new List, new form, new page in divi, new optin from with phone number. Everything New. Still what I see in my list – No Phone Number.

        I am also using hubspot so that in case number doesn’t go to MC atleast I’ll get in Hubspot. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it fails.

        Don’t know what’s the issue

        Reply
        • Torre

          Sagar, sorry you’re having so much trouble. Honestly at this point I’d reach out to Mailchimp support, and then (or consecutively) Elegant Themes support. I haven’t had to work with MC support but ET support is always responsive and helpful to me. I do believe it can work, and ET would be upset to know it wasn’t working properly, and would very likely jump in to help quickly.

          Reply
          • Viviana Junca

            I already connect my api key

            But when I’m going to leave the email or click on the email box it goes to the action page

            What can i do

        • Mark Rivera

          Sagar, I feel your frustration. But, maybe try something different.

          I am guessing that you use custom form from Bloom, to connect the embedded form from MC. Let’s try troubleshoot it. If yes, please try directly the popup version of MC and see if the phone number will work there. Another thing is, check carefully the tags/mmerge# that MC provided from the form if it is present and match from the custom form codes at your Bloom plugin.

          In my opinion, Bloom is easy to use. However, things to consider when you get these errors and related stuff, I do isolation tests. From clearing the cache, deleting cookies, test it in Incognito mode or different browser, use directly the form of MC and test it there, compare each of the forms tags if perfectly matched.

          Let me know if you still have these errors occurred.

          Reply
  8. ADAM

    I had the same issue. I resolved the issue by reconnecting the mailchimp account.

    Reply
    • Torre

      Glad to hear this, Adam!

      Reply
  9. Mark Rivera

    For everyone who are still having the issue. Here’s a simple guide that I think will help you fix the issue.

    Option 1.
    In your MailChimp account, re-authorize the email account you use at Bloom plugin. You could re-copy the API. If you forgot where the API located, Please go to your profile > account > extras > API Keys.

    Option 2.
    If you made some updates from your MailChimp account and receive “An error occurred, please try later.” then create new Optin Forms and copy all info you’ve made from the previous one. Do not duplicate your previous form that aren’t working this will carry the same issue to the new one.

    Reply
    • Torre

      Thanks, Mark! Hopefully this can help some folks!

      Reply
  10. Sheila

    This is a weird case, but I deleted my own name and email from the Mailchimp list thinking that I could use the optin form and retest with it. I kept getting this error. So I tried putting in a different email address and it worked.

    Reply
    • Mark Rivera

      If you deleted a subscribed account at MailChimp “List”, you might need to clear cache or cookies of your browser to be able to re-use the account again. Instead, you should unsubscribe the account unless you no longer need that account.

      Reply
  11. hans van Putten

    Thank you so much!! I was starting to pull my hair out!
    Works like a charm now!

    Reply
  12. Sonja

    Thank you, exactly what I was looking for! Works perfectly now. Thank you Mark, too.

    Reply
  13. John

    THANK YOUUUUUUU. I SOLVED THIS PROBLEM.

    Reply
  14. Andrew

    Thank you! I spend 2 hours yesterday looking for an answer to this problem and now I solved it in 3 minutes!

    Reply
  15. Armen Rizal Rahman

    DIVI/Mailchimp intergration is still having a lot of issues as of this date.

    1) Custom fields created in Mailchimp are missing in Divi. I can’t create those fields because they simply won’t show on Divi’s “Choose a field” drop down.

    2) Sometimes, I can’t even choose any field.

    3) Made a check with Mailchimp and they informed me that there’s no error in the creation of the email lists and forms in Mailchimp. The issue is the field value on mailchimp and Divi does not match. Not just one field but several. This despite inserting the correct API.

    4) Related to no. 3, Divi also auto generates the field id. However, it does not correspond to actual field id or field value that is created on Mailchimp.

    Tried out several Mailchimp account and on several websites that I created. Same issue.

    Most likely it is a bug on Divi they haven’t discovered or fixed yet.

    Hope they get to see this page and understand that it’s causing issues to several users already.

    Reply
  16. Taariq

    I only have a email field, and the MailChimp list is only set to email required but cannot still get a successful subscribe.

    Reply
  17. Leonid & Tatiana

    Hi, we are trying to set up a friendlier plugin than the MailChimp plugin called Mailpoet
    Perhaps someone faced a similar problem, I mean, when clicking on the subscribe button does not display a message that the subscription was successful.
    We made step-by-step screenshots and wrote how everything happens in pdf
    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/awlkrf17uut0wjo/AAABYnoIyMo2bhQ24NNcdR8na?dl=0
    Thanks for your advice

    Reply
  18. Louise Clermont

    J’ai la même erreur maintenant et je suis incapable de solutionner. Autrefois, je n’avais pas cette erreur avec Divi : Erreur d'abonnement : An error occurred, please try later. J’ai beau lire et lire et lire les propositions, ça ne fonctionne pas.

    I’m having the same issue right now and it still hasn’t been resolved. Formerly, I did not have this error with Divi: Subscription error: An error occurred, please try later. I read and read and read the proposals, it does not work.

    Reply
  19. b

    Torre, before I found your article, I had DELETED the name section in mailchimp (so there’s nothing to uncheck as per your image above) and now I’m screwed… because it’s still not working. Any ideas? Please help.

    Reply
  20. Witek

    Hello. I have also DIVI and I use Bloom plugin, but I have some other types of problem.

    1 Only some emails of subsrcibers make a problem “An error occurred, please try later.”
    Some of them works the day before, and the next day this message appered.

    2 Some email works all the time – even I used them couple of times.

    3 Some email works with Divi Optin form, but not with bloom.

    4 I have API connection witch Mailchimp, I don’t have any problems on Mailchimp Account but the message “An error occurred, please try later” appear with some mails. It dosen’t matter they exists or not because if I put some fake emails the bloom and optin form works

    Reply
    • Torre Capistran

      Hey Witek, we’ve had that happen before and if it’s random and doesn’t discriminate on emails it’s possible that you’ve ‘unsubscribed’ an email address from the Mailchimp list because it was just there for testing purposes, and then tried to resubscribe it again. If not, best place to reach out to is Elegant Themes support since both of the tools in question are theirs! Good luck!

      Reply
      • Witek

        Thank you for you answer, but problems is all the time even if the Mailchimp list is empty. Problem is quite strange, because I have 4 emails and only with one is problem. There is no problem with domains names, because email is like [email protected] (and there is problem) and when i put [email protected] then it works.

        There is no problem with require option of fields because only email is require.

        Some of problematic mail worked even yesterday, suddenly they generate those error message 🙁

        If there is some Bloom or Divi problem, why the rest of email works ? Strange problem.

        Reply
        • Gabor

          Hi Witek,
          I’ve the same issue. When I type my real name and my real email it runs for error (“An error occurred, please try later.”), but if I type any fake name and email (e.g.: name: ewtrghgb, email: [email protected]) it works. I’m getting really frustrated because of it. My question is have you managed to solve this issue? If so, what the solution is?
          Cheers, Gabor

          Reply
          • Philippe

            Hi,
            I have the same problem .
            Fake email adr is ok but I can’t put a valid email adr.
            Did you find any solution ?

    • Mark Rivera

      Hello.

      Before I am using Bloom and received that error. I’ve made a simple post and guide here.

      //– Start Quote
      For everyone who are still having the issue. Here’s a simple guide that I think will help you fix the issue.

      Option 1.
      In your MailChimp account, re-authorize the email account you use at Bloom plugin. You could re-copy the API. If you forgot where the API located, Please go to your profile > account > extras > API Keys.

      Option 2.
      If you made some updates from your MailChimp account and receive “An error occurred, please try later.” then create new Optin Forms and copy all info you’ve made from the previous one. Do not duplicate your previous form that aren’t working this will carry the same issue to the new one.
      //– End Quote

      If ever, please remind that Mailchimp have different approach to email address.

      1. Mailchimp do not validate email unless it was set opt-in to receive a verification. Why? Once your email address bounced, MC will put your email to “Cleaned” segment. You can find it when export your audience/list.

      2. If ever that the email address was deleted, you will no longer be able to sign-up unless request or manually input their email address from the admin.

      Note: If my suggestion above doesn’t work, it is time to ask support from Elegant Theme.

      Reply
  21. Tushar

    Thank you. You are super helpful.

    Reply
  22. Luis

    Gracias, this post really help me to solve the same issue using Divi theme.

    Reply
  23. Travis Schneider

    Hello,

    Where do I find this setting? I’ve been lost in my MailChimp account looking for it for 45 minutes. MailChimp changed the layout so your old screenshot isn’t the same as how MailChimp is organized now.

    Reply
    • Torre Capistran

      Sorry for the delay, Travis. Yeah, I hate their redesign for SO many reasons. I wonder how many customers they’ve lost… anyhoo – it looks like this setting is under Audience > Manage Audience > Settings > Audience fields and MERGE tags. Mailchimp Required Field Settings

      Reply
  24. Sarah

    I have successful been able to integrate my mailchimp with my wordpress. I have used FORM Builder on Mailchimp to create a SignUp form which was again successful integrated onto my wordpress. I have used the option “FIELD REQUIRED” for the First Name, I had it implemented on both mailchimp and wordpress. But yet when I am testing the subscription form by signing up with another email address it says “Page error, page cannot be found”. Can someone please help me, its kind of frustrating. Thank you.

    Reply
  25. Raj

    Hey, thanks for the post. I think I am having the same problem. Quick question. where is the full error message located? Which file

    Reply
  26. T.

    Hey guys, I am also using Divi/Mailchimp and users from a desktop can opt-in but whenever someone tries to opt-in from their mobile device they receive the “Subscription Error: An error occurred, please try later.” I have tried going into Mailchimp and unchecking the “required” fields. What am I missing? Please help:/

    Reply
  27. Lisa

    Thank you! This worked perfectly on another Divi site with the same issue!

    Reply
  28. Iesha Delune

    Thank you! Yours was the only answer I could find as there was no mention of this in Mailchimps ‘help’ articles. Much appreciated!

    Reply
  29. Jae-Lex

    I don’t know whether, maybe, I’m missing something. But it seems that if you set up your MailChimp list as a GDPR list, Bloom automatically opts your subscriber out.

    The only way around this, that I can see, is to create your own GDPR field in your MailChimp list and then, in Bloom, to add this as a Custom Field.

    If I’m missing something, here, I’d be grateful if someone would advise me what I’m missing.

    Reply
  30. Nicu

    I just unticked those boxes from List Fields and its working now.
    Thank you so much!

    Reply
  31. Linh

    Thank you so much. It worked and this is the only solution that worked for this problem 🙂 Thumbs up for you!

    Reply
  32. Alani

    OMG! Freaken thank you! I struggled for 2 days – thinking I did something wrong. My service provide, SiteGround, referred me to your post and I followed your steps, et voila!
    I can’t tell you how frustrated I have been… I haven’t cursed this much in ages hahha.
    THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge on this! x

    Reply
    • Torre

      LOL I completely understand the cursing – it’s usually when we figure out the issues that made us swear up a storm that we make one of these quick tutorial posts. I’m so glad you found it and it helped! xoxo

      Reply
  33. Alani

    On another note: do you perhaps have an article with regards to the sign up email address not pulling through from website (Divi) to Mailchimp?
    According to our Website stats, we’ve had visitors and downloads, but the email addresses are not appearing in Mailchimp.

    Reply
  34. Glenda Kuzemchuk

    The company I work for uses WordPress with Divi, the opt-in form is created through a plugin using gravity forms and I am receiving the notifications to my work email that we have a new subscriber. However, I am not using mail chimp and when I try to export from WordPress, it says there is no information to export and I can’t find the subscriber information anywhere. I would be so grateful for some assistance.

    Reply
    • Torre

      Hi Glenda! We’d be happy to help, you can reach out on our Contact page (linked at the bottom of our site) and we can give you more information about working with us on an hourly basis.

      Reply
  35. Stremove.com

    Form actions are managed by JavaScript, so if that’s turned off, you may see the form behave erratically. For example, your subscribers may not see dynamic response error or success messages, or they’ll be taken to the Mailchimp hosted Confirmation “thank you” page .

    Reply
  36. Astrid

    Wow it’s more than 2 years since you made this post, and this solution is still not picked up by mail chimp in their help section. I am glad I found it here after looking everywhere.. THANK YOU! it worked and helped me meet the deadline

    Reply
    • Torre

      Woot! I’m so glad this helped you (and hooray for meeting the deadline)!

      Reply
      • Becca

        I just installed Bloom and MailChimp and got an error on my first test subscription! This post gave me a super fast solution (mine error was related to requiring the message vs. first name, I think), but without this post I would have had no idea how to troubleshoot.

        THANK YOU!!!!

        Reply
  37. Sam

    I am having the same issue with divi/mailchimp wordpress website. Any solution in particular?

    Reply
  38. Marna Towne

    Success! Thanks

    Reply
  39. Melissa

    I think this fixed my form, thank you! *But* do you know if Bloom or Mailchimp have any way of capturing/storing subscriber info for those who got the error message and were therefore not added to my mailing list? My form was down for a MONTH without my knowing!

    Reply
    • Torre

      Yikes! Not that I know of off the top of my head but perhaps another reader knows!

      Reply
  40. Bill Even

    Thank you! You saved me hours.

    Reply
  41. Juliana

    Just wanted to comment and say THANK YOU! so helpful and SEO optimized!

    Reply
  42. Name *Vanessa

    Hola!! llevo horas tratando de solucionar y no ha sido posible, ya hice lo que dicen acá del campo no requerido para el nombre en mailchimp pero nada… si alquien tiene otra solución se lo agradecería en el alma….

    Reply
  43. Stergios G

    Hi all,
    i am using Divi template and i can’ t find where is “REQUIRED box”.
    Is this in mail chimp site or in wordpress backend?
    Can someone explain where is this setting?

    Reply
  44. Stergios Geo

    Hi all,
    Can someone explain me where is “REQUIRED box settings” i can’ t find it.
    Is this on wordpress backend on in mailchimp site?

    I am using Divi template.

    Thnx

    Reply
  45. Cesar Gavilanez

    I removed the global module, then it’s worked

    Reply
  46. Maia

    I tried to test my email opt-in and ran into the same problem. I did uncheck the required field but it still showed a subscription error. Then I realized that I deleted the email that I used in the Divi opt-in from the Mailchimp list. So it could not go back to the Mailchimp list unless you used Mailchimp forms. That’s why Divi opt-in did not work for that email.
    So I embedded the Mailchimp form into my website and entered that email. It went to my Mailchimp list. Then I went back to the Divi opt-in and entered that email, it worked!

    So I think if you want to test Divi opt-in with Mailchimp, the email should be totally new to the Mailchimp list or already in the list. If it is ever deleted, it can lead to a subcription error.

    Reply
  47. Mark B

    Perfect! Thank you so much. Probably saved me a bunch of time trying to figure out what’s wrong with the Divi opt in module … it wasn’t Divi at all.

    Reply

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