Unsubscribe Handling

Episode notifications and broadcasts from Benecaster include an unsubscribe link in the footer. Each stops only its own kind of email: leaving new-episode emails does not stop broadcasts, and leaving broadcasts does not stop new-episode emails.

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How Subscribers Unsubscribe

Episode notifications and broadcasts from the Email Editor add-on include an unsubscribe link in the email footer. The exact link text can be customized. Transactional emails (welcome, feed URL delivery, billing) do not include an unsubscribe link; they are delivery-critical and are not subject to opt-out.

The process:

1. Subscriber clicks the unsubscribe link in the email footer
2. A confirmation page loads naming what will stop: “Click the button below to unsubscribe from new-episode emails for this podcast.” for an episode notification, broadcast emails for a broadcast
3. Subscriber presses Unsubscribe
4. Done — that kind of email stops for that podcast; everything else continues

The one-click POST method (RFC 8058) is also supported. Gmail, Yahoo, and Apple Mail surface a native “Unsubscribe” button in their email interface when this header is present — clicking that button does not require visiting a confirmation page. It unsubscribes from the same kind of email the footer link does.

Each link is signed for one listener, one podcast and one kind of email. It works only for the person and podcast it was sent for, and only at its own level. A link that has been edited in any way does nothing and opens an Invalid Link page: “This unsubscribe link is not valid. Please use the unsubscribe link in a more recent email from this podcast.”

A link never expires. An unsubscribe link in an email from last year works the same as one from today, and it keeps working if a security plugin regenerates your site’s WordPress security keys.

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Three Levels of Unsubscribe

Each link is scoped to one level, set by the email it came in:

An episode notification’s link is scoped to new-episode emails; a broadcast’s link is scoped to broadcasts. Each applies to one podcast.

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What Still Sends After Each Level

A new-episode opt-out stops episode notifications and nothing else, so it is left out of the tables below.

Billing and account-lifecycle emails — protected because a broadcast opt-out is a marketing preference, never consent to go unwarned about the subscriber’s own money or access:

Everything else — stopped by a broadcast opt-out the same as a broadcast, because these aren’t on the protected list. Episode notifications are the exception: they answer to their own level.

Account emails that always arrive — each is a one-shot reply to something the person just did, and their only route back into their own account. They are delivered whatever the subscriber’s opt-out, and carry no unsubscribe button:

The opt-out itself is still recorded and still stops everything else. The person just can’t turn these three off, because doing so would leave them stuck with nothing on screen explaining why.

Note on full opt-out: Stopping every email — including the billing and account rows above — means subscribers won’t receive their feed URL if they reset their token, or their payment receipts and renewal reminders. This level is for subscribers who want all email from your site stopped entirely.

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How to Re-subscribe

A listener can turn email back on in two ways. Both are theirs to do: there is no way to opt someone back in from wp-admin.

From the unsubscribe link itself. Once they have pressed Unsubscribe, the Unsubscribed page ends with “Unsubscribed by mistake?” and a Resubscribe button. Opening the same link again later shows a Resubscribe page instead of the unsubscribe one: “You’re unsubscribed from new-episode emails for this podcast. Changed your mind? Click the button below to receive them again.” (or broadcast emails, or all emails). Pressing Resubscribe shows “You’ve been resubscribed to … for this podcast.”

• It brings back only that link’s own kind of email. A listener who stopped all emails and then opens a broadcast email’s link sees the ordinary broadcast unsubscribe page, because that link can only speak for broadcasts.
• Opening the link changes nothing. Only pressing the button does, so a mail scanner that follows links can’t opt anyone back in.
• The one-click Unsubscribe button in Gmail, Yahoo or Apple Mail only ever unsubscribes.

From the account page. Each podcast’s card on the listener’s account page has an Email preferences section:

• Announcements and updates — News and messages from the podcaster.
• New episodes — A note when a new episode comes out.
• Stop all emails from this podcast

A ticked topic means they receive it. Ticking Stop all emails from this podcast greys out the two topics and shows a warning: “Heads up: this also stops receipts, renewal reminders, payment problems and feed link resets. Your feed link stays on this page, and you can come back here to turn emails on again at any time.” Save email preferences saves the choices in place. The section is always shown, so a listener who opted out by any route can opt back in there. See The Subscriber Account Page.

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Referral Emails Have Their Own Preference Page

Referral credit notifications (a referral converting, and referral credit landing on an upcoming bill) are a separate, opt-in-by-default notification stream from the broadcast/full opt-out levels above. Their unsubscribe link points to benecaster.com/email-prefs/, a signed one-time link — not the same confirmation flow used for broadcast emails.

Opening the link is not enough to unsubscribe. The page asks “Stop referral emails?” and states that your account emails (billing, renewal, license status) are unaffected — you have to click Stop referral emails to confirm. This is deliberate: a mail scanner or link-preview bot that merely opens the link should not silently opt you out.

After confirming, the page tells you that you won’t receive referral credit notifications.

Turning referral notifications back on is not done on the email-prefs page — there’s nothing to click there once you’ve confirmed. It’s the Email me when referral credits are earned or applied checkbox on the Refer a Friend page in your own WordPress admin. See Refer a Friend.

For Podcasters: What You See

When a subscriber opts out, their record in Benecaster → Subscribers shows it: the detail panel’s Email row lists each kind of email they have turned off for the show (Opted out of announcements and updates, Opted out of new-episode emails), or All emails opted out after a full opt-out. The subscriber record remains, their subscription is unaffected, and their feed continues working. Only email delivery changes.

You cannot override a subscriber’s opt-out decision from the admin, in either direction. This is by design.

If a subscriber has opted out but needs their feed URL (for example, after a token reset), they can retrieve their current feed URL directly from the subscriber account page.