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MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar

By Danny van Kooten

Marketing & Advertising / Email Marketing & Campaigns

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Review - In-Depth Analysis

Adds a Mailchimp opt-in form to the top or bottom of your WordPress site. This customizable bar helps increase your Mailchimp subscribers.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.79/10

User Rating

4.6/5 (based on 31+ reviews)

Active Installations

6,000+

Update Frequency

Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

5 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

Adds a beautiful, customizable sign-up bar to the top or bottom of your WordPress site. This bar is guaranteed to get the attention of your visitor and increase your Mailchimp subscribers.

This plugin is an add-on for the Mailchimp for WordPress plugin.

Mailchimp Top Bar adds a simple yet beautiful and customizable opt-in bar to the top or bottom of your WordPress site. Using this bar, people can subscribe to a Mailchimp audience of your choice.

It is guaranteed to boost conversions, unobtrusive, and visitors can easily dismiss the bar. It is easy to install and configure, just select a Mailchimp audience and you are good to go. The bar can be at the top or bottom of the visitor's screen and is lightweight, consisting of just a single 2.6 kB JavaScript file.

Comparing to Alternatives

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar is a specialized plugin for adding a Mailchimp subscription bar, with several other plugins offering similar subscription form functionalities.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Easy to customize colors and appearance
Hassle-free setup
Non-aggressive design that fits well on websites
Works exactly as described with reliable functionality
Exceptional support reported by some users

Weaknesses

Lacks GDPR compliance features such as required checkboxes
Some users report no menu or settings available after installation
Support can be unresponsive or unhelpful according to some reviews
Has a known security vulnerability fixed only in recent versions

User Sentiment Analysis

The plugin holds a strong positive rating with over 90% five-star reviews, though about 10% of users report significant issues.

Positive highlights

Great plugin with exceptional support (Gareth D)
Works great with customizable colors and appearance (gbyounis)
Setup is hassle-free and looks great without being aggressive (kikinovak)
Works exactly as described with great support (miggy91)

Common complaints

Plugin shows in plugins list but no menu or settings available
Missing GDPR support such as required consent checkbox
Support staff are unhelpful and mark topics as resolved without assistance
Requires hiring a developer for full functionality according to some users

Weaknesses

Known reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability fixed only in version 1.6.1
Lack of GDPR compliance features
Reported poor support experience
Some users experience plugin functionality issues

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users looking for a simple, customizable Mailchimp top bar subscription plugin with easy setup and non-intrusive design will find this plugin suitable.

Not ideal for

Those needing GDPR compliance features out-of-the-box, reliable support, or who require advanced functionality without developer assistance may find this plugin lacking.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers a customizable Mailchimp top bar subscription form with basic features and appearance controls.

Final Verdict

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar is a well-rated plugin praised for its ease of use, customization options, and unobtrusive design. It serves well for users seeking a straightforward Mailchimp subscription bar without complex requirements.

However, it has notable drawbacks including a past security vulnerability, lack of GDPR compliance features, and mixed user experiences with support. Users with stricter compliance needs or requiring robust support might consider alternatives.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar plugin.

Mailchimp

opt-in form

Screenshots

FAQ

For now, you will have to use a filter to disable the bar on certain pages. The following example only loads the Top Bar on your blog post pages.

add_filter( 'mctb_show_bar', function( $show ) {     return is_single(); } );

Another example, this only loads the bar on your “contact” page.

add_filter( 'mctb_show_bar', function( $show ) {     return is_page('contact'); } );

Have a look at the Conditional Tags page for all accepted functions.

You can use the following code snippet to show a “NAME” field in your bar.

add_action( 'mctb_before_submit_button', function() {     echo '<input type="text" name="NAME" placeholder="Your name" />'; });  add_filter( 'mctb_subscriber_data', function( $subscriber ) {     if( ! empty( $_POST['NAME'] ) ) {         $subscriber->merge_fields['NAME'] = sanitize_text_field( $_POST['NAME'] );     }      return $subscriber; });

KB: Add name field to Mailchimp Top Bar

Adding the following CSS to your site should hide the bar on all screens smaller than 600px. The Simple Custom CSS plugin is great for adding custom CSS.

@media( max-width: 600px ) {     &#35;mailchimp-top-bar { display: none !important; } }

Yes, you can easily disable the notification bar on certain pages using a filter. For example, if you only want to load the Top Bar on your blog post pages, you can add this to your theme:

add_filter( 'mctb_show_bar', function( $show ) {     return is_single(); } );

Another example, this only loads the email capture bar on your “contact” page:

add_filter( 'mctb_show_bar', function( $show ) {     return is_page('contact'); } );

Have a look at the Conditional Tags page for all accepted functions.

Absolutely! You can add a name field to your Mailchimp top bar by using a simple code snippet to display the field and send the data to your audience.

add_action( 'mctb_before_submit_button', function() {     echo '<input type="text" name="NAME" placeholder="Your name" />'; });  add_filter( 'mctb_subscriber_data', function( $subscriber ) {     if( ! empty( $_POST['NAME'] ) ) {         $subscriber->merge_fields['NAME'] = sanitize_text_field( $_POST['NAME'] );     }      return $subscriber; });

For more details, see our knowledge base article on adding a name field to Mailchimp Top Bar.

If you prefer not to show the notification bar on smaller screens, you can hide it using custom CSS. Adding the following CSS to your site will hide the bar on all screens smaller than 600px:

@media( max-width: 600px ) {     &#35;mailchimp-top-bar { display: none !important; } }

Yes. Use the mctb_show_bar filter to control where the bar appears. This example shows it on blog posts only:

add_filter( 'mctb_show_bar', function( $show ) {     return is_single(); } );

This example shows it only on the contact page:

add_filter( 'mctb_show_bar', function( $show ) {     return is_page( 'contact' ); } );

See the WordPress Conditional Tags documentation for other conditions.

Yes. Add a name field and pass its value to the selected Mailchimp audience:

add_action( 'mctb_before_submit_button', function() {     echo '<input type="text" name="NAME" placeholder="Your name" />'; } );  add_filter( 'mctb_subscriber_data', function( $subscriber ) {     if ( ! empty( $_POST['NAME'] ) ) {         $subscriber->merge_fields['NAME'] = sanitize_text_field( $_POST['NAME'] );     }      return $subscriber; } );

See adding a name field to Mailchimp Top Bar for more details.

Add this CSS to hide the bar on screens narrower than 600 pixels:

@media ( max-width: 600px ) {     &#35;mailchimp-top-bar {         display: none !important;     } }

Contributors and developers

“MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Free Version Docs

WPS

6.79

Average

Ratings

4.6 out of 5 | 31

Version

1.7.7

Last updated

1 month ago

Active installations

6,000+

WordPress version

7.1.3 or higher

PHP version

7.4 or higher

Languages

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MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar Review - In-Depth Analysis

Performance Overview

What It Does

Comparing to Alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

Who Should Use This?

Pricing & Value

Final Verdict

Other Notable Features

Screenshots

FAQ

Contributors and developers

Ratings

Reviews (31)

Sort by:

Contributors & Developers

Interested in development?

Changelog

Security Status

Secure

No Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Known Vulnerabilities (1)

Previous Versions

WPS

6.79

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