Readers can subscribe to Appalachian Renegade by entering an email in the subscribe block on the top of the right side menu. If you enter the same email twice, it will not be added. Keep in mind that if you forward an email notification and do not remove the “unsubscribe” link, the person receiving the email is able to unsubscribe you.
The following is a WordPress “feature” as outlined by Grok:
The Subscribe block (available natively on WordPress.com sites or via the Jetpack plugin on self-hosted WordPress.org sites) automatically pre-fills the email input field with the visitor’s email address if they are logged in to a WordPress.com account. This is designed to make signing up quicker for existing users, as their associated email (often a Gmail address if that’s what they used to create the account) is pulled from their profile.
Why this happens:
- When a logged-in user views the form, the block detects their WordPress.com account and auto-populates the field to streamline the process.
- If the user isn’t logged in, the field appears empty (with placeholder text like “Type your email…”).
- Upon submission, the pre-filled (or entered) email is used to add them to your site’s subscriber list, triggering a confirmation email if double opt-in is enabled.
This feature has been documented in official WordPress.com support resources since at least 2020 and isn’t flagged as an error anywhere in forums, bug trackers, or recent reports.