Included in Free

Create your first campaign

Build a simple email popup, publish it on a test page, and find your first signup in WordPress. No external marketing account needed.

8-minute readReviewed 13 October 2026

On this page

What you’ll have at the end

A working popup with an email field, a clear confirmation and a lead saved in WConvert. You can connect an email service afterwards.

Before you start

A WordPress site running WordPress 6.8+ and PHP 8.1+.
WConvert Free installed and activated, with access to its WordPress admin screens.
A page you can use for testing, ideally on a staging site.

Follow Install and activate WConvert if you are starting with the plugin ZIP. For current download or release availability, visit Get WConvert.

Watch the walkthrough

Follow a real newsletter popup from its first draft to a saved test signup in 2 minutes 50 seconds. Watch first, or follow the written steps below at your own pace. Everything shown uses Free features.

Create, publish and test your first email popup

STEP 1

Choose a goal and setup

Open WConvert in WordPress and go to Campaigns.
Select Create campaign (or Create your first campaign if your list is empty).
Choose Grow my email list.
Browse the campaign setups. Choose an available Popup setup with an email field. Open Preview & details to review its screens and suggested settings.
Select Use this setup to create the draft.

For this walkthrough, we used Offer a weekly editorial letter, a Popup setup with two screens. Give the campaign a recognizable name, such as The Friday Letter · newsletter.

STEP 2

Make the campaign yours

Open Edit to work on the campaign’s screens and content. Select an element in the editor preview to change its words or settings. Review the form and its acknowledgement screen before publishing.

The Friday Letter headline selected in the current WConvert editor. — The current editor, captured from the running plugin. Select the headline, then change Text in its Content panel.

Example newsletter copy — replace it with your own promise
Element	Example wording
Headline	A little inspiration for your week.
Description	An essay worth making time for. A question to think about. A useful link to keep.
Button	Request the Friday letter
Permission	Email me the Friday letter. I can unsubscribe anytime.
Confirmation	Thank you. We have received your request.

Replace the sample wording with a promise you can keep. Keep the email field, review its required setting, and make the permission wording clear. Check the acknowledgement screen as well as the first screen.

Review your privacy notice and the Privacy Policy page selected in WordPress. If you use a consent checkbox, check that it behaves as you intend. The example wording above is a writing starting point, not a compliance template.

Change the colors, type and artwork to suit your site. Use the phone preview to check that the headline, field and button remain easy to read.

STEP 3

Choose where leads go

Open Destinations. Under What happens after submission?, select Keep in WConvert only.

Lead capture: A visitor submits the form on your published page. WConvert saves the lead in WordPress for review or export.
Email delivery: This local-only setup does not forward the submission or send a message. A sending service and its workflow need a separate setup and test.

When you’re ready to send newsletters, choose Send to a service and configure a supported destination. Read Choose where submissions go for local storage and service requirements.

STEP 4

Set where and when it appears

Open Display rules. Start with a controlled test rather than showing the popup across your whole site.

Display rules to review for your first test
Check	For this test
Where	Target the page you prepared for testing. Check any exclusions and audience or device rules inherited from the setup.
When	Choose a simple delay, such as five seconds. That gives you time to load the page and see the popup open.
How often	Review repeat-display limits and what happens after a dismissal or submission. Site-wide limits can also prevent a campaign appearing.
Dates	If the setup has a schedule, make sure your test falls within it, using your site’s time zone.

To select the test page, open Where does it show? → Selected pages → Add pages → A specific page or post. Search for its title, select the result and choose Done. Under When does it open?, set the delay to five seconds. Review How often? and keep the stop-after-submission choice. See selected-page rules and visitor limits for the full steps.

STEP 5

Preview, then publish

Open Preview, then use Try the form. Check the required fields and the acknowledgement screen.
Inspect the desktop and mobile layouts.
Select Save draft to save your work without publishing.
Open Review & publish. Review the design, placement, lead storage and privacy information. Resolve any blocking issues.
When ready, select Publish campaign. If you have unsaved edits, the action may read Save & publish.

Later edits can be saved as a draft while the published version stays live. Use Publish changes when you want visitors to see them. The preview and publication guide explains each test.

STEP 6

Check your first signup

Open your test page as a visitor, outside the editor. A fresh private browser session can help avoid a previous dismissal or signup affecting your test.
Wait for your configured trigger. Enter a test email address you control, accept the permission you intend to give, and submit.
Confirm that the acknowledgement appears.
Return to WConvert → Leads. Find the test submission and check its campaign, email and saved consent wording.

A saved test submission from The Friday Letter with its consent wording. — A real frontend test using fictional details. The saved record confirms capture; it does not prove email delivery.

Before inviting real visitors, connect and test your sending service if your offer promises email delivery. Replace test content, review targeting and frequency, and remove your test lead when you no longer need it.

If something isn’t working

The popup doesn’t appear

Check that you published the campaign and opened a matching page. Review the trigger, device and audience conditions, schedule and both campaign and site-wide limits. Try a fresh browser session. If you selected an inline format instead, its block or shortcode needs to be placed in the page.

The form won’t submit

Check required fields and the error shown beside the form. If a CAPTCHA provider is enabled, check its saved configuration. Retest on the published page; if it still fails, send support the exact message and the steps you took.

I can’t find my test lead

Make sure you submitted on the published website, not only in Preview. In Leads, clear filters and check the campaign and date range. Look for an error or unsuccessful submission on the test page.

I didn’t receive an email

That is expected with Keep in WConvert only. This guide saves a lead locally. To send newsletters or confirmation messages, configure a destination and the appropriate workflow in your sending service, then test delivery separately. Use the delivery troubleshooting guide if it is missing.

YOUR NEXT STEP

Give that signup somewhere to go.

Connect your email service when the local test works. Check the requirements and available plans before you start.

Choose where submissions go

Still stuck?Tell us where you got to

Include your WConvert version, the page you tested and any error message.