Double Opt-In

Double opt-in means a new subscriber has to confirm their email address before they receive anything from you. Submitting the form is the first step. Clicking the link in the confirmation email is the second. Both are required.

How It Works

1. A person submits their email address through your subscription form.
2. They are stored as a subscriber with an unverified status. They receive nothing else at this point.
3. We send them a confirmation email titled "Please confirm your subscription to ".
4. When they click the link, their status becomes verified.
5. Only verified subscribers are included in your newsletter sends.

A subscriber who never clicks the link stays unverified and is excluded from every send.

Why It Is Required

Double opt-in is the default on every campaign and cannot be turned off for the public subscription form. There are several reasons for this.

It protects the address owner. Anyone can type someone else's address into a form. The confirmation step ensures that only the actual owner of the mailbox can activate a subscription, which blocks unwanted signups and abuse.

It protects deliverability. Unverified addresses include typos, fake entries, and spam traps. Sending to them raises bounce and complaint rates, which lowers the sending reputation of the domain. On a shared sending infrastructure, a poor reputation affects delivery for everyone. Verified lists keep bounce rates low.

It documents consent. Regulations such as GDPR require consent to be explicit and provable. A confirmed click is a timestamped record that the person asked to receive your emails. Every newsletter also includes an unsubscribe link so they can withdraw that consent at any time.

It keeps your list clean. A list of confirmed addresses reflects real interest. Open and click rates measured on that list are meaningful, rather than diluted by addresses that never wanted to be there.

Imported Subscribers

When you import subscribers, they are not sent a confirmation email. Import assumes you already collected valid consent elsewhere, so the confirmation step is skipped and they are treated as verified.

This puts the responsibility on you. Only import addresses for which you hold documented, valid consent. Importing a purchased or scraped list is both a deliverability risk and a compliance violation.

Confirmation Emails and Replies

The confirmation email is sent from contact@hakanai.io unless you have set up a custom domain. Some mailboxes reply automatically to it, for example an out-of-office responder. Those automatic replies go to the sending address and are not forwarded to you unless you use a custom domain. This does not prevent the subscriber from confirming. See Manage Subscribers for the details.