Customize the newsletter form

Change the fields, placeholder text, button label, or form placement for the Buttondown newsletter signup. Also covers custom confirmation copy and hidden fields.

The newsletter signup renders from src/_includes/partials/newsletter.njk. It is intentionally small: an email input and a subscribe button. That's enough for most publications, but you can extend or restyle it without touching the core integration.

Where the form lives

The partial is rendered in:

• The site footer (via partials/footer.njk).
• The blog index page (src/blog/index.njk).
• Any custom page that includes {% include "partials/newsletter.njk" %}.

Add fields

Buttondown accepts optional metadata fields as hidden or visible inputs. For example, to add a "first name" field:

<label for="nl-first-name">First name</label>
<input id="nl-first-name" type="text" name="metadata__first_name">

Anything named metadata__foo lands in Buttondown as a custom subscriber field.

Change the button label or placeholder

Edit the partial directly:

<input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Your email" required>
<button type="submit">Get the newsletter</button>

Change where the form posts to

The form's action points at Buttondown. If you move newsletter providers (to Kit, MailerLite, Substack-as-reader-subscriber), update the action and the field names to match the new provider's embed format.

Confirmation behavior

By default the form opens the Buttondown confirmation page in a new tab (target="_blank"). To stay on your site and show a custom thank-you message, remove target="_blank" and handle the post with JavaScript.

What to do next

• Buttondown integration for the config basics.
• Custom layouts for broader layout changes.
• Template filters for helpers you can use inside partials.