---
title: "Settings: Compliance"
description: "Every card on Settings > Compliance: double opt-in, confirmation email, public pages, footer text and the rules for your contacts data."
url: "https://hiveplugins.com/docs/hive-mail-settings-compliance/"
updated: "2026-10-28"
category: Hive Mail
---

# Settings: Compliance

**Hive Mail > Settings > Compliance** controls double opt-in, the confirmation email, the unsubscribe and preferences pages, the email footer text and the rules for contact data. Sending must work ([Settings: Sending](/docs/hive-mail-settings-sending/)) and **Business name** and **Business address** should be filled in ([Settings: General](/docs/hive-mail-settings-general/)). One save bar sits at the bottom; **Save changes** stays disabled until something changed and nothing is wrong ("Fix one field before you save").

![The top of the Compliance tab with the Double opt-in, Confirmation email and After confirming cards](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-settings-compliance-overview-01.webp)

## Double opt-in, confirmation email, after confirming

| Setting | What it does | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Ask new subscribers to confirm by email** | Default for signup forms and automations that do not decide for themselves ([Double opt-in](/docs/hive-mail-double-opt-in/)) | On |
| **The confirmation link works for** (days) | How long the link stays valid, 1 to 365; then it offers a new email | 30 |
| **Remove people who never confirmed after** (days) | Daily clean-up; 0 keeps everyone, otherwise 7 to 365. They go to the trash for 30 days. Counted from the last request | 0 |
| **Subject** | Cannot be empty; merge tags work | "Please confirm your subscription to `{{site_name}}`" |
| **Preview text** | Optional | Empty |
| **Message** | Plain text; paragraphs split on an empty line. **Insert the button** adds `{{confirm_button}}`; if it is missing, Hive Mail adds it at the end when you save | "Please confirm that you want to hear from us." and the button |
| **Send a test to** | Sends the unsaved text through your sending method with **Send a test** | Your address |
| **Then** (after confirming) | **Show a message** or **Go to another page** | Show a message |
| **Heading**, **Message** (message mode) | The thank-you page | "Subscription confirmed", "Thank you. You are subscribed." |
| **Go to this address** (redirect mode) | A full https:// address | Empty |

The confirmation email is a service email: it goes to people not yet subscribed, has no footer and no tracking, and its button reads "Confirm my subscription". A **Preview** shows it for a sample person, Jane.

![The confirmation email card with its preview and test send](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-settings-compliance-confirmation-02.webp)

## Unsubscribe and preferences pages

Edit the fields on the left; a mock on the right updates. In **Unsubscribe page**, **Which page to show** switches the mock between **Before** and **After**. Nothing changes until the person presses the button, so link scanners cannot unsubscribe anyone.

| Setting | What it does | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Heading**, **Message**, **Button** (Unsubscribe page) | Heading and button cannot be empty | "Unsubscribe from `{{site_name}}`", "Please confirm that you want to stop receiving our emails.", "Unsubscribe" |
| **Heading after they unsubscribed**, **Message after they unsubscribed** | Shown after the button; the page offers **Subscribe again** | "You are unsubscribed", "You will not receive any more emails from us." |
| **Ask why they are leaving** | Optional reason question; never blocks unsubscribing | On |
| **After unsubscribing go to this address** | Redirect instead of the message; full https:// address or empty | Empty |
| **Heading** (Preferences page) | Cannot be empty | "Email preferences" |
| **Let people change their name** | Shows first and last name fields | On |
| **Offer "Unsubscribe from all"** | Link to the unsubscribe page | On |

People choose among the public lists marked under Audience > Lists ([Lists](/docs/hive-mail-lists/)).

## Email footer

| Setting | What it does | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Your own text** | Text printed above your business name and address on marketing emails with no footer of their own; merge tags work | Empty |
| **Show "Manage preferences" in the footer** | Link to the preferences page, shown only while you have a public list | On |

The footer always has your business name, address and the unsubscribe link. An amber box, "Your business address is empty", warns that a campaign cannot be sent without one. The same footer is edited on [Settings: Email footer](/docs/hive-mail-settings-email-footer/); see [The email footer and the unsubscribe link](/docs/hive-mail-email-footer-and-unsubscribe-link/).

## Your own pages

Hive Mail made three pages: **Unsubscribe** (`[hivemail_unsubscribe]`), **Email preferences** (`[hivemail_preferences]`) and **Subscription confirmed** (`[hivemail_confirmation]`). Each shows a badge.

| Badge | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Ready** | Published and holds the shortcode |
| **No shortcode** | Published but empty of the shortcode; reset it |
| **Draft** | Not published; Hive Mail's own plain page answers |
| **Deleted** / **Not made** | Hive Mail's own plain page answers |

Buttons: **Edit**, **View**, **Reset to default content** (replaces the content with the shortcode; title and address stay), **Create the page** or **Create again**. **Use a different page** opens **Show this screen on** with "Hive Mail's own page" and every published page; put the shortcode from **Put this on the page** on that page, then **Save changes**. These pages are kept out of search, sitemaps and menus and are never cached. Links already sent keep working if you change a page's address. See [Unsubscribe and email preference pages](/docs/hive-mail-unsubscribe-and-preference-pages/).

![The Your own pages card with three Ready pages](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-settings-compliance-own-pages-04.webp)

## Data and rules

| Setting | What it does | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Remove the contact when their WordPress user is deleted** | Moves the contact to the trash (restorable for 30 days) | Off |
| **Stop emailing an address after this many temporary failures** | 1 to 20; then the address is treated as bounced | 5 |
| **Count temporary failures over** (days) | The window, 7 to 90 | 30 |

A note in the card explains tracking: opens and clicks are counted per person unless you choose anonymous counting, IP addresses are never stored and service emails are not tracked ([Settings: Tracking & Privacy](/docs/hive-mail-settings-tracking-and-privacy/)). When a contact is deleted for good, a one-way fingerprint of the address is kept if they had unsubscribed or bounced, so a later import cannot email them again.

## Send confirmation to pending contacts

An import never emails anyone, so people imported as Pending wait until you ask them here.

1. Click **Save changes** first so the email says what you wrote.
2. Under **Who**, choose "Every pending contact ((number))" or "Pending members of (a list)".
3. Click **Send confirmation to pending contacts**, read the dialog **Send confirmation emails?** and click **Send the emails**.

People asked in the last five minutes or with a blocked address are skipped; nobody gets more than one.

![The confirm dialog for pending contacts](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-settings-compliance-pending-05.webp)

> **Warning:** Queued confirmation emails cannot be taken back. People who do not press the button stay pending and never get campaigns.

Next: [Double opt-in](/docs/hive-mail-double-opt-in/), [The confirmation email does not arrive](/docs/hive-mail-confirmation-email-does-not-arrive/).