Getting started

From install to your first campaign in five steps. Each step links to the detailed page.

1. Install the plugin

1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin and search for Optcatch. You can also download it from WordPress.org and upload the optcatch-lead-capture-campaigns folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate the plugin on the Plugins screen.
3. Open Optcatch in the admin menu and review the consent wording under Settings.

2. Add a sending account

Do this first. Without an authenticated sending account, WordPress falls back to your server's default mail, which has no SPF or DKIM signatures, so test emails and campaigns tend to land in spam or are rejected.

1. Go to Optcatch → Settings. Under Sending Accounts, click Add sending account.
2. Choose Gmail / Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 / Outlook, SendGrid or Custom SMTP and connect it.
3. In the account card, click + Add sender email to set the From name and From email.
4. Set a Daily Sending Limit and a Sending Speed (Per Minute). For a new address, start low (for example 50 a day) and raise it over two to four weeks.
5. Send yourself a test with Send Test Email.

Details for each provider: Sending accounts.

3. Capture your first contacts

Nothing to set up: Universal Auto-Detect is on by default and picks up any form on your site that has an email field. Under the default Strict Consent policy, Optcatch adds a consent checkbox to the forms it detects and stores a contact only when the visitor ticks it.

• If a form already has its own marketing opt-in checkbox, add the class lcc-consent to that checkbox and Optcatch reuses it.
• No form on your site yet? Put the [optcatch_form] shortcode on a page.
• Have an existing list? Import it as a CSV (up to 5,000 rows per file).

Submit one of your forms yourself and check Optcatch → Contacts. More in Capture & forms.

4. Pick a template

Go to Optcatch → Templates. Start from one of the six starter presets (welcome, newsletter, product launch, follow-up, re-engagement, personal note) or build your own in the drag-and-drop Email Studio. Keep the {{unsubscribe_url}} link in the footer.

5. Send your first campaign

1. Optionally create a segment under Optcatch → Segments (for example, contacts from one form).
2. Go to Optcatch → Campaigns, enter a campaign name and subject, choose the audience segment and the template.
3. Choose Send Immediately. The campaign starts going out in the background, paced by each account's limits.
4. Follow progress on Optcatch → Dashboard.

More in Contacts & campaigns.