Subscription Options
The most common ways for people to subscribe to a blog and its content are through RSS, Email and Twitter. Some people syndicate to Facebook too. This plugin places related subscription icons in a widget area and lets…
Consider an alternative
Subscription Options shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 300+ sites and was last updated 14 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (300+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 13 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 3.4 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Subscription Options stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| color | >100 |
| option | >100 |
| options | >100 |
| subscribe | >100 |
| subscription | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Subscription Options
From the official readme · v0.9.1Description
The most common ways for people to subscribe to a blog and its content are through RSS, Email and Twitter. Some people syndicate to Facebook too. This plugin places related subscription icons in a widget area and lets users enter their own feed or page URLs and select the colour of their icons. Its really simple but theres lots of power under the hood.
Features:
- Offers an attractive range of subscription options for your readers using familiar-looking icons.
- Intuitive interface for editing options, including your feed or page URLs, widget title and icon sizes.
- Independent handling across multiple widget instances, using WordPress 2.8’s widget_class coolness.
- Ability to select any colour, via HEX code or HTML Color Name.
- Integration with the Subscription Options Add-on Pack.
Installation
- Download the plugin by hitting the big red ‘download’ button.
- Extract the files and place the entire ‘subscription-options’ folder into your wp_content/plugins directory.
- Go to your ‘Installed Plugins’ panel and activate ‘Subscription Options’.
- You are now ready to use the widget.
Setup:
- Go to your ‘Appearance > Widgets’ panel and select the widget area you wish for the plugin to appear in.
- Enter the following details:
- Widget Title
- RSS Feed URL & Colour
- Email Service URL & Colour
- Twitter Stream URL & Colour
- Facebook Page URL & Colour
- Size of Feed Icons
- Please note that you don’t need to use all the icons – just don’t enter a URL if you don’t want an icon to show up.
- Please also note that you can use any HTML colour code, be it HEX code or HTML Color Name.
- Hit ‘Done’ then ‘Save Changes’. Test the appearance and perhaps change the size of the icons as necessary.
- If you would like additional icons for LinkedIn, Flickr, Google+, Podcasting, YouTube, Pinterest, Spotify or Tumblr please consider installing the Subscription Options Add-on Pack and a new set of subscription options will automatically appear in the widget options panel.
Changelog
If you're upgrading from version 0.7 or earlier, then you will need to re-enter your colour codes and check that all your URLs are present. Version 0.8 brought in thousands of new colour options, using transparent icons and CSS3 rounded corners. As such, the widget looks best in modern CSS3-compatible web browsers, so please upgrade only if you are entirely comfortable with this.
- 0.1.0 was the first iteration of what I promise will be a participatory experience
- 0.1.5 – added css classes for users to hook into and edit through their css sheets
- 0.2 – added user-defined header size and target of users’ clicks
- 0.3 – updated icons to scale up to higher sizes without dithering
- 0.4 – switched to WP 2.8’s widget_class functionality to really crank it up
- 0.5 – inclusion of a new subscription icon for Facebook, by popular demand
- 0.6 – implemented an icon colour changer with twelve options
- 0.7 – upgraded to pass XHTML 1.0 Transitional validation
- 0.8 – full colour options & additional subscription icons based on user feedback
- 0.9 – modified icon designs plus four new icons in the Add-on Pack
Future Versions:
- 1.0 – farbtastic or other java-based colour picker integration
Screenshots
For developers
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Best Subscription Options alternatives
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FAQ
Subscription Options: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 20, 2026
Is Subscription Options free?
Yes. Subscription Options is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Subscription Options safe to use in 2026?
Subscription Options shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 300+ sites and was last updated 14 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Subscription Options?
Subscription Options is active on 300+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 86,738 times since it launched in May 2009. It was downloaded 153 times in the last 30 days.
Does Subscription Options work with WordPress 7.1?
Subscription Options is officially tested up to WordPress 3.4.2, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Subscription Options last updated?
The latest version, 0.9.1, was released on October 31, 2012 (14 years ago).
Who makes Subscription Options?
Subscription Options is developed and maintained by freedimensional.
What are the best alternatives to Subscription Options?
The most popular alternatives to Subscription Options are Central Color Palette (10K+ installs), ACF RGBA Color Picker (6K+ installs) and The Events Calendar: Catego… (4K+ installs).
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