Header - Navigation - Subscribe
The header used on this page has a simple signup form which drops down on click making it really quick and easy to subscribe to the mailing list. It has a text intro and fields for name and email address. The form is kept to a minimal size by using placeholder text rather than labels.
The icon is an SVG which shares the font color setting with the other items and the hover color with the nav icon and menu links. The signup icon can show a title on hover if required.
Redirect
Rather than show a "success" message when the form is submitted, this one provides a field for a redirect URL. The visitor can be kept on the same page or redirected to a "Welcome" page as is the case with the form on this page.
Heading & Navigation
The heading widget also has an h1 heading for the podcast name and a drop down navigation menu. The links can be configured to open pages in the same project file and/or those in another file so that it can be used to navigate archived sections of the podcast.
Mailing List
The form returns the data to the web mail or email address specified in the widget settings. This can be used by those who want to handle their own database rather than have to pay for a service like MailChimp.
Database
Creating a database may sound scary but it can be as simple as adding blog or podcast subscribers to a group in the Mac Contact app and bulk mailing updates using Mac Mail.
For more advanced applications, there is sofware dedicated to creating databases and bulk emailing.
Rage Software - the developers of EverWeb - have discontinued their MailShoot app but it is still functional and free!
Another good choice is SerialMailer which is available for both Mac OS and Windows.