I'm running magento 1.7.0.2 and I want the checkbox of the newsletter subscription on the registration page checked by default. I have followed a few hacks but they were all written for older versions of magento. Here's a link to one of the hacks which I tried and didn't work: Force newsletter subscription in Magento
Any help is greatly appreciated!
<div class="account-create">
<div class="page-title">
<h1><?php echo $this->__('Complete your profile') ?></h1>
</div>
<?php echo $this->getChildHtml('form_fields_before')?>
<?php echo $this->getMessagesBlock()->getGroupedHtml() ?>
<?php /* Extensions placeholder */ ?>
<?php echo $this->getChildHtml('customer.form.register.extra')?>
<form action="<?php echo $this->getPostActionUrl() ?>" method="post" id="form-validate">
<div class="fieldset">
<input type="hidden" name="success_url" value="<?php echo $this->getSuccessUrl() ?>" />
<input type="hidden" name="error_url" value="<?php echo $this->getErrorUrl() ?>" />
<input type="hidden" name="success_url" value="<?php echo $this->getSuccessUrl() ?>" />
<h2 class="legend"><?php echo $this->__('Personal Information') ?></h2>
<ul class="form-list">
<li class="fields">
<?php echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock('customer/widget_name')->setObject($this->getFormData())->setForceUseCustomerAttributes(true)->toHtml() ?>
</li>
<li>
<label for="email_address" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('Email Address') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="text" name="email" id="email_address" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getFormData()->getEmail()) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('Email Address') ?>" class="input-text validate-email required-entry" />
</div>
</li>
<?php if ($this->isNewsletterEnabled()): ?>
<li class="control">
<div class="input-box">
<li>
<input type="checkbox" name="is_subscribed" title="<?php echo $this->__('Sign Up for Newsletter') ?>" value="1" id="is_subscribed" <?php if($this->getFormData()->getIsSubscribed()){ ?> checked="checked"<?php }elseif($this->getFormData()->getIsSubscribed == NULL){ ?> checked="checked"<?php }?> />
<label for="is_subscribed"><?php echo $this->__('Sign Up for Newsletter') ?></label>
</li>
</div>
<label for="is_subscribed"><?php echo $this->__('Sign Up for Newsletter') ?></label>
<?php /* Extensions placeholder */ ?>
<?php echo $this->getChildHtml('customer.form.register.newsletter')?>
</li>
<?php endif ?>
<?php $_dob = $this->getLayout()->createBlock('customer/widget_dob') ?>
<?php if ($_dob->isEnabled()): ?>
<li><?php echo $_dob->setDate($this->getFormData()->getDob())->toHtml() ?></li>
<?php endif ?>
<?php $_taxvat = $this->getLayout()->createBlock('customer/widget_taxvat') ?>
<?php if ($_taxvat->isEnabled()): ?>
<li><?php echo $_taxvat->setTaxvat($this->getFormData()->getTaxvat())->toHtml() ?></li>
<?php endif ?>
<?php $_gender = $this->getLayout()->createBlock('customer/widget_gender') ?>
<?php if ($_gender->isEnabled()): ?>
<li><?php echo $_gender->setGender($this->getFormData()->getGender())->toHtml() ?></li>
<?php endif ?>
</ul>
</div>
<?php if($this->getShowAddressFields()): ?>
<div class="fieldset">
<input type="hidden" name="create_address" value="1" />
<h2 class="legend"><?php echo $this->__('Address Information') ?></h2>
<ul class="form-list">
<li class="fields">
<div class="field">
<label for="company"><?php echo $this->__('Company') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="text" name="company" id="company" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getFormData()->getCompany()) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('Company') ?>" class="input-text <?php echo $this->helper('customer/address')->getAttributeValidationClass('company') ?>" />
</div>
</div>
<div class="field">
<label for="telephone" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('Telephone') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="text" name="telephone" id="telephone" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getFormData()->getTelephone()) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('Telephone') ?>" class="input-text <?php echo $this->helper('customer/address')->getAttributeValidationClass('telephone') ?>" />
</div>
</div>
</li>
<?php $_streetValidationClass = $this->helper('customer/address')->getAttributeValidationClass('street'); ?>
<li class="wide">
<label for="street_1" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('Street Address') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="text" name="street[]" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getFormData()->getStreet(1)) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('Street Address') ?>" id="street_1" class="input-text <?php echo $_streetValidationClass ?>" />
</div>
</li>
<?php $_streetValidationClass = trim(str_replace('required-entry', '', $_streetValidationClass)); ?>
<?php for ($_i = 2, $_n = $this->helper('customer/address')->getStreetLines(); $_i <= $_n; $_i++): ?>
<li class="wide">
<div class="input-box">
<input type="text" name="street[]" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getFormData()->getStreet($_i)) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('Street Address %s', $_i) ?>" id="street_<?php echo $_i ?>" class="input-text <?php echo $_streetValidationClass ?>" />
</div>
</li>
<?php endfor; ?>
<li class="fields">
<div class="field">
<label for="city" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('City') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="text" name="city" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getFormData()->getCity()) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('City') ?>" class="input-text <?php echo $this->helper('customer/address')->getAttributeValidationClass('city') ?>" id="city" />
</div>
</div>
<div class="field">
<label for="region_id" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('State/Province') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<select id="region_id" name="region_id" title="<?php echo $this->__('State/Province') ?>" class="validate-select" style="display:none;">
<option value=""><?php echo $this->__('Please select region, state or province') ?></option>
</select>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
$('region_id').setAttribute('defaultValue', "<?php echo $this->getFormData()->getRegionId() ?>");
//]]>
</script>
<input type="text" id="region" name="region" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getRegion()) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('State/Province') ?>" class="input-text <?php echo $this->helper('customer/address')->getAttributeValidationClass('region') ?>" style="display:none;" />
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="fields">
<div class="field">
<label for="zip" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('Zip/Postal Code') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="text" name="postcode" value="<?php echo $this->escapeHtml($this->getFormData()->getPostcode()) ?>" title="<?php echo $this->__('Zip/Postal Code') ?>" id="zip" class="input-text validate-zip-international <?php echo $this->helper('customer/address')->getAttributeValidationClass('postcode') ?>" />
</div>
</div>
<div class="field">
<label for="country" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('Country') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<?php echo $this->getCountryHtmlSelect() ?>
</div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<input type="hidden" name="default_billing" value="1" />
<input type="hidden" name="default_shipping" value="1" />
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
<div class="fieldset">
<h2 class="legend"><?php echo $this->__('Login Information') ?></h2>
<ul class="form-list">
<li class="fields">
<div class="field">
<label for="password" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('Password') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="password" name="password" id="password" title="<?php echo $this->__('Password') ?>" class="input-text required-entry validate-password" />
</div>
</div>
<div class="field">
<label for="confirmation" class="required"><em>*</em><?php echo $this->__('Confirm Password') ?></label>
<div class="input-box">
<input type="password" name="confirmation" title="<?php echo $this->__('Confirm Password') ?>" id="confirmation" class="input-text required-entry validate-cpassword" />
</div>
</div>
</li>
<?php echo $this->getChildHtml('form.additional.info'); ?>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="buttons-set">
<p class="required"><?php echo $this->__('* Required Fields') ?></p>
<p class="back-link"><a href="<?php echo $this->escapeUrl($this->getBackUrl()) ?>" class="back-link"><small>« </small><?php echo $this->__('Back') ?></a></p>
<button type="submit" title="<?php echo $this->__('Submit') ?>" class="button"><span><span><?php echo $this->__('Submit') ?></span></span></button>
</div>
</form>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
var dataForm = new VarienForm('form-validate', true);
<?php if($this->getShowAddressFields()): ?>
new RegionUpdater('country', 'region', 'region_id', <?php echo $this->helper('directory')->getRegionJson() ?>, undefined, 'zip');
<?php endif; ?>
//]]>
</script>