Forms

Best Practices:

  • Never use the Description field in your forms - this field should be reserved for internal use. Rather create a new Text Area field called "Message" or "Meddelande" when asking for free text information
  • Untick "Ask 'How Did You Hear About Us' at the end" on the Fields tab

Creating a SharpSpring Form

Demo

  1. Click the New button, select Form
  2. Set the form options
    1. Name
    2. Form Type: Select SharpSpring Form
    3. All new leads should be assigned as: Read more about each Lead Status here. We recommend setting Open or Qualified in most cases
  3. Click Continue
  4. Untick the option Ask "How Did You Hear About Us" at the end
  5. Add fields from the Fields menu
  6. Click on the Styles tab to select an existing style. In many cases the button appearance is already styled in the stylesheet, so there is no need to select a custom button.
  7. Click on the General tab to set other options:
    1. Form Name: This is only used internally, leads will never see it. Try to follow a naming convention that works for you.
    2. Thank You Page:
      1. Thank You page URL: Use this if the form is on your website, and you have created a Thank You page. If you are using the form on a SharpSpring landing page, ignore this option (it is set in the landing page editor)
      2. Submit Data to my "Thank You" Page: Tick this option if your Thank You page is set up to accept a copy of the form submission - generally not necessary
      3. Show "Thank You" Page within iFrame: Tick this if you don't have a thank you page and just want to replace the form with a message when it is submitted. You may need to contact our Support to help you with styling.
    3. Auto-Responder: Select an email to send as an auto-response when someone fills out the form, this email will be sent even if a contact is Unsubscribed. Alternatively, you can send an auto-response using a Visual Workflow (unsubscribed contacts will not receive it).
    4. Form Data:
      1. Lead Status: Read more about each Lead Status here.
      2. Postback URL: Advanced option that can send a copy of the form submission to an external system. This can also be done using a Visual Workflow.
      3. Send contact an email that allows them to explicitly opt-in to receiving emails: Read more about double opt-in here
  8. Click Save Changes

Copying an existing form

Demo

  1. Copying the Form
    1. Go to Content > Forms
    2. Select an existing form from the left pane, or click on the gear icon and select "Manage Forms" to see all forms
    3. Click the gear icon at the top right (or next to the form if you selected Manage Forms)
  2. Editing the Form
    1. Click Edit Form
    2. Click on the Styles tab, take a note of which Stylesheet and button is used (some stylesheets include button styling, it is not unusual to have the default button selected)
    3. Click the gear icon at the top right and select "Save as a Copy"
    4. Click on the Styles tab, select the stylesheet and button that you noted in step 2.2
    5. On the Fields tab, add or remove fields as needed
    6. On the General tab, rename the form to something appropriate. Follow your naming convention if you have one, it will help you stay organized.
    7. Click Save Changes
How to Duplicate a Form.mp4

Retrieving the Embed Code

(To use it on your website. Skip this if using a SharpSpring landing page)

Demo

  1. Go to Content > Forms
  2. Select your form from the left pane OR click the top left gear button, select manage forms, and select the form there.
  3. Click the gear icon at the top right, select Embed Code
  4. Copy the embed code, paste it into your page where you would like the form to appear

Sending an auto-responder from the Form Editor

See it in action

    1. Go to Content > Forms
    2. Select an existing form from the left pane, or click on the gear icon and select "Manage Forms" to see all forms
    3. Click the gear icon at the top right (or next to the form if you selected Manage Forms)
    4. Click Edit Form
    5. On the General tab, enter the name of the email you want to send in the Auto-Responder field.
    6. Click Save Changes

Using cAPTCHA on your SharpSpring forms

You can add a Captcha prompt to a SharpSpring form on the "General" tab in the section "Invisible reCAPTCHA".

Using Captcha is a great way to prevent bots from filling out forms, however SharpSpring has a number of ways to combat that already. We normally do not recommend using this option unless you find that you are receiving spam/fake contacts from your forms.


If you do turn it on, you should know that it won't always show and thus might seem like it's not working. Per SharpSpring:

Google's invisible reCAPTCHA tool protects your forms from spam and other types of automated abuse. This happens behind the scenes without requiring a user to click a checkbox. Only the most suspicious traffic will be prompted to solve a captcha.