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Understanding Form Fields and Settings

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Cris Echeguren
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Lead generation relies on forms. With so many forms out there, it is important that your forms stand out.

You can build, customize, and reorder fields with SharpSpring's drag-and-drop form editor.

This article will detail how to create a SharpSpring form.


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Adding Content in the Fields Tab

The Fields tab contains the options necessary in inserting, modifying, and customizing form fields.

You must have at least one field before you can save a form. To add fields to your SharpSpring form, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Content > Forms.
  2. Create or edit a form.
  3. Click the Fields tab.
  4. Select applicable fields to include in your form from the Fields drop-down menu.
  5. Select appropriate elements to add to your form from the Elements drop-down menu.
  6. Add appropriate referral fields to your form, if necessary, from the Referral Fields drop-down menu.
  7. Add appropriate Persona and GDPR Consent fields from the Special Fields drop-down menu.
  8. Rearrange fields as needed.
  9. Optionally, click the Ask How Did You Hear About Us checkbox.
  10. Click Save Changes.
  

Click to enlarge.
Important: An email address is required for SharpSpring to be able to gather form data.
Note: The first time you save a form, an embed code modal window will appear. To continue editing the form, click Close.

For information on editing custom field content, such as custom drop-down field selections, refer to Creating Custom Fields.


Rearranging Fields

At any time during the form creation process, you can rearrange or otherwise modify the fields inserted into the form. Hovering over a field will display the following three icons:

Icon Modifier   Description
move.png Reorder   Drag-and-drops fields to reorder their placement in the form.
times.png Delete   Removes the field from the form.
chevron-down.png More   Additional options and information. Allows you to make the
field hidden, and displays the field's lead type.

 


Fields Best Practices

When adding fields to SharpSpring forms, it is important to keep the following in mind:

  • Forms should contain a maximum of four or five fields. Listing more fields is usually too much, as too many fields bloat the form in both style and substance.

  • You can choose how fields show. Some fields can be set to always show or only show if a lead has not filled out that field before. 

  • Check the Autofill Data toggle to fill data automatically. This lets associated fields auto-populate with a visitor's information if they have already filled out that field.

  • Utilize the Create Custom Fields link. Custom fields allow you to better customize and specialize forms.

  • When using referral fields, be aware that the fields do not establish tracking. Referral fields do create a second contact record for that referral.  When using referral fields, send an email to that referral stating that they were referred. This  encourages the referred visitor to visit your website and/or fill out a form to establish tracking.

  • When using the How Did You Hear About Us feature, the option will add a field at the end of the form where your visitor can add themselves to a campaign in SharpSpring. This feature is available just in case one of your current campaigns did not catch them.

  • You can integrate SharpSpring forms different webinar platforms. SharpSpring has integrations with both WebEx and GoToWebinar. This allows you to add events or webinars as form fields. This way, when visitors fill out your form, they are also registered in WebEx or GoToWebinar.


Editing CSS in the Styles Tab

The Styles tab contains a list of options pertaining to using CSS stylesheets and buttons with a form.

To modify CSS settings, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Content > Forms.
  2. Create or edit a form.
  3. Click the Styles tab.
  4. In the Form CSS section, do one of the following:

       •   Paste an External CSS URL.

       •   Create, edit, or delete Current
            Stylesheets    .
  5. In the Submit Button Style section, do one of the following:

       •   Create a custom Submit button.

       •   Choose from any of the existing default
            buttons.
  6. Click Save Changes.
    Click to enlarge.
 
Note: When modifying existing buttons, click  
pencil.png  Edit to modify the button, or  close.png  Delete to remove the button from the list of choices.
 
Note: External CSS URLs are necessary only if you have a stylesheet that is already associated with your site and want the form to have the same look and feel.
 
Note: SharpSpring offers Professional Services to assist with custom coding.
 


Modifying Forms in The Settings Tab

The Settings tab contains options to edit metadata and other important pieces of form information. To modify a form, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Content > Forms.
  2. Create or edit a form.
  3. Click the Settings tab.
  4. Change the form's name in the Form Information section.
  5. Adjust Thank You page settings in the Thank You Page section.
  6. Set an auto-responder email in the Auto-Responder section.
  7. Adjust information settings and actions in the Form Data section.
  8. Toggle the switch in the Invisible reCAPTCHA section to add security protection to your form.
  9. In the Settings section, choose one of the following Form Language options:

    •   English
    •   Spanish
    •   French
    •   Italian
    •   German    		 •   Dutch
    •   Portuguese
    •   Romanian
    •   Turkish
    •   Slovak 
  10. Enter Javascript into the Form JS section.
  11. Modify form embed code content in the Embed Code section.
  12. View the pages that have collected form leads in the Pages Detected section.
  13. Click Save Changes.
  


Click to enlarge.
Note: 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.



Form Data Settings

The available Form Data settings in the Settings tab are as follows:

Setting   Description
Lead Status   Give visitors who fill out this form a lead status.
Double Opt-In   Clicking this checkbox enables the double opt-in feature. This
feature sends a confirmation email to those who fill out this
form, allowing them to explicitly opt-in to receiving emails.
Postback URL   Enter a Postback URL if you have a third-party service you
want SharpSpring to post the form data to.

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