Build a sign-up form

A form is the box people type their address into. Every sign-up lands in your audience with a record of the sentence the person agreed to, the date, and where they were.

Forms are under Email & SMS, then Tools, then Forms.

#Make a form

Press New sign-up form. A draft opens straight away. Nobody can see a draft.
Under What it says, fill in:
- Name it (only you see this), for example Footer newsletter box.
- Heading and A line underneath.
- Button.
- What it says after they sign up.
Under What it asks for, the email address is always there and always required. To add more, use Add a field: First name, Last name, or any contact field you have made. For each field you can edit the label, set its type (Text, A number, A date, Yes or no), and tick must to make it required. Remove deletes a field.
Under Permission, write The sentence beside the tick box. This is required. The box is never ticked for the person, and the exact words are stored against every sign-up. The starting sentence is Yes, email me news and offers. I can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email.
Under Where it goes, choose Add them to a list, or No list.
Under How it looks, check the preview, pick a Colour and Corners (Square, Slightly rounded or Fully rounded).
Press Save.

The form is still a draft. See "Show a form on your site" to publish it.

#Ask for texts too

Under Also ask for texts, tick Ask people if we can text them as well. This adds a mobile number box, a date of birth, and a second tick box with its own sentence. The mobile number can never be compulsory, and the box is never ticked for them.

You fill in:

Heading above it.
The words on the tick box. The word optional should stay in it. {BRAND} becomes your registered business name.
Your registered business name. Leave it blank to use the name on your texting registration.
How often you will text. A number like "4 msgs/month", or the default Msg frequency varies.
Link to your texting terms and Link to your privacy policy. Both must start with https://.

The paragraph people read above the box is fixed. The phone carriers require every sentence in it, so you cannot edit it. Anyone younger than your minimum age (set under Settings, Text message, Terms) is not signed up for texts. Their email sign-up still works. Their date of birth is not kept.

#Other kinds of form

Under What kind of form, you can change a form to Unsubscribe or Update their details. Only a sign-up form asks for permission, so only a sign-up form has the tick box. The unsubscribe and details pages people reach from your emails are edited elsewhere. See "Edit your sign-up, unsubscribe and preferences pages".

#What happens when someone signs up

The person must tick the box. Without it they see Please tick the box to say we can email you.
They are added to the list you chose, unless you ask them to confirm by email first. See "Confirm sign-ups by email".
Robots are filtered out: a hidden field, and a form filled faster than two seconds, are quietly ignored.
The same address cannot sign up again within 24 hours.
A sign-up creates a Signed up event, so you can start a flow from it.

#Read the results

The Forms list shows each form's Seen, Signed up and Confirmed for the last seven days, plus a small bar chart. Open a form to see the three headline figures (Seen, Signed up, On the list from this form) and Latest sign-ups, the ten most recent.

#If it didn't work

"A signup form has to show a tick box with the sentence people are agreeing to." Fill in The sentence beside the tick box.
"Every form needs an email address field." You removed it. Add it back, or make a new form.
"The mobile number cannot be a must-answer on a form that asks about texts." Untick must on the mobile number.
"The texting box needs a link to your … page, starting with https://." Paste the full address.
"Say how often you will text." Fill How often you will text.
You can only edit with the right role. Ask an owner or admin if the fields are greyed out.

Where it is in the app