Forms are where visitors enter their information, for example, to register their interest or to access some content. Add forms to landing pages or your websites to convert your prospects to known (having an associated email address), and grow your lists.
Here we'll design a basic Form to get you confident with the Act-On Form composer.
Step A: Start a New Form
When signed in to Act-On, go to Content > Forms:
At the upper right, click Create form.
In the dialog that appears click Start from scratch:
The Act-On Form Composer opens.
Step B: Set Your Form Properties
In the Act-On Form Composer, at the top, click the Properties tab.
Type a Title and Description for your Form. In the List section type a name for the list where submission data from this Form will be stored, for example:
Below, in the Response section, click RESPONSE PAGE, which opens on the right.
Open the Settings drop-down and select rich text block:
In the Response Page, type what you want visitors to see when they submit the completed Form, for example:
At the bottom right, click OK to make the changes and close the editor. The response page shows successful completion:
Step C: Design Your Form
At the top, click the Design tab. We'll create a simple Form to capture the visitor's name, email, and which materials they want.
First, we need to make the Form responsive as this is not the default behavior. In SETTINGS on the right click Form Properties and in the slide-out panel that appears, under Advanced, toggle Responsive to on:
Now, we'll add the sections. From SECTION on the left, drag and drop two new sections under the existing section, so there are three (each showing 'Drop Blocks Here'), as shown:
Hover over the top section and to the right of it, click Add Column:
Your Form design should now look like this:
Next, we'll add content to the sections. From BLOCKS on the left, add a Text Box block to the top left section:
Edit Input Field appears on the right.
This will be where visitors enter their first names. This is a required field, so at the top right, click the Make Required asterisk. Enter 'First name' details in the Label boxes and the Field Mapping boxes as shown:
The field and column names are consistent with the list schema set up for lists across marketing activities in Act-On. Check with your Act-On administrator and see Managing List Columns in Act-On.
At the bottom right, click OK to make the change and close the editor.
Similarly to the last three steps, to the top right section, add a Text Box where visitors will enter their last names as a required field, for example:
At the bottom right, click OK.
In the same way, to the middle section, add a Text Box where visitors will enter their email address as a required field, for example:
At the bottom right, click OK.
From BLOCKS, add a Combo Box block to the middle section, underneath the email field:
Edit Combo Field appears on the right.
This will be where visitors choose the materials they want. Enter a Label for the selections in the box and the Field Mapping information as shown:
Then, in the Type drop-down, select Checkboxes, and in Values, add some selections of materials, with the corresponding values (use the '+' on the lower right to add more selections), as shown:
When you have finished, at the bottom right, click OK.
Add a Captcha block: to the middle section, underneath the selections field. In Edit CAPTCHA Field at the bottom right, click OK.
Add a Submit Button block: to the bottom section and in Edit Button at the bottom right, click OK.
To complete our design, we'll add some padding around the fields to improve readability. For each of the four sections (top left, top right, middle, and bottom), hover over the text in the left column and click the Column Settings cog:
...and in Edit Column Settings on the right, in Padding, enter '5' in the All box:
...and click OK. Your Landing Page design should look similar to this example:
At the top right, click Save. If you are prompted to Save To Folder, select Default Folder. A tick appears to confirm, as shown above.
Step D: Review Your Form
At the top, click the Review tab. The desktop view is shown. At the top right, click Preview in Window: A new browser tab opens with your Form.
At the bottom, click Tablet or Mobile to see how your Form appears on a tablet device.
At the bottom to the right, click the landscape toggle: to see how your Form looks on a tablet or mobile device in landscape.
Step E: Embed Your Form
As we already have a Landing Page, we'll embed the Form there.
Go to Content > Landing Pages and in the Default Folder, find the Landing Page you created in Step 4. Design a Landing Page. Point to the down-arrow on the right and click Edit:
Your Landing Page opens in the Composer.
At the top, click the Design tab.
Add a new section at the bottom, and drag and drop a Form block into that section:
Edit Form Block opens on the right.
In Select Form click the large box and in the Choose Assets dialog, select your Form and click Select. Your Form is previewed as shown:
At the bottom right, click OK.
At the top right, click Save.
What Good Looks Like
Your Landing Page and Form in a browser...
...and on a mobile device.
Congratulations, you created your first Landing Page and Form!
Act-On has a library of Form templates for you to edit and customize. Go to Content > Catalog > Forms tab for pre-designed template ideas!
Rather watch a video? Have a look at Capture Visitors with Forms in the New User Video Learning for information about building Forms (Act-On sign-in is required for access).
There's More to Form Design
This exercise is a basic Form to get you started; there is much more to designing a Form to convert your prospects to 'known' and grow your lists. See Advanced Forms Features.
Next, we'll try some automation to demonstrate how to deliver your email marketing campaigns with low effort.