A drop list (drop-down) field limits the person filling out your form to a single choice from a set of options, which is useful when you want one clean, consistent answer instead of free text. Here's how to add one to a Classic Form.
Disclaimer: This article relates to Classic Forms, a legacy feature unavailable for new accounts. If you need information on using Act-On Forms, see Forms Composer User Guide.
Why this matters: Restricting a field to one selection keeps your data consistent and easy to segment on later, and the option to reuse a saved template (like a U.S. States list) means you only have to build a long choice list once.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users)
- Path: Content > Forms, hover over a block, select New > Drop List.
- Drop List Choices are customer-facing; Corresponding Values are the internal field association.
- Click More Choices to add extra options beyond the default set.
- Templates let you reuse a previously-created drop-down list (e.g., U.S. States).
- Field mapping of form fields to list columns happens on the Finish page of the form editor.
Create a Drop List Field
- Click on Content > click Forms.
- From the Forms page, select New in the upper right corner of the page (or edit an existing form).
- When a new form is created, three default fields will appear: First Name, Last Name, and Email Address.
- Hover over a block to access the sub-menu and select New.
- Select Drop List. The Edit Drop-down List Field dialog window will appear with three editing areas: Display Settings, Input Validation, and Data Field Name.
- Display Settings – Allows you to add a visible label name and customize the width of the field to match your desired look and feel
- Drop List Choices and Corresponding Values – Allows you to designate the selections or options that users can choose from:
- Drop List Choices is a customer-facing value, while Corresponding Values is a field association within Act-On
- If you need more fields than the default, click the More Choices button to add as many as you need
- Templates – You have the choice to use a previously-created drop-down list template (e.g., U.S States). After it has been created once, it can be reused.
- Input Validation – Provides the option to make the drop-down list a required field for the user
- Data Field Name – This will be the column name on the list created to collect data from your form. In many cases the label and field name will be the same, but you may wish to classify the answers in different verbiage with respect to your label.
- Each drop-down list represents a single form field in Act-On and feeds a single column in the Signup list associated with the form. When you add or edit one of these blocks, you define a name for the form field. The final 'field mapping' of form fields to the list columns takes place on the Finish page of the form editor.
- Once you have completed your selections, click the Submit button at the bottom of the dialog window.
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