Sign-up Forms

A sign-up form lets people subscribe themselves. Each form has its own page you can link to, and you can put it on your website.

Create a form

1. Inside a project, go to Forms and select New form.
2. Work through the tabs. The Preview next to them shows the form as visitors will see it.
3. Select Save.

Settings

• Form name: for you only.
• Heading, Intro text, Button label, and Fine print (for example how often you send and how to unsubscribe).
• Thank-you message, or a Thank-you page on your own website (it must start with https://).
• Allow this form on other websites: turn this off if the form should only be used on its own page.
• Require a captcha: adds an invisible check that the visitor's browser does in a second or so. It needs JavaScript and a secure (https) connection. Turn it on if bots start signing up.
• Add new subscribers to these groups: see Add subscribers to groups.

Add subscribers to groups

On the Settings tab, tick up to 20 groups under Add new subscribers to these groups. Everyone who subscribes through this form joins them, so you can tell where people came from or send them a campaign of their own (for example a "Spring event" group for the event's sign-up form).

• Single opt-in: people are added when they sign up. An active subscriber who fills in the form again is added too.
• Double opt-in: people are added once they confirm their email, using the groups the form has at that moment. Someone already on your list who doesn't need to confirm isn't added; add them on the Contacts page.

Visitors never see which groups a form uses. If a group is deleted, the form simply stops adding people to it. If adding to a group ever fails, the sign-up itself still goes through.

Fields

Email is always first and required. You can add first name, last name, and your own custom fields (for example City). Mark fields as required or optional and change their order. Custom fields are saved to the contact's custom data, so segments can use them.

Style

Choose the page, form, text, and button colours, a font, and how rounded the corners are.

Double opt-in (recommended)

With Ask new subscribers to confirm by email on, people get an email with a confirmation link and are only subscribed after they confirm. This keeps mistyped and fake addresses off your list.

• Send emails from: the sender for the confirmation and welcome emails. Without one, a double opt-in form refuses sign-ups.
• Confirmation email: the subject and the message (Markdown). Put {{ confirm_url }} where the confirmation link goes, for example [Confirm my subscription]({{ confirm_url }}). {{ contact.first_name }} adds the person's first name.
• After confirming, go to: optionally, a page on your website.

The link in the email opens a page with a Confirm subscription button, so email security scanners that open links can't confirm on someone's behalf. Links work for 48 hours.

Welcome email

Optionally send a welcome email once someone is subscribed: right away without double opt-in, or after they confirm. It always includes an unsubscribe link.

Share a form

On a saved form, the Share panel offers:

• Link to this form: send it, or link to it from your website or social media.
• Embed on a website (recommended): an iframe snippet for your website. It keeps all the spam protection.
• Plain HTML form: a simple form that matches your style settings. It can't use the captcha.

On the Forms page, each form has Open (opens its page), Copy link, and Edit.

What happens when someone signs up

The person is…	Single opt-in	Double opt-in
New	Subscribed (active) at once	Pending until they confirm
Already active	Their details are updated	Nothing changes; no email
Unsubscribed, or marked as spam	Nothing changes	They get a confirmation email and are subscribed again only if they confirm
Bounced	Nothing changes	Nothing changes (their address can't receive email)

The visitor sees the same message in every case, so the form never reveals who is on your list.

Spam protection

Every form quietly turns away common bots: a hidden field people never see, and sign-ups sent faster than a person could fill in the form. Too many sign-ups from one address are slowed down. With the captcha on, each sign-up also needs the browser check. Rejected sign-ups see the normal thank-you message, so bots don't learn anything.