Form Submit & Data Storage
Form submissions take care of creating and updating User records based on matching against email address.
Where an email address does not already exist a record is created and where the email address does exist, the record will be updated.
Field Mapping
Each input field added to a Form can be mapped directly into either a User Profile Field or a Custom Field using the properties that appear in the sidebar of the editor.
There is also the option to compress all fields into a JSON array of data and store the result in a single Custom Field.
The JSON data approach provides an efficient method for being able to collect increased amounts of data above the 18 User Profile Field & 30 Custom Field limits.
Bot Detection
Bots crawl web pages meaning that Forms need to be protected from automated submissions to ensure that Lists are protected from toxic data and also to ensure inadvertent spamming is avoided.
All Forms implement Captcha as standard to protect against automated submission from bots. Click here for more information on Captcha.
Recording Consent
Commonly, checkboxes are displayed to allow the person viewing the Form to provide their explicit content.
There are two types of consent controls that can be added to Forms. The first is for 'Data Processing' and the other is 'Marketing'.
Data Processing
Website privacy notices can be used to set out the details and terms of use of Forms but consent can also be explicitly stated on the Form.
This could be displayed as a checkbox that must be checked prior to Form submission e.g.
I confirm consent for ABC Company to store and process my personal data.
or displayed clearly to the User making them aware of acceptance of the Privacy Policy e.g.
By clicking 'Submit' I accept the Privacy Policy.
Marketing
Forms can include a complete email preferences set of controls where the user is asked to choose the type of emails they would like to receive. The fact that they are physically checking boxes implies consent is being given when the Form is submitted.
In some scenarios, explicit consent may need to be recorded. For example, a website displays a create an account page and at the very bottom of the Form there is a checkbox with the label 'I would like to receive your monthly email newsletter' - using this marketing consent checkbox feature will retain a log of the related details.
Information Recorded
The information recorded as proof of consent when either of these options are used is:
- The consent text displayed to the User
- Date & time
- Email address and related data
- IP address
- Web browser / user-agent string
Automation
Creating and updating of User records happens by default and further actions can be automated using a few different methods.
Workflow (no coding)
A Workflow can be triggered on Form submission. For more information on Workflows, click here.
Zapier (no coding)
Zapier connects to 100s of apps without the need for any coding. Click here for more information on how to connect Forms to Zapier.
Forms API
The Forms API provides developers with the ability to access submission data for reporting purposes and for creating custom integrations with other apps.