Creating Forms in Sure Send

Purpose: Forms let you capture leads directly into your Sure Send CRM. Build custom forms with drag-and-drop fields, map them to your CRM, and publish them as standalone pages or embed them on your website.

Path: Settings > Lead Capture > Forms

The Forms Page

When you navigate to Settings > Lead Capture > Forms, you will see the forms management page. From here you can search existing forms, filter by status (Draft, Published, Archived), and create new forms.

Click Create Form to open the form builder. If no forms exist yet, a green Create Form button appears in the center of the page. You can also click Create a New Form in the upper right corner at any time.

The Form Builder

The form builder has four tabs across the top: Form Builder, Submit Actions, Settings, and Themes. Each tab controls a different aspect of your form.

Form Builder Tab

This is where you add and arrange the fields on your form using drag and drop. Fields are organized into five categories:

Basic Fields

• Text — Single-line text input. Use for names, addresses, or any short text.
• Email — Email address input with built-in format validation.
• Phone — Phone number input.
• Text Area — Multi-line text input for longer responses like messages or notes.

Choice Fields

• Dropdown — A dropdown menu where the visitor selects one option.
• Radio Button — A set of options where the visitor selects one.
• Checkbox — A set of options where the visitor can select multiple choices.

Other Fields

• Date — A date picker input.
• Number Input — A number-only input field.
• URL Input — A URL-specific input field.
• Hidden Field — A field that is not visible to the visitor. Use hidden fields to pass a consistent value with every submission without relying on the visitor to make a selection. For example, you can use a hidden field to attach a specific identifier or source label to every submission from a particular form.

File Fields

• Image Upload — Accepts JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP files.
• Document Upload — Accepts PDF, Word, Excel, and other document formats.

Layout Fields

• Text Block — A rich text area where you can add headers, descriptions, images, and embedded links. Useful for adding context, instructions, or legal language like Privacy Policy and Terms of Service links.
• Consent Box — A checkbox with customizable consent language. Use this for collecting opt-in consent for SMS, email marketing, or any other purpose that requires explicit agreement from the visitor.

Configuring Fields

Click any field on your form to open its configuration panel. Depending on the field type, you can configure:

• Label — The text displayed above the field (e.g., "First Name").
• Placeholder Text — Gray text inside the field that disappears when the visitor starts typing. Use it to show an example or brief instruction.
• Help Text — A smaller line of text below the field that gives visitors additional context or instructions.
• Required Toggle — Mark a field as required so the form cannot be submitted without it.
• Field Width — Set the field to full width or half width. Half-width fields display side by side (e.g., First Name and Last Name on the same row).

Submit Actions Tab

This tab controls what happens when a visitor submits the form.

• Lead Source — Select a lead source to assign to every contact created from this form. This determines how the submission is categorized in your CRM.
• Custom Value — Add a custom identifier to help distinguish submissions from this form in your database.
• Add Tags — Automatically apply one or more tags to the contact record when the form is submitted.
• Trigger Automation — Turn this on to trigger a specific automation when the form is submitted.

Settings Tab

This tab controls form behavior, notifications, and display options.

• Description — An internal description of the form. This is for your reference only and is not visible to visitors.
• Form Submission Notifications — Choose which team members are notified when a form is submitted. Useful for sales teams where multiple people need to act on new submissions.
• Submit Button Text — Customize what the submit button says (default is "Submit").
• Loading Text — A brief message that appears while the form is being submitted.
• After Submission Message — The success message visitors see after submitting the form.
• Redirect URL — Instead of showing a success message, redirect the visitor to a specific page after submission (e.g., a thank you page or landing page).
• Tracking Pixels — Add Meta or Google Ads tracking pixels to track form submissions as conversion events.
• Bot Protection — Enabled by default to prevent spam submissions.
• Branding — Choose whether to display or hide the "Powered by Sure Send" branding on the form.
• Validation — Configure how required field errors are displayed. Options include inline error text, an asterisk indicator, the word "Required," or no indicator.

Themes Tab

This tab controls the visual appearance of your form.

Presets: Choose from five pre-built themes: Default, Modern, Minimal, Bold, and Dark.

Customize: After selecting a preset (or starting from scratch), fine-tune the following:

• Background color
• Primary color
• Text color
• Border color
• Typography (select from available fonts)
• Border radius

A live preview panel at the bottom of the customization area shows your changes in real time.

Custom CSS: For advanced users, a Custom CSS editor is available to write your own styles.

Mapping Fields to Your CRM

After adding your fields, you need to map them to the corresponding CRM fields so the data flows into the right place when a visitor submits the form.

1. Click on a field in your form (e.g., the field labeled "First Name").
2. Click Map To.
3. Select Person as the record type.
4. Select the Field Type (e.g., Standard Field).
5. Select the specific CRM Field (e.g., First Name).
6. Click Save Mapping.

Repeat this for each field that needs to push data into your CRM. Basic fields like Email and Phone have fewer mapping options since they can only map to their corresponding CRM fields.

Consent boxes and text blocks do not need to be mapped.

Good to know: The form builder enforces a specific order. You must name your form before you can save it. You must save the form before you can start mapping fields. And you must map your fields before you can publish. The system will not let you skip ahead, so follow these steps in sequence.

Naming, Saving, and Publishing

The form builder requires each step to be completed in order before the next one becomes available.

1. Name your form by entering a title in the form name field at the top of the builder (e.g., "Contact Us"). You cannot save the form until it has a name.
2. Save your form by clicking Save. This saves your field layout, settings, and theme. You must save before you can start mapping fields to your CRM. You can save at any time and come back to continue editing later.
3. Map your fields to the corresponding CRM fields (see the section above). You must complete field mapping before the form can be published.
4. Publish your form by clicking Publish to make it live.

Once published, you can:

• Preview the form to see how it looks to visitors.
• Copy the direct link to share the form as a standalone page.
• Copy the embed code to add the form to your website.

You can continue editing a published form at any time. Make sure to click Save after any changes.

Tips

Tip: Use consent boxes to collect explicit opt-in consent for SMS messaging. Pair each consent box with a tag in the Submit Actions tab so you can immediately segment contacts based on what they consented to.

Tip: If a visitor does not check a consent box, you can use that as a condition in automations. For example, if a contact does not have the "sms-consent" tag, you can exclude them from text message automations automatically.

Tip: Use Text Block fields to add Privacy Policy and Terms of Service links to your form. This is especially important for forms used in SMS opt-in compliance.

Tip: Follow the required sequence: Name, Save, Map, Publish. The form builder enforces this order, so getting your form named and saved early means you can jump straight into mapping and publishing when you are ready.