How to Create a Subscription Form

You can get new subscribers by placing a subscription form on your website.

To create a form, open the "Subscription forms" tab and click "Create subscription form.”

You can select a form template and edit it or open the "Form Builder" and create your form.

Types of Subscription Forms from SendPulse

• Embedded lets place a form in the most appropriate location on a webpage.
• Popup allows setting up a box that will pop up on a website.
• Floating forms stay in the same part of the screen even when a user scrolls on the page.
• Fixed allows pinning the form in a header or footer of a website.

How to Connect Form to a Mailing List

After choosing a form type, select a mailing list that to be updated with new subscribers. You can choose an existing list or create a new one. You can also choose several lists at the same time.

Move to the form builder.

On the left, you see the elements that you can add to the form. In the center, there is a blank template for your future form. On the right, there are settings for all elements of the form, as well as for the form itself.

Elements of a Subscription Form

Input box

Drag the "Input" element from the side panel to the appropriate place in the form. Add the input field name and enter a hint for subscribers, so that they understand what data to enter in the form. Bind the field to a variable to transfer the data from this field to your list. You can make the field mandatory, and the form will not be submitted before it is filled in.

Checkbox

This element might be handy for a form that suggests picking several options from a list. For instance, when your client subscribes to your email campaigns, they will be able to select categories of the updates: news, discounts, contests, event invitations, etc.

Drag the "Checkbox" element to the form. Add the checkbox label and bind the checkbox to a variable. If a subscriber checks the box in the subscription form, the data goes to the corresponding variable column in the bound mailing list.

You can use checkboxes to get formal proof of subscribers' agreement with the terms and conditions of your subscription.

GDPR compliance

If you have subscribers from the European Union, you have to be compliant with GDPR policies.

According to the protocol, clients have to provide a formal agreement to receive emails and allow a sender to use and store their data.

Open the "Form Options" menu.

On the "Data and type of the form" tab, activate compliance with the GDPR.

This action adds two GDPR related checkboxes to your subscription form. 

To change the text for the checkbox, click the checkbox element in the form. On the "Element" tab, change the text in the "Checkbox label" field.

Add a link to your privacy policy into the code in the "Checkbox label" field.

Sample code with the link to the privacy policy:

<a href="https://sendpulse.com/en/legal/pp" target="_blank">

It is recommended to set up GDPR checkboxes as required conditions so that clients won't be able to sign up before they agree to terms and conditions.

After a subscriber tick these GDPR related checkboxes, the mailing list will be updated with new variables displaying the fact of agreement with Terms and Policies, IP address that provided approval, and the date.

These variables can help more accurately segment your mailing list.

Radio buttons

Use radio buttons to suggest several options.

Drag the "Radio buttons" element to the form. Add a label of a radio buttons group. Bind the radio buttons group to a variable, to transfer the data.

Add the text and values for each option. The text is displayed to subscribers in the form, and values will be transferred to the variable in the mailing list.

Drop-down

Drag the "Drop-down" element to the form. Add a label of a drop-down list. Bind the drop-down menu to a variable, where the data will be transferred.

Add the text and values for each option. The text will is displayed to subscribers in the form, and values transfer to the variable in the mailing list.

Text

Drag the "Text" element to the form. Add the text.

On the "Element" tab, you can format it as you like.

Image

Drag the "Image" element to the form. Insert a picture.

The maximum size is 600 x 600 pixels, and the size should not exceed 1 Mb.

Spacer

Use this to add space between elements of the subscription form.

Drag the "Spacer" element to the form. Adjust the height of the spacer block using the runner on the "Element" tab.

Subscription Form Design Parameters

In the "Designer" tab, you can customize the design of your subscription form.

The "Block style" settings allow you to change the subscription form's style. Customize the form's width, color, and transparency of the form's background. You can also add a form background and add effects for the presentation of the form.

The "Input fields and labels" settings allow you to change input fields size and background, adding borders to the fields and rounding corners. You can customize the location, color, and size of field labels.

How to Set Up a Subscription Notification

After you have created the form design, set up the form parameters. You can get to settings by clicking "Form Options" in the upper right corner.

You can see four tabs here:

• Data and type of the form
• Notification about subscription
• Text of the confirmation email
• Confirmation page
• Analytics and statistics

Data and style of the form

In this tab, you can name your form, select a mailing list, specify a language for notifications and errors, and determine the form type. Each type will have its settings.

"Popup" and "Floating" forms have additional settings:

• Display condition sets when exactly a subscription form will be displayed on a website: "On page load," "On button click," "When scrolling to a part of the page," "When the cursor leaves the page."

• Hide on Mobile lets you hide the form from visitors who use a cell phone to open the website.

• Repeat the display is used to set up a delay time to show the form to a visitor again in several days.

• Show on pages allows you to choose on what pages to show the subscription form. To do that, select "On Condition" and then "Hide" or "Show" and add a link to the page where you would like to apply the condition.

Notification about subscription

This message appears after a user fills out the form and clicks the "Subscribe" button.

In the notification text, indicate that the subscriber needs to confirm the subscription. Otherwise, the subscriber will not receive your emails.

Text of the confirmation email

After subscribing, an email with a request to confirm the subscription is sent to a user. In this tab, you can change a from address, a subject line, and the text.

Remember that you need to specify the {{LINK}} tag in the message text. A link for the subscription confirmation will be added to this tag in the email instead.

Confirmation page

On the "Confirmation page" tab, you set up the page that a new subscriber is redirected to after confirming their subscription. You can choose if it will be a system page or a page on your site. If you select redirecting to a page on your website, specify the URL of this page.

Analytics and statistics

On the "Analytics and statistics" tab, you can turn on tracking the subscription event in Google Analytics and Yandex.Metrica.

How to Add the Code of the Form to a Website

After you set everything up, click "Apply Changes," and then "Save and get the code."

Insert the form code into the website source code between <body> tags.

If your website is on WordPress platform, use this plugin

Another way to edit tags is via Google Tag Manager.

Use reCAPTCHA to Validate Your Subscribers

Captcha will protect your mailing list from catching fake subscribers, who will get your messages to spam.

The reCAPTCHA will appear after you hit 100 subscribers a day.

Last Updated: 2020-01-15