Automation After a Legacy ONTRApages Smart Form is Submitted

About ONTRAform Settings

Note: This article covers our legacy ONTRApages builder. For details on our newest Page builder, see this article.

Applies to: All ONTRAPORT accounts.

What happens when your prospect clicks the Submit button on your opt-in form? With ONTRAPORT you can automate almost any interaction, from welcoming them with an email or SMS text to granting them membership in a WordPress site

We recommend adding the new Contact to a Campaign to engage them immediately. Here are the methods you can use.

Navigate to your Form Settings

Click on the Smart Form Block from the Palette or by click Edit in the block from the Canvas. If the block has multiple elements (e.g. text, form), you may need to click once more on the Form element.
Click on Form Settings

Set your Opt-in Settings.

Opt-in settings determine whether a user must confirm that they want to be added to your database. To learn detailed information about opt-in settings, see this article.

Single Opt-in: A visitor fills out the form and clicks the submit button, they're added to your database and receive your emails with no further action required.

Form settings are defaulted to this option. Once selected, choose the page that the visitor will see after filling out the ONTRAform in the Send contacts here section by selecting one of the following:

Default thank you page
Landing Page (ONTRApage)
Pop ONTRAform Lightbox
Custom URL (e.g.

Double Opt-in Required is when a visitor needs to confirm their sign up. They are sent a confirmation email where they must click a link to confirm their desire to receive emails from you.

Select your Confirmation Email: Use the pulldown menu to select the desired confirmation email.
Set the page visitors see after filling out the form: Select the confirmation page visitors will see once they fill out the form while waiting for the email with the confirmation link.
Send contacts who already opted-in to a different page: Mark this checkbox for those who have already opted-in to your database instead of misleading them into thinking they need to check their inbox again for a confirmation email.
Send Contacts here: New contacts are directed to this page after clicking the link in the confirmation email or if the "Send contact who are already opted-in to a different page" checkbox is marked.

Double Opt-inOptional is when a visitor fills out the form and clicks the submit button, they're added to your database and receive your emails. The contact is also sent a second email to click the link in the confirmation email. Follow the setup instructions above for Double Opt-in Required.

Set your Manage Form Fills and Always On Rules (optional)

These optional settings are not needed if you use Campaigns. We strongly recommend you use Campaign elements instead to centralize all automation on the Campaign map and speed up form processing.

Manage form fills and always on rules in form settings

Manage Form Fills (optional, not recommended)

These legacy sections allow you to add the contact submitting the form to Campaigns and Sequences and add Tags to the contact. To use, select the appropriate Campaign, Sequence or Tag from the drop down list. Instead of using these sections we recommend the following:

Add to Campaign: Use a Campaign Trigger for "Contact Submits a Form" instead. This will speed up form processing for your new Contact and provide an easier way to view the number of submissions and update the action later.

Add to Tag: Use a Change Tags element on the Campaign to add or remove Tags from the Contact.

Add to Sequence: If you are using Sequences, we recommend you use an Add to Sequence element on your Campaign instead.

These legacy sections are not as transparent as the equivalent element on a Campaign, and can serve to slow down form processing.

Always On Rules (optional, not recommended)

These Rules will be run for the contact submitting the form. You can choose any number of Rules to run on the new contact. We recommend adding the contact to a Campaign and running rules on the contact in the campaign instead.

Set your Notifications Settings (optional)

Notification and Routing

Send Notification: Enter an email to be sent a notification that the form was filled out. This is a pre-formatted, standardized notification as shown below:

the standard notification email includes the fields from the form

Make Contact Owner: Use the drop down to select one of the ONTRAPORT Users as the Contact Owner. If left blank the Admin User will be the contact owner.

Set Your Advanced Form Settings

Advanced form settings are rarely used, and are provided for developer use.

Override email address merge with cookie data forces the form to use the ONTRAPORT cookie information rather than the email address entered on the form. This means the email entered, if new, will replace the Contact Record's former email address and not create a new Contact Record.

Pass CGI variables to Landing/Thank you page is used by developers when they want the form to pass the data to the landing or thank you page rather than just adding it to ONTRAPORT. This is most commonly used when there is some post-form processing they want to do with the information after the form is submitted.

Redirect after immediate campaign and sequence steps run delays the Thank You page after first running any immediate steps or Campaign elements in Sequences or Campaigns listed in the Manage Form Fills section. This option would be used only if those immediate steps or elements are required for populating merge fields that are not present on the ONTRAform itself (such as a username or password field for a WordPress website). Checking this option will make the form processing to appear slower, as the redirect to the Thank You page is delayed.

form advanced settings

Adding the Contacts to a Campaign

There are three ways you can add automate what happens after a Smart Form fill out.

Recommended: Add a Trigger in your Campaign for Contact fills out form:

Navigate to Campaigns. Create a new Campaign or open an existing one related to your Smart Form.
Add a new Trigger element or modify an existing one.
Click the + Add Trigger button.
Select "Contact Submits a Form" for the Trigger. Use the dropdown to select the Smart Form you created.
Adjust the Settings including:
- Which Contacts can activate this trigger (most often this will be Any Contact in account)
- If a trigger is activated and the contact is already on this campaign map (many choose add here again when triggered)
- If the trigger can only be activated once per Contact (only select this checkbox if the form fillout should be limited to the first time the form is filled out).
- Click Done in the Goal Settings panel.
- Add other elements by clicking "what happens next" below the Trigger to communicate with those who have filled out your form (e.g., send an email or an sms message)

Alternate Recommended Method: Add a Goal for Contact fills out form

Navigate to Contacts > Campaigns
Create a new Campaign or open an existing one related to your Smart Form
Add a new Goal element or modify an existing one.
Click the + Add Goal button.
In the Goal, select "Contact Submits a Form". Use the dropdown to select the Smart Form you created.
Adjust the Settings including:
- Which Contacts can achieve this goal (choose any Contact)
- If a goal is activated and the contact is already on this campaign map (choose move the contact here)
- If the goal can only be activated once per Contact (check this checkbox if the Campaign should be limited to the first time the form is filled out).
- Click Done in the Goal Settings panel.
- Add other elements by clicking "what happens next" below the goal to communicate with those who have filled out your form (e.g., send an email or an sms message).

Not Recommended: Add to a Campaign under the Manage Form Fills in Form Settings. We strongly recommend adding all automation to the Campaign map directly so you can easily see all pieces of your funnel in one place. If you want to have the form itself add the Contact to the Campaign here is how to do it:

Click on the Smart Form Block from the Palette or by clicking Edit in the Smart Form block from the Canvas. If the block has multiple elements (e.g. text, form), you may need to click once more on the Form element.
Click on Form Settings. Under the Manage Form Fills area, select + Add to Campaign and select the Campaign from the drop down.

Note: Using this method in combination with the Trigger or Goal method above will add the Contact to the Campaign twice, and it can be difficult to determine which form has this setting. We strongly encourage you to use the Trigger or Goal method above instead.

Other Resources

ONTRApages Basics:

Selling Products and Leveraging Upsell Opportunities

Publishing Your ONTRApages

Publishing Your ONTRApages

Frank Hagan

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