Customize form Submit options

The Submit button in Finalsite Forms controls what happens after a submission: whether visitors see a thank-you message or get redirected to a page, who receives admin notification emails, and whether the submitter gets a confirmation. Merge tags in notification emails pull submitted data directly into the message body.

What happens when you click the submit button on a form is the most important part! In the Forms module, you can set what will happen when a form is submitted. This article outlines those options, including submission options and notification emails.

In this article

• Configure button label and alignment
• Configure submission options
• Configure Notification Emails > Send to Admins
  • Merge tags in notification emails for admins
  • Admin doesn't need to be a constituent!
  • Configure conditional notification emails
• Configure Notification Emails > Send to Submitter
  • Merge tags in notification emails for submitters
• Customize email template

When you add the first field to your form, the Submit button is automatically added at the bottom, below the reCAPTCHA field. 

Click on the Submit button to bring up the Edit settings in the right hand working panel.

Configure button label and alignment

To change what the button says, edit the Button Label field, and adjust the Button Alignment.

Configure submission options

Submission options determine the behavior the user sees after they submit the form. Select the radio button for either a Thank You Message or a Thank You Page. 

• Thank You Message is a plain-text message in your site’s heading 3 style that appears in place of the form. If the user wants to fill out the form again, it will be necessary to reload the page.
• Thank You Page can be any page in Composer you select from the page picker. As a best practice, it should include your thanks for submitting the form and an email address to direct any questions. You may want to create a generic page that you use for this purpose on all forms, or any forms that do not require specific follow-up steps.

Configure Notification Emails > Send to Admins

Send notification emails to any admins who need to act on or be aware of the data that was just received.

• Toggle Send to Admins to activate admin notifications.
• Enter an email address in the Recipient field. Click the + icon to add additional recipients or the trashcan icon to delete them.
• Create your Custom Message and click the Merge Tag button to insert personalized data from the form.

Compose a Custom Message to the admin in the text element. Select the checkbox below the recipients field(s) if you want to Include Submission Details in the notification email. This setting, as well as the message, cannot be customized per recipient. If the recipient is an admin with access to the form in Forms, they will also see a View Submission button to click and be redirected to the Forms module immediately.

Merge tags in notification emails for admins

Use merge tags to pull data directly from a submission and insert it into your Custom Message. This transforms a generic notification into a personalized record.

Why use them?

• Avoid recipient confusion: Without Merge Tags, recipients only receive a generic notification. This can be confusing if an admin manages multiple forms or if a user submits several different inquiries, as they won’t know which specific submission the email refers to without logging into the CMS.

• Increase efficiency: Populating your emails with specific information from form fields provides a clear, organized summary of the submission immediately upon receipt.

• Enhance professionalism: Using data like the submitter's name or specific interests results in speedier communication and a more personalized, professional experience for everyone involved.

Insert merge tags into your Custom Message area

1. Open the Menu: Click the Merge Tag button in the toolbar of the Custom Message text area.

2. Select Your Field: A dropdown will appear listing all the fields currently on your form (e.g., First Name, Date, Event Selection). Click the field you want to display.

3. Check the Placeholder: A "code" %%first_name%% will appear in your text. This is a placeholder that tells the system where to insert the user's data.

4. Automatic Replacement: When the email is sent, the system automatically replaces that placeholder with the actual information the user typed into the form.

Configure conditional notification emails

In some cases, you may want to send a notification to an admin only if the form has been filled out in a certain way. If so, add the recipient as normal, then click the Star icon next to their email address. This will allow you to set conditional rules, either date-based and/or field-based, to determine when to trigger a notification to that admin. For more information about setting up conditional rules, please refer to our article Create conditional form fields. 

Configure Notification Emails > Send to Submitter

Toggle Send to Submitter to have the user receive a message when they have successfully submitted a form. As a result, the user has confirmation that their submission went through, as well as a “paper” trail in case they need to refer back to their submission for any reason.

• Recipient: If you haven't already inserted an Email Address field into the form, go and insert one now. Once inserted and the form is saved, you may select the Email address field from the dropdown as the email address to use for the notification.
• Subject Line: An auto Subject Line is created. Click to overwrite your own Subject Line, if you prefer.
• Reply-To: Select a Reply-To address to receive replies from this confirmation, or the email will be sent with a "noreply@xxxx" address in the From field.
  • Reply-To addresses are managed in Messages. Go to Messages > Settings > Reply-To Addresses to add/remove email addresses.
• Custom Message: Compose a custom message to the recipient. Select the checkbox to have the user’s responses included in the email.

Merge tags in notification emails for submitters

Use merge tags to pull data directly from a submission and insert it into your Custom Message. This transforms a generic "Thank You" email into a personalized confirmation and a detailed record for the user.

Why use them?

• Avoid submitter confusion: Without Merge Tags, users receive a generic notification. If a parent is filling out multiple forms (e.g., for different children or events), they won’t know which specific submission the email refers to without merge tags like %%student_name%% or %%event_title%%.

• Provide a clear paper trail: Populating confirmation emails with specific form field data provides the submitter with an immediate, organized summary of their responses for their own records.

• Enhance professionalism: Using the submitter's name and specific interests creates a personalized, high-end experience that builds trust and ensures the user feels their information was handled accurately.

Insert merge tags into your Custom Message area

1. Open the Menu: Click the Merge Tag button in the toolbar of the Custom Message text area.

2. Select Your Field: A dropdown will appear listing all the fields currently on your form (e.g., First Name, Volunteer Interest, Total Amount). Click the field you want to display.

3. Check the Placeholder: A "code" %%first_name%% will appear in your text. This is a placeholder that tells the system where to insert the user's data.

4. Automatic Replacement: When the email is sent, the system automatically replaces that placeholder with the actual information the user typed into the form.

Customize email template 

To change the look of the email that gets sent to submitters, you can customize the template in the Messages module. Go to Messages > Templates > System > Transactional Template to swap out the default Finalsite logo for your organization’s logo and change the background color of the header to a complementary color. This template will be used for all form results emails, in any domain, so it is best to keep the logo as general as possible. The admin confirmation email template cannot be customized; only the submitter email template.