Display and share a form

Misty Flowers

September 30, 2020 17:00

An active Finalsite Form can be shared in two ways: embedded on a Composer page using a Forms element, or distributed via a direct link. The Forms element lets visitors submit the form as part of your site experience; the direct link works well for email campaigns or sharing externally.

💡Quick answers

Displaying a form on a Composer page? Add a Forms element from the Module Element tab in the Element Library, open its settings, and select your form from the dropdown menu.
Is the Forms element the same as the Form element for Legacy Forms Manager? No; the Forms element (plural) is for new Forms, while the Form element (singular) is for Legacy Forms Manager. Choose the correct one for your module.
Getting a direct link to share a form outside of Composer? In the Forms module, open the form and find the direct link option; this URL can be shared via email or linked anywhere without embedding the full form element.
Does the form need to be set to Active before it can be shared? Yes; toggle the form from Inactive to Active before sharing; inactive forms do not accept submissions from site visitors.

Once you’ve built and activated a form in the new Forms module, it’s time to share it to your users to get submissions. This article describes two ways to get your form out there.

This article refers to our newest product, Forms, which is available to you in your modules list. You may be a Legacy Forms Manager user which has a different set of help documentation.

Not sure? Please review "Which forms module do I have: New Forms or Legacy Forms Manager?"

Display a form on a page

To share your form on a Composer page, use the Forms element from the Module Element tab in the Element library. Just add the element to the page, click into it to edit the Element Settings, and select your form from the dropdown menu.

Important Note

The element used to add a form from our legacy forms module, Forms Manager, is called the “Form” element. This may be confusing. Just aim for the element with the “new” badge!

module tab > forms.png

Share with a direct link

Using a Composer page is the preferred method, because then the form takes on your site’s styles and attractive formatting. However, sometimes you just need the direct link to a form.

Here's where to find the link to a form:

Click the Share Form icon in the bottom-right of the form.
A window will pop up displaying the form’s full URL.
Click the Copy URL icon at the end of the URL field.
Paste the link where you are wanting to share the form.

Optional: You can Create and set a Default Form Page to apply your site's styling to the form when the direct URL is shared with others.