> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.autocampaign.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Lead forms

> Build a form we host for you, share it or add it to your website, and turn every submission into a contact with automatic follow-up.

## Overview

A [lead form](/getting-started/glossary#lead-form) is a form that captures leads.
We host it for you at a public link (`/f/<slug>`), and you can also add it to your
own website. It can carry your branding. Every submission is stored, matched to a
[contact](/contacts/overview), and can trigger follow-ups: tags, a segment, a
thank-you SMS or email, an opportunity, a team notification, or a workflow. Find
forms under **CRM → Lead Capture → Forms** in the sidebar (`/forms`).

<Tip>
  **In short:** 1) Build the form from a template or blank. 2) Choose what happens
  after someone submits. 3) Publish, then share the link or add it to your site.
</Tip>

<Info>
  **Time to complete:** \~20 minutes  ·  **Difficulty:** Intermediate  · 
  Forms accept submissions only while **Published**.
</Info>

For simpler SMS sign-up pages, see [join links](/campaigns/join-links).

## Before you start

Have these ready:

* A role that lets you create and update forms. Publishing also needs a free
  published-form slot on your plan; drafts don't count.
* For a thank-you SMS, an active SMS number. For a thank-you email, a verified
  [email sender](/providers/email-senders) (an address you've proven you own).
* If you want to add submitters to a segment, create the
  [segment](/contacts/segments) first.

## Build a form

Click **Create Form** to start blank, or **Use a template** (Contact Us, Get a
Quote, Book an Appointment, Newsletter Signup, and more). Template questions stay
editable, and your work saves automatically as a draft.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Basics" icon="pen">
    Set the **Lead form name**, an internal **Description**, and **Form tags** to
    organize your forms. These tags don't apply to contacts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Questions" icon="list">
    Add blocks from the library. **Smart Fields** (Full Name, Email Address, Phone
    Number, Company Name, Budget, and more) are already connected to contact fields.
    **All question blocks** adds Short answer, Long answer, Email, Phone, Company,
    Website, Address, Dropdown, Multiple choice, Checkboxes, Date, Time, Rating,
    File upload, Hidden value, and Consent. It also adds Heading, Paragraph, and
    Divider layout blocks.

    Select a question to set **Required**, **Placeholder**, **Help text**,
    **Choices**, or answer length. Use **Save answer to contact** to store the answer
    in a contact field or a **Custom contact detail…**. File uploads allow up to 25 MB
    and 10 files per question. **Skip ahead after this question** lets the form take
    a different path depending on the answer. The **Flow** view flags questions that
    would never be shown.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Design" icon="palette">
    Choose a **Form style**: **Classic** (one page) or **Conversational** (one
    question at a time). Then pick a theme or your own **Brand color**, **Background
    color**, **Font**, **Button style**, **Logo**, and **Background image**. **Save
    current design as theme** to reuse it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="After Submission" icon="bolt">
    Pick the follow-up actions (below) and write the **Success Message** or a
    web address to send visitors to (http or https). Sending them elsewhere replaces the message.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish" icon="rocket">
    Turn on **Publish this lead form** and click **Save & Publish**, or **Save
    Draft** to keep it private. You land on the **Share** tab.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Publishing needs at least one question a visitor can answer. Forms hold up to 50
questions with up to 50 choices each.

## Publish and share

The **Share** tab gives you three ways to reach visitors:

* **Hosted link** — **Copy link** or **Open form**. The slug (the last part of the
  web address) is generated from the form name.
* **QR code** — **Download QR** for print.
* **Add to your website** — choose **On the page**, **Popup**, or **Slide-in**, then
  copy the snippet (a short piece of code your web designer pastes into your site)
  for **HTML**, **React**, **WordPress**, or **Shopify**.

**Preview** (`/forms/<id>/preview`) walks through the form as a visitor would. It never
saves answers, sends follow-ups, or counts in analytics.

Forms move **Draft** → **Published** → **Archived**. **Archive** takes a form
offline and frees its plan slot; **Unarchive** republishes it. Deleting keeps
existing submissions and contacts.

## What happens on submit

Autocampaign AI saves the submission first, so a lead is never lost if a follow-up
fails. It then runs each turned-on action on its own:

* **Save as a contact** matches by phone, then email, filling only empty fields.
  Otherwise it creates a contact with source Lead Form. **Save answers to custom
  fields** stores answers that aren't mapped to a standard field on the contact.
* **Add to Audience** adds the contact to a **Segment**; **Add Tags** applies tags.
* **Send Thank You SMS** (from a number you pick) skips opted-out contacts.
  **Send Thank You Email** (from a verified sender) skips addresses on the do-not-send list.
* **Create an opportunity** in a **Pipeline** and **Stage**, optionally with an
  **Owner**. Skipped if the contact already has an open one there. See
  [Opportunities](/crm/opportunities).
* **Notify Team** sends an in-app notification.
* **Enable automations & activity log** records the submission on the contact and
  lets **Trigger Workflow** start a [workflow](/automation/workflow-builder).

A **Consent** block stores the exact consent text, whether it was checked, and the
time with the submission.

<Note>
  Consent is stored as evidence on the submission only. It doesn't change a
  contact's SMS opt-out status.
</Note>

<Note>
  There is no spam check. Each visitor is limited in how many public
  submissions they can send in a short time. Uploads are checked again for type
  and size before a submission is accepted.
</Note>

## Review submissions and analytics

The **Forms** list shows **Form views**, **Submissions**, **Conversion rate**, and
**Submissions · last 30 days**, with **Edit**, **Preview**, **Duplicate**,
**Share**, **Analytics**, **Archive**, and **Delete** per form.

A form's **Submissions** tab lists each lead with a **Status** of **New**,
**Contact created**, **Contact updated**, or **Needs attention**. Open a row for
**Responses** and **Source & device** (UTM values, referrer, page). UTM values are the
tracking tags in a link that show which ad or post the visitor came from. The row also
shows each **Follow-up action** as **Done**, **Skipped**, or **Failed**. Use **View contact**
or **Export CSV**. Submissions also appear on the contact's record.

The **Analytics** tab covers 7, 30, or 90 days: **Views**, **Starts**,
**Submissions**, **Conversion rate**, **Abandonment**, **Views over time**, a
**Funnel**, **Devices**, **Top sources**, and **Hosted vs website**.

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I change the hosted link's slug?">
    No. It's generated from the form name when the form is created. Duplicating a
    form makes a new slug.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does a submission duplicate an existing contact?">
    No. Matching is by phone, then email; only empty fields are filled and tags are
    added.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What does a Hidden value block do?">
    It submits a fixed **Value** with every response without showing anything.
    Handy for labeling a copy of a form by where you placed it.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why is Save & Publish blocked?">
    Fix the step named in the pop-up message, add a question a visitor can answer,
    or free a published-form slot by archiving another form or upgrading.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why didn't the thank-you SMS or email send?">
    Check the submission's **Follow-up actions**. **Failed** usually means the sender
    number is inactive or the email sender isn't verified. **Skipped** means no
    phone or email, an opted-out contact, or an address on the do-not-send list.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why do visitors see 'This form is not available'?">
    The form is a draft or archived, or the link is wrong. Publish it and copy the
    link again from **Share**.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Card title="Text-to-join keywords" icon="hashtag" href="/growth/join-keywords">
  Capture subscribers from print and signage with a keyword.
</Card>