Notifications (Basic)

Last edited 7/8/2021
Form Builder includes automatic email notifications that go out whenever someone completes your form. Unlike the main Events Module, which automatically sets up notifications for all events, the Form Builder is more customizable and each form must be manually configured.

Best Practice: Create new forms from templates that already have notifications properly set up. That way, relevant contact information will already be included, saving you time and decreasing the likelihood of mistakes.

Basic notifications are set up under the Notifications tab of a form and include one email to the council and one to the end-user. To set up additional emails or to send emails dependent on specific user inputs, see Logic & Advanced Notifications.

The notifications button appears once you've selected a form.

Clicking on "Notifications" in Form Manager takes you to a screen with 3 options. Select both "Send Notification Emails to My Inbox" and "Send Confirmation Email to User."

Notifications screen with options to "Send Notification Emails to My Inbox," "Send Confirmation Email to User," and "Send Form Data to Another Website."

 

Important: Forms must include both a Name field and an Email field in order for notifications to work correctly.

Notification Emails to Your Inbox:

This notification should be sent to the event contact (or the person at the council who needs this information). Clicking reply should put them in touch with the person who filled out the form. With these goals in mind, notifications to your inbox should be set up as follows:

  1. Your Email Address - This should be the email of the event contact or relevant council staff. Comma-separate addresses to add multiple recipients.
  2. Bcc - You can blind copy additional recipients here. Email addresses should be comma-separated.
  3. From Name - By default this will be set to "FormMaster," but should be changed to the name entered by the user. The drop-down here lists field labels from the form. In most cases, the one you want will be "Name" or "Contact Name." If your form has multiple name-type fields, double-check that you've chosen the correct one.
  4. Reply-to Email - This should be the email address entered by the user. The drop-down here lists field labels from the form. In most cases, the one you want will be "Email" or "Contact Email." If your form has multiple email-type fields, double-check that you've chosen the correct one.
  5. From Email - This cannot be set to the user's email, so to avoid spam filters we recommend using a no-reply address, such as "no-reply@forms.tentaroo.com." You may also choose to use your council's general delivery email address, but this is more likely to be flagged as spam.
  6. Email Subject - By default, this contains merge tags that auto-insert the form name and entry number. You can add further details if you wish.
  7. Email Content - This field already contains a copy of the submitted form data. You can add additional text if you'd like, e.g. any follow-up instructions or reminders. This field supports rich text (HTML) formatting. Check "Attach Completed Form Data as PDF file" to include a record that can be easily filed or printed.

Expanded box for "Notification Emails to My Inbox" settings

Confirmation Emails to Users:

This notification should be sent to the person who filled out the form, then if they click reply it should go to the contact person for this event. Think of the confirmation as being sent from the council.

  1. User Email Address - This should be the email address entered by the user. The drop-down lists field labels from the form. In most cases, the one you want will be "Email." If your form has multiple email-type fields, double-check that you've chosen the correct one.
  2. From Name - This should be the organization that is running the event, survey, etc. From the drop-down choose "Select Custom Name" and type in your council, district, or lodge.
  3. Reply-to Email - This should be the event contact. Choose "Select Custom Address" and enter the contact's email address.
  4. From Email - This should be the same as the Reply-to Email above.
  5. Email Subject - By default, this contains merge tags that auto-insert the form name followed by " - Receipt." You can add further details if you wish.
  6. Email Content - This field already contains a copy of the submitted form data. You can add additional text if you'd like, e.g. a thank you message or any follow-up instructions. This field supports rich text (HTML) formatting. If your form or your custom email are especially long, you may want to check "Attach Completed Form Data as PDF file" to include an easily filed receipt for your users.

Expanded box for "Confirmation Emails to User" settings

 

Merge Tags:

Merge Tags allow you to customize your messages to users by inserting form data into the subject line and content of emails. Similar to email merges, this allows you to address users by name in your confirmation messages and include other specifics.

To make use of merge tags, click on one of the merge tags links at the bottom of either notification box. A pop-up will appear with a dropdown listing all of your form's fields. Select the label of the field you want to use and copy the tag that appears, including both curly brackets. Paste the tag wherever you want its corresponding data to appear in your notification.

 

Merge Tag Pop-up with a displayed tag of "Form_Name?"

 

As an example, if you have a form that collects shirt sizes, your notification message might be set up as:

     Dear {element_2_1},
     We will have your {element_32} shirt awaiting you at our {form_name}.

And the user would receive the message:

     Dear Teddy,
     We will have your adult-large shirt awaiting you at our 2021 Scout Trivia Night.

 

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