We’ve just released custom email templates, a feature that enables you to receive notifications customized in terms of content, layout and appearance. You can create new email templates in your Settings → Notifications → Customize Emails section.

Click on Manage to open the customization lightbox and press Create New to set up a new email template. When the Preview is OFF, you can view and edit the HTML code of the notification template. Let’s go over several common customization options.

1. Less submission content. When you don’t want to include all user input in the notification email, delete the form fields that you don’t need. What you see in the customization lightbox is the code for the HTML table that holds the notification email content. Form fields are contained in individual rows, which are marked by the <tr> and </tr> tags (beginning and end). Delete the code for the rows that you want out and save the new email template.

2. No submission content, just an alert message. We started working on this feature when one of our users told us that he wanted to receive only an email alert and then to access the submission in his 123ContactForm account. Now you can achieve this by deleting the entire predefined content of the notification email and typing the alert message instead. Quick note: If you want to insert a line break, use the tag <br /> instead of pressing Enter.

3. Message containing user input. You can create notification email templates consisting in more elaborate alert messages that contain user input elements. Use the codes listed on the right side of the customization lightbox to do this. Example: [%Name%] has just filled out your form and can be contacted at [%Email%]. Such codes can be used for each of the form fields and bring user input into the notification message.

4. HTML/CSS customization. If you like to play around with HTML and CSS, you can change and style the default submission table to brand the email template in the way that suits your company image best or you can start setting up an email template from scratch.

To visit the Users section, click on the newly added tab in your main menu. The section is structured much alike your My Forms section, only that – instead of forms – it lists users.

You can create subusers, edit their information and manage permissions. Subusers will access their accounts like any other 123ContactForm users and they will be on the service plan that you are on. Their login data will be sent to them via email, together with basic information on how to use the 123ContactForm platform.

How much control will subusers have over their forms? It is up to you. There are three permission levels – No access, View only and View & Edit – that you can set, separately, for the sections Form Editor, Settings, Submissions and Reports.

How many subusers can a master account create? It depends on the plan that you are on. On the Platinum plan, you can create 5 subaccounts. On our new Diamond plan – 20 subaccounts. If you need more than 20 subusers, contact us.

Read more about how to set up 123ContactForm subaccounts and get to work – your clients will be thrilled!

The kangaroo has arrived on the 123ContactForm main page with two major updates (other than its very presence): 123ContactForm subaccounts and a new service plan!

You are now able to create subusers and grant them access to viewing and editing the forms you’ve set up for them. Subusers will access their accounts like any other platform users and will be on the service plan you’re on. We’ll get into more detail in a future post. Meanwhile, learn more about 123ContactForm subaccounts in our Help section.

Our new Diamond plan allows for creating 20 subaccounts. It is meant especially for web designers and agencies. It starts with a 15-day free trial.

In fact, from now on, all paid plans – Gold, Platinum and Diamond – start with the two week trial. Upgrade your account and start exploring them! And keep close – the kangaroo has unveiled only half of its suprises.

To gear up the integration with Top Producer for your form, go to your Settings → Applications section. Select Top Producer in the dropdown list and press Add. 123ContactForm generates a username that you will need in a second to set up the integration on the Top Producer side. This username contains your original 123ContactForm username and the ID of the form for which you set up the integration.

The next part is done in the Top Producer interface. Log in to your account, go to the Settings section, click on the tab Contacts and then on Lead Setup. The link Add Lead Provider opens a new section where you need to type the 123ContactForm information. Select 123ContactForm in the Lead provider name dropdown; the URL box will be completed automatically. In the Username box, paste the username generated by 123ContactForm. Next, provide and confirm your password and select the person whom the leads created with the integration are meant for. Press Add Lead Provider and you’re done here.

Back to the 123ContactForm Settings section, click on Customize to open the customization lightbox and create field associations. Match the Top Producer fields listed on the left side of the box with 123ContactForm fields. Select the latter in the dropdown lists provided. Email, First Name and Last Name are required fields; all the rest are optional.

User information will now be transmitted from your 123ContactForm web forms to your Top Producer account. Enjoy!

Hidden buttons

Submit, Calculate and Purchase – these buttons can easily be hidden.

1. Submit: You can find this button listed in your Settings → Rules section. Set up a rule that hides it until a specific field is completed.

2. Calculate: If you don’t want for calculations to be available in your order form, paste this code: #id123-button-calc {display: none;} in the Settings → Themes → Use Custom CSS section.

3. Purchase: But if you only want to give an order estimate and to receive no actual orders, use the code #id123-button-send {visibility: hidden;}, which will hide the Purchase button.

State instead of Region

The predefined Address field contains the subfield named Region. Many of our US users prefer to have the field instruction State displayed instead. Since our service is used worldwide, it is fair to stick to Region in the default version of the field.

But you can always change it into State really easily. In your Settings → Translations section, click on Add Translation, select Region in the dropdown list and type State in the text box. That’s it!

Agreement request

When you want to make sure that form users agree with your Terms and Conditions, with a Privacy Policy or with similar documents, you can include a required and unlabeled one-choice Checkbox field at the bottom of your form, which makes it explicit that users are giving their consent. Right below it, place an HTML block containing a link to the web page where they can access the document.

Here, at 123ContactForm, we’ve had our New Year’s party a bit earlier. Besides eating the best homemade cookies ever and laughing at each other’s dance moves, we’ve had a discussion about rejoining with family and childhood friends for the winter holidays.

We’ve agreed that Christmas and New Year’s Eve are amazing because, thanks to all the love we’re surrounded by, we truly learn to perceive our mistakes as learning experiences, to believe in ourselves more and to think once again that everything is achievable.

So, for the new year, we wish you to believe in your projects, to grow them with dedication, inspiration and enthusiasm and to enjoy every step of the process. Happy New Year!

Not only will the form and survey charts and reports look cooler, but you will also be able to manipulate data in new ways. Stay tuned!

Professional hosting

Our platform runs on dedicated servers provided by ServInt. All information is stored in data centers that feature multiphase power redundancy, backup power generation systems, industrial-quality cooling, fire suppression. The facilities are under CCTV surveillance and biometric access control and are monitored 24/7. The virtualization layer run by ServInt servers provides high levels of redundancy and daily backups.

Antispam protection

Forms can be protected from spam in various ways. You can adjust antispam features in the Settings → Security section. For a start, there’s CAPTCHA protection, which makes it very difficult for robots to abuse your form. Based on your choice, the verification image will appear each time the form is accessed, will change daily or will only show up when the form seems to be abused (smart CAPTCHA), i.e. when multiple form submissions are made from the same IP address. You can also use IP limitation and restrict the submissions coming from the same IP to a certain number per day, e.g. 1.

You can also use country filters. To do this, you simply need to check the option Reject submissions from the following countries and type in the country codes that you want to reject (you’ll find these codes in an attached list). If your form is intended only for specific users, you can even set up password protection and share the keyword with the specific users only.

Phishing shutdown

We are much aware of the fact that forms are used on the web to collect private information (email addresses, passwords, credit card information) from people. We use human review and automated abuse detection to make sure that the web forms created by users of our service are not used in this purpose. For example, forms created on the Free plan and containing certain field labels are banned automatically. Further, our security scripts notify us each time a suspicious form or account is detected; we check user activity and shut down the account, if it is, indeed, malicious. Forms can be reported as abuses using the Report abuse link at form bottom.

If a phishing attempt escapes our security measures, it does so for a short while. After the form is shut down, harmed parties are provided with a document containing the data collected through the form, so that affected persons can be alerted. Qualified authorities that take legal action against online criminal activity are provided with user registration details, logs and IP addresses pertaining to abusive accounts.

Other provisions

Backup copy. A backup copy of your form submissions is stored on our servers. If you delete submissions accidentally, we’ll retrieve them from there. That’s the only reason why the backup copy exists. It is generated by default for every new form. If you don’t want the copy to be created, let us know.

SSL encryption. Platinum accounts benefit from SSL form encryption. SSL encryption is a protocol that secures communication over the Internet. With SSL, all data sent through the form is unreadable for any robot or person that tries to intercept communication. Accepting payments through forms is hence possible only with the Platinum plan.

Confidentiality. According to our Terms of Service, your account data and the information collected through forms are confidential. No information will be used, shared or sold and all collected data is rightfully yours.

Take our survey and help us help you! First, tell us how you use 123ContactForm web forms. Second, check the platform features you appreciate most. Third, go over our list of to-do features and prioritize them for us. All of them will be implemented; their order depends on your answers.

Tomorrow’s newsletter is also centered on this survey. It won’t take more than two minutes to fill it out – it’s all radio buttons, checkboxes and Likert scales. Usability is our thing, so you’ll find our feedback survey quite enjoyable – promise. And thank you for your cooperation!

Update December 5^th: The entire team thanks you warmly for taking the time to fill out our survey. Our developers are most thrilled – new 3^rd party apps and improved charts & reports are on their way!