Alerts in Formstack are a great way to send email communication to you and your users based on key events that happen in your form. Whether it's a confirmation or notification email, validation of e-signatures, or a custom submission alert, each alert can be tailored to your own styling and wording. Below, we will cover the difference between System Alerts and Custom Alerts, as well as how you can trigger each alert to send and how you can customize alerts.
System Alerts
System Alerts are built-in alerts that come with the installed package of Formstack for Salesforce. For each of these system alerts, you can choose between using the default standard template, a custom template defined within Formstack, or a Salesforce email template via the Edit Alerts tab. Each of these alerts is enabled in varying ways, highlighted below.
Submission PDF
This email alert will send to the email address designated in your form's Form Settings area if you have enabled a PDF copy of your form to be sent via email. This email will include a PDF copy of the form automatically attached.
To turn on this alert, navigate to your Form Settings. From here, you will have to check "Save a PDF copy of form submissions to Salesforce." Once this is selected, you should see the option "Send me a copy of the PDF" and an email address field. Enter the email address of the recipient who should receive this PDF. You also have the option to set a custom file name and/or to upload the file to chatter.
Submission Failure
This email alert will be sent to you or a member of your team on every submission failure if enabled. To enable this feature, navigate to Form Settings and check off the "Notify me on error" checkbox. From here, you can enter the email address of the individual who should receive this alert.
E-Signature Email Verification Request
Your form submitters will receive this email alert after submitting a form with a signature field and with email verification enabled, which will ask the submitter to verify their email address by clicking on a provided link.
This alert is controlled by the Signature field on your form. To trigger this alert, you'll want to click the chevron next to the Signature field within the form builder. From here, click the "Include Email Verification" checkbox. If you no longer want to send this alert, simply unclick the checkbox.
E-Signature Email Verification Confirmation
This is the email your form submitters will receive after they have filled out a form with a signature and verified their email from the Verification Request Alert. This email will include a PDF copy of the form automatically attached.
Like the Verification Request alert, this alert is controlled by the Signature field on your form. To trigger this alert, you'll want to click the chevron next to the Signature field within the form builder. From here, click the "Include Email Verification" checkbox. If you no longer want to send this alert, simply unclick the checkbox.
Save For Later
The Save For Later email alert will be sent to a form submitter that chooses to save their form in progress if the Save for Later feature is enabled. To enable this feature and alert, you'll want to navigate to Form Settings and select Save for Later.
Custom Alerts
Custom alerts can be created for any successful submission. To create a Custom Alert, navigate to the Edit Alerts section of your form. Click "New Alert."
From here, you will be presented with options to attach a PDF copy of the submission to the email as well as any uploaded files. You can set both the From and To field to either a static value or you can set it based on an Email field on your form. You also have the option to add CC and BCC recipients with the same options.
You also have the option of creating your custom email alert from scratch or using an email template that you previously defined within Formstack or within Salesforce. Enter the subject of the email alert as well the internal message for your email alert. Under the "--select an item--" dropdown, you can insert merge fields from your Formstack form into your template.
The body of the message is like any Salesforce template builder, you can insert hyperlinks, add an image, and format text. If you are familiar with HTML, you can also click Source to add HTML code.
Email Templates
Email templates can be created and saved within Formstack for future use. These templates can be accessed in the system and custom alerts tabs, as well as the 'Send by Email' option for sending out dynamically pre-filled forms. To create a template, navigate to the Email Templates section and click "New Template."
Enter the name of the template for internal reference. From here, you can either create a new template, which you will choose the Unsaved Template.
You also have the option of using a saved Salesforce email template that you have previously created. You would simply need to select your saved template from the 'Insert a template' drop-down list and make any modifications as needed.
Like creating a Custom Alert, you'll format the body of the message in the same way. Enter the subject of the email alert as well as the internal message for your email alert. Under the "--select an item--" dropdown, you can insert merge fields from your Formstack form into your template.
FAQ
FAQ
Can I create a custom alert for any other action besides a successful submission?
- Unfortunately, at this time there is not a way to create a custom alert other than successful submission.
How can I change the Admin who received my email?
- The AdminEmail is set as the primary user license of your Formstack for Salesforce account. To change this administrator, you'll need to reassign licenses. Otherwise, to change the recipient of the email, we recommend using a static value or using an Email field on your form.
If I have Save for Later turned on, is there a way to not send an alert?
- Unfortunately at this time, there is not a way to turn off the Save for Later alert if the feature is enabled.
Can I send a PDF without having it upload to Salesforce?
- Unfortunately, there is not a way to send a PDF email alert without having the file upload to Salesforce.
How can I add multiple recipients to an alert?
- To add multiple recipients, add a semicolon next to one email address and type the second address. It's important to make sure there are no spaces between these addresses. For example, the format should be: email@example.com;email2@example.com.
I'm in the Edit Alerts tab. How do I turn on or turn off an alert?
- Alerts are enabled in varying ways, depending on the individual alert. Review the type of alert above to see how you can enable/disable the alert.
Does Formstack for Salesforce Merge fields work the same way as Salesforce Merge fields?
- No, merge fields created with a Salesforce Email Template differ from merge fields from a Formstack for Salesforce template with merge fields. If you are trying to use merge fields from the form, we recommend using the Formstack for Salesforce app merge fields. If you are trying to use merge fields from an object in Salesforce, we recommend using Salesforce merge fields.
I have a Lookup field as a merge field that is returning the Salesforce Record ID instead of the Name of the Record. How can I fix this?
- The merge field will default to the record ID of the Lookup field. However, there is a way to change this so that you show the identifier field or the name of the Record ID that was selected by the user. Let's say your Merge field for your Lookup is [[Contact.AccountId]]. If you click on "Source" and then add the word "input" at the start of the merge field, this will return the Record Name in the alert. This would look like a merge field with a value of: [[inputContact.AccountId]].