> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brudcast.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Create and publish a form
> Build a signup form or a full page form, add questions, brand it and publish it, in one page.
export const DemoVideo = ({id, title, embedUrl, src, poster, duration}) => {
if (embedUrl) {
return ;
}
if (src) {
return ;
}
const label = duration ? `Video walkthrough coming soon · ${duration}` : "Video walkthrough coming soon";
return } />;
};
export const Loop = ({id, src, alt, caption}) => {
if (!src) {
return } />;
}
return
{caption && {caption}}
;
};
export const Screenshot = ({id, src, srcDark, alt, caption}) => {
if (!src) {
return } />;
}
return
{caption && {caption}}
;
};
Build a form, publish it and share the link in about ten minutes. Everything happens on one page,
and your changes save as you go.
**Before you start:** forms need access to the Email product. If the form will send a
confirmation email, which signup forms do by default, you also need a
[verified sending domain](/channels/email/verify-your-domain).
Go to **Contacts > Forms** and select **Create Form**. The builder opens with **Setup** first.
The header shows **Saving** and **Draft · saved** as your work is stored.
Enter a **Form name**; only you see it. Under **Form type**, choose **Signup form** or
**Full page form**. See [Forms overview](/forms/overview) for the difference.
Then choose where submissions go:
* A signup form needs a list under **Signups join**. Pick one, or select **Create a new list**
and name it.
* A full page form can add responses to a list under **Add responses to a list (optional)**, or
leave it empty to collect answers only.
With a list chosen, **Require email confirmation** appears. Leave it on unless you have a
reason not to; see [Double opt-in and consent](#double-opt-in-and-consent).
The rest of the builder unlocks once the form has a name and, for a signup form, a list.
In **Fields** (or **Questions** on a full page form), select **Add field** or **Add question**
and pick a type. Drag the handle on a row to reorder it, and select the arrow to edit its label,
placeholder, help text and options.
A signup form always has an **Email address** field. See [Question types](#question-types).
In **Design**, add a **Cover image** and a **Logo**. In **Copy**, change the button label and
the messages people see after submitting. See
[Design and branding](/forms/publish-and-share#design-and-branding).
In **Mapping**, choose where each answer goes on the contact. One question must map to
**Email address**. See [Map answers to contact fields](#map-answers-to-contact-fields).
In **Settings**, set the **Sender name** and **Sender address** for the confirmation email, a
**Redirect after submitting** if you want one, and the limits under **After submitting** and
**Bot protection**. The defaults suit most forms.
**Before you publish**, beside the builder, lists what's still missing. Select an item's button
to jump to the fix. The preview underneath shows the form as visitors will see it; select
**Preview** at the top to open the real hosted page.
Select **Publish**. The form goes **Live**, and a dialog shows its link, a QR code and a summary
of what happens to each submission.
## What happens next
* The form's link, `https://forms.brudcast.com/f/…`, starts accepting submissions. Share it from
the **Share** tab; see [Publish and share](/forms/publish-and-share).
* Signups appear on the **Submissions** tab, and responses on **Responses**.
* After publishing, the form opens in tabs instead of the single builder page. Each tab has its own
save button.
* You can switch the form's type until it's published. After that it's fixed.
## Question types
A full page form can use any of these question types. A signup form uses a fixed set of contact
fields instead.
| Group | Types |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Text | **Short answer**, **Paragraph**, **Email address**, **Phone number**, **Number**, **Link** |
| Date and time | **Date**, **Time** (a time of day or a duration) |
| Choice | **Multiple choice**, **Checkboxes**, **Dropdown**, **Linear scale**, **Rating**, **Multiple choice grid**, **Checkbox grid** |
| Other | **File upload**, **Consent checkbox**, **Hidden value** |
Every question also has a **Label**, **Help text** and a **Required** switch. Layout items shape the
page but collect nothing: **Section** (which starts a new page), **Title and description**, **Image**
and **Video**.
A signup form asks only for details that land on a contact: **First name**, **Last name**,
**Phone number**, **Consent checkbox**, **Hidden field**, and any of your
[custom fields](/contacts/custom-fields). Its **Email address** field is
always there, always required, and can't be removed. Each field can appear once.
| Limit | Value |
| ----------------------------------- | ----- |
| Questions and layout items per form | 50 |
| Options per choice question | 100 |
| Rows per grid | 20 |
| Characters in one answer | 2,000 |
| Files per upload question | 10 |
| Size of one uploaded file | 10 MB |
Two details are easy to miss. The wording of a **Consent checkbox** is saved word for word in the
consent record of anyone who ticks it, and rewording it later doesn't change records already
written. **Phone number** answers are converted to international format, for example
`+2348000000001`, when they arrive.
## Map answers to contact fields
Mapping only matters for a form that adds people to a list. A full page form with no list keeps
every answer on the response and creates no contact.
| Target | What it fills |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Email address** | The contact's primary email address. It identifies the person |
| **First name**, **Last name** | The contact's name |
| **Phone number** | Kept with the submission. It isn't added to the contact as an SMS number |
| **Custom field** | One of your custom fields |
| **Consent checkbox** | The consent record, with the checkbox's wording saved word for word |
| **Hidden field** | A value sent with the submission that the visitor never sees |
Each target can be used once per form, except **Custom field**, where each of your fields can be
used once. A custom field only accepts questions that produce the right kind of value: **Text**
takes text and contact-detail questions, **Number** takes Number, Linear scale and Rating, **Date**
takes Date, **Boolean** takes a Consent checkbox, and **Select (Dropdown)** takes Dropdown, Multiple
choice and Checkboxes. When a **Checkboxes** answer fills a single field, the chosen options are
joined into one value, separated by commas.
On a signup form, every field is mapped when you add it. A full page form asks its questions first
and decides where the answers go on the **Mapping** tab, where one question must map to **Email
address** before the form can be published. Only questions that can fill a contact field appear
there; grids, file uploads and layout items always stay on the response, and an unmapped answer is
still readable on the **Responses** tab.
Mapped answers are written to the contact when the signup completes: straight away with single
opt-in, or when the person confirms with double opt-in. For a new contact, the form sets the email
address, name and custom fields. For someone who is already a contact, the form adds them to the
list and confirms their address, but doesn't overwrite the details you already hold.
## Double opt-in and consent
With double opt-in, someone who fills in your form only joins your list after clicking a link in a
confirmation email. It proves the address is real and belongs to the person who signed up.
A form is a public page, and anyone can type anyone's address into it. Without confirmation, every
typo, fake and hostile signup becomes a contact you pay for and send to, and those addresses bounce
and complain. That's why **Require email confirmation** is on by default. A brand-new address
doesn't become a contact until it confirms, so unconfirmed signups don't use up your contact limit.
* The email comes from the form's sender address, with a confirm link and a decline link.
* The link opens a page where the person confirms with a button, so mail scanners that follow links
can't confirm on their behalf.
* The link lasts **7 days**. After that the submission is **Expired**, and the person can submit the
form again for a new link.
* Submitting twice doesn't create a second signup. The same submission is updated and the email is
sent again.
* An existing contact who signs up is held as awaiting confirmation until they click, and isn't
counted as a subscriber in the meantime.
* Declining marks the submission **Rejected**, so you can see the address said no.
Turn **Require email confirmation** off and people join the list as soon as they submit, with no
email. A consent record is still written, marked as single opt-in. Use single opt-in only when you
already trust where the signups come from, such as a form behind your own login.
Either way, a consent record is written in the same step that subscribes the contact, holding the
opt-in kind, the exact wording of your consent checkbox, the form's name and list, the IP address,
browser and referring page, and when the person submitted and confirmed. See
[Suppression list](/contacts/suppressions#unsubscribes-and-consent).
This explains how Brudcast records consent. It isn't legal advice. Check what the laws in your
recipients' countries require.
## Troubleshooting
**Why:** a check in **Before you publish** is still failing. **Fix:** hover over **Publish** to
see the first item, or follow the buttons in the checklist.
**Why:** confirmation emails go out from your own domain, and this one isn't verified.
**Fix:** verify it under **Channels > Email**, or turn off **Require email confirmation** if
you really want single opt-in.
**Why:** a signup form only carries fields that map onto a contact, so switching from a full
page form discards the rest. The dialog lists them before you confirm with
**Switch and discard**. **Fix:** choose **Keep current type** to back out.
## Related
Share the link and QR code.
What happens to each submission.
The two kinds of form, and where submissions go.