TL;DR: Form fields are optional but powerful - they validate data, prevent spam, and generate HTML forms automatically.

What Are Form Fields?

Think of form fields as a blueprint for your form. Without them, Formshive accepts whatever someone types and emails it to you. With form fields, you can specify exactly what information you want and how it should be handled.

Without form fields:

  • Someone fills out your form
  • You get an email with whatever they typed
  • No validation or structure

With form fields:

  • You define what fields you expect (name, email, message, etc.)
  • Formshive validates the data before accepting it
  • You get structured, consistent responses
  • Bonus: automatic HTML forms for embedding

Why Use Form Fields?

Data Quality

Instead of getting messy, inconsistent responses, you get clean data:

Without fields: johndoe@gmailcom (typo) With email field: Form prevents submission

Spam Protection

Designate one field for spam checking:

message: field = 'textarea', check_spam = true

Formshive automatically detects and filters suspicious content.

Required Fields

Make sure you get the information you need:

  • Email addresses for follow-ups
  • Phone numbers for urgent responses
  • Company names for B2B leads

Professional Forms

Generate proper HTML forms with labels, validation, and styling that you can embed anywhere.

Common Field Types

Text Fields

  • Name, company, job title
  • Single-line responses

Email Fields

  • Automatically validates email format
  • Essential for auto-responses

Textarea

  • Messages, comments, descriptions
  • Multi-line text

Select Dropdown

  • Budget ranges, service types
  • Forces choices from your options

Number Fields

  • Ages, quantities, ratings
  • Validates numeric input with min/max limits

Creating Form Fields

  1. Go to your form settings
  2. Click “Form Fields” tab
  3. Add fields by clicking field type buttons
  4. Configure each field’s properties
  5. See live HTML preview

TOML Code (For Advanced Users)

[name]
field = 'text'
label = 'Your Name'
required = true

[email]
field = 'text'
is_email = true
required = true

[budget]
field = 'select'
options = 'Under $1k,$1k-$5k,$5k-$10k,Over $10k'

Real-World Example

Basic contact form without fields: Someone types random text, you get messy emails.

Structured contact form with fields:

Name: John Smith
Email: john@company.com  
Company: Acme Corp
Budget: $5k-$10k
Message: We need help with...

Clean, consistent, actionable data every time.

Getting Started

Start simple:

  1. Add name, email, and message fields
  2. Make email required for responses
  3. Enable spam checking on the message field
  4. Test your form

You can always add more fields later as your needs grow.

Form fields transform chaotic form responses into organized, actionable data while protecting you from spam and ensuring you get the information you actually need.