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Easy Form Email Configuration

Each form you create is unique in that it can have it's own group of settings and preferences which control where form submissions are sent to, the content to be displayed from the submission and more.  

Users with the Administrator role can configure the actions and behaviors when a submission is created, updated, or deleted; this article will focus on the setup of email configuration which will determine who should receive submission emails and the content of the notification.

Email Setup

EasyForms can be configured to send notifications to 1 or more email addresses to notify individuals of submissions from completed forms from your Stacks site. This section of the article will explain the basic Easy From configuration required to send submission notifications from Stacks.

Important! Stacks can be configured to send notifications from your own SMTP server or through Stacks' own built-in email sending. If using the Stacks built-in email sending, you must verify the domain or email address that will be used as the Send From email otherwise these notifications may not send or could be blocked by your IT policies.

To configure your form for sending notifications:

  1. From the Dashboard, click the Easy Forms tile
  2. Find the form to configure the settings for by:
    1. Browse the list; OR
    2. Search the list by form name
  3. Once found, under the Operations column, click the drop down arrow, then click Settings
  4. Click the Emails/Handlers sub-tab
  5. Click +Add Email, complete the configuration in the window that opens on the right
    1. General Tab
      1. Title, this is the administrative name of the email notification
      2. In the Send To section
        1. To email, this is the address(es) the notification will be sent to (see the Email Options below for a description of the options that can be selected here)
        2. CC email, optional, the address(es) that will be carbon copied on the form submission (see the Email Options below for a description of the options that can be selected here)
        3. BCC email, optional, the address(es) that will be blind carbon copied on the form submission (see the Email Options below for a description of the options that can be selected here)
      3. In the Send From section
        1. From email, the address that will appear as the sender of the notification (see the Email Options below for a description of the options that can be selected here)
          1. If using Stacks' built-in email sending, this must use a verified domain or email address
        2. From name, the name that will appear as the sender of the notification (see email options below)
      4. In the Reply To section
        1. Reply-to email, optional, the address used for reply submissions (see the Email Options below for a description of the options that can be selected here)
          1. Note, reply-to addresses are different than the 'From' addresses, if you are capturing the submitter's email address, this could be used to give your administrative users the option to 'reply to' the people making submissions. 
      5. In the Message section
        1. Subject, this is the subject of the email notification, select from
          1. Custom, select this option to enter your own custom subject
          2. Default, select this option to populate the subject with a default subject that uses the format [webform_submission:source-title]
            1. For example: Webform submission: Contact Us
          3. Elements, select this option to populate the subject with a value from the field elements added to the webform 
        2. Body, this is the content of the email notification, select from
          1. Custom, select this option to enter a custom message, you can click Browse Available Tokens to add tokens to pull data from the easy form elements into the email body
          2. Default, select this option to display a basic message that will be populated with pre-selected tokens which add submission data to the message. Basically, this option will display the field values the submitter entered when completing the form
          3. Elements, select this option to create a message based on an element from the easy form
      6. Click Save when finished

Email Options

Below is a description of the options that can be selected when adding the Send To (including CC and BCC emails), Send From, and Reply To email addresses. 

Reminder! If using Stacks' built-in email sending, the Send From email must be from a verified domain or email address. 

  • Custom To Email Address
    • When selected, you'll be prompted manually enter a valid email address
  • Default [site:mail] Address
    • This address is configured in the Dashboard, under System Configuration, then Site Configuration, then Site Details
  • Elements
    • The email notification will use the value entered or selected for the selected element, examples could include the Email element, where the user/patron enters their own email address; or the Select element, where users/patrons could select a location, individual, or other option to identify where the notification should be sent to
      • Important! This will fail if the value entered for the element value does not include not a valid email address, see the Email Tips below for more information.
  • Other: Site Email Address
    • This address is configured in the Dashboard, under System Configuration, then Site Configuration, then Site Details
  • Other: Current Email Address
    • This is the address configured for the authenticated user
      • Note: this will not work when form is submitted by an anonymous user
  • Other: Webform Author Email Address
    • This is the address of the user who created the form
  • Other: Webform Submission Owner Email Address
    • This is the address of the user who reviews submissions
      • Note: this option only works for authenticated users

Conditions tab

If there are specific conditions required that must be met to trigger an action or the sending of the notification, click the Conditions tab to configure settings that will allow you to control the appearance, state or validation. For more information on adding conditions, see the article Advanced Features for Easy Forms.

Advanced tab

Click the Advanced tab, to configure additional settings associated with email notifications triggered by the easy form. 

  1. Advanced Settings
    1. Enable the email handler, check this box to enable the handler
  2. Additional Settings
    1. Send email, check the box beside the condition you want the email sent for
      1. ...when draft is created
      2. ...when draft is updated
      3. ...when anonymous submission is converted to authenticated
      4. ...when submission is completed
      5. ...when submission is updated
      6. ...when submission is deleted
      7. ...when submission is locked
    2. Return path, select the email to which bounce messages are delivered. 
      1. Leave blank to automatically use the 'From' email address
    3. Sender email, the email address submitting the message, if other than shown by the From header
      1. Leave blank to automatically use the 'From' email address
    4. Sender name, select the name for the sender
    5. Send email as HTML, check this box to send the email in an HTML format
    6. Theme to render this email, select the theme the email will be rendered in
    7. Custom parameters, enter any additional custom parameters to be appended to the emails parameters
  3. Development settings
    1. Enable debugging, check this box to display onscreen all emails to all users
  4. Click Save when finished

Email Tips

How should I configure emails so I can reply to my users/patrons regarding their submissions?

It's quite common to build forms where users/patrons can enter their own email address so you have a way of communicating with them regarding their submission. The best way to set this up is to utilize the Reply To email option:

  • Send To email - enter the address(es) where the submission will be sent to as described in the Email Options section above
  • Send From email
    • If using your own SMTP server, this can be any email
    • If using Stacks' built-in emailing, be sure to use a verified email address as described above
  • Reply To email - select the 'Element' from the from where the user/patron entered their email address, or select the appropriate 'Other' option to use the authenticated user's email address as described in the Email Options section above
  • Complete the Subject and Body configuration as described above

How do I route emails to different addresses based on a user/patron's data selection?

Form submissions can be routed to different email addresses based on the option selected from certain elements in your forms; this can be especially useful if you need emails routed to certain branches or individuals.

For example, if you are a library with multiple branches, you may have a form that allows patrons to submit inquiries or requests to specific branches or individuals. To set this up:

  • Ensure the form has a 'Select' element that lists each location, individual, or other option that the user/patron would be selecting from to identify where their submission should be sent to
  • Send To email - choose the above mentioned 'Select' element from the list
    • The window will then display the list of options with an email field beside each, enter the email address(es) for each option (example pictured below)
  • Complete the Send From and Reply To emails, Subject, and Body configuration as described in the instructions above

Screenshot 2025-07-09 at 10.14.12 AM.png

 

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