Email notifications keep you and your team informed the moment someone submits a form. Form Forge supports two types of notifications: admin alerts that go to you or your team, and auto-reply messages that go to the person who submitted the form. Setting up both types ensures no submission goes unnoticed and every submitter feels acknowledged.
Email is still the fastest way for most teams to learn about new submissions. Even if you also use Slack or Discord notifications, email serves as a reliable fallback that works across all devices and does not require checking a specific app.
Admin Notification Setup
This sends an email to you (or your team) every time the form is submitted. It contains all the submitted field values so you can review the response without logging into WordPress.
- Open your form in the builder.
- Click the Notifications settings tab above the builder.
- Toggle on Notify Admin.
- Enter the recipient email address. To notify multiple people, separate addresses with commas (for example, “[email protected], [email protected]”).
- Customize the email subject line. You can include field values using curly braces. For example, “New inquiry from {name}” or “New Order #{submission_id}.”
- Save the form.
The notification email includes a clean, formatted list of every submitted field, skips internal/system fields, and adds readable payment summary rows when a Stripe payment is present: Payment status, Payment amount, Payment date, and Payment ID. It also includes a direct link back to the submission in your WordPress dashboard.
Complex values are formatted for people before they reach email, Slack, Discord, Telegram, CSV, PDF, or the submission popup: checkboxes show readable choices or “Yes”, repeater rows are grouped by row, calendar/date values use your site date format, map coordinates are not duplicated as an address, password values are masked, and empty hidden fields are omitted.
Auto-Reply (Confirmation Email) Setup
This sends an automatic reply to the person who submitted the form, confirming their submission was received. It sets expectations and makes your business look professional.
- In the same Notifications tab, scroll down to the Auto Reply section.
- Toggle on Auto Reply.
- Select which field contains the submitter’s email address (usually the “Email” field).
- Write a subject line (for example, “Thanks for contacting us!” or “Your reservation is confirmed”).
- Write the message body. Keep it friendly and informative. For example: “Hi {name}, thank you for reaching out. We have received your message and will respond within one business day. If your matter is urgent, please call us at (555) 123-4567.”
- Save the form.
Notification Best Practices
| Best practice | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Always set up an admin notification | Ensures submissions do not go unnoticed |
| Use auto-reply to set expectations | “We will respond within 24 hours” builds trust |
| Send to a shared inbox, not a personal email | Prevents one person from being a bottleneck |
| Include the submitter’s name in the subject | Makes emails easier to scan in your inbox |
| Test notifications after setup | Submit the form yourself to verify delivery |
> Tip: If notifications are not arriving, the problem is almost always your server’s email configuration, not Form Forge. Install WP Mail SMTP and configure it with a real email service. This solves 99% of email delivery issues.
> Good to know: The auto-reply uses the “From” address configured in your WordPress email settings. Make sure this is a real, professional address (like [email protected]) rather than the default WordPress address ([email protected]), which can look unprofessional and trigger spam filters.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Forgetting to set up notifications entirely. You build a beautiful form, embed it, and then wonder why you never hear from anyone — the submissions are saved in the dashboard, but no one checked.
- Sending auto-replies that do not set expectations. A bare “Thank you for your submission” is better than nothing, but “We will respond within 24 hours” is far more reassuring.
- Using a no-reply email address for the auto-reply. If a visitor replies to your confirmation email and it bounces, that is a terrible experience.
[Screenshot: The Notifications settings tab showing the Admin Notification section with recipient email, subject line, and the Auto Reply section with message body]
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