Form pre-population automatically fills in form fields with existing data, reducing manual entry and potential errors, or supporting capture of hidden data for measurement or marketing workflows. This guide explains Formulayt's pre-population methods and how to enable them when needed.
Pre-population methods overview
Formulayt employs a number of different ways to pre-populate fields:
1. Browser memory pre-population (visible fields only)
Formulayt can be configured to store data submitted from a form submission in the user's browser, and retrieve it for subsequent forms. This streamlines form interactions for returning visitors, and reduces down the requirement to connect to marketing automation APIs when performing external pre-population. The duration that the information is stored in a user's browser can be configured on a field by field basis.
Browser memory pre-population can also be used to enable progressive profiling when external pre-population is not possible e.g. when marketing automation tracking is not in place.
Note: Browser memory pre-population is only supported on visible fields.
Key points:
Configure on a field-by-field basis
Manage through the field management system
Improve user experience with less repetitive data entry
For detailed configuration instructions, refer to our managing fields article.
2. External data pre-population
Formulayt integrates with marketing automation platforms to pull existing contact data for pre-population. Marketing automation APIs (client-side and/or server-side) are used to pull contact information into the form for pre-population.
To enable this type of pre-population the corresponding Formulayt App should be enabled in the Apps area e.g. Marketo. Once the App is installed and configured, this option is made available in "pre-population source" in the field management area.
Note: When browser memory pre-population is in place for a field, the external pre-population source will not be utilized for pre-population again until the browser memory duration has elapsed.
Key points:
Enhances data consistency across your marketing tech stack
Reduces form abandonment by minimizing required fields
Improves data quality through centralized information
3. Internal data pre-population
Formulayt also provides a collection of internally generated pre-population data sources. These are useful for tracking user interaction or marketing measurement and are most often used on hidden fields. Configure this type of pre-population in "pre-population source" in the field management area.
Setting a source to "Gate Editor" will add a field in the "Misc" tab in the gate editor to allow gate configurable hidden data e.g. specifying a campaign ID per gate.
Example sources might be page URL, UTM parameters or gate name. For a full list of available sources refer to Available Data Sources (Pre-population)
Key points:
Utilize for measurement or meta-data capture
Utilize the "Gate Editor" source for gate configurable parameters
Most commonly used on hidden fields
Pre-population and progressive profiling
Progressive profiling relies on the availability of pre-populated visible fields. Without pre-population the form progression cannot move on to the next step.
Therefore to utilize progressive profiling successfully in Formulayt, ensure that any fields used in a progressive are setup with either browser memory pre-population, external pre-population or both.