Blind submissions capture form interaction data without requiring users to submit a form. This guide explains how to set up blind submissions in Formulayt.
Understanding blind submissions
A blind submission is a form submission that occurs when a user interacts with content without first interacting with a form. The user is not aware the submission is happening. Typically, the submission data consists of pre-populated or previously submitted information, as well as any hidden fields. This is useful when you want to record data for analytics and reporting without affecting the customer journey.
Requirements for blind submissions
A blind submission will only occur under these conditions:
The gate must be protecting content a user can interact with
The gate must be open (see gate behaviour)
The minimum user data requirements must be met
This final point is configured at the account level. For most accounts, only the email address is required. Note that form validation and mandatory fields have no impact on whether blind submissions will occur.
Gate behavior settings
To set up an open gate, go to the relevant gate and open the gating tab where you'll find behavior settings.
Gate Behaviour primarily configures how a gate opens and closes—when the form is shown and when it isn't. Understanding these options can have a positive impact on user experience.
Typical gate behaviour options
This gate should always be open
Once submitted by the user, this gate should stay open for the rest of their visit
Once submitted by the user, this gate should stay open for subsequent visits
Open this gate if all required fields on this form type have previously been filled out
Open this gate if another gate in the same group has been submitted by the user
Additional criteria for gate opening
To configure additional criteria, go to Settings > Forms. If active, you can specify additional criteria that, if met, will prevent a gate from opening based on user data. This can be combined with field rules to meet your specific requirements.
Gate types and behaviors
Gates that do not deliver content, such as General, Event and Webinar gates, cannot utilize gate behaviors and will never raise blind form submissions. This is because there is nothing for the user to interact with on the gate other than the form itself, and therefore no way of recording content consumption.
A blind submission can only be raised on a gate type that raises a consumption event. Here's how different gate types behave when open:
Download gates
Inline (Open): Gate Open message displays on the page. Clicking download button opens the file, raises a content consumption event, and triggers a blind submission.
Modal (Open): Clicking to open the gate starts the download, raises a content consumption event, and triggers a blind submission. No modal is shown.
Video gates
Inline (Open): Gate Open message displays on the page with video loaded. When video starts playing, a content consumption event is raised, video interaction events are tracked, and a blind submission occurs.
Modal (Open): Clicking to open the gate loads video in a modal overlay with Gate Open message. When video starts playing, content consumption event is raised, video interaction events are tracked, and a blind submission occurs.
Redirect gates
Inline (Open): Gate Open message displays on the page, content consumption event is raised, and blind submission occurs.
Modal (Open): Clicking to open the gate raises a content consumption event, triggers a blind submission, and redirects the user to the destination URL.
Page gates
Inline (Open): On page load, content consumption event is raised (the page is considered content) and blind form submission occurs.
Modal: Not applicable - Page gates must be used inline.
Web page (framed) gates
Inline (Open): Gate Open message displays on the page with frame below. When content in frame loads, content consumption event is raised and blind form submission occurs.
Modal (Open): Clicking to open the gate displays Gate Open message in modal overlay with frame below. When content in frame loads, content consumption event is raised and blind form submission occurs.
Submission limitations
Each gate can only raise one blind form submission within a single page load. For example, even if a PDF is downloaded multiple times during a single page load, there will still only be one blind submission.