Creating a form or popup
Design forms and popups in Design → Canvas, then publish and run them in Reach — from picking a template to going live.
You design forms and popups in Design → Canvas, then run and manage them in Reach → Forms. This split trips people up, so keep it in mind from the start: the editor in Zalify Canvas controls what your form looks like, and Reach controls what happens with it — which list submissions land in, when a popup appears on your site, and where you review results.
This article walks you through creating your first form or popup, from picking a template to publishing.
Before you start
- Popups need the Zalify pixel installed on your site — the pixel is what displays the popup to visitors. If you haven't set it up yet, see Zalify pixel and Reach.
- Decide which list new submissions should join. If you don't have one yet, create it first — see Lists & segments.
Start from a template
Open Design → Canvas and click New → New popup. (You can also start from Reach → Forms → Build with Zalify.)
On the New form page, look under Start from a template.
Pick a template close to what you need — a newsletter signup, a discount popup, a contact form, or a survey. Templates are starting points; everything in them can be changed.
Select a template to open it in the editor.
You can also click Start from scratch, but a template gets you to a working form faster.
A quick tour of the editor
The editor is where you shape the content and look of your form. At a glance:
- Pages. A form can have more than one page — for example, a question page followed by a thank-you page. Add pages when you want to split a longer form into steps or show a confirmation after submission.
- Blocks. Each page is built from blocks: text, images, input fields, buttons, and other elements. Add a block, drag it into position, and edit its content directly. Input blocks (like email or name fields) are what collect data from visitors.
- Styling. Adjust colors, fonts, spacing, and layout to match your brand. If you've set up a brand kit, your brand styles are available in the editor — see Brand Kit.
This article stays at tour level on purpose. For deep design guidance — advanced layouts, block-by-block options, responsive behavior — refer to the Zalify Canvas design documentation.
Connect it to a list
Before you publish, check which list submissions will land in. This is the single most important setting on any form — it determines where your new contacts go and which automations can pick them up. See Connecting a form to a list for the details.
Publish
Review your form in the editor's preview to check each page and confirm the fields collect what you need.
Click the publish action when you're happy with the design.
Your form or popup is now live and managed from Reach → Forms.
What happens after publishing
- Popups are displayed on your site by the Zalify pixel. When and where they appear — which pages, after what delay, how often — is controlled under Pixel → Triggers, not in the editor. This is deliberate: design lives in the editor, display rules live in Triggers. See Triggers.
- Submissions from your form flow into Reach. New contacts join the list you connected, and every submission appears on the Submissions page — see Viewing and exporting submissions.
- Follow-up. Once contacts are in a list, you can email them with a broadcast or enroll them in an automation. See Sending your first broadcast and Building an automation.
Editing a live form
To change a published form or popup, open it again from Design → Canvas (or open it in Reach → Forms and click Open editor), make your edits, and republish. Remember the split: content and styling changes happen in the editor, while changes to when a popup shows happen under Pixel → Triggers.