FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the verification number?
- Is this service really free?
- How many forms can I create?
- Can I use this only for creating contact forms?
- Do you store the messages that I receive?
- Can I change my account information?
- Can I make the form look like my site?
- What is the Reference ID?
- How to use the "Logo to be displayed above form" field when I create a new form?
- How to use the "Webpage to display after the form is completed:" field when I create a new form?
- Can I use multiple recipients for a form?
- What are custom recipients, and how do I use them?
- Does the form editor have real-time preview?
- Do your services have an integrated anti-spam solution?
- Do your services have field validation?
- Can my visitors upload files using my contact form?
- Can I use my own CSS to make the form look like my site?
- Can I use password-like fields?
- Can I make the emails use my own timezone?
If these answers did not clarify your questions, please take a look at the contact form samples and the tutorials. Also, you can contact us for support. We usually answer within 24 hours. You are also welcome to send us all your opinions and suggestions about 123ContactForm.
Q1: What is the verification number?
A: The verification number is a technique of stoping bots to fill the forms. Bots cannot understand what number is shown in the verification image, so they will not be able to send the spam they want to send.
Q2: Is this service really free?
A: Yes, this service is really free. We will not require any fee for using it, but we might launch some extra features that will be available only to the users that will pay a monthly fee.
Q3: How many forms can I create?
A: You can create and use 5 forms if you own a free account. All we require in exchange is to keep the "Powered by 123ContactForm" link. Premium users can create unlimited forms.
Q4: Can I use this only for creating contact forms?
A: No, you may use it for whatever HTML / PHP forms you wish, but you are required not to use it on illegal sites. Any user that will try to send spam through this site will have the account deleted and the IP banned.
Q5: Do you store the messages that I receive?
A: We store the messages you receive, only if you want us to. But we will never read your messages, as you have already found out in our Terms Of Service. Message storage is meant to help you keep track of the messages you receive, and delete them from the archive when the issue is solved.
Q6: Can I change my account information?
A: Sure, you can modify your account information after you login. You are asked for that information just for statistics, and to contact you in case we notice strange activity in your account.
Q7: Can I make the form look like my site?
A: Yes, you can set the font size and color, the background color, and also you can display your site logo above the form. All these are to be found in the Form Setup page.
Q8: What is the Reference ID?
A: The reference ID is a very effective way of tracking emails received and sent on the same problem. If this feature is activated, the subject of the email you receive will contain a unique identifier, based on the timestamp, eg: (Ref: FRM-1206090399). This way, when you want to check all communication on that issue, you will search for (Ref: FRM-1206090399) in your email client, and will find all the emails on that issue.
Q9: How to use the "Logo to be displayed above form" field when I create a new form?
A: Fill that field with the URL of an image that you would like to be displayed above your form. (e.g. http://www.yourwebsite.com/images/formimage.gif). The image will be displayed only if you choose to link to your form, meaning that your form will only be hosted on our server. (option 1 from the "Get HTML code" window). The contact form looks much better with your logo above it, please see this example.
Q10: How to use the "Webpage to display after the form is completed:" field when I create a new form?
A: Fill that field with the URL of a page that you want to be displayed after the user fills & submits the form.(e.g. http://www.yourwebsite.com/thankyoupage.html) ..
Q11: Can I use multiple recipients for a form?
A: Free accounts can not use multiple recipients. They must use just simple recipients (e.g.: billing@example.com)
Premium accounts can use multiple recipients, separated by a comma (e.g.: billing@example.com, support@example.com)
Q12: What are custom recipients, and how do I use them?
A: This is a feature designed specially for users/companies that receive many emails, and would have their business processes fastened if the emails are sent directly to the department that should handle the issue. For example, if company ABC, who has 3 departments: cars, motos, trucks, uses 123ContactForms services, they will receive all the emails to the same email: contact@abc.tld . The ABC employee that receives the filled contact forms, then sorts the emails and forwards cars related emails to cars@abc.tld, motos related emails to motos@abc.tld and trucks related emails to trucks@abc.tld. This, of course, is time consuming, and makes company ABC to answer the emails with some delay.
Our solution for this is custom recipients. The webmaster of ABC should add a radio button (or a dropdown list) with the values Cars, Motos, Trucks. Then, the webmaster should add 3 custom recipients, as in the following image (click to enlarge).
Now the departments of company ABC will receive the filled contact forms instantly, and they will be able to answer the emails much faster! In the given example, the custom recipients are configured that both departments and contact@abc.tld will receive the email. If you wish to send the email only to the department, you should use the "only" operator when you add a custom recipient. Check out this tutorial. Custom recipients are recommended for professional contact forms.
Q13: Does the form editor have real-time preview?
A: Yes, the form editor has nice real-time preview, which can be seen in the same page ("Edit Fields") where you customize your form. Click here to view a sample.
Q14: Do your services have an integrated anti-spam solution?
A: Yes, you can protect your inbox from spam by using a captcha verification image (click here to view a sample) or by limiting the form submissions to one per day per IP.
Q15: Do your services have field validation?
A: Yes, you can configure your forms to use field validation. This way, you will never receive emails that you can not answer because the user misspelled his email address, nor will you receive phone numbers containing unwanted letters, entered by the users by mistake! You can use a wide variety of field validation options: alpha (only letters), alphanumeric, alphaspace, alphanumericspace, numeric, numericplus, email, URL, date (as yyyymmdd, ddmmyyyy, mmddyyyy). Check out this sample or view this tutorial.
Q16: Can my visitors upload files using my contact form?
A: Yes, your visitors can upload files using your contact form. You can configure your forms to accept 1 to 3 files to be attached. Check out this sample or view this tutorial.
Q17: Can I use my own CSS to make the form look like my site?
A: Yes, you can use your own cascading style sheet (CSS), to customize the look of your contact form. You have to enter the URL of the CSS in the Form Setup page. Check out this comparison (the same contact form, without and with CSS used).
Q18: Can I use password-like fields?
A: Yes, if you want users to enter sensitive data (which we do not recommend, but it's your choice) like passwords, credit-cards, you can add [password-like] to the field name, and so, in that field, just *** characters will be displaied instead of the actual text entered by the visitors.
Q19: Can I make the emails use my own timezone?
A: Yes, you can set your own timezone from the My Profile page.
Localized presentation pages:
 Formular de contact
| 
