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Create dropdown fields for sign up forms

I need to know the industry that my subscribers are from. In the profile update they provide that information in an un standardized way. Can there be a drop down list so I have consistent values in that field and can sort on it. otherwise, there a lot of different names for the same industry. Ii run webinars and Go to Webinar has a dropdown list for industry so all of the lists I upload from webinar registrations (they opt into the list) has standard industry responses. This is extremely critical. I can't ask my subscribers to update their industry or it will corrupt the CC data base for that field.

86 Comments

If you don't build drop down lists you are giving your customers, including me, a very good reason to took at switching to another provider. They provide a long list of field types in their form builder, including drop down lists, as described in their help documentation:

 

There are several field types available to help you collect data when a contact subscribes, or when you import existing data into your audience. If you plan to import contacts, make sure your data is formatted for our field types .

  • Text
    Contacts provide typed responses. This field type is good for general questions, but character limits for audience fields prevent long responses. By default, new audiences include text fields to collect first and last names.
  • Number
    Contacts provide any number, like age or an ID number. We recommend you use the Zip Code field for zip codes.
  • Radio Buttons
    Contacts choose only one of a predefined set of options. Use our predefined options or create your own. This field can be used to create groups.
  • Check Boxes
    Contacts select one or multiple options to select different interests. This field will always create a group in your audience.
  • Drop Down
    Contacts choose only one of a predefined set of options. Use our predefined options or create your own. This field can be used to create groups. There's no limit to the amount of answers in drop-down or multiple choice fields, with one exception. Checkbox fields function as groups, and there's a sixty group limit for each audience.
  • Date
    Contacts specify a date, including month, day, and year. This field supports U.S. and international date formats.
  • Birthday
    Contacts specify a date, including month and day. Choose from Month/Day or Day/Month format.
  • Address
    Contacts provide their full address, including country. When you create a new audience, this field is included by default, but hidden from signup forms.
  • Zip Code
    Contacts provide 5-digit zip codes. Use an Address or Text field to collect international postal codes.
  • Phone
    Contacts provide a local or international phone number. When you create a new audience, this field is included by default, but hidden from signup forms.
  • Website
    Contacts provide a full URL. This field type generates the HTML code for a link. This field type is compatible with a full website URL only, and it can't be hyperlinked.
  • Image
    Contacts provide an image URL. This can be used to display their own image or avatar in your campaigns.
  • Language
    This field is included in your audience after you enable auto-translate for your signup form. We use it to keep track of your contacts' language preferences.

We need this feature ASAP!  The only way for us to know what industry folks are is we provide a customizable drop down list for them to select from.  It it is a text box, folks will write all different types and we want to make sure they select from the ones we want them to.  This is limiting our segmentation by Industry the way we need it to.  

TOaksGoGreen
Campaign Contributor

Ditto

 

I'd like to suggest an option for different types of custom fields. Now you can only add a textfield or a date field. But (especially when using segmenting and you don't want to rely on anything that was 'typed in' by a contact) it would be realy helpful to be able to create dropdown menu's with predefined options (and other types of fields as well such as: checkboxes, radiobuttons, textarea's etc.). Would be much appreciated if a feature like this can be implemented.

 

PS: Saw there was a thread for this which already exists since 2016, with quite some comment from people who realy need this.  (https://community.constantcontact.com/t5/Managing-Contacts/Create-dropdown-fields-for-sign-up-forms/...) Hope that creating a new suggestion for this topic puts it back on the roadmap...

Frankie_P
Employee

Hi @MulticopyNetherlands thanks for sharing this feedback with us! Though we recognize a feature like this is a great request, there are many factors that are used to decide what is added to or updated in our product which can cause us to sometimes not have a timeline for when a feature will be available. Because of this we have merged your post into the larger thread available on this idea. The more requests made on this thread the higher a priority the idea can be given by our Product Team.

CristinaT2
Rookie

Please add custom dropdowns. This is a valuable feature that would allow users like me to create tailored email replies to our optin forms.

MeganC531
Rookie

My organization just switched to Constant Contact from another provider as we are preparing to launch several new programs needing email marketing; however, the lack of a drop-down in sign-up forms is extremely limiting and was not a barrier we faced with our previous tool. This is causing quite the headache, as we reconsider our decision to start using Constant Contact, as it's looking like we may need to hire a third-party to develop a custom form, or we may need to rely on data typed in by a user, which we all know can make the segmentation unreliable due to spelling, abbreviations, etc.

 

If anyone has any workarounds that have worked for them re: drop-downs, please share!

EIIC
Rookie

As a 10+ year communications veteran... this feature is desperately needed.

Heartfulness
Rookie

This is a basic feature i.e having custom drop down in the sign up form - increases the quality of data entered by the subscribers. Not sure how you prioritise the requirements, but data quality for Contacts is the highest in any product.

AmyZ804
Rookie

thats a BIG issue not to have drop down options. Won't be using CC for long.

Heartfulness, there are great products out there that have forms that integrate easily with WP sites. We use Sharp Spring.
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