Creating Forms in Eloqua

Why use an Eloqua form? 

  • Learn more about your contacts 

  • Collect data for:

    • Event registration/attendance

    • Newsletter/email topic sign up

    • Preference management

  • “Gate” content for specific contacts/groups of contacts

  • Information goes right into Eloqua for use in many ways!


To create a Form:

  1. Navigate to Assets An image of the Assets icon, which is represented by a black pencil., then click Forms.
  2. Click Create a Form to open the Template Chooser window.
  3. Select the Blank Form and click Choose

An image of the Blank Responsive Form template.

Click Eloqua General Settings Panel to configure your form settings:

An image of the Settings tab.

  • Name: The name of the form. This name should be descriptive so that the purpose of the form is clear.
  • Validation Failure Page: The landing page to which the submitter is redirected if the form is unavailable, or if the form is not completed properly. Select a landing page from the drop-down list next to the field.

    If you do not select a Validation Failure Page and are using external forms or blind form submits, Oracle Eloqua will display the following HTML page as a response to any invalid fields. As in the following example, the errors presented will match the validation errors that occur per form field.

An image of the default error message displayed for invalid form field input if a Validation Failure Page is not selected for the form.

  • HTML Name: The HTML name for the form. This is the name that is referred to when uploading a landing page that uses this form. The name cannot contain any spaces. When you stop typing, Oracle Eloqua will automatically check for the validity and availability of the name you have selected. If the name is valid and available, you will see a green check mark next to the field.

    Note: Oracle Eloqua automatically generates an HTML name for your form. You can use this generated name, or create a new one.

  • Allow Form Submissions: Set whether those with the URL can input information on your form. This is the default option. If the option is disabled, the form remains visible but will not accept submissions via the landing page or endpoints (API). Disabling the Allow Form Submissions option prevents spam attacks on old or new forms.

Form Submissions setting image

    • Note: If the Allow Form Submissions option is disabled, a user who tries to submit the form via the landing page will see an error message.
      Form Not Submitted Error
      Additionally, if a user tries to submit via API request a form that has this option disabled, they will also see an error message.
      Error 404 image

  2. Build your form by adding contact fields, form elements, and field groups to the canvas.

Form Example: Event registration

A form can be placed in a landing page (accessed from a click-through link in an email), that allows the contact to register for an event, such as a training course.

An image of a sample registration form.

You can then use another form to gain additional information, such as feedback, after the training course.

An image of a sample feedback form.

  1. Configure form styling.

Use the Style Additional information fields in Eloqua form tab to set your label position and alignment. Select a field to configure general field properties and field validation.

An image of the Style tab.

Label style

Use the label style options to modify the label position relative to the field (top, left, right) and label alignment relative to the canvas (left, right). These options apply to all field labels on the form. They are available when no form field is selected.

An image of the Label Style options.

General properties

Use the general properties to configure each form field. The options available vary depending on the field type selected.

    • Label: The name that is shown next to or above the field.
    • Instructions: Optional instructions that help the user fill in the field. This is shown as small text below the field.
    • HTML Name: The name by which the application recognizes the form elements. The HTML name field can contain up to 50 characters.
    • Data Type: Determines what can be entered in the field, and how it is formatted. You can choose from Text, Large Text, Numeric, or Date. A Text field can contain up to 100 characters, whereas a Large Text field can contain up to 1000.
    • Field Choices: Available for Single Picklist and Multiple Picklist field types. Select the picklist that should be displayed.
    • Prepopulate field data: Select a default value used to prepopulate the field with information that Oracle Eloqua has already collected about a contact.
      • Static Value: Enter the value that is used by default for each submitter. Submitters may change this value.
      • Field Merge: Use an existing field merge to prepopulate the currently selected form field with data that exists in your contact record. Search for the field merge by name. This option is not available for all field types.

    • The following options are available when the Submit button is selected:

      Use a standard submit button: Select to include the default submit button in your form.
      • Label: Enter the text that appears on your submit button.
      • Use a custom image: Select to use a custom image for your submit button
      • Alignment: Click the drop-down to set the alignment of the submit button. The options include default, left, right, and center.

  1. Configure the form processing.

Form processing steps allow you to configure what should happen after a contact submits a form (such as updating a contact record or custom data object), and what actions to take as a result of the submission (for example, sending the submitter an email or adding them to a campaign). You can configure these steps for each form you create.

Here are some examples of form processing that could occur after a contact submits a form:

    • Create a contact record with the information from the form
    • Redirect the contact to a confirmation page
    • Add the contact to a shared list based on the preferences specified by the contact
    • Add the contact to a nurture campaign
    • Send the contact an email to confirm their email address
    • Update the data in your CRM

After you add and configure the visual elements of your form, you then need to configure what to do with the submitted form data.

how to access the processing area

Clicking the Processing button displays the processing window with the following elements:

Labels marking where to find the various areas in the form editor

  1. The Design button lets you switch back to the form design window, where the visual elements of the form are laid out and configured.
  2. The Processing Steps pane is where you identify the processing steps you want to include in your form.
  3. The Add button opens the list of processing steps. You can double-click or drag steps to add them to the Processing Steps pane.
  4. The Actions button lets you remove or disable the currently selected step in the Processing Steps pane. You can also right-click the step to access these options. Disabled steps are identified by a red circle next to their name.
  5. The Key Field Mapping button opens the Key Field Mapping window, which lets you map a form field to a contact record field as your key identifiers. If you have an Email Address field in your form, the Key Field Mapping is set to Email Address by default. Some processing steps allow you to override this form setting.
  6. The configuration pane displays the settings for the currently selected step.
    Many processing steps provide these options, which let you specify when a step is executed.
  7. The Actions button and File button are available in both the design and processing windows for your form. Use it to access form-related actions.

Steps to configure form processing:

  1. Click Processing.
  2. Click the Add button. in the left pane and double-click the step you want to add. Add the steps in the order that you feel they should be performed. Oracle Eloqua will reorder those steps that must occur first. 
  3. Double-click the step you added and add a description of the step.
  4. Configure the processing step and specify when to run the step. Click through to the Eloqua help center via the links below to help you configure the form processing step:

  1. Click Save, and resolve any errors.

Form status

After you create a form and configured form processing, you can use the form in a campaign. The status of your form mirrors the status of the campaign. For example, if the campaign is in Draft state, the form is in Draft state. If the campaign is Active, the form is also Active. However, once the campaign is completed, the campaign shows a Completed status, while the form returns to Draft state.

An image highlight the form state

In the case that a form is used in multiple campaigns, if any of the campaigns are Active, the form is also Active. If none of the campaigns are Active, the form will be in Draft state.

Note: Once your form is Active, you should not edit it. Though technically you can edit the form while it is active, the best practice is to deactivate the campaign first. Reporting data might not reflect changes if a Form is modified during an active Campaign.