CMS: Creating Automations for CMS Form Submissions
Important:
The CMS form submitted trigger is no longer available for creating new automations. Your existing automations using this trigger continue to work and do not require any changes. To create new automations for CMS form submissions, use the Item added trigger. Learn how to create automations for collection items.
Use Wix Automations to ensure that all submissions you receive from custom CMS (Content Management System) forms are handled appropriately. This automation works with any forms created with input elements that submit to your CMS collection.
Choose from a variety of actions such as running Velo code, modifying collection content, sending data via webhooks, or connecting third-party apps such as Google Sheets and Zapier. You can also automate more basic actions like sending or receiving emails, creating or updating contacts, and more.
Before you begin:
Make sure to add the CMS to your site, if you haven't already.
Make sure to create a custom form with input elements that submit to a CMS collection.
Creating a CMS custom form automation
When setting up your automation, choose the CMS trigger and whichever action you want to occur when you receive a submission from your custom form.
To create an automation for CMS custom form submissions:
Go to Automations in your site's dashboard.
Click + Create Automation at the top right.
Choose how you want to start creating your automation:
From Scratch: Click Start from Scratch to begin from a blank automation template.
Suggested automation: Use the categories or search bar to find the suggested automation you want to edit. Then click Set Up next to the automation.
Click the title at the top left to give your automation a name.
Enter CMS in the search bar and select the CMS form submitted trigger.
Select an option under Select which CMS form triggers this automation:
Any: Any form that uses input elements and the CMS triggers the automation.
Specific: Specific forms that use input elements and the CMS trigger the automation. Click Select, then select the custom form(s) you want to use and click OK.
Note: Your custom forms are listed with the name of the page they appear on first, followed by the name of the dataset and the collection that stores the submissions.
Click Apply.
Click the Add step icon
and choose what you want to do:
Note: Repeat this step as many times as you need to customize your automation.
Delay: Add a delay that makes the automation wait before performing the next step. Choose the duration of the delay and click Apply.
Condition: Add a condition that allows the flow to continue, only if the condition is met. You can set an ELSE path to define what happens if the condition is not met:
Click Select a property and choose the dynamic field that the automation collects when it runs (e.g. Form Name, Form ID).
Click the Select logic drop-down and choose an operator that will compare the received data with the value (e.g. equals, contains, is true).
Click the Enter value drop-down or field that appears under your selected operator. The logical statement you've created will determine whether the automation continues.
(Optional) Click + Or / + And to add another condition for the automation to check.
Click Apply.
Action: Select an action that will occur next (e.g. send an email, create a contact, send via webhook). Set up the action using the available options, which vary depending on the action type, then click Apply. Learn more about the actions you can choose.
Tip: Click Create a contact if you want to use the automation to send an email to person who submitted the form or update an existing contact. See the FAQ section below for more information.
Click to choose what you want to do:
Save: Save the automation but do not make it active yet.
Activate: Save and make your automation active.
FAQs
Click below for answers to common questions about using automations with custom CMS forms.
Why can't I find the "CMS form submitted" trigger?
We have consolidated our CMS automation triggers. You can achieve the same results and more using the Item added trigger.
Broader coverage: While the CMS form submitted trigger only ran on visitor submissions, the Item added trigger runs on any new item, including backend code changes and imports.
Better field matching: The Item added trigger allows you to match 'Email' field types directly, which was not supported in the CMS form submitted trigger. Learn how to create automations for collection items.
How do I use the automation to send an email to the person who submitted the form?
Tip: If you are creating a new automation, we recommend using the Item added trigger. This allows you to directly match 'Email' fields from your collection to the email action. Learn more.
If you're using the CMS form submitted trigger, select the Create a contact action. This allows you to match the email address collected from your form with the email address you have stored in your contacts. Then, create an additional action and choose the Send an email action to have the automation send an email to the person who submitted your form.
To create an automation that sends an email to the form submitter:
After selecting CMS form submitted as your trigger, select the Create a contact action.
Click Match Data.
Select + Add Field and choose the Email field.
Click the drop-down under Automation data and select the Email field that collects the form submitter's email address.
Repeat these steps for each field you want the automation to update with data submitted by your custom form.
Click OK.
Select an option under If a similar contact already exists to choose what happens if you already have a contact with the same email or phone number:
Update the existing contact: Override the existing contact's contact info.
Create a duplicate contact: Create a new duplicate contact with the matched custom form data.
Do nothing: Do not override existing contact info or create a new contact from the matched custom form data.
Click Apply.
Click the Add step icon
and select Action.
Click Send an email.
Customize the email that will be sent in the Create an email drop-down.
Click the Set email type drop-down to choose the type of email that is sent.
Click Set recipients and make sure Emails from trigger is selected. This ensures the recipient who triggered the automation receives the email.
Tip: To send to an alternative email address, click Emails from trigger, select the relevant recipient(s) and click Continue.
Click Apply.
Click to choose what you want to do:
Save: Save the automation but do not make it active yet.
Activate: Save and make your automation active.
How do I use the automation to update a contact or create a new contact?
Tip: If you are creating a new automation, we recommend using the Item added trigger. This gives you more flexibility when mapping fields, including 'Email' field types. Learn more.
The Create a contact action allows you to use the submissions from your custom form to update contact details for an existing or new contact. You can map any of the fields from your CMS collection to the following contact fields: First name, Last name, Email, or Phone number.
You can also decide what happens if a contact with the same email address or phone number already exists in your contacts. Choose to either update the existing contact, create a new one, or do nothing.
To use the 'Create a contact' action:
After selecting CMS form submitted as your trigger, select the Create a contact action.
Click Match Data and choose which fields from your collection to save to your new or existing contact:
Click + Add Field.
Select the contact field you would like to map to a CMS collection that your form submits to. Choose from First name, Last name, Email, or Phone number.
Click the drop-down under Automation data and choose the CMS collection field you would like to map to your selected contact field.
Repeat these steps for each contact field you want the automation to update with data submitted through your custom form.
Click OK.
Select an option under If a similar contact already exists to choose what happens if you already have a contact with the same email or phone number:
Update the existing contact: Override the existing contact's contact info.
Create a duplicate contact: Create a new duplicate contact with the matched custom form data.
Do nothing: Do not override existing contact info or create a new contact from the matched custom form data.
Click Apply.
Click to choose what you want to do:
Save: Save the automation but do not make it active yet.
Activate: Save and make your automation active.
Can I automate changes to my CMS collections?
Yes. You can create automations that react to changes in your collection, or that make changes to your collection items.
React to changes: Trigger automations when items are added, updated, or deleted. This is now the primary way to automate responses to form submissions (using the Item added trigger).
Make changes: Automate adding, updating, patching, or deleting items in your collections. You can also find or query items to use their data in subsequent automation steps.
Learn more about creating automations for collection items.
How do I understand which automations are available to me?
The automations you can create depend on which apps (e.g. Wix Blog, Wix Restaurants) you have added to your site.
Automation trigger options are specific to the app you've selected, and automation action options are specific to the trigger you've selected. Select an app to view and set up its trigger options. Then add an action to view the actions available for your selected trigger.
Popular automations include:
Sending a "thank you", "welcome" or "next steps" email when a visitor submits a form. Learn more about sending automated emails to contacts after form submissions.
Sending a discount coupon or reminder email when a customer has abandoned their shopping cart. Learn more about automatically sending discount coupons.
Sending an email when an invoice is overdue. Learn more about Wix Invoices automations.
Awarding loyalty points when a restaurant order is received. Learn more about Wix Restaurants automations.
Sending a chat message when a form is submitted, or automatically replying to incoming chat messages. Learn more about Wix Chat automations
Can I connect my automations to apps that I use outside of my Wix site?
Yes, you can use Zapier to connect your Wix automations to external apps such as Slack, Trello and Google Docs.
What CMS collection fields can I use in Wix Automations?
With the Item added trigger and CMS actions, you can use most CMS field types, including Date and Time, Address, and Media Gallery fields. Learn which CMS collection fields you can use in automations.
Need A Professional Website?
Contact Us Today!
I'm a paragraph. I'm connected
I'm a paragraph. I'm connected
I'm a paragraph. I'm connected
I'm a paragraph. I'm connected
I'm a paragraph. I'm connected
I'm a paragraph. I'm connected