Interest Form template
Name, email, what they want — nothing that scares people off. This is the interest form I use for waitlists, program signups, and "keep me posted" pages, rendered live below with the exact HTML behind it.
What your visitor sees
Plain semantic HTML rendered through the same default form theme Core Forms applies on the front-end. Try it — this demo confirms inline and sends nothing.
Demo only. On your site, the same markup wires into the normal Core Forms action loop — email, Slack, Google Sheets, webhook, whatever you configure.
The HTML behind it
Copy this block, paste into Core Forms → Add New Form → Fields tab, save. Field names map to merge tags automatically in your action templates.
<p>
<label for="cf-interest-name">Full name <span aria-hidden="true">*</span></label>
<input type="text" id="cf-interest-name" name="NAME" autocomplete="name" required aria-required="true" />
</p>
<p>
<label for="cf-interest-email">Email address <span aria-hidden="true">*</span></label>
<input type="email" id="cf-interest-email" name="EMAIL" autocomplete="email" required aria-required="true" />
</p>
<p>
<label for="cf-interest-phone">Phone</label>
<input type="tel" id="cf-interest-phone" name="PHONE" autocomplete="tel" />
</p>
<p>
<label for="cf-interest-interest">What are you interested in? <span aria-hidden="true">*</span></label>
<select id="cf-interest-interest" name="INTEREST" required aria-required="true">
<option value="">Choose one…</option>
<option>Early access to the product</option>
<option>The spring cohort</option>
<option>A consultation call</option>
<option>Updates and launch news</option>
</select>
</p>
<p>
<label for="cf-interest-source">How did you hear about us?</label>
<select id="cf-interest-source" name="SOURCE">
<option value="">Choose one…</option>
<option>Google search</option>
<option>Social media</option>
<option>Friend or colleague</option>
<option>Podcast or YouTube</option>
<option>Other</option>
</select>
</p>
<p>
<label for="cf-interest-message">Anything we should know?</label>
<textarea id="cf-interest-message" name="MESSAGE" rows="4"></textarea>
</p>
<p><label><input type="checkbox" name="CONSENT" value="Yes" required aria-required="true" /> You can email me about this</label></p>
<p>
<button type="submit">Register interest</button>
</p>
What this interest form template is for
An interest form has one job: lower the bar. Shorter than a contact form, more structured than a bare email box — it captures people who are curious but not ready to commit. Waitlists, program signups, "keep me posted" pages, service inquiries before a formal quote: same form, different heading.
The template collects who they are, how to reach them, what caught their eye, and where they came from. Every signup lands in your submissions inbox and can fire an autoresponder, tag them in your CRM, or add them to a mailing list the moment they submit.
Honest note from years of running these: every field you add costs you signups. The select and the source question above are already the ceiling — resist adding budget, timeline, and company-size questions. Qualify people in the follow-up, not on the form.
Every field, and why it's there
| Field | Type | Required | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | text | Yes | Who signed up — maps to [NAME] in your autoresponder and CRM actions. |
| Email address | email | Yes | The whole point of the form. Confirmations and follow-ups go here. |
| Phone | tel | Optional | Optional — keep it optional or watch signups drop. |
| What are you interested in? | select | Yes | Swap the options for your own offers. One answer routes the follow-up. |
| How did you hear about us? | select | Optional | Attribution your analytics cannot see — podcasts, referrals, word of mouth. |
| Anything we should know? | textarea | Optional | Optional catch-all. The best leads volunteer context here unprompted. |
| Consent checkbox | checkbox | Yes | Records permission to email — the timestamp lives with the submission. |
From this HTML to a working form
-
Paste the markup into the Fields tab
Core Forms → Add New Form → Fields tab. Paste the HTML above, swap the interest options for your own offers, save. The markup IS the form — no field picker.
-
Wire the follow-up actions
In the Actions tab, add Send Email as an autoresponder to [EMAIL] — subject: "You're on the list". Add a Mailchimp or FluentCRM action next to it so every signup gets tagged, not just emailed once.
-
Embed it on the landing page
Drop the Gutenberg block on your waitlist or signup page, or use the shortcode in a classic editor. Above the fold works — this form is short enough to sit in a hero section.
Three upgrades worth considering
Pipe signups into your list
Attach the Mailchimp action and every signup lands on your audience with the interest field mapped to a merge tag. No CSV exports, no copy-paste.
Mailchimp integration →Tag and segment in your CRM
The FluentCRM action tags each contact by what they picked in the interest select — so the cohort waitlist and the consultation leads get different follow-up sequences.
FluentCRM integration →Ask a follow-up only when "Other" is picked
Add a text field with a data-show-if attribute so "How did you hear about us?" grows a follow-up input only when someone selects Other. One attribute, no logic builder.
Conditional logic →Interest Form template questions
What is the difference between an interest form and a contact form?
Length and intent. A contact form invites any message and asks for a written one; an interest form captures a single intent — "keep me posted" — with structured answers. Shorter, faster to submit, and every response maps cleanly to a list or CRM tag instead of a free-text inbox.
Is the "how did you hear about us" field worth keeping?
Yes. It is optional, so it costs almost nothing in signups, and it captures attribution your analytics cannot see — podcast mentions, word of mouth, a colleague forwarding a link. After a few dozen submissions the answer distribution tells you where to spend your marketing effort.
Do I need double opt-in for this form?
Depends on your region and your list tool. Some jurisdictions and most serious email platforms expect a confirmation email before marketing sends. The consent checkbox records intent with the submission either way, so you have a timestamped record regardless of which opt-in flow your list enforces.
What happens after someone signs up?
Three things, if you wire them: the autoresponder confirms "you're on the list" to the subscriber, the notification email hits your inbox, and the list or CRM action adds and tags the contact. The submission itself is stored in wp-admin, so nothing is lost if an action fails.
The template is free. The plumbing is the product.
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