Why can I not shut down a form

[JessLazer]

HI,  Maybe this is silly,   but why can I not turn off a form.   I do not wish to delete the form, as I will lose all data.  BUT, can we get a "turn off the form" option.  Please!

[Jnix284 · Accepted solution]

Hi @JessLazer happy to help!

if you remove the form from any live pages then you have essentially shut the form down, there is no need to delete the form. If you are no longer using the landing pages, website pages, etc. that have the form, you can unpublish those pages.

[LucasT_AI]

Any updates here? I have a form that's attached to a workflow (sends an email after submission). I can't delete the workflow because the form is still considered active. I don't want to delete the form because then I lose the submission history... 


The workflow should be able to be disabled and deleted otherwise its just taking up room and cluttering my workflow space... 

[Jnix284]

@LucasT_AI I'm confused why you can't turn off the workflow? You can have any number of active forms that aren't connected to a workflow and likewise turn off a workflow at any time that has a form as the trigger or included in the steps.

Can you share a screenshot of the workflow to better understand why it's not letting you delete it?

[Jnix284 · Accepted solution]

Hi @JessLazer happy to help!

if you remove the form from any live pages then you have essentially shut the form down, there is no need to delete the form. If you are no longer using the landing pages, website pages, etc. that have the form, you can unpublish those pages.

[AWoodford]

@Jnix284 This isn't a great solution for all cases.  My support team migrated off HubSpot over a year ago. The pages were removed from our platform. We are still getting form submittions from users who saved the link. There should simply be a way to unpublish a form.

[Jnix284]

@AWoodford I completely understand, I know how challenging it can be to manage a retired form and the HubSpot team is working on a solution to Unpublish Forms, upvoting the idea and sharing your feedback will reach them directly.

Embedding a form on a landing page, even if it's just a blank page with the form embedded in a module, is always better than sharing the form link directly because you can control who has access to the form.

Since you've migrated off of the platform, you could export the submissions and then delete the form:

I would also create a workflow that generates an email based on the form submissions received that notifies the user of the new way to reach your support team, that way they know to remove the bookmark or saved link.

[KateElizabeth]

Not helpful if you had a qr code directly to the form, such as an entry form for an event like we did. People can continue to enter the drawing. Making a landing page just for the purpose of holding a form is a meaningless, extra step.l

[512-cristina]

I agree -- we need an "Unpublish" option. In Google Forms, there is a simple option to select "no longer accepting responses".  Though we use the forms on landing pages, the form itslef has it's own URL in HubSpot that if for any reason it gets out there, someone can still access it and fill it out 😞 

[Jnix284 · Accepted solution]

@512-cristina it's been a while since I answered this initially, happy to share that the idea to Unpublish Form is "in planning"

[EdWilliamson]

Hi - this isn't strictly true. My form (for our users to submit job vacancy listings) lived on a live webpage (not a Hubspot page) for a couple of years and users will have reused it many times, sometimes a few times a week as it's part of their day to day work (eg if they're in HR they'll have submitted every new vacancy).

Inevitably not all these users will be going to the page and clicking the link every time, so they won't click the new link I've put in to the replacement form. They'll have bookmarked it, or it'll autocomplete in their browser because they've visited frequently, or they'll be in the habit of opening the link from the same email every time, or whatever.

These users will still get the old form.

I checked whether I can redirect the URL but it seems not because share-eu1.hsforms.com URLs aren't hosted on Hubspot as far as it's concerned.

Like the OP I don't want to delete it and lose all the data.

What are my options here?

Thanks 

[Jnix284]

@EdWilliamson to clarify, they have a link directly to the form rather than the form contained on a page?

A bookmarked website page would still reflect the new form if you are embedding it on the page, so I'm a little confused about how they have the direct link to the form on the share-eu1.hsforms.com domain - if you shared the preview link directly, then the only way to undo that would be to communicate internally that they have the wrong form.

One option would be to create a workflow - if Form A submitted, send notification email 1 that they have the wrong link and provide the link to Form B.

[EdWilliamson]

Hi - yes, users had the direct link to the form at share-eu1 etc. It was the best solution by which to provide them the form; there was no need to create a page and embed it on there.

The ability to unpublish things that are published feels like functionality Hubspot should have - but I'll look into the workflow thing, thanks for your suggestion!

[Jnix284]

You're welcome @EdWilliamson , definitely agree it would be nice to unpublish, hopefully the workflow can get your users switched over to the right form until then