The setup assistant

After installing or updating, the setup assistant leads you step by step through your start with Funnelforms 5. It knows two paths: new customers put their first form on a page of their website, made from a template and in the colours of their brand. If you come from Funnelforms 3, you bring over your data, compare every form old and new, and then go live. Both paths ask how long entries are kept and whether you want to send diagnostic data to Funnelforms. Funnelforms is ready to use once you have been through the assistant.

Requirements

• You are an administrator of the website. Only users who can manage the WordPress settings open the assistant.
• For the path from Funnelforms 3: the website holds data of Funnelforms 3, or forms from 3.x have already been imported.
• You do not need a Funnelforms account. In Funnelforms Pro, the step Your account can be skipped with Skip for now. Funnelforms Free does not have this step.

Where to find it

• The assistant opens once by itself when you visit the dashboard or the plugin list as an administrator.
• As long as the setup is not finished, every page under Funnelforms leads you to the assistant, the pages of Funnelforms 3 as well. In Funnelforms Free, the page Pro features is left out, so you can install Pro while the assistant is open.
• On the other pages of the WordPress admin, the notice "The setup is not finished yet. Funnelforms is ready to use once you have been through it." appears with the button Start the setup or Continue the setup.

Features at a glance

• The assistant is mandatory. There is no button to skip it.
• Path for new customers: Welcome, How Funnelforms works, Your account (Pro only), Your goal, Your brand, Preview, Go live, Done. That is eight steps in Pro and seven in Free.
• Path for users of Funnelforms 3 with six steps: Welcome, Bring over your data, What to keep, Compare, Go live, Done.
• The question How long should entries be kept? with 6 months, 12 months, 24 months and Never.
• The block Help improve Funnelforms: weekly diagnostic data to Funnelforms, off by default.
• The progress is shown above the content (for example Step 3 of 8), and the side bar lists all steps. You can click finished steps there to open them again.
• Back goes one step back, Continue later pauses the assistant.
• The assistant puts your first form on a new page if you like, or gives you the shortcode.

Step by step

New customers: your first form

1. In the step Welcome, click Let's start.
2. In the step How Funnelforms works, read the three tiles Build, Embed and Handle entries and click Continue.
3. Pro only: in the step Your account, click Connect with Funnelforms to sign in, or Skip for now.
4. In the step Your goal, pick a goal: Requests and quotes, Consultations or Applications.
5. Under Template, pick a template and click Use this template.
6. In the step Your brand, set your Main colour: with the colour field, with one of the swatches, or with Use the colours of my website (Pro only).
7. Under Font, pick a font or Font of your website and click Continue.
8. In the step Preview, try the form, switch between Desktop and Phone if you like, and click Continue.
9. In the step Go live, choose under Where should the form appear? either On a new page or I place it myself. For a new page you can change the Title of the page.
10. Under How long should entries be kept?, pick a period. 12 months is preselected.
11. In the block Help improve Funnelforms, decide whether you want to send diagnostic data. The switch is off; if you leave it off, nothing is sent.
12. Under Who gets the entries?, enter the address that should receive new entries in E-mail address for notifications.
13. Click Publish.
14. In the step Done, open the new page with View the page or copy the shortcode with Copy. Then click Go to the overview.

Users of Funnelforms 3

1. In the step Welcome, click Let's start.
2. In the step Bring over your data, wait until every item of the list is done, then click Continue.
3. In the step What to keep, choose under Which forms move to Funnelforms 5? either All checked forms or Let me pick.
4. Under How should your forms look?, choose As before or The new Funnelforms design.
5. Under How long should entries be kept?, check the preselected period. It is your current setting.
6. In the block Help improve Funnelforms, decide whether you want to send diagnostic data. The switch is off unless you have already turned it on.
7. Pro only: under The old interface, decide whether the pages of Funnelforms 3 should be hidden. Click Continue.
8. In the step Compare, look at every form old and new. Untick forms that should stay on Funnelforms 3 for now. Click Continue.
9. In the step Go live, check the summary and click Go live now.
10. In the step Done, click Go to the overview.

How it works

What does it mean that the assistant is mandatory?

Until you have finished it, every Funnelforms page leads administrators to the assistant, except the page Pro features in Free. Your forms on the website keep running, and users without administrator rights work in Funnelforms as usual.

Which path does the assistant show me?

Funnelforms decides by itself. If the website holds data of Funnelforms 3, an import is running or has run, or there are forms imported from 3.x, you get the path for users of Funnelforms 3 (title Move to Funnelforms 5). Otherwise you get the path for new customers (title Your first form). If a new website already had forms before the assistant appeared, the assistant counts as done.

What happens when I pause the assistant?

Continue later takes you to the WordPress dashboard. There and on every other admin page, the notice reminds you of the setup. As soon as you open a Funnelforms page, you are back in the assistant, at the same place. Every step is saved. Once you reach the step Done, the assistant counts as finished.

What happens with the question about keeping entries?

Funnelforms deletes older entries automatically, together with their uploaded files. On a new website, 12 months is preselected. If you come from Funnelforms 3, your current setting is preselected: the period saved already, or the setting Automatically delete leads of Funnelforms 3, converted to days. If it matches none of the four periods, it appears as an extra option in days. If you choose nothing else, nothing changes. New customers save the period with Publish, users of Funnelforms 3 with Go live now. Later you change it under Settings → Entries and spam in the section Deleting entries.

What happens with "Help improve Funnelforms"?

The block sits below the question about retention, for new customers in the step Go live, for users of Funnelforms 3 in the step What to keep. It holds the same fields as the card Diagnostic data in the settings: the switch Send diagnostic data to Funnelforms (no content and no data about your visitors), below it Industry (optional) and Include this website's address, and View report with the report your website would send. The switch is off. New customers save the choice with Publish, users of Funnelforms 3 with Go live now; their summary then reads "Diagnostic data go to Funnelforms once a week". You can change the choice later under Funnelforms → Settings → General. More in the article Sending diagnostic data to Funnelforms.

What happens in the step "Bring over your data"?

The assistant shows a list: Restore point of Funnelforms 3, Connections (e-mail, CRM, webhooks), Appointment types, Forms, Entries and Appointments. Continue only becomes available once everything is done. Then you see how many forms are checked and ready, how many need a look (please have a look) and how many stay on Funnelforms 3 for now. The page drives the import as long as it is open.

What happens in the step "What to keep"?

• All checked forms: every form that passed all checks moves. This is preselected.
• Let me pick: you choose single forms. If you choose none, a hint appears.
• Forms that passed the checks move on their own. In Pro you can send each form back to Funnelforms 3 individually, in the comparison next and later under Funnelforms → Migration.
• As before keeps colours, fonts and sizes of Funnelforms 3. The new Funnelforms design keeps only the main colour and font and redesigns the rest.
• Under Connections you see the connections from 3.x. They and the e-mails come along and stay active.
• Hide the pages of Funnelforms 3 once all forms run on Funnelforms 5 (Pro only) is ticked in advance. Free does not have the section The old interface.

What happens when I go live as a user of Funnelforms 3?

The chosen forms run on Funnelforms 5. Your pages and shortcodes stay unchanged. If a form cannot move, it is listed at the end under Still on Funnelforms 3 for now with the reason. The old interface is only hidden if you chose so and no imported form needs it any more. In Pro, one click under Funnelforms → Migration → Way back takes you back to Funnelforms 3; the restore point is kept. Free has no way back, and the comparison shows only the new version.

What happens with "Your goal", "Your brand" and "Publish"?

Use this template creates your first form as a draft. The notifications go to the administrator e-mail address of the website until you enter another one in the step Go live. In the step Your brand, Funnelforms saves colour and font in the form and also as the saved style My brand. Use the colours of my website (Pro only) reads the colours and fonts of your home page. Publish puts the form live. With On a new page, Funnelforms creates a page with the shortcode and publishes it. If you leave the title empty, the page is called Request.

Best Practices

• Plan a few quiet minutes for the assistant. Until you have finished it, administrators cannot open any other Funnelforms page.
• Choose the retention period deliberately and mention it in your privacy policy. With Never, entries stay until you delete them.
• As a user of Funnelforms 3, look closely at every form in the step Compare. The new preview is a test run: what you enter is not saved and no e-mail is sent.
• In the step Go live, enter an address you really read.

Troubleshooting

Tips

• After signing in at Funnelforms in the step Your account, you come straight back to the assistant. No key to copy.
• You can paste the shortcode from the step Done on any page. It looks like this: [funnelforms uid="…"], with the ID of your form.
• In Funnelforms Free, the step Your goal offers only templates without Pro features.

FAQ

Can I skip the assistant? No. You can pause it with Continue later. Funnelforms is ready to use once you have been through it.

Does the assistant change my Funnelforms 3 data? No. Funnelforms first saves a restore point and only reads the data.

Do I need a Funnelforms account for the assistant? No. In Pro, the step Your account can be skipped with Skip for now; Free does not have it. Your forms work without a connection too.

Can I change the retention period later? Yes, under Settings → Entries and spam in the section Deleting entries. There you enter the period in days; 0 keeps entries.

Can I change template, colour or font later? Yes. Every text and the design can be changed later in the form builder.

Related articles

• Funnelforms Free and Pro
• Migration assistant
• Retention and deletion