Building a Webflow Form: Submitting Checkboxes, Radio Buttons, and Select Fields to MailChimp

Building a Webflow Form and Submitting Checkboxes, Radio Buttons, and Select Fields to MailChimp

Webflow is a robust platform that empowers users to build websites without having to write code. In this tutorial, we'll learn a valuable hack on how to submit checkboxes, radio buttons, and select fields into MailChimp using Webflow.

Setting Up the Form in Webflow

To begin, let's create a native Webflow form in the Webflow Designer. This form will be used to collect user data and then send it to MailChimp. Start by accessing the Webflow Designer and adding a form element to your page. From the Webflow assets panel, you can add form elements such as text fields, radio buttons, and checkboxes to visually design the form according to your requirements.

After adding the desired form elements, access the form settings to configure the form action URL. For this hack to work, the form action URL should be set to the URL of your MailChimp list, and the form method should be set to "POST."

Applying Classes to Form Elements

In order to facilitate the submission of checkboxes, radio buttons, and select fields to MailChimp, we need to apply specific classes to these form elements. For example, the radio buttons can be given a class such as "HACC 19 radio," and the checkboxes can have the class "HACC 19 checkbox." This step allows us to target these elements using JavaScript for data manipulation.

Handling Hidden Fields

To submit the form elements as text fields into MailChimp, we need to create hidden text fields that correspond to the checkboxes, radio buttons, and select fields. These hidden fields will hold the values of the user's selections and will be sent to MailChimp upon form submission. In the Webflow Designer, you can add HTML embed elements and set them to hidden to create these hidden fields and match their names to the desired MailChimp fields.

Converting Form Data with JavaScript

The next step involves writing JavaScript code to convert the user's input into the hidden text fields and prepare them for submission to MailChimp. By creating custom code in Webflow, we can manipulate the form data and send it to MailChimp in the required format.

In the custom JavaScript code, we start by referencing the form elements using the classes we previously added. These include variables for the select field, radio buttons, and checkboxes. Additionally, we create variables to target the hidden text fields that correspond to each form element.

Manipulating Form Data

When the user interacts with the form and submits their data, we prevent the default form submission behavior using JavaScript. Then, we retrieve the values of the select field, radio buttons, and checkboxes selected by the user. These values are then assigned to the corresponding hidden text fields, effectively converting the user's input into a format that can be submitted to MailChimp.

For checkboxes, an array is used to store the hidden input elements, and a function iterates through each checkbox to check its status and update the corresponding hidden field with the user's selection.

Form Submission to MailChimp

Finally, after all the necessary manipulations and conversions, the form is submitted to MailChimp. The hidden text fields now hold the user's selections in a format that can be processed by MailChimp, and the form submission carries this data to the specified MailChimp list.

This innovative approach allows Webflow users to bypass the limitations of native MailChimp form submissions and effectively send checkboxes, radio buttons, and select fields data directly from a Webflow form to MailChimp.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we've explored how Webflow users can leverage custom JavaScript code to transform form data and submit it to MailChimp in a more flexible manner. By employing hidden fields and JavaScript manipulation, users can achieve a seamless integration between Webflow forms and MailChimp, overcoming the default restrictions on form elements that MailChimp supports.

This hack showcases the power of customization and extends the capabilities of form submissions from Webflow to external platforms like MailChimp. With the flexibility and functionality offered by Webflow, users can implement advanced solutions to meet their specific needs for data capture and processing.