Using Smart Tags

Do you want to add user or site data to your form notifications and other form settings automatically? Smart Tags can save you time by enabling you to include helpful details in your forms.

This tutorial will show you how to use Smart Tags in WPForms.


What Is a Smart Tag?

A Smart Tag is a bit of code that you can use to insert relevant information into your form notifications settings or as field default values. Smart Tags use curly brackets and look something like this:

{smart_tag}

For example, a widely used Smart Tag is {admin_email}, which is added by default to the Send To Email Address field in the form notifications settings. It automatically fills in the email address of the site administrator from your site’s WordPress settings.

The {admin_email} Smart Tag in the Send To Email Address field in the notifications settings

Adding Smart Tags to Your Forms

You can use Smart Tags when configuring notifications settings, setting up field options in the form builder, or adding a form description.

Notifications Settings

To access the notifications settings for your form, open the form builder and go to Settings » Notifications. In the top right corner of each field, you can click on Show Smart Tags to see a list of the Smart Tags that are applicable for a particular field.

Accessing Smart Tags for a field in the notifications settings

To add a Smart Tag to the field, click on it in the list.

Adding a Smart Tag for the form's Email field as the Send To Email Address in the notifications settings

The relevant information will be added to the email notification after a user submits their entry.

Default Field Values

When editing some fields in your forms, you can add Smart Tags as default values. To do so, open your form builder and click on a field to open its Field Options panel.

From here, click on the Advanced tab and find the Default Value field. Then select the Show Smart Tags option.

Viewing Smart Tags for the Email field's default value

This will show a list of all the available Smart Tags for this field. Click on one to add it as the default value for the field.

Selecting a Smart Tag to use as the default value of a field

On the frontend, the field will be pre-filled with the relevant information from the Smart Tag.

A form with fields pre-filled by default values set by Smart Tags

Form Descriptions

You can use Smart Tags to include custom details in your form descriptions. When the form loads on the frontend, the Smart Tag will be replaced with the relevant data.

For example, you could add the administrator’s email address to the form description using the {admin_email} Smart Tag:

Adding the {admin_email} Smart Tag to a form description

Then, in the embedded form’s description, the Smart Tag will be replaced with the site’s administrator email address.

Displaying the admin email in a form description on the frontend using a Smart Tag

Note: For more advanced ways to add Smart Tags to your forms, you can check out our tutorial on processing Smart Tags in Checkboxes field labels and HTML fields.

Smart Tags Available in WPForms

Below is a list of the Smart Tags available in WPForms. See our guides to unlocking hidden user data with Smart Tags and displaying subfield input with Smart Tags, as well as our Smart Tag usage examples for further guidance on how to implement them.

  • Basic Smart Tags
    • {admin_email}
    • {field_id="#"}
    • {field_html_id="#"}
    • {field_value_id="#"}
    • {all_fields}
    • {entry_id}
    • {entry_details_url}
    • {form_id}
    • {form_name}
    • {page_title}
    • {page_url}
    • {page_id}
    • {date format="m/d/Y"}
    • {unique_value}
    • {url_referer}
    • {resume_link}
    • {order_summary}
  • Unlock Hidden User Data
    • {user_ip}
    • {entry_geolocation}
    • {user_id}
    • {query_var key=""}
    • {entry_user_journey}
  • Author Details
    • {author_id}
    • {author_display}
    • {author_email}
  • User Management
    • {user_display}
    • {user_full_name}
    • {user_first_name}
    • {user_last_name}
    • {user_email}
    • {user_meta}
    • {url_login}
    • {url_logout}
    • {url_register}
    • {url_lost_password}
  • User Registration
    • {site_name}
    • {user_registration_login}
    • {user_registration_email}
    • {user_registration_password}
    • {url_user_activation}
    • {url_manage_activations}
    • {user_registration_password_reset}

Frequently Asked Questions

Below, we’ll address some of the top questions we see about using Smart Tags:

Can I create a Smart Tag for my site’s URL to use in notifications and confirmations?

Yes, you can create a custom Smart Tag for your site’s URL to easily include it in email notifications or confirmation messages. For detailed guidance on how to set this up, refer to our developer documentation for more information.

That’s it! You’ve just learned how to use Smart Tags in WPForms.

Next, want to see some different ways to use Smart Tags in your forms? Check out our extensive Smart Tag examples for ideas on how to use this feature.