Refreshed and republished on September 3, 2021
This post was originally published on May 29, 2018 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.Want to do something with your Pardot form that is not available in the editor? Try using JavaScript! Enhance your forms by using these 6 advanced Pardot form techniques. Learn how to add text between form fields, how to capture URL parameters in hidden fields and more.
Adding JavaScript to your Pardot forms
Custom JavaScript can be placed within your Pardot forms under Look and Feel > Below Form. Click on the HTML button within the WYSIWYG editor and add in the JavaScript.
1. Add text between form fields
Edit the form field you want to add the text before in the form editor. Click on the advanced tab and add a CSS class with the name “add-text-before”.
Once the class has been added to the form field, you can add the following JS to your form and update the message.
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<script type="text/javascript"> function insertBefore(el, referenceNode) { referenceNode.parentNode.insertBefore(el, referenceNode); } var newEl = document.createElement('div'); // replace this line with your message newEl.innerHTML = 'ENTER YOUR TEXT HERE'; var ref = document.querySelector('.add-text-before'); insertBefore(newEl, ref); </script> |
2. Redirect to a thank you page based on field values
This tip is from the Pardot Help Docs, but with a couple updates. The article recommends using JavaScript-encoding for variable tags using {js}. I’ve never had success while using this method. Instead using this JavaScript does the trick.
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<script type="text/javascript"> switch('%%Free_Trial_Live_Demo%%') { case 'Free Trial': document.location='http://www.yoursite.com/thank-you-free-trial/'; break; case 'Live Demo': document.location='http://www.yoursite.com/thank-you-live-demo/'; break; } </script> |
3. Use a hidden field to capture page url
Edit the hidden form field, click on the advanced tab and add a CSS class with the name “get-page-url”.
Insert this JS into your form to capture the page url in the hidden field.
Note: This will not work if you have a iFramed form on a web page.
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<script> document.querySelector(".get-page-url input").value = window.location.href; </script> |
4. Use a Hidden field to capture page name
Edit the hidden form field, click on the advanced tab and add a CSS class with the name “get-page-name”.
Note: This will not work if you have a iFramed form on a web page.
Insert this JS into your form to capture the page url in the hidden field.
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<script> document.querySelector(".get-page-name input").value = document.title; </script> |
5. Pass URL parameters to a Pardot form
You can use this script to parse out URL parameters and put them into fields within your Pardot form. In this example, I’m passing utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign into hidden form fields.
Learn more about UTM parameters in Pardot in this post
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<script> // Parse the URL function getParameterByName(name) { name = name.replace(/[\[]/, "\\[").replace(/[\]]/, "\\]"); var regex = new RegExp("[\\?&]" + name + "=([^&#]*)"), results = regex.exec(location.search); return results === null ? "" : decodeURIComponent(results[1].replace(/\+/g, " ")); } // Give the URL parameters variable names var source = getParameterByName('utm_source'); var medium = getParameterByName('utm_medium'); var campaign = getParameterByName('utm_campaign'); // Put the variable names into the hidden fields in the form. selector should be "p.YOURFIELDNAME input" document.querySelector("p.source input").value = source; document.querySelector("p.medium input").value = medium; document.querySelector("p.campaign input").value = campaign; </script> |
6. Turn your form labels into placeholder text
There’s currently no feature for Pardot forms that allow you to use placeholder text instead of the label text. So, in this tutorial, I will show you how to add a bit of JavaScript to your Pardot forms to use the field labels as placeholders.
Questions?
Send me a tweet @jennamolby, leave a comment below, or book a Peer Chat.
Can multiple css classes be used for one field? I’m looking to add a title for a set of fields that I want to break into four columns in my form and also headers to each column. Is this possible?
Hello! Yes, more than one CSS class can be used as a field. All you need to do is separate them with a space.
Hi Jenna, Thanks so much for your help with adding text between form fields. Would I be able to add font size to this script as well?
Hi Laura, You’re welcome! Yes, you can add font size by adding some CSS like this .add-text-before {font-size:16px;}. Hope that helps! Cheers, Jenna
Hi Jenna,
I love your Pardot tips and tricks! I too am trying to add styling to the add text between form fields (tip #1) and am running into an issue. When I add the css .add-text-before {color:red;} this changes the style of the form field label, not the text above the label. Is there another piece of code I am missing?
Hi Leigh, Thank you! Instead of adding CSS, modify the JS to include a span tag and add your font color, size, etc there like this newEl.innerHTML = ‘<span style=”color:red;”>ENTER YOUR TEXT HERE</span>’;
Hi – RE: 1. Add text between form fields
How do I format the text so that it looks bigger and increase the padding above and below it?
Any pointers very much appreciated.
Thank you
Hi Jonnie, You can add some CSS like this .add-text-before {font-size:18px;padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;} Cheers, Jenna
Will the redirect to a thank you page based on field values work when using default Pardot fields? I’m trying to use the opted_out field but the redirect doesn’t seem to be working. When I tested using a custom field it worked as expected.
Alternatively, is there a way to say if field X,Y, AND Z are false then show this page?
Hi Heather, I have not tried the script with a boolean field. If you are still running into issues you can email your form/landing page to [email protected] and I can help you troubleshoot. Cheers, Jenna