I signed up to test my form, but nothing appeared
Why a test signup can show a success message without adding a contact, and how to test your form properly.
Your form shows everyone the same success message, even when it doesn’t add them. That keeps your list private, because nobody can use your form to find out who’s already on it. So a test signup can look fine and still add nothing. It’s usually one of the reasons below.
The list uses double opt-in
On a double opt-in list, a new signup stays Pending until they click the link in the confirmation email. Look in the Pending tab on the Contacts page. Then open the email (subject “Confirm your subscription to …”), click the link, and click Confirm subscription on the page that opens. Opening the link isn’t enough on its own.
Confirmation links last 7 days. Signing up again before you confirm won’t send a second email straight away. See Set up double opt-in.
The address was already on your account
- Already subscribed and on the list: nothing new is added, and it doesn’t count as a signup.
- Unsubscribed before: they get a confirmation email, even on a list without double opt-in, and only rejoin once they confirm. This is easy to hit if you unsubscribed while testing a campaign.
- Cleaned or suppressed (it bounced, marked an email as spam, or is on your suppression list): the signup is ignored. See Suppressions.
The signup was dropped
- A throwaway address from a disposable inbox service is ignored.
- Too many attempts with the same address, or from the same connection, in a short time. Later ones are ignored. Wait a while, or test with a different address.
- It looked automated. Signups that don’t look like a person filling in the form are ignored. Fill it in by hand, the way a visitor would.
The form can’t send confirmations
If the form shows Live, can’t confirm on Grow, signups that need a confirmation email are turned away. On a double opt-in list, that’s every new signup. See Why won’t my form go live?
How to test it
Make sure the form is live, then sign up by hand with a real address you haven’t used on this account before. On a list without double opt-in, it appears in Contacts straight away. On a double opt-in list, confirm it from your inbox first.
Still nothing? Email contact@emailfig.com with the form’s name and the address you used, and a real person will take a look.