Introduction to Real-Time Forms

Real-time forms in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys help organizations collect audience information and connect with prospects through personalized content, customer journeys, and outreach activities across the Dynamics 365 ecosystem.Forms can be created, customized, published, and tracked directly within the Forms area under the Channels section. Like other Dynamics 365 lists, forms can be filtered and organized using custom views.

Creating a New Form

When creating a form, you can start from:

• Microsoft-provided templates
• Custom templates
• Favorited templates

Templates automatically populate common content such as:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Email Address
• Header text
• Submit button

A template provides a strong starting point while still allowing full customization.

Important: Set the Audience First

One of the most important steps when creating a form is selecting the audience immediately after opening the form builder. Audience options include:

• Leads
• Contacts
• Leads and Contacts

Changing the audience later can remove previously completed work, so it is best practice to configure this setting before making any other edits.

Form Settings

General Settings

The General tab contains key configuration options:

Prefill

Prefill allows known information from returning visitors to automatically populate form fields. Key considerations:

• Prefill must be enabled for the domain.
• Customer consent is required for tracking purposes.
• Individual fields can have prefill enabled or disabled.
• Dynamics displays an indicator showing how many fields are configured for prefill.

Web Tracking

Web tracking places cookies on the webpage hosting the form.Organizations should ensure cookie usage aligns with their privacy policies and consent requirements.

Audience Configuration

Audience settings determine whether the form creates or updates:

• Lead records
• Contact records
• Both lead and contact records

When using the Leads and Contacts audience:

• Attribute matching must be configured between lead and contact entities.
• CRM administrators must ensure fields are properly mapped.
• Form submissions generate interactions on both records.

Organizations can also determine how duplicate leads are handled:

• Always create a new lead
• Match submissions to existing leads using configured rules

Working with Form Fields

The available fields depend on the selected audience.Standard fields map directly to lead or contact attributes and can be searched quickly from the field library.Field customization options include:

• Changing labels
• Editing placeholder text
• Marking fields as required

Using Unmapped Fields

Unmapped fields allow marketers to collect information without creating custom CRM attributes.Examples include:

• Meal preferences
• Product interests
• Personalization questions
• Event-specific inquiries

Data entered into unmapped fields is stored within the Form Submissions entity rather than on lead or contact records.

Adding Form Elements

The Elements section provides additional form components such as:

• Submit buttons
• CAPTCHA controls
• Text areas
• Radio buttons
• Checkboxes
• Multiple-select controls

You can also add consent-related components connected to:

• Compliance profiles
• Marketing purposes
• Topics

Layouts can be customized with:

• One-column sections
• Two-column sections
• Custom ratio layouts

For example, First Name and Last Name fields can be displayed side-by-side using a two-column layout.

Styling and Themes

The Theme section provides centralized styling controls for the entire form.Administrators can configure:

Text Styles

• Heading styles
• Paragraph styles
• Label styles
• Fonts
• Colors
• Line spacing

Input Fields

• Placeholder formatting
• Field colors
• Borders
• Corner radius
• Spacing
• Alignment

Radio Buttons and Checkboxes

• Font settings
• Selected-state styling
• Background colors
• Spacing

Buttons and Links

• Font styles
• Colors
• Borders
• Alignment
• Spacing

Theme settings help maintain a consistent look and feel across all forms.

Validating Forms with Check Content

The Check Content feature reviews forms for errors and warnings before publishing. Examples of errors that prevent publishing include:

• Missing submit button
• Duplicate fields
• Missing audience configuration
• Missing required fields
• Invalid field mappings

Warnings may indicate that recommended fields or required information are missing, but they do not block publication. Running Check Content throughout the build process helps identify issues early.

Editing Published Forms

Published forms can be edited without being stopped or unpublished.When editing a live form:

• Changes immediately affect active experiences.
• Analytics continue accumulating after updates.
• Existing data and new submissions remain combined.

Users can choose to:

• Continue editing the current form
• Create a copy before making changes

Saving and Reusing Forms

There are two primary methods for reusing forms.

Save As

Create a duplicate of an existing form and modify it as needed.

Form Templates

Create reusable templates from the Assets section for future projects.Templates are especially useful when:

• Multiple forms share the same structure
• Branding needs to remain consistent
• Small variations are required for tracking or reporting purposes

Previewing and Testing

Before publishing, use the Preview and Test features to review:

• Design
• Functionality
• User experience
• Data collection requirements

Testing helps confirm the form behaves as expected before going live.

Publishing Options

Dynamics 365 offers two publishing methods.

Embedded Form

The form can be embedded into an existing website using JavaScript.Benefits include:

• Reusing the same form across multiple pages
• Capturing page-level submission information
• Collecting visitor statistics through tracking scripts

The hosting domain must be approved for external form hosting.

Standalone Page

Dynamics automatically creates a webpage containing the form and supplies a public URL that can be shared directly with visitors.A single form can use multiple publishing methods simultaneously.

Stopping and Deactivating Forms

If a form needs to be removed from use:

1. Stop the form.
2. Optionally deactivate it.

A stopped form is no longer available to visitors until it is republished.

Managing Form Submissions

After publication, submissions are available through the Submissions tab on the form designer.Submission records include:

• Direct links to submissions
• Source page URLs
• Submitted values

This information is particularly useful when the same form is embedded on multiple web pages.

Lead and Contact Record Updates

Form submissions can:

• Create new records
• Update existing records

By default, matching is performed using email addresses. If a matching record exists:

• Contact information can be updated.
• Consent preferences can be adjusted.

If no match is found:

• A new lead or contact record is created.

Organizations can modify matching rules through Customer Engagement settings.

Tracking Changes and Audit History

Form activity is visible within record timelines.When auditing is enabled, users can review:

• Date of changes
• Source of changes
• Updated fields
• Previous values
• New values

This provides visibility into updates made either manually or through form submissions.

Key Takeaways

• Set the audience immediately after creating a form.
• Templates can significantly speed up form creation.
• Forms can target leads, contacts, or both.
• Unmapped fields allow collection of additional information without creating CRM attributes.
• Use Check Content regularly to identify errors before publishing.
• Forms can be embedded on external websites or published as standalone pages.
• Form submissions can create new records or update existing ones based on matching rules.
• Audit history helps track changes made through form submissions and user updates.