Skip to content
FormMail Hub - Docs

Frequently Asked Questions & Operational Q&A

This guide addresses the most frequent questions regarding setup, delivery routing, conditional rules, delivery delays, bulk campaigns, zero-login QR attendance, and subscription management in FormMail Hub.

To test any feature live or experience automated triggers firsthand, submit our Live Demo Form or install the add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace Listing.

1. General & Email Automation FAQ

Section titled “1. General & Email Automation FAQ”

Q: How do I send an email notification every time a new form submission is received?

Section titled “Q: How do I send an email notification every time a new form submission is received?”

A: This is the simplest and most essential feature for Form Admins.

  1. Access your FormMail Hub dashboard via the add-on sidebar (“Go Beyond” in Google Forms™ / “Open Dashboard” in Google Sheets™).
  2. Navigate to System Notifications.
  3. Toggle notifications ON, select yourself (Admin) and any desired Team Members to receive alerts, and click Save.
  4. Every new submission will instantly trigger an internal email notification sent via built-in System SMTP to the designated recipients without consuming your personal email quota.

Q: How can I route submissions to different team members based on specific response conditions?

Section titled “Q: How can I route submissions to different team members based on specific response conditions?”

A:

  1. Configure and test your Custom SMTP provider under Settings > SMTP Config (unlocks the Templates, Rules, Campaigns, and Analytics tabs).
  2. Create custom Email Templates under Email Templates.
  3. Go to Email Rules > Conditional Rules and configure multi-condition routing rules based on the respondent’s form answers (e.g., Department equals “Support” or Budget > 5000).
  4. Emails will be dynamically dispatched under your custom sender domain and transport.

Q: How do I send custom confirmation emails and instructions directly to the form respondent?

Section titled “Q: How do I send custom confirmation emails and instructions directly to the form respondent?”

A:

  1. Create a custom Email Template containing your instructions, brand styling, and dynamic tags (such as {First Name}, {Form title}, or {All fields}).
  2. Create an Auto-responder Rule triggered on form submission.
  3. Set the target recipient field to the dynamic email tag submitted by the respondent (e.g., {Email}).
  4. When respondents complete the form, FormMail Hub immediately sends them their customized confirmation email.

Q: Can I set a delay or schedule specific dates/times for emails triggered by form submission rules?

Section titled “Q: Can I set a delay or schedule specific dates/times for emails triggered by form submission rules?”

A: Yes. When setting up Auto-responder or conditional routing rules, you can configure flexible execution timing. You can specify relative delay intervals in seconds, minutes, hours, or days, or select a fixed date and time (Scheduled mode). The cloud backend platform automatically adjusts the scheduled timestamp using your Form’s configured timezone and safely skips execution if the target scheduled time has already elapsed at the time of submission.

2. Campaigns & Google Sheets Management Client

Section titled “2. Campaigns & Google Sheets Management Client”

Q: Can I proactively send bulk email notifications or campaigns to all form respondents?

Section titled “Q: Can I proactively send bulk email notifications or campaigns to all form respondents?”

A: Yes. Bulk email dispatches (Campaigns) are launched exclusively via the FormMail Hub Google Sheets add-on while your Google Sheet is open.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                           CAMPAIGN CREATION & DISPATCH FLOW                       |
| 1. Admin creates a campaign template in FormMail Hub                              |
| 2. Admin configures filtering rules to target specific respondents in Sheet       |
| 3. Admin enables the rule as an active campaign                                   |
| 4. In Sheets add-on on responses sheet, Admin switches to Campaign view           |
| 5. Admin selects the synchronized campaign name                                   |
| 6. Admin clicks 'Dispatch' to execute bulk email dispatch via cloud platform      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Q: Why is bulk sending only available in the Google Sheets add-on?

Section titled “Q: Why is bulk sending only available in the Google Sheets add-on?”

A: Google Sheets acts as the full-featured management client and data ledger for your respondent records. Because a single Google Spreadsheet can host multiple Form Responses tabs, connecting via the Sheets add-on uses only 1 connection slot while scaling across multiple forms, providing the interface to filter rows and dispatch bulk campaigns efficiently.

3. QR Code Ticketing & Attendance Check-in FAQ

Section titled “3. QR Code Ticketing & Attendance Check-in FAQ”
Section titled “Q: Is the QR Code and Link Check-in feature easy to set up and operate?”

A: Yes. Setup is straightforward and requires no complex hardware or mobile app installations:

  1. Dispatch Authorization Links: Send personalized scanner links ({Check-in Scanner}, {Check-out Scanner}, or {Full Scanner}) to staff or respondents to activate 7-day scanner permissions directly on their web browser.
  2. Include Passes in Confirmation Emails: Include a {QR Code} (visual QR code + embedded link) or direct clickable {Verify Link} in the respondent’s confirmation email.
  3. Execute Verification: Upon arrival, staff scan the QR code with their mobile camera, or respondents/staff click the direct {Verify Link} on an authorized device. Real-time confirmation receipts and audit logs are automatically emailed to the respondent, Form Admin, and designated team members.

Q: What are the main practical applications for the Check-in system?

Section titled “Q: What are the main practical applications for the Check-in system?”

A: The Check-in feature can be applied across several operational workflows:

  • Event ticketing and entry access control: Issuing digital entry passes and scanning tickets at entry gates.
  • Workplace and academic classroom attendance tracking: Tracking employee shift clock-ins or student lecture attendance.
  • Office PC Kiosk Attendance: Allowing employees to verify daily check-in and check-out directly from their office desktop browser without physical scanners.
  • Equipment, asset, or library book loan and return management: Recording asset checkout and checkin status transitions.

Q: Can check-in be performed without a camera scanner?

Section titled “Q: Can check-in be performed without a camera scanner?”

A: Yes. Both attendees and staff can perform verification without a camera by clicking the direct manual verification link ({Verify Link}) rendered in their notification or confirmation emails on any authorized browser.

Q: How does the system prevent duplicate check-ins?

Section titled “Q: How does the system prevent duplicate check-ins?”

A: When an authorized user or staff member accesses the verification link, the platform verifies permissions and updates the ticket’s explicit state (IN or OUT). If a ticket status is already IN, duplicate check-in attempts are rejected with a conflict alert on screen. Every state change extends the record’s retention to 30 days without deleting data.

Q: How do automated dual real-time attendance receipts work?

Section titled “Q: How do automated dual real-time attendance receipts work?”

A: Upon every successful Check-in or Check-out event, the engine dispatches two independent, real-time email notifications:

  1. Attendee Attendance Email: Dispatched to the ticket holder confirming their updated status (Checked In or Checked Out), Event Name, Reference ID, Location (if applicable), and UTC timestamp.
  2. Staff/Admin Audit Log Email: Dispatched directly to the operator/user and CC’d to the Form Owner recording an audit trail containing attendee identity, ticket reference code, operator identity, and scan timestamp.

4. Analytics, Daily Reports & Subscription Management

Section titled “4. Analytics, Daily Reports & Subscription Management”

Q: What performance analytics and reports does FormMail Hub provide?

Section titled “Q: What performance analytics and reports does FormMail Hub provide?”

A: FormMail Hub tracks daily and cumulative performance stats for every form, categorized into three distinct execution modes:

  • system: Automated operational alerts, daily reports, and SMTP connection error alerts.
  • automation: Submission-triggered auto-responders and rule-based emails.
  • campaign: Proactive bulk emails dispatched from the Google Sheets add-on.

Additionally, an automated Daily Summary Report is emailed via System SMTP to the Form Admin at 00:00 (according to each form’s configured timezone) for each active Form, summarizing the previous day’s metrics.

Q: How can Form Admins and respondents manage email preferences and prevent unwanted emails?

Section titled “Q: How can Form Admins and respondents manage email preferences and prevent unwanted emails?”

A: FormMail Hub provides precise, multi-tiered subscription control across 3 granular scopes:

  • Form-Specific Respondent Unsubscribe: Custom email templates can include the {Unsubscribe link} tag. Clicking this link allows respondents to unsubscribe strictly from future emails related to that specific Form.
  • Form-Specific System Daily Report Unsubscribe: Daily summary report emails sent to Admins include an unsubscribe link that stops daily reports strictly for that specific Form, keeping daily summary reports active for other forms.
  • User-Level SMTP Error Alert Unsubscribe: SMTP error alert emails sent to Admins include an unsubscribe link scoped to the user account level, stopping SMTP failure alerts across all forms managed under that account.

5. SMTP Transport & Security FAQ

Section titled “5. SMTP Transport & Security FAQ”

Q: Why are the Templates, Rules, Campaigns, and Analytics tabs locked in the sidebar?

Section titled “Q: Why are the Templates, Rules, Campaigns, and Analytics tabs locked in the sidebar?”

A: FormMail Hub requires custom SMTP for customer-facing emails. Admins MUST configure and test custom SMTP settings under Settings > SMTP Config before unlocking Templates, Rules, Campaigns, or Analytics. Until custom SMTP is verified with a successful test connection, these tabs remain strictly locked.

Q: Can I use built-in System SMTP to send custom auto-responders to respondents?

Section titled “Q: Can I use built-in System SMTP to send custom auto-responders to respondents?”

A: No. Built-in System SMTP is strictly restricted to internal administrative alerts (submission notifications, daily summary reports, and SMTP connection error alerts) sent to the Form Admin and selected Team Members. Custom auto-responders and campaign broadcasts must route through verified Custom SMTP.

Q: Does FormMail Hub support webhooks, Zapier, or third-party CRM integrations?

Section titled “Q: Does FormMail Hub support webhooks, Zapier, or third-party CRM integrations?”

A: No. FormMail Hub operates strictly as an email receiving, processing, dispatching, and QR attendance tracking engine. It DOES NOT support webhooks, HTTP POST forwarding, external API calls, or third-party integrations (such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Zapier, or external CRMs).

6. Official Resources & Enterprise Support

Section titled “6. Official Resources & Enterprise Support”

Google Workspace Marketplace

Install FormMail Hub for Google Forms™ and Google Sheets™ from the Marketplace Listing.

Interactive Live Demo

Test form submissions and QR passes on our Live Demo Form.

Technical Support Desk

Have technical or configuration questions? Contact our team at Support & Contact.

Google Forms™, Google Sheets™, and Gmail™ are trademarks of Google LLC.