New Form Submissions Policy

Am I the only one who is just astonished with the new policy on form submissions by Webflow!?

I’m more than happy with the work that you guys normally do, but this is one of the things that makes some people stay away. Changing the policy or the way a service works that you provide it’s not wrong but the way you did it suddenly and without any notice or anything.

Don’t get me wrong but if I’m paying for a tool that has everything integrated (even form submissions) and payed for the ability to export code of my websites why would I want to use a third party service just for form submissions, it is not right!

Please let me know if I’m asking something wrong… :disappointed:

Here is the information https://help.webflow.com/article/manage-form-submissions-on-exported-sites-built-in-webflow

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I agree. I counted on the fact that I could use webflow’s form submission support on exported sites. I still kept that site in my dashboard and was able to customize form messages, track submissions, etc. I wasn’t excited to see this link: https://webflow.com/feature/changes-to-form-submission-support-on-free-and-exported-sites

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This is not OK. This is the kind of thing I close accounts over.

I signed up for this service with the MAIN driving force being the ability to export these sites. The fact that I would have to pay for server space here that does NOT provide all of the things a server should provide (mainly email accounts) even though I maintain an open account and use up a project spot just to be able to continue to receive forms makes this an untenable position.

The worst part is that I’ve already switched 3 clients over to Webflow, who I will now have to revert to non-Webflow because the service is useless to me without this function. Either that, or I’ll have to leave Webflow forms behind and integrate Google Forms or something like that. And if I’m doing that… Webflow has basically deleted one of it’s biggest advantages, the ability to easily create and use custom forms.

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The more I think about this the more I realize how big a pain this will be for projects in the works… and old sites I might need to reexport. Not cool…

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I totally agree! Webflow is getting to expensive. Especially for small businesses or startups it is just to much to pay 50 $ every month. For the whole adobe creative suite you pay 60 $…and with all respect for the very good work you do, that is not fair and webflow is not comparable with adobe.

Also the way you do it is really not fair… you just announce something that important for the same day.
I’m very disappointed and considering to change to adobe muse…

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Webflow just changed and they’re saying that the exported sites before the April 20th will be “enjoying” the previous functionality but lets be honest guys NO ONE is exporting a site and leave it there for the end of time, we are always making changes and improvements to our sites so we are going to need to re-export our sites over and over again so that means that you’re just trying to burying your head in the sand.

You’re just trying to push your real customers away. IF you were offering a good hosting service with email functionality at list this wouldn’t be as bad as it is.

Something that you have the advantage from all the industry you’re just killing it, and as @Robinho mentioned Webflow is getting to expensive for us who are trying to make living with this.

I really was considering moving to a professional plan because exactly that function and the ability of sending the form submissions from am unbranded email sender address: no-reply@webforms.io but this is a killer for me.

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This is coming across as a money grab. I THINK you can keep the form handling if you pay $5/month per site to host it with webflow even if you have no intention of actually hosting it (leaving it unpublished). @Waldo?

Form handling (I thought) was part of the value we received with our monthly webflow fee… not something tied to hosting. This change seriously eroded some of this value.

As far as the timing of this change? Not cool to make the change the same day you notified us… many of us have projects in the work and have already communicated features to clients.

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thanks for posting your honest feedback. We are looking into this internally as we speak.

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Thanks Nelson @PixelGeek. Will form handling continue to work if you pay for hosting but leave the site unpublished? I have some old sites that I may need to republish and I don’t want them caught in the cross fire while this issue gets sorted out (and hopefully reversed). I would begrudgingly pay $5 a month per site as a temporary stop-gap measure just so clients don’t get pissed off…

Also, if I export a site again, will forms on the originally exported version continue to work or will the additional export block form handling all together?

I don’t want to branch this thread but I also hope you are also discussing the per user fee for CMS editor accounts… I still can’t wrap my head around how it costs more than basic hosting on the professional plan.

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This is utterly unnaceptable.

My company has over 100 sites through Webflow and they all use a webflow form in them. I have now been receiving emails saying that the forms are now not working, on live customers sites!

To rectify this webflow are bullying you into taking out their hosting plan or saying to use another form provider. This is pathetic. My forms are built using the webflow forms so they integrate into the page styling so nicely. To re-do all my sites pages with another form is well, staggering they would even suggest this.

This needs to be sorted, right now. Do the right thing Webflow, you are pushing away your loyal customers in the hope of making some easy cash. Really not cool and not what I thought Webflow was about.

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Would soemone from Webflow please explain to me right now what I am expected to do, overnight - (it’s 23.45pm here in the UK) to sort out the fact that I have basically got over 100 live customers websites that now have no form functionality?

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If you have already exported the site they should continue to work as long as you don’t export them again after today… I am still waiting for that point to be confirmed by someone @webflow. Last thing I need to is to export a site again (to get the code for a new page or update) and for the forms on the original exported version of the site to stop working. This whole thing has thrown me for a loop.

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Absolutely crazy we have 100 sites with Webflow and we update these on a daily basis, so basically our excellent reputation for being fast and reliable is going to suffer as we will not be able to complete the updates and export the sites tomorrow, we already have sites that are not working.

Seriously guys do the right thing and listen to your clients, this is crazy!!!

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@Golden28 @KProServices @aaronocampo @Cricitem @Nosher

We apologize for the unexpected change, and we are in the process of rolling back this entire change for all existing accounts as we speak. As soon as the older code is restored (ETA 20 minutes from my post here), all form submission functionality will go back to functioning like it did on your accounts and exported sites prior to today’s change.

This change is retroactive to all Webflow accounts created before today (4/20), as well as any sites you have exported in the past or will export in the future as long as you keep your Personal/Pro/Team subscription active.

Our apologies again for the surprise here, we heard you loud and clear. Thank you for your honest feedback, and for keeping us accountable.

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Should we expect another surprise?

Vlad, does this mean your existing loyal customers can continue creating and exporting sites with no problem or it’s just our existing sites that will not be affected and any new ones will still be hit by this unfathomable rule?

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Thank you for being the type of business that responds to customers.

I appreciate that you’re rolling it back for us, but in the long run I think applying the policy to new accounts is going to cost you more revenue than it will get you. I can say this with confidence because if this had been the policy when I first began my account, coupled with the lack of email included in hosting, I never would have signed up for a paid account at all.

A good analogy would probably be along the lines of, “We build Ferraris and sell them for $2,000. However, they have no wheels and if you ever install wheels, the engine stops working.”

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Thanks @callmevlad. Those of us with broken forms and unhappy clients appreciate the quick action. I am still puzzled by the move to remove this for new accounts entirely. We know it will encourage hosting with webflow but the ability to quickly export fully functional static sites (with forms) was a key feature that convinced me to use webflow in the first place.

Quick question as I don’t want to assume, if I create a new site tomorrow (within my existing professional account) then export it, will form submissions continue to work? Or does the code roll-back only apply to sites within our dashboard as of today?

@AntonioBalderas No more surprises :persevere: In the future, if we decide to make any changes to pricing or functionality, we will grandfather all existing plans and users to make sure you’re not paying more than what you expected or signed up for.

@Golden28 Yes, you can keep creating and exporting sites with no problem, even for all sites that you create in the future.

@Cricitem Thank you for the feedback. To be honest, this was in no way meant to increase revenue, but rather to reduce confusion. We had a lot of users who would export sites and delete their Webflow account later, which meant that there was a lot of confusion why submissions stopped working (in which case Webflow has now idea where send form submissions or which site they are associated with, since both the site and the user were deleted). We are weighing your feedback carefully.

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I Agree with Cricitem, you are not going to gain more business this way, if this is a bandwidth issue of mail relaying through your servers why not have the ability to still create the forms but have a section where we can put our own mail server details and passwords in and relay the mail through our own servers.

This way everyone is happy :wink: