The Gate Editor is where you create and customise your gates and access the scripts needed to deploy them to your website. This article will walk you through all of the Gate Editor’s powerful features.
To get started, navigate to Browse Gates and open the Gate Editor by clicking the Create a new gate button.
The editor is split into 5 tabbed sections: Content, Form, Gating, Messaging and Miscellaneous
Note: Each instance of GatedContent.com has a slightly different editor. This is because each instance of GatedContent.com is customized to the integration and feature requirements of the appropriate company.
Content Settings
Gate type determines the type of content being gated. The options in here will be dependent on the types on content being delivered and the platforms used to deliver that content.
Typical options include:
• General (the gate is just used as an in-take or contact form)
• Download (a PDF or other document)
• Video (displays video from your chosen video platform)
• Webinar (sign-up integrated to your chosen webinar provider)
• Event (sign-up integrated to your chosen event management provider)
• Page-Gate (allows gating of an entire web page by adding a modal form in-front of the content)
The option chosen will determine other options then available below.
Form Settings
In this section you define the core information for the gate i.e. Gate name, form language, Form type and Custom Fields.
The Gate name is used to identify the form you are creating in reports and is often pushed as a hidden value in form submissions. Additionally, gate names are a more user friendly way of recognising and locating gates than IDs, so we would recommend establishing a globally agreed taxonomy or gate name guidelines, as this will save a lot of time and energy when managing lots of gates across several campaigns.
Next you will need to select a Form type. Form types are specific to your account and will have been set by your account administrator to maintain global governance and compliance. If you are the account administrator you can find more information on building form types here. Form type determines what fields are shown and captured when the form appears. Form types also determine how the form looks and behaves e.g. validation or progressive profiling.
To the right of this drop-down you can open the Review form type menu. From here you can manage switchable fields and decide whether or not they are displayed by checking or un-checking the boxes, depending on the form type configuration you may also be able to select whether these fields are mandatory (the user must complete these fields to submit the form).
Form language determines the language the form should display in. Most of the language in the gate is pre-translated for you. This includes field labels, validation messaging, drop down values, opt-ins, disclaimers etc. Some text values are determined on a gate by gate basis i.e. messaging specific to the content item itself. You can find more information on languages and translations here.
Custom fields - Some instances will have the ability to add additional fields to a form on a gate by gate basis. Extra fields are usually added at the bottom of the form. Click on the wording “Custom field #” to open the rolldown, then the follow options are available:
• Field type: the type of form input (Text, Long Text, Dropdown, Checkbox, Hidden field)
• Question text: the label or wording associated to the field input
• Field options: the available options and values in a dropdown fields. Each option is entered on a new line. If you wish to provide display text and values for dropdown options separate values from text using a pipe separator e.g. value|displaytext.
• Field value: the value sent across in a hidden field
• This field is required: Determines if the field is mandatory
Note: Custom fields typically send submission data across into generic containing fields. There are 2 fields per questions. One field contains the question text, one field the responses from users.
Gating Settings
Gate Behaviour is primarily focused on configuring how a gate opens and closes i.e. when the form is shown and when it isn’t. Understanding these gate behaviour options and using them effectively can have a positive impact on UX.
Typical options Include:
• This gate should always be open
• Once submitted by the user, this gate should stay open for the rest of their visit
• Once submitted by the user, this gate should stay open for subsequent visits
• Open this gate if all required fields on this form type have previously been filled out
• Open this gate if another gate in the same group has been submitted by the user
Download URL/text is shown for Download gate types. The URL to the document and the text shown on the button to start the download. Some configurations will also have auto-download enabled as well as a download button.
Video ID is shown for Video gate types. The ID of the video stored in your chosen video platform e.g. Youtube ID, Vidyard ID etc.
Webinar ID is shown for Webinar gate types. The ID of the webinar created in your chosen Webinar platform.
Event ID is shown for Event sign-up gate types. The ID of the event created in your chosen Event management platform.
Messaging Settings
In this section you define the messaging specific to the gate that the user will read or view.
Intro message - The HTML content displayed when a user first encounters the gate and the gate is closed. Usually displayed at the top above the form. A rich text editor is provided to manage the content.
Thank you message - The HTML content displayed immediately after a form has been completed. Typically accompanied with the delivery of the content itself e.g. the embedded video or download button. A rich text editor is provided to manage the content.
Gate open message - The HTML content displayed on a returning visit to the page if a gate is configured to stay open. Typically accompanied with the delivery of the content itself e.g. the embedded video or download button. A rich text editor is provided to manage the content.
Note: in some situations, this text may not be shown. For example, a download gate deployed as a modal will not show this message. The user will click the link to the gate and the download will trigger straight away without showing the modal or a message.
Misc Settings
In this section you define any additional features and meta data used for data capture and measurement.
Asset name/ID - A value representing an ID or Name identifying the asset piece or marketing interaction associated with the gate. Used in reporting or analytics and to identify the gated content piece in the submission data.
Campaign name/ID - A value passed across in the submission data. Often used to identify the form or gate for processing in Marketing Automation.
Notification email - Some instances will have this option. Passes one or multiple email address into the receiving Marketing Automation platform as part of the form submission. If supported by the Marketing Automation platform an email can be configured to be sent to those email addresses as a way of notifying administrators that the form has been completed.
Repost to Eloqua Form - Some instances will have this option. If supported by the Marketing Automation platform a form submission can be re-posted on to the URL provided. This option is used where a secondary form may be required to process or trigger data as part of a campaign or program. The submission is processed by a central master form and then forwarded on to the repost URL to be processed by the campaign form.
Now you have understood the gate editor and have created a gate, the next step is deploying the gate to a web page.
Got a question about creating gates or having issues? Fear not, GatedContent.com is on hand, simply click "+ New Support Ticket" above.