Your campaign is all built out, and you've gone live. Now, you're just waiting for your entries to start rolling in. Except wait... why aren't they rolling in already? Or why is there only one, when analytics show that there have been loads of visitors to the campaign? Or maybe even worse, why are emails flooding in saying that folks aren't able to enter?
The following are steps you can take to troubleshoot your form and campaign if you aren't seeing entries being submitted at the rate you're expecting, not seeing entries at all, or running into visitors who are having trouble entering.
Diagnostic Step #1
Make sure you’re looking in the correct place to see your entries.
This is a common mistake, especially if you're new to ShortStack - you might not be seeing your entries because you're looking in the wrong place. There are two main places you'll see entries - in the Entries Manager, and in your campaign (if you are using an Entry Display Widget).
- To access the Entries Manager:
With your campaign open in the Campaign Builder, look for your Form Container or Entry Display Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel, on the left side of your screen. On the widget, you should see your number of entries next to an inbox icon - clicking that will take you to the Entries Manager for that list, and you'll be able to view the entries there.
- Double-checking your Entry Display Widget:
If you're expecting to see your entries in the campaign but you are not, you'll want to double-check that you added an Entry Display Widget, that it's connected to the correct list, and that its visibility settings are set so that it will show on the live campaign.
- Checking for an Entry Display Widget is easy enough - in the Campaign Builder, take a look in your Edit Widgets Panel. It may be named something different if you customized it, but by default it's named Entry Display. You should see the number of entries next to the inbox icon, and also the name of the list to which its connected will be displayed as well. If you don't have one, just click the Entry Display Widget icon in the Add Widgets Panel to add one to your campaign.
- As mentioned, the Entry Display Widget displays the name of the list its connected to. If it's not showing a list name, or the name doesn't match the list that your Form Container is connected to, you'll need to change that. To do so, click on the Entry Display Widget, then click on the pencil icon to open the Widget Settings. In the pop-up, there will be a List section - click on the name of the existing list (or Choose existing list if a name isn't showing) to change the connected list.
- Finally, if you find that you have an Entry Display Widget in your campaign where the entries are showing in your Campaign Builder but not in the live campaign - you'll need to check the Visibility settings of your widget. To do that, click on the Entry Display Widget, then click on the pencil icon to open the Widget Settings. In the pop-up, click on Visibility on the left side. In this section, you'll be able to see whether or not you have the widget hidden, or if it's set up to show on specific dates/at specific times.
- Checking for an Entry Display Widget is easy enough - in the Campaign Builder, take a look in your Edit Widgets Panel. It may be named something different if you customized it, but by default it's named Entry Display. You should see the number of entries next to the inbox icon, and also the name of the list to which its connected will be displayed as well. If you don't have one, just click the Entry Display Widget icon in the Add Widgets Panel to add one to your campaign.
Diagnostic Step #2
Make sure your campaign is published, and that your form is visible.
Sometimes the easiest steps can be missed - it's okay (and more importantly, easy to fix)!
- Open your Campaign Builder, and look in the top-right corner. If you see a button that says Publish Campaign, it means that your campaign has not been made live. Click the button and follow the steps to publish your campaign.
- Now to check your form's visibility - find the Form Container in your Edit Widgets Panel, and then click the pencil icon on the widget to open the Widget Settings. In the pop-up, click on Visibility on the left side. In this section, you'll be able to see whether or not you have the form hidden, or if it's set up to show on specific dates/at specific times.
Diagnostic Step #3
Make sure your restriction settings aren't preventing legitimate visitors from entering.
When configuring settings for a Form Container, it can be easy to accidentally set restrictions a little stronger than initially intended. To double-check those settings:
- Find the Form Container in your Edit Widgets Panel, and then click the pencil icon on the widget to open the Widget Settings. In the pop-up, click on Entry Restrictions on the left side. Make sure the settings in the Limit Repeat Entries section are set the way you want them, and also look in the Maximum Entries For Form section - remember that this section controls the total number of entries allowed (not just per person), so if entries just stopped coming in, it's very likely that you have this enabled.
- If your visitors are adamant that they aren't able to submit the form and they haven't entered before, it might be an issue with your reCaptcha settings. Slide the bar in the Captcha section further to the left to turn the sensitivity down.
Diagnostic Step #4
If you're not already promoting your campaign, get started!
If nobody knows about your contest, how are they supposed to enter? If you're at a loss as to how to start getting the word out about your campaign, we've got your back. Check out the ShortStack blog for all kinds of helpful insight on how to get as many eyeballs as possible checking your your awesome contest.
Diagnostic Step #5
Gather information from visitors who are having problems submitting entries, to see if there're any consistencies that point to an issue.
If you've already run through all of these diagnostic steps and found that everything is in tip-top shape as far as your campaign is concerned, then we may be looking at an issue on your visitors' end(s). While this can be frustrating, there are still steps you can take to help get these types of things resolved. Have folks try the following standard troubleshooting steps:
- Refreshing the contest page
- Clearing their browser's cache/cookies
- Trying a different device, or on a different network
If those steps don't seem to help, we're always happy to assist - we'd just need you to gather the following bits of info from the affected visitors:
- Type of computer (Win/Mac) or device (iOS/Android/other)
- Type of browser (and if it's up to date)
- Type of network (wifi/cellular)
- Any specific error messages
- Screenshots (if possible)
Once you have those, you may be able to suss out a common element - but if you need additional help, just shoot that information to us at theteam@shortstacklab.com and we'll dig into things further for you.
