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Sally Heaven
Sally Heaven
Product Pro
August 20, 2026
Solved

Smart Links and embedding contribution forms in other web pages

  • August 20, 2026
  • 10 replies
  • 49 views

Hello! I have reviewed the documentation for using Smart Links in Targeted Email and I have a question. 

When using the wizard to add the Smart Link, there’s an option to choose via radio button that the Smart Link is going to an Online Actions Form, an Embedded Online Actions Form, or an external URL.

Can anyone tell me what the difference is when I choose “Embedded Online Actions Form?” The URL that is created doesn’t appear to be different to me than the regular online actions form radio button.

I’m helping a client figure out how to tighten up email conversion and tracking, and wondering if there’s something specific when using Smart Links and choosing Embedded Form that will help an external website (like WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Drupal, and so on) retain the tracking codes and conversion codes in the URL. 

Thank you!

Best answer by Joe Conley

@Sally Heaven Ahh I see. No in THAT case you should get the same result

10 replies

Sally Heaven
Sally HeavenAuthor
Product Pro
August 20, 2026

And I should state the obvious here - the target URL is different in the Online Actions Form versus Embedded Online Actions Form, but nothing else that I can see with tracking codes or anything else. I am testing this in my site and launched a test message and it appears everything except the target URL is the same. Is that right? Just want to make sure I’m not missing anything about linking to embedded forms. 

Raise HECK, a Bonterra partner and certified Super User
Joe Conley
Joe Conley
Bonterran
August 20, 2026

Hey ​@Sally Heaven, you aren’t missing anything. The primary difference is the way it actually works (on the back end) is slightly different if it is going to a form we host or pointing to a page that has our form embedded on it somewhere. The system has to know that ahead of time. Part of how you see the manifest is for an embedded form, right in the workflow it asks if it is being point to a contribution form. For a hosted form, it doesn’t need to ask because it knows.

    Sally Heaven
    Sally HeavenAuthor
    Product Pro
    August 20, 2026

    Thanks ​@Joe Conley! So there’s good reason to use the Smart Links button in the WYSIWYG even though the effects are not obvious in the url output?

    Raise HECK, a Bonterra partner and certified Super User
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