A good contact form autoresponder confirms the message arrived, says what happens next and when, and sounds like the business that sent it. Use merge fields to greet the person and mention what they asked about, a plain layout if you want it to read like a personal email, and a version per language so international visitors are answered in theirs. And make sure nothing a visitor types can turn your auto-reply into a way to send their links to other people.
What should an auto-reply say?
- That the message arrived, with enough detail that they recognise which form it was.
- What happens next and roughly when: "we reply within one working day".
- Anything that saves a follow-up: opening hours, a link to your help page, a phone number for urgent cases.
- Nothing that looks like marketing. It is a receipt, not a newsletter.
How do merge fields work?
Put a field name in double braces and it is replaced with the visitor's answer. A first-name tag that falls back to the first word of a full-name field covers forms that only ask for "Name". A field that was left empty disappears instead of printing a placeholder.
Subject: Thanks, {{first_name}}
Hi {{first_name}},
We got your question about the {{plan}} plan and will reply by the end of
tomorrow. If it is urgent, call us on 020 7946 0958.
The {{form}} teamWhy do merge fields need limits?
An autoresponder emails whatever address was typed into the form. If the merged name can be anything, someone can type a victim's address and a "name" of "Your account is locked, verify at" followed by a link, and your domain delivers it. This is not hypothetical; it is how form auto-replies get used for phishing. The fix is boring and effective: merged values become one short line with links, email addresses and domain names removed, and every reply is checked for phishing before it is sent, with the merge fields already filled in.
Card or plain?
A framed card layout looks tidy and on-brand. A plain layout, just paragraphs with no frame, reads like an email someone typed, which suits small businesses and personal services, and tends to be treated kindly by mail providers. Neither should include images: a logo in an auto-reply is exactly what an impersonator would want to set.
How do you reply in the visitor's language?
Write a version per language, then choose per submission. The most reliable signal is the page itself: a hidden field on your German page saying de. Failing that, the visitor's browser language is a good guess. Anyone who matches neither gets your main text.
<input type="hidden" name="_language" value="de">
Autoresponders in WebForms
Turn on Send an automatic reply in a form's Settings; the default wording works as it is. Personalise it with {{first_name}}, {{form}} or any field name, choose the card or plain look, and add up to ten languages, picked from a _language field or the visitor's browser. Merged values are limited to 80 characters with links, addresses and domains removed, and every reply is checked for phishing before sending. No reply goes to spam, held pitches, automated submissions or submissions without an email address; test submissions get one so you can see it. Available on Pro and Agency, and through the API.