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Getting Started

Get up and running with Drift in under five minutes.

1. Create Your Account

  1. Visit the Drift homepage and click Get Started.
  2. Enter your name, email address, and a password.
  3. Check your inbox for a verification email and click the link to confirm your account.
  4. You'll be taken to your dashboard — you're in!

Invited by a team? If you received an invite link, click it to create your account and automatically join the organisation.

2. Your Dashboard

After signing in you land on the Dashboard. This is your command centre:

  • Total Forms — how many forms you've created
  • Active Forms — forms currently accepting responses
  • Total Responses — submissions across all your forms
  • Response Trend — a 14-day sparkline showing activity
  • Recent Activity — a live feed of the latest submissions

3. Create Your First Form

Option A: Start from Scratch

  1. Click New Form from the dashboard.
  2. Give your form a title and optional description.
  3. You'll land in the Form Builder where you can add sections and fields.

Option B: Generate with AI (Pro)

  1. Click New Form → Generate with AI.
  2. Describe your form in plain English. For example:

    "A customer feedback survey with questions about satisfaction, product quality, and a free-text comment box."

  3. Drift's AI will generate a complete form with appropriate field types, validation rules, and sections.
  4. Review the generated form and tweak anything you like in the builder.

4. Add Fields

In the builder, click Add Field to insert a new question. Drift supports 26+ field types — from simple text inputs to star ratings, file uploads, signature pads, and more. See the Field Types guide for the full list.

For each field you can configure: - Label — the question text - Placeholder — hint text inside the field - Helper text — additional guidance shown below the field - Required — whether the field must be answered - Validation — rules like min/max length, patterns, etc.

5. Organise with Sections

Group related fields into sections. Each section can have: - A title and description - Guide text for extra instructions - Layout mode: stacked (vertical) or inline (side by side)

Drag and drop to reorder sections and fields.

6. Choose a Pacing Mode

Drift offers three ways to present your form to respondents:

Mode Description
Quick All sections visible at once — a traditional scrollable form
Considered One section per page with Next/Back navigation
Guided Full wizard experience with a progress bar

Set the pacing mode in the form's settings panel.

7. Preview Your Form

Click the Preview button in the builder toolbar to see exactly how your form will look to respondents. Test conditional logic, pacing modes, and styling in real time.

8. Publish and Share

When you're happy with your form:

  1. Click Publish in the builder toolbar.
  2. Your form goes live and gets a public URL: yourdomain.com/f/your-form-slug
  3. Copy the link and share it via email, social media, or embed it on your website.

That's it — you've built and published your first form with Drift!

Next Steps