A contact page that tells people how to reach you, and keeps their messages safe
A contact page is where interest turns into a conversation, and many sites make it harder than it should be: a bare form, no idea when anyone will reply, no other way to get in touch. A good one sets expectations, offers the right routes for different needs, and handles the messages it collects with care. Anticode builds the page, seals each message at rest and sends it wherever you'll answer it.
What to put beside the form
The form is one route among several. Visitors arrive with different needs and different levels of urgency, and the page should sort them before they write.
- When you'll reply
- "We reply within one working day" is the most reassuring line on any contact page. Only write it if it's true.
- Routes by need
- Sales, support, press, jobs. If each goes to a different person, say so, or let the form ask what the message is about.
- The urgent route
- A phone number with the hours it's answered, for the problems that can't wait a day.
- Where you are
- For a place people visit: full address, a map link, parking, accessibility and opening hours. For a business people never visit, say which area or country you work in.
- Self-service answers
- A link to your FAQ for the questions you get daily, placed above the form rather than below it.
- Who's on the other end
- A name or a photo makes a small business feel answerable, not anonymous.
The form itself
Ask for name, email and message. Add a phone field only if you'll call back, and a subject choice only if it changes who answers. Every extra field costs completions. Each field needs a visible label (not just placeholder text), and the button should say what happens, such as "Send message". After sending, show a thank-you that repeats the reply time.
Anticode's Sentinel checks the form in the exact HTML that ships, along with the page's Content-Security-Policy, so it only posts where it should. At publish the server re-checks the form targets, so a modified browser can't publish a form that sends data somewhere else. The contact form fields guide covers what to ask in more detail, and contact form design covers layout.
What happens to each message
Contact messages contain names, email addresses and sometimes things people would rather keep private. On Anticode:
- The message is saved to your project and sealed at rest with AES-256-GCM.
- It can be emailed to you as it arrives.
- It's listed in the dashboard, where every read, export and delete is recorded in an access log of the last 200 actions.
- A site that collects data can't be published until the account owner and the person publishing have two-factor sign-in turned on.
- Connector credentials (a Slack webhook, a Telegram bot token) are sealed and write-only: once saved, they can't be read back out of the dashboard.
The site's generated Privacy Policy describes what the contact form collects and where it goes, as a starting point you should check.
Routing messages to where you'll answer
An inbox is fine for one person. Once several people share enquiries, route them to the place the team already watches:
| If your team lives in | Send messages to |
|---|---|
| Slack or Discord | A dedicated channel, so someone claims each one |
| Telegram | A bot that messages you, handy for a sole trader on the move |
| A CRM | HubSpot, which receives submissions that include an email address |
| Spreadsheets or databases | Google Sheets, Airtable or Notion, with a status column |
| Your own system | Any webhook |
Each message is sent to a connector once, without retries, so keep email notifications on as a backup. The route contact form enquiries workflow covers who answers what.
Building it
Using Anticode as a contact page builder, add Contact as a separate page in a multi-page site, or include the contact form must-have as a section on a one-page site. Tell the Architect your reply time, opening hours and which routes you offer, and it will plan the page around them. Free sites keep 100 submissions a month visible by default and hold the rest until you upgrade; see pricing.
Limits
- No live chat. Published pages run no scripts, so chat widgets can't be added.
- No auto-reply to the sender. Anticode emails you, not the visitor; set up auto-replies in your email or help-desk tool.
- No attachments. Visitors can't upload files through the form.
- No help-desk features such as ticket numbers, assignment or SLAs. Use a webhook into a help-desk tool for that.
Questions people ask
Should I show my email address as well as a form?
Many people prefer email, so offering it is friendly. Published addresses do attract spam; a role address such as hello@ that you can filter keeps your personal one clean.
Can I get contact form messages on my phone?
Yes: by email, or instantly through the Telegram, Slack or Discord connectors.
Who can read the messages?
People with access to the project in the dashboard. Publishing requires two-factor sign-in for the account owner and the person publishing (other workspace members aren't checked, so ask them to turn it on too). Reads, exports and deletes are logged.