This article explains how to export to a CSV file all the submissions of a form or those of a period. You will know how to confirm the export, read the file and keep your requests beyond their retention period.
Before you start
- The export is done from the Forms menu, reserved for the site’s administrators.
- Each export asks for a confirmation code. The site’s owners receive an email for every export.
- The export covers the environment displayed. From Production, you export your visitors’ requests. From Staging, your test submissions.
Export all the submissions of a form
- In the admin menu, open Forms, then Production.
- Hover over the form’s row and click Export CSV. The Confirm your export window opens.
- Enter the code requested.
- Click Confirm and download. The message Code accepted. Your file is on its way. appears and the file downloads.
Export a period
- In Forms, click the name of the form.
- In the bar, choose the period, for example Last 30 days. For another period, enter two dates and click Apply.
- Above the list of submissions, click Export CSV (current period).
- Enter the code requested.
- Click Confirm and download.
Confirm the export with a code
The code depends on how you protect your account.
| Your account | Code to enter |
|---|---|
| Two-factor authentication on | The code from your authenticator app or one of your backup codes. |
| Two-factor authentication off | The code received by email when the window opens. |
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Wrong code. Try again. | Check the code and enter it again. |
| This code has expired. Close this window and click Export again. | Close the window and start the export again. A new code is requested. |
| Too many wrong codes. Your account is locked for a while; try again later. | Wait before trying again. |
The code is requested at every export, without exception. A person who has taken over your session can read the screen but does not leave with the file.
Know who is notified
Each site owner receives the Exported submissions email. The email names the person who exported, the form, the number of submissions, the environment and the period. The owner is notified even when they did the export themselves.
The export appears in the site’s history. Read your site’s history explains where to read it.
Read the file
The file is a UTF-8 encoded CSV whose values are separated by commas. A spreadsheet opens it with its accents. Its name repeats the name of the form, the period and the date of the day.
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | The date and time of the submission. |
| Channel | The channel of the arrival kept, or Direct. |
| Referral | The site the visitor came from. |
| Source, Medium, Campaign | The parameters of the campaign link the visitor followed. |
| Page | The address of the page the submission was sent from, from the root of the site, for example /biens-a-vendre/maison-sur-la-plage/. |
| Consents | The accepted uses. Only on a form that has a Consent field. |
| Legal documents | The accepted or cited document and its edition. Only on a form that links a legal document. |
| One column per field | The answer, under the label of the field. A choice is written with the text of its option. |
| User | The account of the logged-in visitor, or Not logged in. |
The origin columns follow the attribution model chosen in the bar at the time of the export. With Linear (split equally), each column lists the arrivals of a submission in the same order. A “|” separates them.
An empty channel marks a submission whose origin is unknown. A direct visit is written Direct. Filtering on an empty channel isolates only the requests with no known origin.
Keep your requests beyond their retention
Each submission is kept for 13 months by default, then erased with its answers. The banner at the top of the Forms menu shows the period applied to your site. For example, it shows Each submission is kept for 13 months to comply with data regulations. An erased submission cannot be recovered.
- To keep a record beyond that, export your submissions before they are erased.
- To keep your submissions on the site for longer, ask us to extend their retention. It can go as far as unlimited retention. The banner then shows the new period or disappears.
Proof of consent is kept for 36 months and proof of acceptance of a legal document for 10 years. These periods never fall below that of the submissions.
The Take your site with you archive contains one CSV file per form with all the submissions of Production.