How to Create and Embed a Google Form on Your Herald Website

Google Forms lets your church collect event registrations, volunteer signups, connection cards, and prayer requests through your website. You can build the form in Google Forms and display it on your Herald website using an HTML block.

This guide walks you through creating your first form, adding it to a page, and checking that submissions reach you.

Before you begin

You will need a Google Account and access to edit pages in Herald. We recommend using a Google Account managed by your church so your team can continue managing the form when staff responsibilities change.

Keep Google Forms and Herald open in separate browser tabs so you can switch between them.

Step 1 Create a new Google Form

Visit Google Forms and sign in. If you need an account, choose Create account and follow the prompts.
Select Blank form to start.
Give your form a clear title, such as Volunteer Signup or Event Registration.
Add a short description explaining its purpose and what visitors should expect after submitting it.

For example: “Interested in serving? Complete this form, and our ministry team will contact you about available opportunities.”

Google Forms setup guide

Step 2 Add your questions

Select the first question and enter its wording, such as Full name.
Use the question type dropdown to choose the appropriate answer format.
Turn on Required for any question visitors must answer.
Select the + button to add another question.
Repeat until you have the information your team needs.

Here are a few useful question types:

Question type	Best for
Short answer	Names, phone numbers, or other brief answers
Paragraph	Prayer requests, comments, or longer explanations
Multiple choice	Selecting one option
Checkboxes	Selecting more than one ministry or area of interest

Keep the form focused. A volunteer signup might only need a name, email address, areas of interest, and an optional comment.

Google Forms question types

Step 3 Customize the appearance and confirmation message

Select Customize theme, the palette icon near the top.
Choose colors and fonts that complement your church website. You can also add a header image.
Open Settings → Presentation.
Beside Confirmation message, select Edit, enter your message, and save it.

For example: “Thank you for your interest in serving! We received your information and will be in touch.”

The form has its own appearance, which you manage in Google Forms.

Theme options · Confirmation message settings

Step 4 Review settings for website visitors

For a form that visitors can complete without a Google sign-in:

Open Settings → Responses.
Leave Limit to 1 response turned off. Enabling it requires a Google sign-in.
If you need email addresses, set Collect email addresses to Responder input so visitors type their address. You do not need a separate email question when using this setting.
Avoid File upload questions, which require visitors to sign in.
Under Settings → Presentation, leave View results summary turned off unless you intentionally want respondents to see the results. This is especially important for connection cards and prayer requests.

You will set public responder access in the next step.

Response settings · Sign-in and results settings · File upload requirements

Step 5 Publish your form

Select Publish near the upper-right corner.
Select Manage to review who can respond.
Under General access, choose Anyone with the link for a public website form.
Select Done, then Publish.

The button changes to Published when the form is available. If your church uses Google Workspace and public access is unavailable, ask your account administrator about your organization's sharing settings.

Google Forms publishing guide

Step 6 Copy the HTML embed code

In the form editor, open the More menu—the three dots near the upper-right corner.
Select Embed HTML.
Select Copy to copy the code.

The embed code begins with <iframe and ends with </iframe>. Copy the entire code snippet; the form's web address by itself will not embed it in an HTML block.

Google Forms embedding instructions

Step 7 Add an HTML block in Herald

Sign in to Herald.
Open Content → Pages.
Open the page where you want the form. To create a new page, select New Page → Blank Page and give it a title.
In the block editor, open the Add a Block panel.
Select HTML.
Paste the complete Google Forms embed code into the HTML block.
Use the block's Up/Down controls to position it where you want it on the page.

You can add a text block above the form with a heading or additional instructions.

Herald block editor guide · Herald HTML block guide

Step 8 Adjust the form size

Before publishing, check the width in the code you pasted. Google may supply a fixed number, such as:

width="640"

Change that value to:

width="100%"

This lets the embedded frame use the available width of your page's content area.

The code also includes a height, such as height="900". If the frame is too short, increase that number—for example, to height="1200"—and check the page again. The best height depends on the length of your form.

Keep the form's src address unchanged. You are only adjusting its display size.

Herald embed sizing example

Step 9 Publish and test your website page

Publish your page changes in Herald.
Open the live page in a private or incognito window where you are signed out of Google.
Confirm that you can access the form.
Check the page on a phone as well as a computer. Make sure you can reach every question and the Submit button.
Submit a test entry and confirm that your thank-you message appears.
Return to Google Forms and open Responses to verify that your test was received.

Testing while signed out helps you catch access restrictions that may be invisible when you are signed in as the form owner. If you created a new page, add a link to it from an appropriate place on your website so visitors can find it.

Step 10 View responses and enable email notifications

Your submissions are collected in Google Forms.

Open the form in Google Forms.
Select Responses to review submissions.
Open the three-dot menu within the Responses area.
Select Get email notifications for new responses.

To organize submissions in a spreadsheet, select Link to Sheets in the Responses area and follow the prompts.

Google Forms response management guide

Troubleshooting

Visitors are asked to sign in or request access

Review responder access under Published or Share, and check the settings in Step 4. Test again while signed out.

The page displays code instead of a form

Confirm that you pasted the complete iframe code into an HTML block.

The form is too wide or requires too much scrolling

Check width="100%", adjust the height, and test the live page on both a phone and a computer.

The form says it is no longer accepting responses

Open Published in Google Forms, turn on Accepting responses, and save. Check any close date or response limit if it closes again.

You need help adding the form to Herald

Contact Church Plant Media support and include the page URL and a description of what you are seeing.

Google Forms access guide · Response collection settings