# Email someone when a capture form is submitted

The moment a capture form comes in, an email with the form's values goes to whoever needs to know — a Content Capture trigger filtered to Capture-Form Submission, a message template, and a Send E-mail action.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.8+ · Audience: catalog-administrator · Time: 20 minutes · Last verified: 2026-09-05

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/email-someone-when-a-capture-form-is-submitted

**When you're done, each submitted form sends an email — with the submitted values written into the message — to the people who act on it, seconds after it's filed.**

```plan
scope: document-type
trigger: Content Capture › Content Captured in this Document Type | Source Evaluation: Capture-Form Submission
action: Send E-mail | Scope Type: Document Type · Message Template: "New request received" (Email type, Workflow Access visibility)
rule: "Form submitted → email the office", enabled
```

The email's recipients, subject, and body all live in the **message template**, not in the action. The action only chooses which template to send and whether to attach the document.

## Build the message template

1. On the document type's **Workflow** page, click the **Message Templates** card, then create a new template.

2. **Message Type:** `Email`. **Visibility:** `Workflow Access` (or `User & Workflow Access` if people should also be able to send it by hand).

3. Fill **To** (and **CC** if needed) with the addresses that should receive it, separated by semicolons. Leave **From** blank to use the system sender.

4. Write the subject and body, using the **Insert Code** menu to drop in document values — `{!DocName;}` for the file name and `{!Field:...;}` codes for the form's fields — so the message carries the request itself, not just "something arrived."

*[Screenshot: Insert codes become the document's real values when the email is sent; the preview under the editor shows what a recipient will read.]*

5. Save the template.

The full tour of the editor, including every insert code, is in [Customize notification message templates](/content-central/administration/customize-notification-message-templates).

## Build the trigger

1. Click the **Triggers** card, then **New Trigger**.

2. **Type:** `Content Capture` and `Content Captured in this Document Type`. **Trigger Name:** `Form submitted`.

3. **Source Evaluation:** `Capture-Form Submission`. Leave the other evaluations at their defaults.

4. Click **Save**.

**What you should see:** a Live trigger whose **Details** column reads `Source: CaptureFormSubmission`.

## Build the action

1. Click the **Actions** card, then **New Action**.

2. **Type:** `Send E-mail`. **Action Name:** `Email the office about a new request`.

3. **Scope Type:** `Document Type` to see templates created on this document type, or `Global` for system-wide ones. Then choose your template under **Message Template:**.

4. Decide on **Content Attachment:** — `Do Not Attach` for a plain notification, `Attach` to include the document file, `Zip and Attach` for large or multiple files, or `Description Only`.

5. Click **Save**.

> **NOTE:** If you see `There are no available message templates.` under the scope you picked, the template was created under the other scope, or its **Visibility** doesn't include workflow. Switch **Scope Type:** or fix the template's visibility.

## Wire the rule

1. Click the **Rules** card, then **New Rule**. **Rule Name:** `Form submitted → email the office`.

2. **Add Trigger:** `Form submitted`. **Add Action:** `Email the office about a new request`. Click **Apply**.

## Test it

1. Submit the capture form once with test values.

2. Check the recipient's inbox, then the document's **View History**.

**What you should see:** an email whose subject and body show the values you typed where the insert codes were, and a history entry for the workflow rule. If the history shows the rule ran but nothing arrived, the problem is in the mail pipeline, not the workflow: [Notification emails aren't sending](/content-central/administration/notification-emails-arent-sending).

## Variations

| Want this instead | Change this |
| --- | --- |
| Email on *every* new document, not just forms | Trigger: **Source Evaluation:** `All Sources` |
| Email only when a form was submitted from outside the company | Keep the source filter and route the shared form to its own document type ([share a capture form](/content-central/capture/share-a-capture-form-outside-content-central)) |
| Send an in-product message instead of email | Action type **Send Internal Message** with an `Internal` template (recipients are users and groups, not addresses) |
| Email a different person depending on a field value | One trigger per value (**Field Evaluation:** `Selected Field Value(s)`), each rule pointing at a different template |
| Email the submitter, not the office | Put the form's email field in the template's **To** as an insert code |
| Also start an approval | Add an **Approval Process - Start Process** action to the same rule |

## What's next

- [Customize notification message templates](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/customize-notification-message-templates)
- [Notification emails aren't sending](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/notification-emails-arent-sending)
- [Create a capture form](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/capture/create-a-capture-form)