Vega Forms: Testing a form and troubleshooting

Testing a form before it goes live

Test mode

Click Test in the builder's toolbar (the form must be saved and active). The real form opens in a new tab in test mode:

No card is needed and nothing is charged. The payment area says Test mode: no card is needed and nothing is charged.
The submission is recorded as a successful test payment, with receipt number Test11111 and ticket numbers 0.
A discount code used in a test isn't counted towards its usage limit.
Nothing is sent to analytics.
It appears on the Submissions page marked as a test.

Use test mode to check the whole journey: the questions, the total, the thank-you message, and how the submission looks in Vega.

Test mode uses the live form. On an active form, click Save first so the test includes your changes.

A checklist before you go live

Check the builder's Ready button: it should say Ready, and look over anything under Worth checking (Form settings → Checklist).
Fill the form in yourself using Test, with the choices a real person would make.
Check the total is right, including any processing fee and discount code.
Check the thank-you screen or message.
Open the submission on the Submissions page and check the details, campaign and GL code.
Once Vega has processed it, check the contact and payment in the Vega dashboard.
Check Public-facing form is ticked (Form settings → Settings → Security).
If the form offers bank debit, check your organisation has the AU BECS Debit or NZ BECS Debit pay type with the BECS Debit subtype (the builder lists it under Worth checking if not).
Copy the code or link: ⋯ → Get code and links on the Forms page, or Form settings → Settings → Sharing.

Things that behave differently on purpose

You notice...	Why
A new campaign, GL code, membership or document isn't in the builder's lists yet	The lists are refreshed every 10 minutes. Wait a few minutes and reopen the form
The builder is slow to open the first time in a while	The first load after a quiet period takes longer while it gathers your lists. It should be quick after that. If it's always slow, report it
Changes to a live form don't show on the public form	Changes to an active form wait until you click Save, so people never see a half-made form
The builder offers to restore changes	You left without saving (or without creating a new form). Your changes were kept as a draft in this browser. Restore or discard them
The form doesn't go to your website's thank-you page	Forms only redirect to pages on the forms site. See Acknowledgements and thank-you pages
You can't change a form's type	The type is fixed once a form is saved. Create a new form, or make a copy and start from that
You can't add a Frequency section to a membership form	The memberships' own settings decide how often they're paid
+ Add rule isn't offered in the pathways	The form asks nothing a rule could match on. See Routing payments with pathways
PayPal isn't offered on a regular gift	PayPal is for one-off payments only
A raffle form won't let someone add another book of tickets, though the event isn't full	Capacity is counted in tickets issued: a book of 50 uses 50 places. See Events, RSVPs and raffles
A submission says Not yet under In Vega	It's waiting for Vega's next processing run
A bank debit payment says Pending	Bank debits (AU and NZ BECS) take a few days to clear. It's recorded in Vega as Transaction Pending, and marked paid or declined once Stripe confirms it
A regular gift with a later start date took no money	Nothing is charged until the start date. The card or bank account was saved, and Vega takes the first payment on that date. See Donations and payments
A frequency button shows different words from the frequency's name	That frequency has its own Button says wording. The payment is still recorded under the frequency itself

Common problems

"We couldn't load your campaigns, GL codes and documents"

The builder couldn't get your lists from Vega. Refresh the page. If it keeps happening, report the message exactly as shown.

A section I want isn't in the Add section list, or is greyed out

It either doesn't suit this type of form, has already been added (some sections can only be added once), or needs another section first. Hover over it to see why. On a small screen or zoomed in, open the list with + Add section in the toolbar.

The form won't save

The N to fix button in the toolbar opens the list of what's stopping it, each with a Go to… button. The most common ones are listed in Building a form.

"… can't yet save a card without charging it"

The form offers regular gifts that start later than sign-up, and its payment gateway (Flo2Cash or Paystation) can't save a card without charging it yet. Set Recurring start date to Use the sign-up date, or use a Stripe, Windcave, PayWay or BPOINT gateway.

A donor says the form won't submit

Fields that need attention are highlighted with a message, and the form scrolls to the first one. On multi-page forms it goes back to the page with the problem. Common causes are a required tick box (such as the terms and conditions), a missing recurring start date, a required address without a street or postcode, or designation amounts that don't add up to the gift.

"That start date isn't available. Please choose another."

Vega checks a regular gift's start date when the form is submitted, against the form's Recurring start date settings (allowance days, months available and any restricted days). The donor chooses another date.

"Too many submissions. Please wait a moment and try again."

Vega's spam protection noticed many submissions in a short time from the same place. Real donors rarely see this. Retrying a declined card doesn't count against the limit.

A card was declined

The donor sees a clear message and can try again. The reason given by the bank is shown in the submission's details on the Submissions page.

Bank debit gifts are recorded as Credit Card in Vega

Your organisation doesn't have the AU BECS Debit or NZ BECS Debit pay type. Add it with the BECS Debit subtype. Without the subtype, Vega can't take a regular gift's later payments from the bank account.

The form shows "Sign in required"

The form isn't public-facing. Tick Public-facing form under Form settings → Settings → Security.

A personalised link shows the wrong person, or no one

Check the contact's Vega ID in the link. The person can always click Not you? and fill the form in themselves.

Address search doesn't suggest anything, or an option is greyed out

NZ Post and Australia Post are switched on for each organisation in the Vega dashboard, and Google needs to be set up for Vega. An option your organisation doesn't have is greyed out in the builder, and the form asks people to type their address in instead.

A discount code is refused

The donor is told why. Check the code in the form's Discount codes section: whether it's On, its start and end dates, whether its usage limit has been reached, and what it applies to. A code limited to some tickets or memberships can't be used unless one of those is chosen. A code can only take money off tickets and memberships, not a donation.

The Discount codes section shows no codes area

Discount codes aren't available for your organisation yet. Contact Vega support.

"Too many tries" when applying a discount code

To stop codes being guessed, only a few tries a minute are allowed. Wait a minute and try again.

Reporting a problem

Include:

the form's name and the page address
what you did, step by step
what you expected and what happened
a screenshot
for payment problems, the time it happened (to the minute) and the submission's Log number

Articles in this section