Adding a scheduler to Pardot forms in Default

Default can show a booking calendar after a visitor submits a Pardot form on your website, the product Salesforce now calls Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. The Default Pixel recognizes Pardot forms, but it does not capture their submissions on its own. Your page reports each submission to Default with the Forms SDK, and Default then runs the workflow and opens the calendar the same way it does for any other form. For the full path from submission to booked meeting, see How Default books a meeting from a form submission.

Pardot forms in Default at a glance

Question	Answer
Does Default recognize Pardot forms?	Yes. Catalog mode finds Pardot forms on your page and can add them.
Does the Pixel capture Pardot submissions automatically?	No. The Pixel skips submissions from forms it identifies as Pardot.
How does a Pardot submission reach Default?	Your page calls `DefaultPixelSDK.submitForm()` with the answers.
Can a Pardot form open the scheduler?	Yes. `submitForm()` runs the workflow and shows the calendar that the Display Scheduler node returns.
Does it work with a Pardot form inside an iframe from Pardot’s domain?	No. Neither the Pixel nor your page’s code can read a form inside a cross-origin iframe. The form has to render in your page.
Does Default need a Pardot connection?	No.

How the Pixel recognizes a Pardot form

The Pixel treats a <form> element as a Pardot form when any of these is true:

Its action URL points at pardot.com or a subdomain of it, such as pi.pardot.com.
Its name or id contains pardot.
It contains a field whose name contains pardot.

Catalog mode uses these rules to label the form as a Pardot form. The Pixel’s automatic capture then skips its submissions, which is why the Forms SDK sends them instead. A form that posts to Pardot but matches none of these rules is handled as a plain HTML form, and the Pixel captures it automatically. See When the Pixel captures the form as plain HTML.

Check which way the Pixel handles your form

Before the Pixel loads, set window.__defaultPixel__logging__verbose = true on the page.
Open the browser console and show verbose messages.
Submit the form with a test email.

Console message	What it means
`[Default.com] [Listener] Skipping as vendor form`, a warning with `vendor: "pardot"`	The Pixel identifies the form as Pardot. Use the Forms SDK steps below. This warning shows even without verbose messages.
`[Default.com] [Listener] Found HTML form submission: <form id>`	The Pixel captures the form as plain HTML. No SDK code is needed.

Before you start

Requirement	Where
The Pardot form rendered in your page, not in an iframe from another domain	Your site
The Pixel and the Forms SDK in the `<head>` of the form’s page	See Set up the Pixel and Forms SDK.
The page’s domain connected in Signals	See Signals.
An email field on the form	A submission without an email address does not start a workflow.
A scheduling event with hosts	See Events.
Someone who can edit the page’s JavaScript	Your web team
Admin access in Default	Adding forms and mapping fields need admin access.

Add a scheduler to a Pardot form

Load the Pixel and the Forms SDK

Add both scripts to the <head> of the form’s page, so they load with the page:

<script>
  window.__defaultPixel__ = { key: "your-public-key" };
</script>
<script async src="https://pixel.default.com/index.js"></script>
<script async src="https://pixel.default.com/sdk.js"></script>

Copy your real key with Copy Pixel script in Signals.

Add the form with Catalog forms

In Signals, open the domain’s menu and select Catalog forms. Start on the page with the Pardot form and select Open catalog mode. Select Add form on the form, name it, and confirm. See Your forms.

Map the fields

In Forms, open the form and select Map fields. Map at least the email field to the person’s email. Note the field names Default lists. Your code sends answers under these names. A mapping belongs to the field name, so it also applies to your other forms with a field of that name.

Build the workflow

In Workflows, add a Form Submission trigger and set Connected Form to the Pardot form. Add a Display Scheduler node and choose the Event. Add follow-up steps on the Booked and Not booked branches. Select Publish, then turn on the deployment switch so the status reads Live.

Plan how Pardot keeps receiving the submission

The calendar can only open while the visitor stays on the page, so your submit handler has to stop the form’s normal post with event.preventDefault(). That also stops the post to Pardot. Default does not forward submissions to Pardot, so decide with your web team how the handler sends each submission to Pardot as well, before you write it.

Report the submission to Default with submitForm()

In the same submit handler, send the answers to Default. This fragment shows only the Default part of the handler:

window.addEventListener("load", () => {
  const form = document.getElementById("pardot-demo-form");

  form.addEventListener("submit", async (event) => {
    event.preventDefault(); // also stops the post to Pardot

    const result = await DefaultPixelSDK.submitForm({
      formId: form.id,
      responses: {
        email: form.elements.email.value,
        first_name: form.elements.first_name.value,
      },
    });

    // result.scheduler is set when the workflow returned a calendar,
    // which the SDK opens over the page.

    // REQUIRED: send the same submission to Pardot here.
    // This fragment does not, and Pardot receives nothing without it.
  });
});

formId is the form’s HTML id. The response keys must match the field names from the mapping step. See submitForm for every option and the result it returns.

Do not publish this fragment on its own. It sends the submission to Default only, so Pardot would silently stop receiving leads from the form.

Test in both systems

Submit the form with a test email, on a test page of the same domain if you have one. Confirm that the calendar opens, that the submission appears on the form in Forms, and that the same submission arrives in Pardot. Ship the handler to your live page only after all 3 check out.

To start identifying the visitor before they submit, call recordFormInteraction() when they leave the email field. See Build a reliable Forms SDK flow.

When the Pixel captures the form as plain HTML

If the Pixel does not identify your form as Pardot, it captures the form like any plain HTML form. You need no SDK code, and you should not add any: calling submitForm() for a form the Pixel already captures sends the submission to Default twice. Once that form is wired to a Display Scheduler workflow, the Pixel holds the submit on the page so the calendar can open. The browser then does not follow the form’s action URL, so the form’s own post to Pardot does not happen. Plan another way to get these submissions into Pardot before you turn the workflow on.

Route Pardot form leads to the right rep

The Display Scheduler node decides who the visitor books with:

A team: create a Team event with a queue as a host. The queue’s policy picks the rep when the visitor books.
The existing owner: find the lead or contact in Salesforce with Match Record before the scheduler, turn off Use event hosts, and pass the record’s owner as the host. Set a Fallback Host for when the owner is away. Each owner needs their Salesforce User ID mapped in Users.
A rule: a Rules of Engagement node picks the owner, and Latest resolved user becomes the host.

See Routing picks the host for every option.

Troubleshoot Pardot forms

What you see	What to check
Submissions from the Pardot form never reach Default	The Pixel skips Pardot forms. Add the `submitForm()` call from the steps above.
`submitForm()` succeeds, but no submission appears on the form in Forms	The form is not in Default, or `formId` does not match the form’s HTML `id`. Add the form with Catalog forms first.
Catalog mode shows no badge on the form	The form is probably inside an iframe from Pardot’s domain. Render the form in your page instead. Also check for a `data-default-ignore` attribute.
The calendar does not open after `submitForm()`	Check that the workflow is published, live, and contains the Display Scheduler node, and that `responses` includes the email.
Pardot stopped receiving submissions after you added the scheduler	Your submit handler, or the Pixel’s hold on a plain-HTML form, stops the post to Pardot. Send the submission to Pardot from your code.
Each submission starts the workflow twice	The Pixel already captures the form as plain HTML. Remove the `submitForm()` call.

​Pardot forms in Default at a glance

​How the Pixel recognizes a Pardot form

​Check which way the Pixel handles your form

​Before you start

​Add a scheduler to a Pardot form

​When the Pixel captures the form as plain HTML

​Route Pardot form leads to the right rep

​Troubleshoot Pardot forms

Pardot forms in Default at a glance

How the Pixel recognizes a Pardot form

Check which way the Pixel handles your form

Before you start

Add a scheduler to a Pardot form

When the Pixel captures the form as plain HTML

Route Pardot form leads to the right rep

Troubleshoot Pardot forms