I’m working on a simple website and need to collect email addresses for a mailing list. My site is just basic HTML and JavaScript, nothing fancy. I want to send the email data straight to my Airtable when someone fills out the form.
I think I can use a POST request to do this, but I’m not sure about the exact setup. Has anyone done something similar before? I just need a basic example of how to connect a simple email form to Airtable using vanilla JavaScript.
Any help would be great!
I’ve used Airtable’s web API for similar tasks and encountered CORS issues as well. I resolved it by implementing a simple PHP script on my hosting provider that acts as a middleman. The HTML form sends data to this PHP script, which then processes the Airtable API call, including the necessary authorization headers. This approach works well if you have basic PHP hosting. It’s essential to validate email addresses both on the client and server sides before they reach Airtable. Their API documentation is quite helpful once you have your base ID and API key. Also, be mindful of rate limits; ensure your JavaScript is equipped to handle errors appropriately.
Hit this exact problem last year building a landing page for our product launch. Yeah, CORS is a pain, but there’s an easier fix than setting up serverless functions or PHP scripts.
Just use FormSubmit or Formspree as your form action, then set up a webhook to forward everything to Airtable. Your form posts to their endpoint, they deal with CORS, and your data hits Airtable automatically.
Or try Zapier/Make.com to connect your form to Airtable. Takes maybe 5 minutes and zero backend code.
If you want to go straight API route, use fetch() with proper error handling. Airtable’s error messages are pretty clear when stuff breaks.
This tutorial breaks down the API basics if you want to see how it all works:
I’d go with the webhook approach first though. Way less headache and you can always build something custom later.
You can send HTML form data straight to Airtable using their REST API. Just heads up - browsers block direct requests from client-side code because of CORS issues. I solved this by setting up a serverless function (I used Netlify Functions) that sits between your frontend and Airtable. Your form posts to this function, then it forwards everything to Airtable’s API without exposing your API key to users. Sure, Airtable has built-in forms, but a proxy function gives you way more control over your form’s design.
This topic was automatically closed 24 hours after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.