# Required and optional form fields

> The one field every form needs, the optional fields that customise behaviour, and how your own fields are saved.

Source: https://docs.formclick.io/help/form-fields-reference

## Required

| Field | Why |
| --- | --- |
| `access_key` | Identifies your form. Without it the submission is rejected. |
| At least one filled-in field | Completely empty submissions are rejected. |

## Recommended

| Field | Why |
| --- | --- |
| `name` | Shown as the sender in your dashboard and email. |
| `email` | Becomes the Reply-To of your notification, so you can reply directly. Also needed for the autoresponder. |
| `botcheck` | Hidden honeypot that stops simple bots. See [Enable honeypot spam protection](https://docs.formclick.io/help/honeypot-spam-protection). |

## Optional control fields

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `subject` | Subject line of your notification email. |
| `from_name` | Sender name shown on your notification email. |
| `redirect` | Thank-you page to send visitors to after submitting. |
| `page_url` | Records the exact page the form was sent from. |

## Your own fields

Any input with a `name` attribute is saved, such as `company`, `phone` or `budget`. Unticked checkboxes and inputs without a `name` are not sent by the browser.

```html
<form action="https://api.formclick.io/submit" method="POST">
  <!-- Required -->
  <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY">

  <!-- Optional control fields -->
  <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="New enquiry from the website">
  <input type="hidden" name="from_name" value="Acme Website">
  <input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off">

  <!-- Your fields -->
  <input type="text" name="name" required>
  <input type="email" name="email" required>
  <input type="text" name="company">
  <textarea name="message" required></textarea>

  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

<!-- Handles submit, file upload, loading state and success/error messages. -->
<script src="https://cdn.formclick.io/formclick.min.js"></script>
```

The full list is in [Special fields](https://docs.formclick.io/html-forms/special-fields) and [Form fields](https://docs.formclick.io/html-forms/form-fields).