Custom content gate

A custom content gate is a page you design yourself, with a form on it, that Maglr places over your publication. Visitors submit the form to get past it. You design this page in the editor, in a separate Micro content project, so you can add extra information or campaign material next to the form. The page can be a transparent fullscreen page or a scrolling page. The other option, the standard content gate, places a ready-made form over your publication instead. For both options, you decide on which page and how quickly the overlay appears.

Example of a transparent animated page on top of a publication.

If you don't see the Content gate tab in Project settings, content gates aren't included in your plan. Content gates aren't available on templates.

Creating the gate page in a Micro content project

The page for a custom content gate lives in a Micro content project of its own, so you can reuse it as the gate on several projects. Micro content projects consist of single pages without a surrounding navigation interface.

To create the gate page:

1. Start a new project and choose Micro content as the project type.
2. Add a page and choose the Fullscreen or Longpage page type.
3. Design the page in the editor and add a Form element. This can be a Maglr form, or an existing HubSpot, Pardot, Marketo or Mailchimp form.
4. Set the page background to transparent, so visitors see the publication behind your page.
5. Open the mobile layout of the page and add the form there too.
6. Publish the Micro content project, so it is live. You can only choose pages from a live Micro content project as a gate.

Adding the form to the mobile layout

The mobile layout of a page is designed separately from the desktop layout. After you finish the desktop layout of your gate page, add the form to the mobile layout too. If the mobile layout has content but no form, mobile visitors see no form and can't unlock the gate.

Setting your page as the custom content gate

You set a page from a live Micro content project as the gate in the Content gate tab of the project you want to protect:

1. In the dashboard, open the project you want to put the gate on.
2. Click Project settings.
3. Open the Content gate tab.
4. Turn on Activate a gate.
5. Under Select gate type, select Overlay micro content with a form included.
6. Under Choose a freeform page, choose your Micro content project in Publication.
7. Choose the gate page in Page.
8. Under Overlay options, set when and how the overlay appears. See Custom content gate overlay options.
9. Click Save.

The Publication list shows only live Micro content projects. Pages set to inactive are not listed in Page. If you turn on the gate without choosing a page, saving shows "Select a form or page to secure the content."

A content gate is meant for projects without security. On a project with password, login or domain security, the Content gate tab shows the warning "Turn off the security of this project to use this functionality."

Custom content gate overlay options

In Project settings → Content gate, the Overlay options control when the custom content gate appears and how it looks:

• Activate overlay on: the page of your publication where the gate appears, such as Page 1. The gate also appears on every page after it, so visitors can't skip it by opening a later page directly. While the gate shows, visitors can't move to another page.
• And trigger after: how long the visitor is on that page before the gate appears. The choices are 0 seconds, 1 second (the default) and 2 seconds.
• Background overlay: the color behind your gate page. Your page fills the whole window, so this color only shows through the transparent parts of your page. Choose a color with some transparency if visitors should still see the publication. The default is black at 80% opacity.
• Visitor can manually close this overlay without submission: when ticked, the gate gets a close button, so visitors can close it without submitting the form. You then choose its color in Color close button. Closing the gate this way isn't remembered: visitors can read on through the publication, but the gate appears again when they reload the publication or open it again.

Unlocking the custom content gate

A visitor unlocks a custom content gate by submitting the form on your gate page. After a successful submission, the gate closes and stays closed in that browser until the browser session ends.

The form tells the publication that it was submitted successfully:

• Maglr, HubSpot and Marketo forms send this signal on their own.
• Pardot and Mailchimp forms send it only through the thank-you or redirect page you set up when you embed them. See Embed a Pardot form and Embed a Mailchimp form. Without that setup, submitting the form doesn't unlock the gate.

Skip gate URL

The Skip gate URL is a link to your project that opens it without the custom content gate. Share it with viewers who are already known to you, so they don't have to fill in the form again. Each content gate has its own Skip gate URL.

To get the Skip gate URL:

1. In the dashboard, open the project with the gate.
2. Click Project settings and open the Content gate tab.
3. Next to Skip gate URL, click Copy to copy the link, or Open to test it.

The full URL is available only when the project is active. Until then, the tab shows the warning "Full URL available when project is active".

When a viewer opens the Skip gate URL, Maglr sets a cookie in their browser, so the gate doesn't appear for the rest of that browser session. After the session ends, the gate appears again on a normal visit.

The Skip gate URL depends on the gate page you chose. If you choose a different gate page, the Skip gate URL changes, and visitors who already unlocked the old gate see the new one.

Frequently asked questions

What unlocks a custom content gate?

A successful submission of the form on the gate page unlocks a custom content gate. Maglr, HubSpot and Marketo forms unlock it on their own. Pardot and Mailchimp forms unlock it only through the thank-you or redirect page you set up when you embed them; see Embed a Pardot form and Embed a Mailchimp form. If the page has no working form, visitors can only leave the gate with the close button, and only when Visitor can manually close this overlay without submission is turned on in Project settings → Content gate.

How long does a custom content gate stay unlocked for a visitor?

A custom content gate stays unlocked until the visitor's browser session ends. This applies both after submitting the form and after opening the Skip gate URL. In a new browser session, the gate appears again.

Why can't I find my project in the Publication list?

The Publication list in Project settings → Content gate shows only Micro content projects that are live. Check that your gate page is in a Micro content project and that you published it. Pages set to inactive don't appear in the Page list.

Why does the gate appear again after a visitor closes it?

The close button of a custom content gate hides the gate only until the visitor reloads or reopens the publication. Maglr doesn't remember that the gate was closed, so it appears again on the next visit. Only submitting the form or opening the Skip gate URL keeps the gate closed for the rest of the browser session.

Can I use the same gate page on several projects?

Yes. The gate page lives in its own Micro content project, so you can choose the same page as the custom content gate in the Content gate tab of several projects.

Updated on: 26/10/2026