Popups

In short. Popups are overlay windows that appear over your page — announcements, signup forms, offers. You give a popup a title and content, then choose how it opens: turn on Autoload so it appears on its own after a short delay, or leave Autoload off and trigger it from a button using the popup's hashcode. An Autoload frequency controls how many days pass before a returning visitor sees it again. Setting a popup's status to Draft takes it offline without deleting it.

On this page: Where to find it · Create a popup · Autoload and delay · Control how often it appears · Open a popup from a button · Edit a popup · Pause a popup · Popup vs announcement bar · Worked examples · Troubleshooting

Where to find it

Open the admin for your site and click Popups in the left navigation. You'll land on the popups list, with status tabs — All, Published, and Draft — to filter the view, a Hashcode column for each popup, and per-row Edit actions. To start a new one, click + Add New Popup. Editors and Administrators can manage popups.

Create a popup

Every popup starts with a title and some content, then a choice of how it opens:

1. From the popups list, click + Add New Popup.
2. Fill in the Title — this is your internal label, not shown to visitors.
3. Fill in the Content — what visitors see. You can compose it in the text editor or in SG-Builder.
4. In the Configuration section, decide how the popup opens (see Autoload and delay below to open it automatically, or Open a popup from a button to trigger it on click).
5. Set Status to Published.
6. Click Create a Popup.

Autoload and delay

To have a popup appear on its own when a visitor arrives, turn on Autoload:

1. Open the popup form (a new one, or an existing popup you're editing).
2. In the Configuration section, tick the Autoload checkbox.
3. Set a Delay — the number of seconds to wait after the page loads before the popup appears. Two to four seconds feels natural; under one second feels abrupt.
4. Set Status to Published and click Create a Popup (or Update a Popup).

The popup now opens on its own for every visitor, on every page, after the delay you set.

Control how often it appears

A popup that opens on every single page load gets old fast. The Autoload frequency field sets a cooldown:

1. Open the popup and make sure Autoload is ticked — frequency only applies to autoloading popups.
2. Find the Autoload frequency field, just below the Autoload checkbox in the Configuration section.
3. Type the number of days between appearances — for example, 7 means a returning visitor sees the popup about once a week.
4. Leave the field at 0 if you want the popup to appear on every page load with no cooldown.
5. Click Create a Popup or Update a Popup.

SGEN uses a browser cookie to track each visitor, so a visitor who dismisses the popup won't see it again until that many days have passed.

Open a popup from a button

If you'd rather a popup only opens when someone clicks a button — a size guide, a "show details" link — use its hashcode instead of Autoload:

1. On the popups list, find the popup and look at the Hashcode column. You'll see a code like #sgp_5. Click the copy icon to copy it.
2. Open the popup and make sure Autoload is turned off, so it only opens on click and not automatically. Click Update a Popup to save.
3. Go to the button or link you want to use — a menu item in Menu Builder, or a button block inside your page editor.
4. Paste the hashcode (for example, #sgp_5) into that button's URL or Link field.
5. Save the page or menu.

Now visitors who click that button see the popup open; visitors who never click it never see it.

Edit a popup

To change a popup you already created:

1. Click Popups in the sidebar and use the status tabs (All, Published, Draft) to find it.
2. Hover the popup's row and click Edit. The same form opens with the current title, content, and settings filled in.
3. Make your changes — update the wording, toggle Autoload, adjust the Delay or Autoload frequency, or switch the Status.
4. Scroll to the bottom and click Update a Popup.

A green confirmation banner appears when the save succeeds. If the popup's status is Published, changes go live immediately — visitors see the new wording on their next page load.

Pause a popup

To take a popup off your site without deleting it — say, after a campaign ends — switch it to Draft:

1. Click Popups in the sidebar and click Edit on the popup's row.
2. Scroll to the Status dropdown near the bottom of the form and change it from Published to Draft.
3. Click Update a Popup.

The popup disappears from your live site immediately and moves to the Draft tab, where it stays — content and all — ready to publish again whenever you need it. To bring it back, open it, switch Status to Published, and click Update a Popup.

Popup vs announcement bar

A popup interrupts: it appears on top of the page and the visitor has to dismiss it, which makes it a good fit for a promo or a lead-capture form. When you want a notice that stays visible in the layout instead, SGEN has an Announcement Bar block (and a CTA Banner block) in SG-Builder that you place at the top of a page or template. Use a popup when you want to interrupt; use the announcement bar when you want a persistent strip.

Worked examples

Troubleshooting

• My popup never appears on its own. Confirm Autoload is ticked and Status is Published. If Autoload is off, the popup only opens from a button via its hashcode.
• It appears, but instantly. Set a Delay of a few seconds so it doesn't fire the moment the page loads.
• A returning visitor keeps seeing it. Set an Autoload frequency (number of days) so the cooldown cookie suppresses repeats.
• My button doesn't open the popup. Check that you pasted the exact Hashcode (like #sgp_5) into the button's URL field, and that the popup's Autoload is off.
• My edits aren't live. Changes only go live when the popup's Status is Published and you've clicked Update a Popup; refresh the public page to see them.

Related reading

• SG-Admin Overview — the parent surface.
• Forms — pair a form with a popup for capture flows.
• Pages — where popups appear, and where you place button triggers.