Short answers to common questions about popup triggers — the events that make your popup appear. Click the links in each answer to dive deeper. Looking for a different topic? Browse all Frequently Asked Questions. If any terminology is confusing, check our Popup Maker Glossary of Terms.
What Is a Popup Trigger?
A popup trigger is an event (e.g., a click, some time delay, or submitting a form) that makes your popup appear. See the glossary’s Popup Trigger entry for the full definition.
In the video below, the popup shows up using a click trigger. Clicking the download button triggers a popup to open.
Think of it like a “light switch” for your popup. When the right action happens, your popup comes into view!
These are 2 other popular popup triggers that come with the free Popup Maker version.
- Time Delay / Auto Open: is a popup trigger that automatically displays a popup after a time delay. For this trigger, time is the event that makes the popup appear.
- Form Submission: launches a popup after someone submits a form. You can use Popup Maker’s Form Submission trigger as long as your form plugin has a Popup Maker integration.
How Do I Make My Popup Show Automatically?
Use an Auto Open Trigger
You need to use a Time Delay / Auto Open trigger.
To create a popup that automatically opens, follow our step-by-step guide for creating your first popup (auto opening).
For more details about each Auto Open setting, read our Time Delay / Auto Open Settings Cheat Sheet.
How Can I Have a Popup Open With a Click?
Use a Click Open Trigger
You can use the Click Open trigger to open a popup by clicking any element on your post or page.
After you set up the Click Open trigger for your popup, you need to connect the trigger to an element (e.g., text, link, button, image) on your page. The 2 easiest ways to do that are the following:
- Add the default Popup Maker classes to your element.
- Assign existing or custom selectors from your element to your Click Open trigger.
Follow our A Beginner’s Guide to Popup Triggers to learn how to connect your Click Open trigger to an element on a post or page.
If you’re wondering how to find existing CSS selectors (for option 2), see the FAQ How Can I Get CSS Selectors?
How Can I Get CSS Selectors?
A CSS selector is the part of a CSS rule that targets an HTML element. You’ve got two ways to grab one:
1. Popup Maker’s Built-in Selector Tool
- Go to your page while logged into WordPress
- Hover over the Popup Maker admin bar
- Click Get Selector under Tools
- Click OK in the alert
- Click the element you want
- Copy the selector
- Paste it into your popup settings
2. Browser Developer Tools (like Chrome)
- Right-click the element you want
- Click Inspect
- Right-click the highlighted HTML
- Select Copy > Copy selector
Just be careful. Browser tools can sometimes give you super long selectors that are tricky to use.
Get more details and even watch a video on how to use the Popup Maker tool in our Getting CSS Selectors guide.
How Can I Open a Popup from a WordPress Nav Menu?
You’ve got three cool ways to open a popup from a nav menu:
- Select the popup directly from a dropdown in the menu settings
- Add a custom link using the popup’s ID (like ‘#popmake-123’)
- Add the popup’s CSS class to your menu item
Read how in our Open a Popup from a WordPress Nav Menu guide.
