How to Use the "Copy Code" Feature in Countdown Timers

Countdown timers are a powerful tool for adding urgency to your website or email campaigns. They can help you drive conversions by showing customers how much time is left for a special offer, event, or product launch. One useful feature is the "Copy Code" function, which allows you to quickly integrate countdown timers into your content.

This guide will walk you through how to use the "Copy Code" feature in countdown timers, including steps to create a timer, copy the code for your website or email, and customize the alignment and dynamic timer functionality.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What Is Countdown Timer Copy Code?
• Countdown Timer Types
• Do I Need To Edit The Code?
• How To Use Countdown Timer Copy Code
• Troubleshooting Checklist
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Countdown Timer Copy Code?

The "Copy Code" feature is for when you want to embed your countdown timer into different platforms, such as your website, email, or other builders. Here's when to use it:

1. On non-GHL Websites:

   • When you want to display a countdown timer on your webpage, the "Copy Code" option gives you the code snippet that you can paste directly into your website’s HTML.
     
     
   • This is useful for showing time-sensitive offers, event countdowns, or product launches.
     
     

2. In non-GHL Emails:

   • If you're sending an email campaign, you can use the "Copy Code" feature to get the timer code that can be inserted into your email's HTML.
     
     
   • This allows you to create urgency within your email content, so recipients can see the countdown right within the email.

Countdown Timer Types

There are three different types of Countdown Timers:

• Fixed: This timer always ends at the same time, which requires an endDate.
  
  
• Recurring: This timer will count down and then refresh to a new time and count down again, which requires a startDate, a duration, and a loop count.
  
  
• Dynamic: This timer can have a different deadline for each person who sees it, which requires the uniqeID and a duration (the startDate will depend on when that individual activates it).

Do I Need To Edit The Code?

Key concept:
Static timer = one deadline shared by everyone.
Dynamic timer = a deadline calculated separately for each recipient; therefore it needs both a personal startDate and a personal uniqueID.

startDate is the stopwatch trigger. If the builder can’t calculate “now” automatically, you must tell the timer when “now” is.

uniqueID is the stopwatch serial number. It prevents the caching that would otherwise make every recipient see the same image.

How To Use Countdown Timer Copy Code

1. Create a Countdown Timer

Set up your countdown by selecting the end date and time, appearance, and format (days, hours, minutes, seconds). Once done, move to the next step.

2. Copy the Code for Website or Email

Click the “Copy Code” button to get the code.

Select email or website based on where the code would be used and the alignment for your timer. Choose the one that fits your page or email design.

For dynamic timers, replace the contact.id within the curly braces with relevant Unique ID to personalize the countdown for each user (e.g., contactID, userID etc.). This ensures each person sees a tailored timer. 

Example: The highlighted text needs to be changed. If the Unique ID is contact.no, then use

...............uniqueID={{contact.no}}&.......

5. Replace with correct sender time
The start date field is required when the timer is used in a code snippet block of a builder. 

For copy code in emails outside GHL builder, we should put the date the email was sent irrespective if the trigger was open or clicked. For a case where the email was sent on 1st january, 2025 on 3:30PM, startDate=YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ can be replaced with startDate=2025-01-01T15:30:00:00 

For dynamic timer copy code in emails within GHL email builder startDate startDate=YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ can be replaced with startDate={{right_now.date_time_iso}}

Troubleshooting Checklist

Timer never starts → Check that startDate is filled with a real ISO date or a valid merge tag like this {{merge.tag}}.

Everyone sees the same time → Make sure uniqueID is different per recipient (merge tag, not hard‑coded).

Wrong timezone → Verify that the date you inserted ends with Z (UTC) or includes a timezone offset, e.g., ‑05:00.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I ever need to swap code when embedding in a GHL website?

No. The default snippet already works because the deadline is shared by all visitors.

Is the unique ID really “optional”?

Only for static timers. For dynamic timers you need it; otherwise all recipients share the same cached image.

Can I test a dynamic email timer before sending?

Yes. Send a test to yourself—the merge tags populate with your own contact data, so you’ll see exactly what real recipients see.

Does Copy Code work inside GHL’s email/site builders?

You don't need Copy Code inside GHL's builders because you can just embed the countdown timer directly, but you can use it in a code snippet element.