Forms

Setting Up the Form

  1. Add a New Module, creating it from the Form Template. Always start the name with Form - Form Name. 
  2. From the list of modules, click on the form module you just created.
  3. To get started, click on the Components tab and then on “Edit” next to the default form that is in there, currently called Form Template. 
    • Name: You can change the name of the component in the Name field, if you would like. Leaving it as the default is fine as well.
    • Is Form: The box next to “Is Form” should already be checked. If it isn’t, check it now. This is the only way the system will know it is a form and handle it correctly. 
    • Handler Default: The dropdown should have defaulted to Create Entity. This allows the data from the form to be saved as an entity each time it is filled out. (Edit/Create entity is for pop-up profiles.)
    • Response Route: If you check “Re-Route on Success,” enter the page URL you would like to take the visitor to once they’ve completed the form, in the format of just the page name, like Thank_You or Home. It is recommended to take them to a thank you page so they know they submitted the form successfully.
    • Notification: If checked, this will send an email notification every time a form is filled out. Be sure to fill in the subject, title, and recipient(s). More than one recipient can be listed and separated by a comma.
    • Confirmation - An email confirmation will be sent to the person who filled out the form. This will automatically add a field to your form for confirmation email. A tab will also appear in the form component for "Confirmation" where you will add the contents of the email. If you don't add anything to that box, the email confirmation will be empty.
    • Captcha: This adds a reCaptcha verification to the bottom of the form.
    • Body tab: If you are using configuration fields to create the form, (which we will do 99.99% of the time), make sure there is nothing in the Body area. If there is even an empty div in the source code, it will override the configuration fields and show nothing on the page.
    • Success tab: If you are not rerouting the site visitor to a new page, your page will show a success message right above the form. If you wish to override the default “Save Completed Successfully” message, you can do that by entering a message here.

Form Fields (Configuration Fields)

When created from the form template, you will start with four basic fields - date, first name, last name, and email address. You are welcome to delete or edit these as needed, as well as add any fields you may need.

Adding a new Field

  1. Field Name: this will need to be all one word, and needs to be original in the form. If you have multiple fields with the same name, like firstname, use the format of firstname1, firstname2, etc. If we have duplicated field names, the subsequent entries will override any earlier entries. 
  2. Display Name: This is what will show on the site as the label for the field. It is limited to 64 characters.
  3. Sort Order: This is the order the field will appear in on the form.
  4. Description: Can be used to make any internal notes, and also displays on the site if a Static type field is used for the field. It is recommended to enter paragraphs for fields that require additional information. (As a note, this will not show in the form that is emailed to the client.)
  5. Is Required?: If the field is required, check this box.
  6. Field Type: described more below; select the one that best fits the need
  7. Place Holder: We can enter text that helps describe the field further or gives an example. It disappears when the field is clicked on and is not submitted with the form if the field is left blank.
  8. Validation Type - (THIS DOES NOT CURRENTLY WORK CORRECTLY): will be able to force a certain type of format for a field.

Field Types

*Important note: We are currently limited to only 64 characters in the display name box (which is what shows on the site. We will work within those parameters, or see the Static field type for an additional option.)

  • Text: This is the field you will probably use the most. It will display as a short text field, and only allow plain text.
  • Select: Will display as a dropdown field with the choices you enter in the options area.
  • Static: This field will display what is entered in the description area. You can use this to add a paragraph or a longer description than is allowed in the display name field.
  • Checkbox: Will show boxes next to options and allow more than one selection.
  • Radio: Will show circle next to options and only allow one selection.
  • Text Area: Allows more characters than a text field, but operates the same way in that it only allows plain text.
  • File: Allows the site visitor to upload a form, such as a resume. Will upload to the root folder for the account, so you can search for it in the Files area.
  • Image: Allows the site visitor to upload an image, such as a photo. Will upload to the root folder for the account, so you can search for it in the Files area.
  • HTML: In a form, this renders as a long text field, but causes an error in the entities. So a text area field is recommended.
  • Date and Date/Time: render as short text fields at the moment. It is on the development list to have a date box pop up on the live site.

Adding Form to a Page

Once your form is set up, you are ready to add it to a page.

  1. Click on Pages and either create a new page or choose an existing one.
  2. Add the form component to the page. We no longer need to add the status message component to the page. It is now included in the main form component. We also no longer need to change the module to allowcache:false for the CAPTCHA to work.
  3. Save the page and your form is ready to go. Be sure to test it by having the form sent to yourself the first time, then update the form email to go to the client.

Exporting Form Entities

If a client asks for a copy of submitted entities, we are able to download them a CSV copy from the module. Simply click on the Export Entities button, select CSV from the first dropdown, and Export.