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Creating Email Forms...
Email forms allow your site users to interact with the site by
requesting information or providing specific information. The
information the user enters in the form fields is sent to you via email.
Aliquant's forms designer allows you to add as many as you wish.
Aliquant's forms builder is made up of two sections...a form field
designer and a form creation wizard. You must define the form fields you
wish to include in your email form prior to creating the form
definition.
Managing Form Fields...
From the administration section choose Form Management /
Form Field Definitions. At the top of this page is a list of links
to create the fields your users will fill out. They include:
- Add New Text Field: Text fields are single line boxes that will
accept text such as the users name.
- Add New Text Area Field: Text Area fields allow for multi-line
text entry such as a question or notes area.
- Add New Checkbox Field: Checkbox fields are fields that allow the
user to "Check" (X) a box. For instance, a check box would
be used to indicate that they want to join your email newsletter
list.
- Add New Radio Button Field: Radio button fields are similar to
checkbox fields in that the user can "Check" or
"Select" the box. It is different in that if you have
several choices and you want the user to select ONLY ONE of the
choices a radio button will allow that. Please note that all radio
buttons for a single list of selection must have EXACTLY the same
Field Name.
- Add New Select (Dropdown) Field: Dropdown fields (also called
Select fields) display as a dropdown box with a number of possible
selections. For instance you could have a dropdown box listing all
of the states.
- Add New Hidden Field: Hidden fields are fields that are not shown
on the form. It is, in fact, hidden from the user (hence
"hidden" field). These are most often used to pass
information that the user would not necessarily know. For instance,
when creating a "Buy" form for a product that is sent to
our Shopping Cart program all of the fields (stock code, price,
shipping fees, etc.) are defined in hidden fields and the only field
available to the user is the "quantity" text field and the
buy button.
Adding a Text Field... Text fields allow a user to enter a
single line of text. Some examples could be... a field for the user's
name, email address, company name, street address, city, etc.
Field Name: Required: Must be unique. Maximum 30
characters...Upper and lower case letters and numbers only...no spaces
or special characters.
Form Description: Required: Maximum 500 characters. This is
displayed on the form page to provide instructions for filling out this
field.
Required: Check if this the user MUST fill out this field.
Field Length: Required: Must be an integer. The size (width of
the text field on the page) of a text field is determined by the length
entered here.
Maximum Characters: Required: Must be an integer. This number
represents that maximum number of characters that will be allowed in the
text field. The maximum number of characters can exceed the size of the
text field.
Default Value: Not Required: Up to 50 characters...If used, this
value will automatically be entered in the text field.
Adding a Text Area Field... Text area fields allow a user to
enter multiple lines of text. Some examples could be... a field for the
user to ask a question, describe a problem they are having or request
special information.
Field Name: Required: Must be unique.
Maximum 30 characters...Upper and lower case letters and numbers
only...no spaces or special characters. Form Description: Required:
Maximum 500 characters. This is displayed on the form page to provide
instructions for filling out this field.
Required: Check if this the user MUST fill out this field.
Width in Columns: Required: Must be an integer. A textarea column
is approximately 1 character wide. A textarea 40 columns wide will allow
approximately 40 characters per row.
Height in Rows: Required: Must be an integer. A textarea row is
approximately 1 character high. A textarea 5 rows high will allow
approximately 5 rows of text.
Add a Checkbox... Checkbox fields are basically yes / no
fields. They allow the user to easily choose from a set of options. Some
examples could be... a field asking permission to contact them by phone,
a series of checkboxes which allow them to choose which brochures /
products they are interested in.
Field Name: Required: Must be unique.
Maximum 30 characters...Upper and lower case letters and numbers
only...no spaces or special characters. Form Description: Required:
Maximum 500 characters. This is displayed on the form page to provide
instructions for filling out this field.
Default: Not Required: If "Selected" is chosen the
checkbox will be checked when displayed.
Add a Radio Button Selection... Radio buttons are similar to
checkboxes. The difference is that you can create multiple instances of
a radio button. When you do so... only one of those buttons can be
checked. If you click one radio button and then another, the first will
automatically uncheck. Some examples could be... a choice of two radio
buttons to indicate mailing or shipping address, a list of options that
allow only one answer (please choose one of the following.
Field Name: Required: Maximum 30 characters...Radio buttons
force a user to choose only one of several options. Radio Button
Field Names MUST be exactly the same for each Radio Button in a specific
set of options. Enter one radio button record for each option
available to the user. Upper and lower case letters and numbers
only...no spaces or special characters.
Form Description: Required: Maximum 500 characters. This is
displayed on the form page to provide instructions for filling out this
field.
Default: Not Required: If "Selected" is chosen the
radio button will be checked when displayed. Only one radio button in
a single set of options should be selected.
Add a Dropdown (Select) Field... Dropdown boxes (select
fields) allow a user to choose one selection from a list of options. You
can use the dropdown box for the same type of information as a series of
radio buttons. If you have only two or three options you may want to use
radio buttons. If you have a long list of options a dropdown box uses
far less space.
The dropdown editor is different from the other editors. After you
enter the initial dropdown definition (field name and description) you
will need to save the field. You will then be allowed to add as many
option values as you need. The Option Value field should include the
information you want sent to you. The Choice Text field is the text the
user will see in the dropdown box.
Field Name: Required: Maximum 30 characters...Dropdown fields
force a user to choose only one of several options. Dropdown Field
Names MUST be exactly the same for each option in the dropdown.
Enter one dropdown record for each option available to the user. Upper
and lower case letters and numbers only...no spaces or special
characters.
Form Description: Required: Maximum 500 characters. This is
displayed on the form page to provide instructions for filling out this
field.
Option Value: Required: Maximum 50 characters: This is the value
that will be passed if this option is selected.
Choice Text: Required: Maximum 50 characters: This value will be
used as the text for the dropdown selection.
Add a hidden field... Hidden fields are just what they sound
like... the field is hidden from the user and the user cannot change the
information passed within the field. This is not a field that you will
use often but it is occasionally useful. For example, you may want to
use a hidden field to pass the URL of the form. Or you can build two
forms that are the same but available in two different sections of the
site. You could use a hidden field to pass which section the form came
from to determine which is used most.
Hidden fields cannot be seen by the user and is used to pass
predetermined information.
Field Name: Required: Must be unique. Maximum 30
characters...Upper and lower case letters and numbers only...no spaces
or special characters.
Default Value:Required: Up to 50 characters...This value will
automatically be sent every time a form is used.
Defining an Email Form...
Once you have the necessary form fields defined you can create you
first email form. Form the administration section choose Form
Management / Form Definitions. This page will give you a list of all
of the forms in your site.
Add New Form: Allows you to define a new form.
Edit Form: Allows you to define a previously defined form.
Choose Form Fields: Allows you to associate previously defined
form fields to a specific form definition.
Preview Form: Shows you what the form will look like in your
site.
Delete Form: Will delete a form definition.
FormLink: This is the URL to link to your form. Use Section Links
(See Section Content) in a content section
or Site Links (See Site Links) to add a new
link to your form.
Add New Form... There are two steps to creating a new email
form. The first is to create a form definition. From the form list
choose Add New Form.
Form Name: Required: This is a short name for the
form that will be used to help you identify the form within the
administration site. The user does NOT see this entry.
Form Action: If you are using our automated form email forwarding
leave this field blank. If you are sending this form to another location
enter the fully qualified URL of that web page.
Send To Email Address: Enter the email address where the form
results will be sent.
Submit Button Text: Required: Maximum 50 characters. This text
will be displayed ON the submit button for the form.
Membership Level: Allows you to associate a form to a membership
level. Choosing VISITOR will make the form available to all site users.
Publish: Allows the form to be published to the site.
Form Description: This information will be displayed above the
form fields and should be used to describe what the form is for and how
to use it.
Success Text: This text is displayed on the success page after a
form has been successfully submitted.
Second, you will need to define which form fields to
include in the form. From the forms list choose Choose Form Fields.
This will present you with a list of all of the form fields you have
defined.
Field Sequence: If you do not want the form field
to be in this particular form enter nothing in the Field Sequence box.
If you do want the form field in the form enter the position you want
that particular field to be shown. Fields are positioned from top to
bottom on the form page based on the number you enter. 1 is at the top.
Save Field Selection: This saves your selection
Your form is now complete. Add a link in the site
sections area or site links area to the form and it is ready for your
users.
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