What we’ve used forms for

1. What we’ve used forms for • Contact us • www.derby.ac.uk/international/enquiry • www.derby.ac.uk/contact-pages/contact-us-about-a-course • Booking forms for open days, conferences or short courses • www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/festival-of-science/book • Competition entry forms • www.derby.ac.uk/penguin/sendpix More advanced • International arrivals form • www.derby.ac.uk/international/september/welcome-week • Application form for FE • www.derby.ac.uk/udb/fe/application-form

2. Before you start… • Create a dummy version of the form in Word or on paper so you know • what sort of fields you’ll need • how long the form is going to be • if you need to merge or delete any questions.

3. Example form We can create custom URLs (addresses) for web pages allowing the number of visits to be logged using Google Analytics. In order to create these we need certain bits of information so that we can create a unique URL.

4. Is creating a form in the CMS the best way to do this? • Other alternatives are: • LimeSurvey • Paper form/downloadable PDF/Word document

5. LimeSurvey • Designed specifically for surveys. • Analyses responses for you and can create graphs etc. • Free • Find out more from Sarah Byrne or at www.limesurvey.org

6. Paper version • If you need them to pay at the same time as booking ie send a cheque or pay by credit card • www.derby.ac.uk/files/giftware_order_form.pdf • You can use our forms if you want people to make a provisional booking and then invoice them • www.derby.ac.uk/therapeutic-arts-and-complementary-medicines/book-your-place

7. 3 steps to creating forms in the CMS • Create form (or use one that’s been created already) • Pull into page and publish • Get results by email and/or spreadsheet

8. Forms Screen Assemble form Create new form or edit existing form Format each individual element

9. Adding fields • New inside (creating content inside frames) • New above/below • Move up/down • Update form (saves particular field) • Save and save and publish saves the whole form • Remember to save regularly. • Beware the mouse wheel of death.

10. Formatting • Frames • Stops the form looking like it’s ‘floating’ on the page • Allows you to split form into sections eg ‘your details’, ‘booking’, ‘any questions’ • Text label • Explanatory text • Long titles

11. Text entry • Text field • Used for names, telephone numbers, email addresses • Multi-Text field • Where you require more information • HTML • If you need the information formatting • (I don’t tend to use this)

12. Choices, choices…. • Radio buttons • Allows user to choose only one option • Drop-down menu (with or without ‘other option) • Allows user to choose only one option • With a dropdown list, people can’t see all the options that are available to them without clicking. • Checkbox list • Allows user to choose multiple options • Checkbox • Either ticked or unticked, use for “I agree to..”

13. Custom fields • Address field • Can find addresses from postcode • Can format addresses so that they can be imported into Peoplesoft • Date field • Formats dates correctly • Pop up calendar • File upload • Users can send you photographs, Word documents etc • Use this rather than Image upload • Captcha • Not accessible (ie it doesn’t read the Captcha out) probably not a good idea to use

14. Important properties • Field type • Name (for reference) • Validation type (optional) • Indented (Need this for label) • Label (description) • Values (for lists) • If you need to make a field compulsory (use either Minimum characters (1) or tick required box)

15. How we might convert the Word Doc

16. Explanatory text (this is created on the form so that when it’s submitted this text disappears and the page just shows the thank you text.. We make the question compulsory by using a Minimum Character of 1, so they must put at least 1 character in. Drop down list (so you can’t see what the options are). I usually create a --please select– option and then make the ’first option not valid’ so that people have to deliberately select an option rather than ‘selecting’ the first option displayed by default. Explanatory text to make the question shorter. Date field (with calendar popup since the date is hopefully quite soon). Change submit text from OK to Send. You do this when setting up the form properties on a page. Multi-text box just to ‘catch’ anything that we’ve forgotten to ask. You can find the form at www.derby.ac.uk/marketing/trackable-url-request-form

17. Adding the form to the page • Create a page using either the Form or Form (No Left menu/No Subnav) template • No left menu template gives you a full width page • Right click Form Component (and wait) • Choose the form you’ve created (or an existing one) • We now need to decide: • What happens to the form once it’s been submitted • What response we give to the user

18. Change submit button Success text Shows that the form has been successfully submitted. Go to page Create a separate thank you page, link to it the way you usually would in the CMS. Display Message Display a message on the page after the form has cleared (This text can often get lost if you have a lot of text on the page already). Email the form results Enter email address separated by commas Give it a subject line that will mean something to the recipient Set up database Find existing database or Create a new one (try to have your dept/faculty name at the start, so all your databases will be together) Set Record status to New as a default. Send an auto response email You need to have asked them for their email address) Add a useful subject line You can format the email using html or just separate lines with <br> I’d recommend adding contact details For more information about formatting emails come and have a word with me.

19. Now, test your form Does it submit? • Are there fields that are compulsory that shouldn’t be? • Are there fields that you can skip which should be compulsory? Did you receive the email(s)? • Check that you typed the correct email address in Is there a new record in the database? • Did you create the database correctly?

20. Formatting results • Edit this view • Change how records are laid out online and when exported. • You can order records by oldest/newest • Select which fields are displayed/downloaded • Web and Downloadable View • Select which fields you want to use (and in which order). • Give them a label (ie description)

21. Downloading Results • Download by status • Or download records created between certain dates • Once you’ve downloaded the spreadsheet you need to ‘Save as’ an Excel spreadsheet.

22. Hints and tips • Use your own experience of filling forms • what irritates you when you’re filling in a form? • does it look too long? • what do you expect a field to be called? • “Why are you asking me this?” • Do you need this information at this stage or indeed at all? • If a question is compulsory, they must be able to answer it (so you might need “don’t know” or “rather not say”) • I always include a comment bit so that they mention anything I’ve not thought to ask/any issues they have.