Creating Easy Forms

While the process of building an easy for is fairly straightforward, consideration must be taken in terms of the look, layout and content that will comprise the form itself. This article will cover the basics for building a form, by looking:

• Adding an Easy Form
• Adding elements
• Adding pages
• Moving elements and pages within a form

Adding an Easy Form

1. From the Dashboard, click Easy Forms
2. Click +Add Easy Form, complete the fields in the window that opens
   1. Title, this is visible to users and will appear at the top of the form
   2. Administrative description, this identifies the form in the dashboard area, users will not see this information
   3. Category, select an available taxonomy term that best represents the form's category; or select Other to add a term
   4. Status, this option sets whether the form will allow submissions (Open), or disable submissions (Closed)
3. Click Save

You will then be taken to the form's Build page where you can begin to add elements, additional pages and adjust the form's layout.

Adding Elements

Elements are the fields that make up your form, which your users/patrons will fill out and submit for your consideration.

A number of element types are available to be added to your form depending on the information being submitted and how you wish your users/patrons to input the information. Element types include, text fields, number fields, select lists, HTML options, buttons, CAPTCHA, and more. 

To add an element

1. Click +Add Element
2. Scroll through the list; OR, if you know the name of the element, type it in the Filter by Element field at the top
   1. TIP: hover over the ? icon to display a short description of the element
3. Click the Add element button to the right of the element you wish to add to the form
   1. A window will open on the right, complete the fields as needed
      1. General tab
         1. Element settings 
            1. Title, enter the name for the field
               1. Note: there is a 128 character limit for this field. Consider using the Description/more/help options to add more of a description or additional context
            2. Allowed number of values, optional, enter a numerical value to set your own character limit during submission entry
         2. Element description/more/help, (optional), click to expand/hide the fields below
            1. Description, enter a description that will appear below the element when viewing the form
               1. The location of the description can be changed by selecting a different option from the Description display field in the Form Display section
            2. Help, click to expand/hide the fields below
               1. Help title, enter a title for the help
               2. Help text, enter a description to provide help, instructions, or more context for users/patrons
               3. NOTE: users/patrons will see this as a ? beside the field name when viewing the form, click to see the help message
                  1. The location of the help icon can be changed by selecting a different option from the Help display field in the Form Display section
            3. More, click to expand/hide the fields below
               1. More title, enter a title for the more message
               2. More text, enter a description to provide help, instructions, or more context for users/patrons
               3. NOTE: users/patrons will see this as a 'More' link below the field when viewing the form, click the link to see the message
         3. Form Display, (optional), click to expand/hide the fields below
            1. Title display, select the location for the title to be displayed
            2. Description display, select the location for the description to be displayed
            3. Help display, select the location for the help icon to be displayed
            4. Placeholder text, if needed enter text to display an example of the data entry required in the field.
               1. NOTE: the placeholder text will appear until the user/patron clicks in the field to enter a value
            5. Input masks, if needed, select the appropriate value for identifying a predefined format for data entry
               1. Example, choose Email to set the field format to accept email addresses. In this scenario _@_._ will be displayed in the field when viewing the form
            6. Input hiding, check this box to enable input hiding
               1. When the focus is taken off the field, users/patrons will see a string of * in place of the value(s) they entered in the field. Similar to hiding a password when not clicked in the field for entering it
         4. Form Validation (optional), click to expand/hide the fields below
            1. Required, check this box to make the element required data entry before the form can be submitted
            2. Required message, if needed, enter a customized message to be displayed if a user/patron attempts to submit the form without entering a value in the required field
         5. Click Save if finished; OR, scroll to the top and go to the next tab
      2. Conditions tab
         1. Conditions allow you to configure settings which can control the appearance, state, or validation of elements or pages on your forms. See the Advanced Features for Elements article for more information on how to add conditions to a form
      3. Advanced tab, there is generally no configuration required in this area
      4. Access tab, there is no configuration required in this area
   2. Once the element configuration is complete, save by clicking 
      
      1. Save, to save and return the edit form page; OR
      2. Save +Add Element, to save and add another element

To add a new page

1. Click +Add Page
2. The page wizard will open on the right, complete the fields as needed
   1. General tab
      1. Element settings
         1. Title, this is the title users will see at the top of the page 
      2. Page settings 
         1. Previous page button label, optional, enter a customized label indicating the user can go back one page
         2. Next page button label, optional, enter a customized label indicating the user can go forward one page
      3. Form Display 
         1. Open checkbox, when checked indicates the content will be visible to the user
      4. Click Save when finished; OR, scroll to the top and click the next tab
   2. Conditions tab
      1. Conditions allow you to configure settings which can control the appearance, state, or validation of elements or pages on your forms. See the Advanced Features for Elements article for more information on how to add conditions to a form
   3. Advanced tab, there is generally no configuration required in this area
   4. Access tab, there is no configuration required in this area
   5. Click Save when finished

Moving Elements and Pages

By default, elements and pages will appear in the order they have been added. These can be moved without having to delete and re-add the elements and pages in a particular order. 

1. To change the order of appearance of added pages or elements
   1. Click the arrow icon to the left of the element name, then drag it up/down the list as needed
2. To change the location of an element to a different page
   1. Click and drag the arrow icon to the left of the element name, then drag it under the desired page, AND drag the element to the right so there is an indentation

For information on how your users/patrons can access these forms to make submissions, please see the article Accessing EasyForms.