Forms editing

The online rich fields editor lets you create and manage forms in your content.

This page documents the process of creating a form using the online editor. This applies both to forms managed within the application and to forms sent to an external site.
All other information on forms-related functionalities in Ametys can be found on the following page: Forms.

1. Create a form
   1. Form CMS
   2. External form
   3. Lifecycle
   4. Input limitation
   5. Form fields
      1. Field type details
         1. Simple text
         2. Text area
         3. Drop-down list
         4. Check box
         5. Selection boxes
         6. Password
         7. File
         8. Hidden field
         9. Cost
         10. Captcha
         11. Field group
         12. Validate button
         13. Cancel button
2. Illustrated example
   1. Create and edit the article containing the form.
   2. Setting up the form

Create a form

Form CMS

A CMS form:
- Stores data entered by users in a database.
- This data can then be processed using the data export function in Excel format format (file CSV).
- In addition, it is possible to define form recipients who will receive the data entered by users.
- Finally, you can set up an acknowledgement system enabling the user to receive a email confirming successful receipt of data in the application.

In the Edit tab, a form is represented by:

In the Form contextual tab CMS, you can add fields and format your form.

Manage the CMS form:

External form

In the Edit tab, the external form is represented by:

In the toolbar, you can manage the form:

Managing an external form :

Lifecycle

For each of your CMS forms, you can choose a workflow that will apply to form entries (i.e. responses submitted by visitors).

The list of lifecycles depends on your application. Lifecycles are defined by the integration: Plugin Forms - Integration manual v1.9.0

If, during the life of a form, you modify its lifecycle, the status (workflow state) of all entries will be reset.

Input limitation

This feature is available from v2.10 onwards. 

When editing a form, you can limit the number of entries, i.e. the number of submissions visitors can make before the form is closed. 

This limitation can be accessed via the which opens the following window: 

The "Ok" button is used to set up the input limitation, 

the "Delete" button is used to remove limitations. In this case, the number of submissions is not controlled. 

Form fields

This is a list of the types of fields you can insert in a form; their properties are described below.

The rendering of fields in edit mode is for information only.

The contextual tab for each field offers several parameter-setting areas:

• The"properties" zone is used to enter general parameters.
• The"rules" area is used to define certain aspects of the field's behavior (mainly constraints).
• The"control" zone is used to move or delete the form field.

For your site to remain accessible,radio buttons in the same group must be located within a field group.

In the case of an external form, it is important to ensure that the field identifiers match those expected by the external application.

Field type details

Simple text

Check the"Mandatory" box to make this field mandatory.

Check the"With confirmation" box to add a second simple text just below it, asking the user to confirm their entry. This option is mainly used to confirm a password or an e-mail address.

Pre-fill: You can choose to automatically pre-fill the field with information about the logged-in user: Last name, First name, Full name, Email or Login.
Please note that the field will only be pre-filled if the form is on a restricted-access page and a user is logged in to the site.

Rule: You can choose a predefined rule by selecting an entry from the list:

• Integral
• Decimal
• Email
• Phone
• Date
• Time
• Date and time
• Personalized

Then fill in the min and max values as required (depending on the rule selected).

If you choose"Custom", you can specify a regular expression. (See Mozilla's dedicated guide for more information on regular expressions)

Text area

Check the"Mandatory" box to make this field mandatory.

Drop-down list

Check the"Mandatory" box to make this field mandatory.

Check the"Multiple choice" box to authorize multiple selection (using the CTRL and SHIFT keys).

The"Share in the cost" box is available from version 2.11 onwards.

Check the"Contributes to cost" box if the field contributes to the total cost calculation. 

The"Select list" button is used to populate the list with values.

• If the "Share in the cost" box is unchecked : 

• If the "Share in cost" box is checked, you can enter a cost for each option:

Check box

Check the"Mandatory" box to make this field mandatory.

Check the"Checked by default" box so that the box appears checked when the form is loaded.

Selection boxes

Identical to "checkbox", except for the"Group" property, which defines groups of checkboxes. Only one "choice box" can be selected per group.

Password

Characters are replaced by * on the screen.

Check the"Mandatory" box to make this field mandatory.

Check"With confirmation": a second password field is added just below, to confirm the entry.

As with the "Simple text" field, you can specify"min","max" and"regular expression" rules.

File

Check the"Mandatory" box to make this field mandatory.

Maximum size (in MB): Maximum file size that the visitor can send via the form.

The total size of the form is limited by the server: for example, if the server limits file uploads to 10 MB per form, all the files on the form must not exceed this value.

Hidden field

Defines a hidden field.

Cost

This Cost field is available from version 2.11 onwards.

This read-only field displays the total number of options selected (and costed) by the user. 

You can choose the unit displayed after the cost: 

Example of using cost : 

Captcha

Insert a Captcha in the form to protect against robots.

Field group

A field group allows you to group several fields together.

Validate button

Cancel button

Illustrated example

The webmaster or a contributor wishes to add a form to a page, for example a contact form.

Create and edit the article containing the form.

We know that a form is one of the elements that can make up content.
The first step is to create or modify a page, and then add content to it:

• Open or create the page containing the form
• select the zone containing the form
• insert an article: in the Page tab, click on Add content and choose Article
• in the Content tab (since the new item is automatically selected), click on the Modify content button

A tab is displayed with the Article in edit mode. The Edit tab is displayed.

As with any Article content edition, the contributor can enter an introductory text, an image, etc...

Setting up the form

Once editing the content, the contributor can insert a form in any rich-text area of the content. For our article, we'll add the form to the Rich Text field entitled Content.

• Position cursor where form is to be placed
• in the Editionclick on the arrow to the right of Form
  

• click on Form CMS
• a new zone is added to the content, representing the form's boundaries

• a new Form tab CMS is opened:

• This ribbon lets you define form parameters and build the form.

Here's an example of a contact form in edit mode:

Here's the front-office rendering.