On this Page:

• Form Builder Help
• How to Access Form Submissions
• How to Require Fields & Set Up Validation
• How to Organize Your Web Form
• How to Set Up a Confirmation Email to Form Submitters
• How to Duplicate a Form
• Glossary

Form Builder (FB) Help

Form Builder (Fb) is a tool developed by Web Services to help create web-based forms. It is installed on www.kzoo.edu sites only. This tool is available through the WordPress rich text editor on pages and posts.

Access Form Builder

Create/edit a WordPress page or post and click the Fb icon

Add Questions/Fields to Your Form

1. Once you are in Form Builder, click the “Add Field” tab or the “Express Fields” tab to access available fields. Click field buttons to add them to your web form.
2. Once you have added a field it will appear under the “Assembly” tab.

Change Field/Question Text

1. To change what the field says (for example from “Single Line Text” to “Your Name”), click the field under the “Assembly” tab, which will open the “Field Settings” tab. Change the Label to the correct terms (e.g. “Your Name” ).
2. Click Save Form to submit your changes

How to Access Form Submissions

You can access Form Submissions in two ways: directly to your e-mail inbox and from the Form Builder interface. You can also export form data as an Excel spreadsheet.

Get Form Submissions/Entries by E-Mail

You can receive form submissions directly to your email inbox. To set this up, add your address to the “Email To” field under the “Form Settings” tab.

Access Submission Data from Form Builder

You can view a web version of the form submission data from the “View Entries” button in the Form Editor.

Download/Export Form Submission Data as a Spreadsheet

To download the form submission data (in other words, to export it as an Excel spreadsheet), click the “Export Entries” button located in the Form Editor.

How to Require Fields & Set Up Validation

“Required fields” and “validation” are 2 ways to make sure the people filling out your form are giving you the information you’re looking for.

• Required fields force the person to enter information before submitting the form. If someone attempts to submit the form without filling out the required field, they will receive a prompt to fill out the form.

• Validation refers to the Form Builder checking to make sure that the information submitted is structured in the way that you have set up. For example, you may want to set up validation on an “Email” field, so that Form Builder checks for an “@” as well as a .com, .edu, .net etc.

Make a Field Required

1. Access the Form Editor. Under the “Assembly” tab, click on the field you wish to require.
2. When you click a field in the “Assembly” tab, the “Field Settings” tab should automatically open. If it does not, click the “Field Settings” tab. Under the “Basic” heading, checkbox the “Required” option.
3. You should notice that your field now has a red “required” text next to it. Save your form to submit your changes.

Set up Validation

Validation is especially useful if you want to make sure that submitted e-mail addresses are real addresses, or that phone numbers have 10 digits (area code + phone number).

Express Fields already have some validation integrated into them. If you select the “Email” express field, it is already set up to check that the e-mail address is in the correct format.

To add validation to a standard field:

1. Access the Form Editor. Under the “Assembly” tab, click on the field you wish to have validated (which should open the “Field Settings” tab).
2. Under the “Field Settings” tab, click the “Advanced” section to open validation choices. Select the field that you would like to be checked in the correct format.
3. Click Save Form to submit your changes and keep validation on your field.

How to Organize Your Web Form

There are a variety of ways to organize your web form. You can:

• Add Headings or Section Text
• Change the Order of Form Questions/Fields
• Change the Order of Multiple Choice Options

Add Headings or Section Text

Grouping your form questions/fields by topic helps people fill out your form more quickly and makes it easier to understand. For example, you may have a “Contact Information” section of your form and a “Personal Interests” section of your form.

When you group your fields in this way, you can add a heading to the section with the “Section Text” field in Form Builder.

1. Access the Form Editor. Under the “Add Field” tab, click the “Section” button
2. A new field titled “Section Text” will appear at the bottom of your form. If necessary, move the field to a better position in your form.
3. Click the “Section Text” field to open the “Field Settings.” Under the “Basic” heading, change the value of the section text to the heading you desire.
4. Add additional headings as needed. Click Save Form to submit your changes and keep your headings.

Change the Order of Form Questions/Fields

You can re-order your form fields from the “Assembly” tab in the Form Editor. To move an item, click-and-hold the “handle” (indicated by the shaded bar on the left of the field) and drag it to the appropriate location

Change the Order of Multiple Choice Options

You can re-order multiple choice questions in a similar manner to changing the order of your form fields.

1. Under the “Assembly” tab, click the field that you wish to re-order the options within.
2. Clicking the field should open the “Field Settings” tab. Under the “Basic” heading, locate the “Options” for the multiple choice items. Click-and-hold the “handle” (indicated by the shaded bar to the left of the option you wish to move) and drag it to the appropriate location.

How to Set Up a Confirmation E-mail to Form Submitters

These are the steps to set up an e-mail confirmation (which is different than the message that appears on your web page after the person submits their form).

1. Add a validated email address field to your form (see our validation help section). Use the “Express Fields” tab to add an “Email” to your form (best method).
   OR
   Add a “Single Line Text” with the label “E-mail.” Under the “Field Settings, click Advanced and select “Email” next to the “Validation” section.
2. Make that email field required (see our required field help).
   Select the validated email field that you just created and click “Field Settings.” Under the “Basic” section, checkbox the “Required” setting.
3. Turn on Confirmation Message.
   Click your “Form Settings” tab and then select the “Advanced” dropdown. You can now select a “Confirmation To.” You have the option of sending a confirmation message to any e-mail address field that is both validated and required.
4. Write your Confirmation Subject.
   This is the e-mail subject line that will appear in the person’s email inbox after they have submitted your form.
5. Write your Confirmation Message.
   This is the body of the actual e-mail that will get sent to the person automatically after submitting the form. The “Confirmation Message” is where you should include any confirmation language (e.g. “Thank you, we have received your submission…”), any thanking language, (e.g. “We appreciate your interest…”), as well as any next steps (e.g. “If you have questions about this project, please contact us at 555.555.5555…”)

How To Duplicate a Form

From your Form Builder Manager, hover over the form and click copy on the contextual menu.

The copy will appear at the bottom of your list of forms.

Glossary