Posts Tagged ‘widget’
Calling Embedded Form Users!
Form Widget Size Calculation Upgraded
To accommodate users who need to create forms with a large number of fields, we’ve recently introduced a much more sophisticated way to calculate form widget size. If forms on your site currently display a scrollbar, we strongly advise you to upgrade the form embedding code.
Refresh the Code on Your Website When You Add a Field
Once you have inserted the HTML code for the form widget on your site, we cannot resize it at our end. That means that whenever you add more input fields, you must refresh the code on your website. If you don’t do it, a scrollbar may show up, and some users may not be able to see the bottom of the form.
Space at the Bottom of Web Forms Is Normal
The spare space at the bottom of web forms is there for a reason: leaving enough space for error messages that may occur during form submission. Here again, if you remove that space, a scrollbar may show up, and some users may not see the bottom of the form.
Optimizing form widget size is not a simple issue because it depends on the rendering characteristics of the diverse web browsers, as well as on the different aspects of each form. If you believe the size of a form you’ve created is not optimal, let us know.
Posted on August 15th, 2008 in form builder.
No Comments »
Tags: widget
Introducing Form Layouts
We’re pleased to now support two form layouts.
Question (a.k.a. field name) and input field aligned horizontally (default):
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Question and input field aligned vertically:
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Which Layout Should You Use?
Most people find web forms designed with the first layout clearer and easier to read. That’s why we use it by default whenever you create a form.
The best layout to use depends on the length of the questions asked on the form.
- When a form is made of short questions like name or email address, prefer the first layout. This is what you should use, for example, for contact forms.
- When the form contains longer questions like Why do you want to work for us?, you should rather use the second layout. It turns out that you should use the second layout for most complex forms like web surveys and job application forms.
How to Change the Layout of a Form
You can change the layout of a form in the form details page. Note that if you’re using a form widget embedded into your site, you must update the HTML code on your site whenever you switch layout.
This is simply because the layout affects the size of the form. Forms accessed by their FormSmarts.com URL don’t have this restriction.
Any Feedback About Form Layouts?
We welcome your feedback about this feature.
Posted on August 14th, 2008 in HTML form.
2 Comments »
Tags: form design, usability, widget
What’s the Return URL of a Form?
When creating a new form with FormSmarts Form Builder, you’re asked to provide a return URL for that form. The return URL is where visitors will be invited to go to, after a successful form submission.
In practice, the return URL is only used when the form is accessed by URL, not when it’s embedded into your website. When visitors fill out the form directly on your site, they won’t leave the page hosting that form, and there is no need to send them anywhere else. The only thing that makes sense, is to display a “thank you” message right there.
We also use return URLs to compute the list of websites in Settings > Websites.
Return URL & Form Ownership
To prevent possible abuse, we will soon only display a link to the return URL on the confirmation page if the form owner is verified. Visit the Settings tab to verify your sites.
Want a Customized “Thank You” Message on Your Forms?
We’re thinking of letting form publishers add a personalized “thank you” message on the confirmation page. Please let us know if that’s something you would want to use on your forms.
Posted on July 11th, 2008 in HTML form.
13 Comments »
Tags: form builder, form owner, web forms, widget
Form Color Settings
Like many FormSmarts users, you may sometimes want to customize the style of your web forms. This may be because you want the forms to match the rest of your website, or because you want a form to stand out on a web page.
The form builder now allows you to change the text and background color of your forms. Visit the Form Details window in the Forms tab to set color preferences for a particular form.
Things to note:
- color settings only affect embedded forms, not forms access by their FormSmarts URL
- because your color settings are stored in our servers, you can change settings and see the result immediately. You don’t need to update the form code on your website.
How to Change Form Colors
- By default, form text is black, and form background is transparent. This should fit the needs of most users, and if you’re happy with this, you don’t need to do anything.
- If you do want to change a color, the easiest way is to choose one of the popular colors we’ve preselected. Just click on the color you want.
- If you prefer to use your own colors, you may type any valid 6-digit HTML color code directly. For example, 808080 is a shade of gray.
Usability Note
It’s important to preserve the accessibility of your forms to visually impaired visitors, and their usability under poor reading conditions (e.g. bright sunshine). Always keep a high color contrast.
Posted on July 6th, 2008 in form builder.
4 Comments »
Tags: embed, form builder, usability, web forms, widget
Form Owner Verification with Google Page Creator
To verify you own a website, we ask you to create a file with a specific name on your web host. If you use Google Page Creator, proceed as follows to verify your site:
- create a new page
- enter the verification file name (e.g. syronex8800…2523.html) as the page title
- publish the new page
Form ownership verification is optional but recommended to build trust with your visitors. It is required you intend to advertise a web form URL by email.
Recent Issues with Google Page Creator
Although hundreds of Google Page Creator users have successfully verified their site, we’ve had a few issues in the last few days. Google was redirecting some of the requests to googlepages.com to the same page on google.com, thus preventing us to check the verification file exists. We obviously have a limited scope for action, but we identified a likely cause and took technical measures that seem to have solved the problem. Leave a comment if you experience any more problems.
Posted on July 2nd, 2008 in form builder.
1 Comment »
Tags: embed, form builder, google page creator, widget
