New Web Form Creator Demo Video Available
We’ve added a new demonstration video to help new FormSmarts users get started. The video is on YouTube, and a higher quality version is available for download form the Internet Archive.
Posted on Mar 25th, 2008 in form builder.
1 Comment
Tags: howto, HTML form, video tutorial
FormSmarts Form Creator Now Supports All HTML Form Field Types
We are pleased to announce that FormSmarts now supports the full range of HTML form input fields. Users can now update their web forms and create new ones using Drop Down Lists, Radio Buttons, and Checkboxes.
We are in the process of updating relevant documentation on the site.
Update: see how to choose the correct form input field.
Posted on Mar 22nd, 2008 in form builder.
Post a Comment
Tags: form design, upcoming
Tips for Web Form Users with Non-English Language Websites
Many users in non-English speaking countries now use FormSmarts, so we thought we would post a few recommendations for them.
When building your forms with the form creator, use the text data type for any fields that may contain non-English characters, such as the accented characters found in many European languages (All data types now support all languages/character sets).
Note that non-European languages like Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese and Russian are not supported at this time.
As you know, FormSmarts form handler is not a simple form to email processor script like FormMail. Each and every web form submission is analyzed in real time, and the user may be asked to complete a challenge if we suspect a form spam attempt. Although anyone capable of reading elementary English should be able to understand what is expected from him/her in that context, this is something you may have to take into account when designing your web forms. You could for example warn users in the form filling instructions.
If you need help, we provide limited support in French, German, and Chinese (as well as English, of course.) You can write us in any of those languages, but we will only reply in English.
Posted on Mar 11th, 2008 in form handler.
2 Comments
Tags: howto, international, web forms
Displaying Your Own Logo on Your Forms
FormSmarts users can now display their own logo in the top left corner of their forms.
Note that because each logo must be reviewed manually, we ask you to spend a few minutes to help us publicize FormSmarts before we take some of our time to validate your logo. Alternatively, you may get your logo validated for a small fee of US$ 5 per logo submitted. You may help us by:
- writing reviews about us on relevant sites and blogs (e.g. Scripts.com, HotScripts)
- posting a video on YouTube showing how to use FormSmarts (gets you free validation of all of your logos)
Once done, ask us to validate your logo.
Posted on Feb 16th, 2008 in form builder.
2 Comments
Tags: upcoming, web forms
Will FormSmarts Remain Free?
A few people asked if FormSmarts will remain free. Although we may some day offer FormSmarts as commercial service with SLA and additional features, the basic service will remain free.
Note that we will need to charge a one-off fee for some services. For example, we will soon allow users to upload a custom website logo to appear on their web forms. Each image will require human validation, so we’ll need to charge a small fee for this. We will however lift the fee for users who have referred friends/site visitors to FormSmarts, wrote reviews about us on relevant sites, posted a video about using FormSmarts on Youtube, etc.
Posted on Jan 24th, 2008 in HTML form.
Post a Comment
Tags: web forms
Show a Form Owner Name on Your Forms
Increase user confidence by letting us verify you own the websites you are using with FormSmarts. FormSmarts will then display a verified form owner name in the top-right corner of all your forms.
To verify your sites, sign in to FormSmarts, and choose the Verified Websites option in the Settings tab. The form owner name can currently only be a verified web hostname. We will soon also support verified personal or company names. More details here.
Posted on Jan 12th, 2008 in HTML form.
4 Comments
Tags: privacy, upcoming, web forms
Are Forms Protected by a CAPTCHA?
We often get questions asking whether FormSmarts web forms are protected against automated submissions by a CAPTCHA. A CAPTCHA is a challenge-response test used to determine whether the user is human.
Yes, we do use CAPTCHA tests, but not every time a form is submitted. Instead, the form handler decides each time whether or not to require a CAPTCHA test (and other verifications), based on unobtrusive analysis by our form spam blocker of the information submitted.
This saves time to every one, and reduces form abandonment.
Asking the user to complete a CAPTCHA test for every form submission affects form usability and accessibility.
Posted on Jan 11th, 2008 in form builder, form spam.
2 Comments
Tags: captcha, form spam, form submission, usability, web forms
New FormSmarts Features to Come in 2008
Here are some of the major features we’ll be adding to FormSmarts
during 2008.
Verified Form Owner
Web form users are often concerned about what the form results recipient is going to do with their personal information. As a first step in a series of efforts to help increase user confidence and trust, we’ll introduce a Verified Form Owner scheme.
When the feature becomes available, you’ll have the option to verify your domain name, personal name, or company name. That name will then be used as the form owner name, and will appear in a prominent place at the top of each form. Indications that the form owner has been verified will also be shown.
At the most basic level, verifying your domain name will only take a few minutes.
Customizable Form Appearance
We’ll be offering the ability to change the FormSmarts logo on your forms by your own logo.
More Field Types Supported
We’ll add support form more HTML form field types, like drop down menus (HTML select tag), in the first quarter of 2008.
Want More?
Send a feature request.
Posted on Jan 11th, 2008 in form builder.
Post a Comment
Tags: privacy, upcoming, web forms
Spammy Awards
We can’t resist publishing the story of a spammer, who yesterday ended up on a blog using
FormSmarts for their weblog comment facility.
After finding the blog on Google, the spammer confidently tried to submit an outrageously spammy message: FormSmarts form spam filter gave the comment a score of 739, where anything greater than 0 is considered to be spam. That is — and by far — the most spam-looking message we ever recorded.
FormSmarts would like to thank this spammer for this amusing moment.
Posted on Dec 28th, 2007 in form spam.
Post a Comment
Tags: comment spam
Form Builder and Form Spam Filter Updated
A major FormSmarts upgrade was rolled out today. Changes include:
- New features in the form generator, like the ability to delete a field in a form
- A simplified user interface for generated web forms
- A major upgrade of the form spam protection engine
Posted on Dec 28th, 2007 in form spam.
Post a Comment
Tags: form builder, upcoming, web forms
About the Form Builder Blog
Categories
- booking (1)
- collaboration (6)
- event registration (3)
- file upload (2)
- form builder (52)
- form handler (9)
- form spam (5)
- HTML form (11)
- mobile form (1)
- online form (9)
- payment form (13)