Hello. I’m completely new to RapidWeaver and have only just purchased RapidWeaver. I am now looking to understand whether this would be a good tool with which to build forms. That’s the most important element of what I’m trying to do… and then I also hope that these forms when completed can not only be submitted back to me but (A) will arrive in similar layout to what they looked like on the web (or at least hold all the information in a cohesive easy to read form)… if thats possible at all. Finally, in my mind (Disneyland) I wondered (B) whether it would also be possible to “print” the form web pages as A4 hardcopy. Does anyone know where I might start looking to learn more about this? I’m not a coder… but am willing to learn to use any drag ‘n drop tool I need to. Thanks in advance for any advice I get.
Welcome Stephen. For complex forms I’d look at a couple of things.
- Formloom from Yabdab - this is a plugin which allows for the creation of complex forms
- FormsPlus from Chillidog - this requires the Stacks plugin and allows you to build nice multi-step forms
- Outside the RW stable, lots of people like Machforms - an online form builder which can be incorporated into Rapidweaver.
There are probably more but those are the ones I’m most familiar with.
Rob
Rob thank-you for that I genuinely appreciate it:-)
@VirtualOz All of Rob’s recommendations may meet your needs, I don’t know. But I almost exclusively use MachForms. Not, apparently, for the same reason as you. However, there are often times when I need to easily collate all the responses and go over a hard copy of all the responses. (This is within courses that I teach.)
I don’t remember all the options MachForm provides but there are at least 2 that would be of possible interest:
- completed forms sent to me (and stored in an online database) where I get the response in the body of an email PLUS as an individual PDF.
- MachForms integrates with Google Sheets so you can also use/download responses from your Google account.
- Within the form itself you can require a response to be an attached Word, PDF, or other specified document so that can help at times.
I’m not sure what you’re really looking for and why. MachForms might be the best solution or not. But it certainly is a very good option.
Two more reasons MachForm might be just the solution you’re looking for, based on your initial requirements:
- You don’t need to be a coder. You can either elect to have MachForms host your forms for you or if you prefer (as I do), you can have them hosted on your own server. If you go the second route, you’ll pay a one-time fee for the software, but then it’s yours (no subscription fees). MachForm needs to interact with a MySQL database on your server, but if setting one up isn’t part of your skill set, MachForm will do it for FREE.
- The forms you (and, if you prefer, the submitter) receive are beautifully formatted - without any work on your part. They look great (screenshot below). And, as Mathew says, you can with the click of a button get a copy of the submission as a PDF.
I can’t recommend MachForm highly enough - it’s a great package. And, lastly, it integrates with RapidWeaver very easily - just copy the code generated for your form into an HTLM stack.
Another thumbs up for Machform which I use extensively - it will convert the message to a printable PDF and attach to either email and/or receipt. Has a lot of functionality including on-line payments, conditional logic and more. Support is excellent. Out of the box it can look a bit dated / tekky / unixy - but that’s all modifiable. Because it is
As far as RW specific products I can only vouch for Formloom 4 which I also use a lot. There are several others that look good also e.g. Forms Plus from Chillidog and Superforms from One Little Designer for example.
I’d recommend really thinking through what ‘complexity’ you need in advance to make sure the product can handle it.
On my WS community, you said that you were considering Foundation 6. I figured that I would include my answer here as well…
Foundation 6 forms are pretty powerful. However, it does not have any form to PDF solutions. You can send really nicely styled emails if you combine it with my Email Stacks. The two work really well together. You can integrate the form data into the email. I have seen some customers create some really stunning email with this.
I don’t have any experience with MachForms but I have only ever heard good things about it (as we see here). If you really need the PDF feature, then that may be your best bet. Maybe a nicely styled email could do the trick though as well. An email could be exported to PDF if the recipient needed that. I am not sure how strict your requirements are.
I use both Forms Plus and Formloom. @joeworkman’s Email Stacks create beautiful emails which can be tailored for almost any situation. For instance, I use Forms Plus and Email Stacks for event booking. One email is sent to the organiser, listing details, another is sent to as a confirmation to the booker, and all the data is saved to a database (which is displayed on a password-protected page).
Another good one is “Easy Forms” only $29 and works on any kind of website, not just Rapidweaver (which btw, is another good reason to use a product like Machforms, you can use it anywhere!)
There is a Rapidweaver version of Easy Forms available called “Just Forms” by Yuzool, but I would recommend skipping this product, as it doesn’t give you the same sort of control that getting a “direct license” does, and hasn’t seen updates in a while…
Mathew thank you very much. I am getting a few recommendations for MachForms and think I will head in this direction. I appreciate your advice.
Kind Regards
Stephen
Rob thank you very much. I am getting a few recommendations for MachForms and think I will head in this direction… however will consider also getting Chillidog as the multipage option does sound useful. I appreciate your advice.
Kind Regards
Stephen
Dave thank you very much. I am getting a few recommendations for MachForms and think I will head in this direction. I appreciate your advice.
Kind Regards
Stephen
Raimo thank you very much. I will keep easyforms in mind however I am getting a few recommendations for MachForms and think I will head in this direction. I appreciate your advice.
Kind Regards
Stephen
Peter thank you very much. Im trying to provide forms that relate to taxation and accounting so I am getting a few recommendations for MachForms and think I will head in this direction. I will keep FormsPlus and Formloom in mind for email however. I do appreciate your advice.
Kind Regards
Stephen
Joe thank-you very much. I am getting a few recommendations for MachForms and think I will head in this direction for forms however I intend to also purchase Foundation 6 as it seems useful for a wide range of development activities. I appreciate your advice.
Kind Regards
Stephen
Manofdogz you very much. I am getting a few recommendations for MachForms and think I will head in this direction. I appreciate your advice.
Kind Regards
Stephen
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