I need to get a simple calculation into a contact form and wondering the best way to do this (I normally use Formloom 3).
Been looking at Stacks4Stacks calculator stack and can see it integrates nicely with Chillidogs Forms Plus and, with a bit more work, with the Rapidweaver Contact Form. Anyone know if it can play with Formloom?
Also looking at 1LDs Formula stack which appears to export to input fields in any Contact Form. The question I have here is can the calculated result be exported as well as the user input fields? It looks to me as if only the input fields completed by the user can go into the form and not the calculated result.
A 3rd option would probably be to buy Mach forms which I think handles calculations as an integral part of the form.
Comments on any of these gratefully received along with any other ideas.
The functionality is required for ordering Gift Vouchers for a helicopter company and the calculation requirement is along the lines of:
Select Trial Flight package (drop down or radio button selection): e.g. 20 minutes at £180, 30 mins at £230 etc
Flight DVD required? at £29 - maybe option to buy more than one.
Introductory Booklet required? at £6.95
I would like a summary of the items selected AND total price to then go into a Contact Form containing other information such as name and contact details of flier, date, message to accompany voucher, any other guests etc. The client does not want on-line purchase as they prefer to then call, discuss a few safety issues such as weight etc, and then take payment over the phone.
However php isn’t my strongpoint and I wouldn’t want to be hand building forms for different clients - some of them are quite complex. Ideally would like a product that I get to know for a one-off fee and then use where I like. At the moment MachForms is favourite - 10 user licence or maybe unlimited. Definitely could do with built calculation and / or payment functionality on a few other sites. Only thing I don’t like about MachForms is field styling - they all seem to have a horrible shadow/shading around them - looks very dated and not at all clean. No obvious way to style it out but I gather once embedded in your own site this changes - haven’t got that far yet.
Cognito also looking good but not a fan of subscription model and would prefer to self host
I know that this does not help you right now. But one of my upcoming releases will be a new Form calculation stacks. I am a little ashamed to say how long ago I actually made this stack and simply never released it because I wanted it to be on the new shiny website. Well we all know how long that took me. LOL.
Anyways, Pi should be out by Jan or Feb at the latest. I was thinking of a December launch but not too sure how good of an idea it is to launch a new product in December.
December not a good month - release it in November instead!!
Both existing stacks (Will’s and 1LD’s) are very good if a little complex. It is surprising that a simple formula function with basic purchase capability in a contact form isn’t available in the RW world. I have several sites which need exactly that e.g. helicopter companies selling trial flight gift vouchers and also some florists. In both cases you need a customisable form to get required information, requirements, and to send a greeting. I have worked around with a standard form redirecting to purchase page after sending. Works but not elegant. I reckon it might be in formloom 4 and maybe you’ll offer this in Pi?
LOL!!! I have one more launch for November. It was supposed to be this week but I am feeling under the weather and was not able to record my video. The day is not over yet but it’s looking unlikely.
If you are referring to CalcStack, then yes, I believe the same configuration that works for the standard RW contact form page type also works for Formloom. And I saw someone using CalcStack in combination with CompactForm only last week, so that’s another one to add to the integration list too.
I would love to hear your private thoughts on how CalcStack can be made less complex for your needs. Please email me your thoughts and examples.
RW users have been able to create simple Javascript-based calculators for many years, using free stacks like Builder. CalcStack came about by request to fill a large gap in the market and offer a truly drag-and-drop, code-free solution that could be used to create more complex mathematical calculators - with particular emphasis on integration with other addons and better webpage accessibility.
Obviously I cannot make mathematics any easier for you! But if you have already got good formulas written down, most of these will convert over to CalcStack without much effort. Pricing calculators are just one of the many tasks CalcStack can be used for.
I know of a company building simple web apps for education, and the only thing keeping them from switching to another platform was CalcStack. They told me it was the best at what it does - not just in RapidWeaver but any web publishing platform they’d used.
It would be easier for you to stick with what you are using already, rather than reinventing the wheel yet again. If there are features you need added to CalcStack, you know where to reach me and I’ll try to incorporate whatever I can in free updates. Just ask.
