Form Generator v1.00 Released (NEW PLUGIN)

18 posts by 10 authors in: Forums > CMS Builder: Plugins & Add-ons
Last Post: January 30, 2017   (RSS)

By Dave - January 11, 2017

Hi All,

We've just released a new plugin called of Form Generator!

And, wait for it... it generates forms! A common element of many websites is "add forms". Whether they are contact forms, surveys, timeclock reports, or just any kind of form where you need to capture user input and add it to a CMS database.

We've built literally hundreds of these. When we do custom work and consulting, there's usually at least a few on each website, and we manually create every field, every line of error checking code (required fields, etc), every bit of MySQL to insert the record into the database. And it is slow and tedious, let me tell you. We usually quote an hour for a basic form and it can easily take a few hours per form if there's lots of fields (and we're fast).

What this plugin does is automate that entire process. You just select a section you want to generate a form for, click the button, and it generates all the code for you. It supports almost all the CMS field types: text field, text box, list, checkboxes, date, etc. And also automatically generates error checking code that matches the CMS Field Editor. So you can make fields be required, unique, have min/max length requirements, only allow certain chars, etc. And it just works. It generates all the code for you which you can then edit and style as needed.

Also, as an ADVANCED feature, you can also create edit forms. So for a situation where you want logged in users to be able to edit records they've created, you can do that as well.

There's even more to it, but that should give you a good overview. This is a great plugin to either save you time creating forms you used to code by hand, or to enable you to create forms fast without knowing any programming.

We charge a minimum of $100 to create a basic form, so owning this plugin lets you add on more revenue stream. You can have just about anyone create forms in a few clicks instead of the hours it would usually take.

So give it a try, we think you'll love it! You can order and find out more here: plugin:
http://www.interactivetools.com/add-ons/form-generator/

And as always, let us know any questions or suggestions. Cheers!

Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com

By Toledoh - January 11, 2017

Hey All.

IMHO, this is the best thing to come to CMSB for some time.

I was lucky enough to test some BETA versions, and I'm already using on a number of projects.  It saves me hours on each one.

Plus, it now means I'm happy to build additional form-based scenarios that I've previously tried to avoid due to the efforts involved in setting it up (and changes are always an issue).

Can't wait to see where everyone takes this!

Cheers,

Tim (toledoh.com.au)

By Codee - January 11, 2017

Hi Dave,

This sounds terrific ~ and definitely necessary! I have one very important question after reviewing your screenshots of the options.  I have several clients that when they receive a form request, or an order via form, etc. they would like the website visitor that is submitting the form (the submitter) to automatically receive an email back with either a canned message or a message based upon the form fields that were submitted.  The choices after submission screenshot shows only "Reload page and display this message" or "redirect to this URL"...but what several clients are needing is to "send reply to submitter and then go to URL redirect" as an option.

By Toledoh - January 11, 2017

I used http://www.interactivetools.com/forum/forum-posts.php?postNum=2238180#post2238180 to create those email alerts.  I've got my standard code snippets that send an email to admin and an email to user when a form is submitted.  Then I add the email template into CMSB and can change it as I like :)

By adding placeholders I can capture data from the form entry and use it in the email - works a treat.

Cheers,

Tim (toledoh.com.au)

By Twocans - January 12, 2017

Hi yea,
I am very excited with this release, just a quick question. On a form been submitted, can I have it so as the "on submit the page" can be redirected to another page with another form, or does it have to be a "thank you form submitted page".

Regards

Kenny

By Steve99 - January 12, 2017

Awesome, we've been looking forward to this for quite some time. Will certainly be purchasing the unlimited use license, and adding it to our dev toolkit.

Cheers,
Steve

By ross - January 12, 2017

Hi Equinox

Thanks for posting. 

We work with lots of forms that also send emails.  It's more advanced than what the plugin does by default but the plugin still gets you most of the way.

The link Tim posted has an example of the extra code you'll need and what you set up on the backend to tie it all together.

What you need to do is manually add the extra code from his link to your form. 

I typically add the code right after the code that inserts the new record in your database.  That way, the email doesn't get sent if for whatever reason the record doesn't get set.

If you'd like a hand with setting this up, do everything you can first (ie: install Form Generator, create your section, generate the basic add form, create the email template in CMS Builder, etc) and start a new thread so we can discuss.  It will help if you attach a copy of the form for me to review.

Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Cheers,
Ross Fairbairn - Consulting
consulting@interactivetools.com

Hire me! Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
Template changes, advanced features, full integration, whatever you
need. Whether you need one hour or fifty, get it done fast with
Priority Consulting: http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/

By ross - January 12, 2017

Hi Kenny

Thanks for posting.

You can set the redirect page to any URL you like.  That can be another form and even a completely different site.

One way to look at all this is Form Generator will generate the basic code you need and from there, you can modify it any way you like.

For example, you could modify the redirect so it passes values from the form just submitted to the next form you are linking to like this:

// on success
redirectBrowserToURL("http://www.site.com/myOtherForm.php?name=". @$_REQUEST['name']);

My example is based on the default code generated and assumes you have a field on your first form called "name".

Does that make sense?

If you'd like to discuss this further, feel free to start a new forum thread and we can continue the conversation there.

Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Cheers,
Ross Fairbairn - Consulting
consulting@interactivetools.com

Hire me! Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
Template changes, advanced features, full integration, whatever you
need. Whether you need one hour or fifty, get it done fast with
Priority Consulting: http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/

By Twocans - January 12, 2017

excellent thank you very much!

Kenny

By Jesus - January 12, 2017

Awesome, it looks like a great tool/addition to CMSB.

I've a couple of questions...

1. Does it includes some kind of captcha in order to prevent spam?

2. and I'll like to know how does it works with the Thank you page, is that an additional page or is this ajax based? (Basically for tracking purposes)

Thanks and I'm happy to hear this kind of news and see this additions to this amazing tool (CMSB)