Form Tools clarification

[carlyt]

I spent a couple of hours reading the documentation and playing with the demo and just need some clarification about form tools.

In its basic form (without form builder) is it possible to create internal forms and then publish them on a website. As I indicated on my previous post a few days ago we need to provide a form for search and retrieval from the DB. We need a registration/login form and we also need a form for some users to add/edit information into the DB using another form that can only be accessed via login (username/password).

All these forms need to be embedded into a website that has other information on it. None should be back-end or administration forms.

Are these requirements implementable in the basic version of Form Tools or would we need Form Builder. (and can Form Builder do this?)

Also if I go the external form route can you suggest open source packages that work with Form Tools.

Thanks.

[formtools-jwh]

carlyt,

I am also new to form tools. But I have read in the docs that internal forms are only stored internal and do not exist outside of form tools. The form builder package allows you generate an external form.

From the documentation page:
"Having said all that, Form Tools 2.1.0 does actually let you generate forms within the interface, and, with the aid of the premium Form Builder module, publish them directly on your site. The Form Builder simply provides you with another means to creating your forms: it is not required, and depending on your particular scenario, you may prefer to build your own forms. "

[carlyt]

carlyt,

I am also new to form tools. But I have read in the docs that internal forms are only stored internal and do not exist outside of form tools. The form builder package allows you generate an external form.

Thanks. I guess I will have to decide if the Form Builder is worth buying or look for another forms builder .

[michatmaster7]

It's very difficult, sometimes to communicate via the web in a forum where terminology can be used so loosely.

"Create internal forms and publish them on a website" - based on FormTools terminology, no, that is not possible. But what do you MEAN to say? Do you mean to ask, "Can FormTools help me design a form that can be published to my website?" If so, then that is what the FormBuilder module is for.

As I explained in your other thread, FormTools can be used to create internal-only forms (forms that can only be submitted by logging in), external forms (forms that can be submitted by visiting your public website) as well as help you design the external forms (using the FormBuilder module).

While I don't mean to sound rude, are you the web designer? While FormTools is a pretty user-friendly tool, it will make much more sense to someone familiar with coding websites in at least HTML, if not other languages. At the risk of sounding mean, my point is that FormTools CAN do everything you've asked for, but it will not do it all by itself. It will require someone behind the wheel, both to administer/manage your website as well as the database and submission data on the server that hosts your website.

Again, forgive me if I've spoken out of turn here, but this looks like the same question you asked in your other thread.

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My sincere advice is to keep looking. If you've spent this much time reading about FormTools and can't decide, it's probably not what you're looking for. Then again, after looking around, you might find yourself back here anyway. I spent almost two years looking for a tool like this after the end of FrontPage Server Extensions. If you end up coming back, try out one of the modules. If it turns out to not be what you were looking for, I'm sure Ben of Joseph (the creators) would be willing to work out a refund scenario for you.

[carlyt]

Thanks michatmaster7 I appreciate your input. I have designed websites and implemented them. The thing that appears clear to me now (that was not so evident when first looking at Form Tools) is that if you want to publish forms to a public website you have to either use Form Builder or some other similar tool or code them manually in HTML.

Just a note for the future. I believe that statements like "FormTools can be used to create ...., external forms (forms that can be submitted by visiting your public website) ..." are misleading. My understanding is that you can not create external forms, without Form Builder, some other form tool or html. But I may be wrong about that :-)

[michatmaster7]

Ah yes, you are absolutely correct. The general idea behind FormTools, I think is that it is the processor behind the form. It processes and parses data submitted on a form, then does something with it. In most cases that includes storing submission data in a database as well as sending out an e-mail based on certain criteria.

It is only recently with the Form Builder module that FormTools can now actually create the form itself via a user interface, which can then be published to your website and then processed with the FormTools back-end.

But technically speaking, you are correct in saying that creating forms for your website is typically done via manually coding the HTML, using a feature like the Form Builder module or something similar.

The one thing that sets FormTools apart here from being just a form processor, is that you can actually create, submit and store data for forms without publishing to your website (ie: Internal Forms that require a FormTools user login). While I don't use Internal Forms myself, I guess that would be a pretty handy feature at the core of the design.

I should also note here (at least personally), that I haven't used the Form Builder. As someone who does a lot of manual HTML anyway, I simply prefer to code the forms on my website myself. Then I use FormTools to process them by adding them to the FormTools admin area, etc. That works out pretty nicely for me. I suppose if I didn't have much experience in HTML, I would prefer using the Form Builder as a user interface to help me design a form, then I could simply copy and paste (maybe the Form Builder module has an FTP option?) the form into my website.

Either way, I think you can see now, that with a little design work, you can use FormTools to perfectly accomplish your original set of goals asked here