Setting up a Feedback Form

Here's how you can create a simple form for data which will be sent to an email address and saved in a database. Create Name, Email and Feedback fields for the form.

1. Click on the column where you want to create the form.

2. Select Form in the New menu.

3. Create fields for the form using the field palette on the left. In this example, we will use three text fields and one text area.

4. Double-click on a field title and type in a name for each of the fields: Name, Email and Feedback.

5. The Form Template menu may contain multiple template options if the various forms on the site have multiple uses. You will now create a simple form, so just pick a basic template from the list. In this example, the name of the form is "Basic Form".

6. Save the changes.

7. Next, you will create a Thank You page for the form: select first the Feedback page so that the Thank You page will be created under that. Create the page by clicking on the add button (+) of the Pages header.

8. Name the page 'Thank You'.

9. Go back to the Feedback page and click on the form element that was created earlier.

10. In the Thank You page section, click on the link select button and select the Thank You page that was created above.

11. Save the changes.

You have now created a simple form on the page. In the paragraphs below, we will explain how you can save the information entered into the form in a database or have it sent to an email address.

You must always specify these parameters: otherwise, the information in the form cannot be saved in a database or sent to an email address.

Saving Form Responses into Database

In this instance, the information in the form is to be saved in a database, so you have to create a database with fields corresponding to those in the form.

1. Create a new database by clicking on the add button of the Databases header. 

2. Name the database 'Feedback' and save the changes.

3. Create the fields for the database by selecting Add New Field in the Fields view.

4. Type in the name of the field and select the field type.

5. In this example, the names and types of the fields will be as follows:

6. Save the changes.

7. Go back to the form settings by clicking on the form element on the page. In the Database menu, select the Feedback database that was created earlier.

8. Specify the database fields which will be used for storing the data: you can do this by selecting a field in the right-hand column and a corresponding field in the Database Field list. Repeat for all form fields.

9. Save the changes.

User feedback can be browsed and viewed by opening the Feedback database: click on the Feedback database name under the Databases header in the page tree.

Sending Form Responses via Email

In this instance, we want to have the information sent via email. You need to edit the form element accordingly.

You can make the necessary settings in the Email Settings section on the settings panel on the left-hand side of the form tool.

1. In the From field, type the address which is to be the originating address for messages sent via the feedback form.

2. In the To field, type the address to which the feedback is sent. Optionally, you can specify a recipient in the Blind Carbon Copy field, too.

3. In the Subject field, specify a subject for the email messages sent via the feedback form.

4. Select an email template for the outgoing message. The email templates are site-specific and if the site uses multiple email-sending forms, there may be several templates to choose from, named according to their respective uses.

5. Save the changes.

6. Publish the page by clicking on the Publish button on the toolbar of the page.