How to Simplify Form Building with JotForm

JotForm: Simplify form construction and unlock developers and non-developer potential

Core points:

• JotForm provides a WYSIWYG interface that allows both developers and non-developers to easily create and edit forms. It has nearly 400 prebuilt custom widgets, integration with over 100 applications, and an easy form designer.
• JotForm Theme Store further simplifies the form building process and provides customizable ready-to-use themes. Users can also submit their own form designs to the theme store and earn commissions each time someone uses them.
• JotForm is compatible with WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Facebook. It supports a variety of form fields and features including text fields, check boxes, file uploads, and payment integration. It also allows users to create multi-page forms, embed forms into WordPress widgets, and set up email notifications for form submissions.

(This article is sponsored by JotForm. Thank you for your support for the sponsors who made SitePoint possible!)

We made a mistake and opened Pandora's magic box. The popularity of excellent open source content management systems (CMSs) such as WordPress means that customers can edit their website content without our help. Until they try to modify the form. Forms are an integral part of content. You can understand why the client asks, “If I could add a title, why can’t I add an email request box?” The reality is much more complicated. Even the most basic forms require development expertise:

1. Create form using HTML5 fields.
2. Develop fallback code for older browsers, such as IE9 does not support new HTML5 field types or built-in verification.
3. Develop verification codes for clients and servers.
4. Can create or use custom fields such as map selectors, date handlers, file uploaders, etc.
5. Implement security measures to ensure spammers cannot hack or use the system.
6. Send query data by email or submit it to the server.
7. Record the query in a repository (such as a database).
8. Test forms on a variety of desktops, tablets and mobile devices.
9. Create a custom report to summarize query data.
10. Integrate the system with monitoring, analysis and/or sales systems.

Ironically, the smoother the user experience, the more development work it takes. If you are happy to continue, customers will inevitably contact you within 30 seconds of deployment…

• "Can we add another field?"
• "Can you send a PDF summary of response statistics to our CEO every week?", or
• "Can we output all this data to our CRM system for marketing analysis?"

The simplest form will quickly evolve into a mission-critical behemoth. Even if you find the right form builder plugins for your CMS, they are rarely suitable for non-technical end users. There is always some custom code to handle data flow and logging. Fortunately, there is an easier option…that is JotForm.

JotForm allows you or non-developers to build and edit forms using a simple WYSIWYG interface. You can define forms for your customers or hand over the entire system to them. Basic workflow:

1. Create form structure: The initial screen allows you to add form fields, labels, and titles. Nearly 400 pre-built custom widgets are available, including verification codes, recommendation trackers, tabs, photo capture and even voice recorders.

You can also define reply email addresses, submit actions, and set integration with applications such as Dropbox, SalesForce, and payment systems, including PayPal. There are over 100 applications available in total.

2. Using Form Designer: Then, JotForm's new form designer allows you to set the color and layout style of your form. In addition to standard graphics and responsive design tools, it also includes a click-through CSS assistant. This highly respected feature makes building CSS easier than ever. Selecting fields on the screen builds a CSS selector and displays a list of properties to choose from. The user just needs to enter the value.

3. Publish your form: Finally, your form can be used in standalone pages, iframes, or in use script embeds—all code is provided. It can easily integrate with WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and even Facebook pages:

JotForm Theme Store

JotForm's recently released theme store makes form building easier. In fact, the theme store does not need to build forms, and you can start customizing ready-made themes right away. Offering a range of award-winning free and commercial themes, you can style your forms instantly without you defining color schemes, images, and CSS.

Themes, if your customers want to style the form for various calendar events throughout the year, there are seasonal snow scenes and Santa themes. As a bonus, when you create a form-based masterpiece, you can submit it to the JotForm theme store. Once submitted, you can choose to earn a commission every time someone chooses it, or you can share it for free. JotForm empowers your customers and frees you from the boring development efforts of building forms every day. There is a free starter account so you can try JotForm without signing up and then upgrade based on your submission and storage space needs.

(The following is FAQ, the format and wording have been adjusted according to the original content, and the repetition part has been streamlined)

FAQs on Simplifying Form Building with JotForm

• How to embed JotForm into WordPress using the Embed Form plugin? Install the JotForm plugin, select the form, click "Embed form", copy the code and paste it into a WordPress page or article.

• What are the benefits of creating WordPress forms with JotForm? User-friendly interface, no coding knowledge required, rich templates and customization options, supports various fields and functions (text fields, check boxes, file uploads, payment integration).

• How to install the embedded form plugin on WordPress? Search for Embed Form in the "Plugin" section of the WordPress backend, install and activate.

• Can I customize the look of a JotForm form on WordPress? Yes, change the layout, colors, fonts, etc. and add images and logos.

• How to add different types of fields to a JotForm form? Drag and drop a field from the Form Elements section into the form.

• Can I create payment forms on WordPress using JotForm? Yes, it supports payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe and Square.

• How to view the responses to a JotForm form? View, filter, and export replies in the Submit section of your JotForm account.

• Can I create multi-page forms using JotForm? Yes, add the "Page Break" field.

• Can I embed my JotForm form into a WordPress widget? Yes, paste the form embed code into the Text or Custom HTML widget.

• Can I create a contact form on WordPress using JotForm? Yes, various contact form templates are available, and can be customized and set up email notifications.

Please note that since the image link in the original text cannot be displayed directly, I have retained the image link in the original text. If needed, you can replace it with the actual available image link.

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