Web Services offers an online tool to create and maintain web-based forms. FormIt is an ongoing project that allows network users to submit forms online instead of relying on traditional hard-copy forms.

A new form is created when we receive a request from a school or department on campus. When an existing paper form is available, it is relatively easy to duplicate the form online with few changes. The Web Services team is willing to both train users how to edit their own forms from scratch and we're also happy to help with the whole form creation and editing process.

You can get started by filling out a new form request online. If you want us to convert a form that is already posted online in another format (usually PDF, Word, or sometimes a PHP web form that wasn't built using formit) you can use the form registration instead and request that the form be converted into FormIt. Doing this will allow users to find your old form in our search tool while we convert to the new format.

A simple form consists of single line questions and answers, section dividers, and informative text. The question can be as simple as as "Name:", where the user would input their name as a response to the question. A section divider is a line with text used to break the form into logical sections and informative text is text that is provided on the form that does not require a response from the user.

The questions asked can be asked using several different element types that are selected from a drop-down menu on the form editor. If you would like to provide the user with a selection of responses, you can use radio buttons that allow them to select only one answer or check boxes that allow them to select one or more answers. If there are many preset answers you can provide them with a drop-down selection. Simple text responses can be limited to a certain number of characters or be set to allow multiple lines.

This section describes several ideas that might be confusing to someone who has not worked in FormIt.

Each element on a FormIt form can be given a name. This name can only be seen by someone who is editing the form. A specific field name can only be used once on each form, but can be used on other forms. There are two primary features that are enabled by naming the form

First, naming an element allows other questions on the form to be hidden unless a specific response is given to another question.

Example Question: Do you have children? Yes or No
If you answer Yes, another question might appear that asks "How many?"

Second, when a logged on user completes multiple forms, typed in responses from other forms are saved in the browsers cookies and can be used for other forms.

Example: Two different forms have fields that are named "City". In both cases, the form asks which city the user resides in. FormIt queries the cookies stored on the users computer, and "remembers" that the user lives in College Place based on how they answered a form they completed earlier.

Another advanced FormIt Feature is called miny-elements. This element type allows multiple questions to be asked in one area.  This allows several small questions that would not take up an entire line when filled out to be combined and also allows related information to appear in one box. Many possibilities are opened up using Miny-elements, but they take some training and practice to get used to.

FormIt also has shopping cart features and configurable grids. These advanced features are discussed in the FormIt manual.