A Fully Customizable FORM via HMTL and have it published via Wrapper in Mambo

[guilliam]

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"Making a Fully Customizable FORM via HMTL and have it published via Wrapper in Mambo"

In reference to:
1. http://forum.mamboserver.com/showthread.php?t=43912 (Creating formail forms the easy way; a brief TIP/Trick how to do it)
2. http://forum.mamboserver.com/showthread.php?p=231525 (Need a form that works!!!; a general question on implementing FORMS on Mambo)


I. CONS:
1. it will take sometime for you to learn how to configure the form(for the php form handler)

2. purely email submission, data submitted from the FORM cant be automatically inserted to the mysql database.

3. no other cons i can think of(as of now june 15, 2005). but other cons is warmly welcomed.


II. PROS:
1. A highly CUSTOMIZABLE form that would suit your needs.

2. Unlimited control on the layout, design and css of the FORM page.

3. Unlimited form fields, includes field handling of all known types; i.e: text box, check box, drop down, text fields, multi line text fields, FILE ATTACHMENTS,.. virtually all known form fields.

4. a total control on what ever FILE ATTACHEMENT and/or FILE TYPE is allowed to be attached.

5. automatic attachment of photos/images to your email that has been submitted thru the FORM page.

6. A total control on what form fields you wish to be required.

7. Allows multiple FORM PAGES to use one configuration file.

8. Allows multiple recipient of the submitted form.

9. allows "specific" recipient for a specific form.

10. allows submitters (hidden)report of:
a.) browser being used
b.) i.p. used
c.) url referrer
d.) platform/operating system used

11. recipients email is in the config file so that email spiders are less likely to find your email for possible spamming.

12. others that i might have missed citing.


III. Requirements:
1. a wyswyg editor such as; dreamweaver, frontpage or any wyswyg editor

2. a basic knowledge on how to use the wyswyg editor cited in requirement #1

3. a knowledge in editing config files(text files) for the phpform handler to be used.


Things to be used/needed:

1. a wyswyg editor as mentioned in REQUIREMENT #1

2. of course: HiQformmail by Richard Harkrider @ www.hiqformmail.com. you can download the formhandler HERE


IV. The walkthrough:
1. download the HiQFM.zip in the url given above.

2. unzip the HiQFM.zip

3. assuming that we will be using dreamweaver as the wyswyg HTML editor, open the test.html in the unzipped HiQFM folder.

4. edit the test.html according to the layout, design, colors, general look and the FORM FIELDS you wish the FORM PAGE will be.

5. in the "code view" of dreamweaver you can add "Optional Form Fields" such as:
a.) Field: subject
b.) Field: email
c.) Field: redirect
d.) Field: attachment[]
e.) etc.. for a complete list of "Optional Form Fields", go HERE

6. open HiQFMConfg.conf in any text editor.. or you can use dreamweaver to open and edit the configuration according to your needs.I STRONGLY suggest that you point your [redirect] to a Mambo STATIC Page(create a static page in Mambo for the redirect URL, its usually a THANK YOU message, or FORM submission SENT page). so that after clicking the submit button the submitter will be still be lead to a mambo page.

7. after editing the layout and other things you will be editing as mentioned in step #4, #5 and #6...upload the entire folder (HiQFM) via ftp to your webhost. assuming that you have uploaded the folder to: www.yourdomain.com,.. so the file structure will now be http://www.yourdomain.com/HiQFM

8. log-in to your mambo administrator(back end).

9. in the "menu" TAB, click on any menu item, but on this walk thru lets just pressume that you will click "mainmenu".. click the icon in the top which is labeled "New"

10. it will now lead you to: "New Menu Item",.. tick on the radio button "Wrapper" then click "Next" on the icon located at the top.

11. it will now lead you to: "Add Menu Item :: Wrapper",.. fill in the details boxes, such as NAME, Wrapper Link, Url, etc.
a.) "Wrapper link" is to be pointed where your FORM PAGE is located.. so for our walkthru having as an example, point it to: http://www.yourdomain.com/HiQFM/test.html
b.) for this walkthru, fill the "Name:" field to "Form Test"
c.) generally, tick the NO radio button on "Scroll Bars:".. this is so that the FORM page will be wrapped properly without the scroll bars.
d.) set the "Auto Height:" to yes
e.) set " Published:" to "yes"
f.) click "Save" icon on top.

12. Proceed to your frontend, i.e.: www.yourdomain.com, you will now see a new menu item in the "mainmenu" labeled as "Form Test". click on it, you should see now your FORM PAGE wrapped in that page.

13. (assuming you got the configuration correct on the: a.) test.html and b.) HiQFMConfg.conf) test the form page by filling in the fields! if you get errors or the FORM PAGE didnt work as what you expected it to happen.. then there MUST be wrong in your configuration of test.html and/or HiQFMConfg.conf.

NOW, i'll leave the tinkering to you.

V. Further Notice

*For further information and configuration documentation you can visit the "HiQFM" documentation HERE

**Further inquiries you can visit their(HiQFM) forums HERE. or discuss the concerns/inquiries directly on THIS THREAD. I MAY(or may not) suggest other solutions to the problems/inquiries you may encounter.

***I currently dont have a "testing" site for you to have a preview on how the result of this walkthru would look and function. the FORMS in kanocorp.com are live and NOT a testing FORM PAGES. Please dont use the FORMS in the u.r.l given above for TESTING.

****Feel Free to discuss this short walkthru in THIS THREAD.. to reiterate(as mentioned); "I may or may not" have a solution to your concern.


~guilliam roque~
sunny city, cebu!
- Philippines -


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[witchesmagick]

Hey, got the form working but how do I get the form to move to one side (left) and have no scroll bar???


Thanx,
J

[guilliam]

Originally Posted by witchesmagick

Thanx. That form works!!! One prob tho here is the link to my form http://www.witchesmagick.com/index.p...pper&Itemid=57 but how do I get it to all stay on one side (left) without a scroll bar???


Thanx,
J

from: http://forum.mamboserver.com/showthread.php?p=231525

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okay.. @witchesmagick.. you actually have TWO questions to be addressed.. pls check for the reply below:

1. "how do I get it to all stay on one side (left)" --> in your wyswyg editor.. you should layout your HTML form file VIA tables then cells. so that you have total control on the alignment of the contents and the FORM FIELDS. please see an example of screenshot of one of my forms(using tables and cells,.. im using dreamweaver in layout view on that screenshot):

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2. without a scroll bar? --> to get rid of the scroll bar on the widthwise or the sides,..

FIRST, make sure in your WRAPPER configuration in the Mambo back end for that MENU is set to: "Scroll Bars: NO" (tick NO) please see screenshot below for reference:

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SECOND, on your HTML page set the TABLE where the form fields and the content, to a size that does NOT exceed your CONTENT area. in the site you gave, limit it to 400 px.

you can do this by putting your content and form fields in a TABLE, then select that table, then SET a specific width size in PIXELS(px) NOT in percentage. To which as i have said is: 400 Pixels. please see image below for your reference:

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let US hear your progress.. post back on this thread the outcome.

~guilliam~

[hark]

Just for the hey of it. I know from nothing about Mambo, very little SQL, a bit of PHP but HiQFormMail is my 'little baby'. Anyone using it and running into script or config problems I'll try my best to assist. Just drop over to the support forum. I check several times a day unless down with health issues or on the road.

Richard

[guilliam]

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@hark!!!!! aka richard Harkrider! welcome to Mambo! what took you so long to notice its existence(mambo)?

surely mambo will need a hand like your php skills!

ANNOUNCEMENT: this thread will surely be addressed properly if any config problem or any inquiries will be raised. "the HiQFM man is here!"

again,.. welcome to mambo richard!

~guilliam~

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[eyezberg]

Great tutorial!
Thanks in the name of everybody, I hope Ken picks this up for one of his many lists and I surely will use this for a site or two.

[hazman]

Originally Posted by eyezberg

Great tutorial!
Thanks in the name of everybody, I hope Ken picks this up for one of his many lists and I surely will use this for a site or two.

I totally agree with you eyez, this is a GREAT TUTORIAL!!!

[guilliam]

@eyezberg --> thank you! hope kenmcd does. (",) post on this thread if you run on any problems with the upcoming 2 sites you will be using this.. @hark(richard, the author of HiQFM) will surely pamper all questions, config troubles on HiQFM.. while my experience can give you insights and work-arounds on how to implement HiQFM with Mambo.

Originally Posted by hazman

guilliam,

Thank you for that explanation, you really went all out, really thanx!!!

@hazman--> hello! thanks for the feedback too!.. it actually sprouted out from your post: "Hi, I'm interested in this and would suspect many are too. How about a detailed sample form.".. ehehhehe.. you got me ignited there. (",)

and again,.. its a priveledge to have "Richard Harkrider" to be in this thread and to be a part of the mambo community!

welcome to mambo richard!

guilliam

[guilliam]

.

BTW.. just seen and revisited @witchesmagick's, form page up and running with the width issue resolved. form located HERE
. i sent a test submmission.. let us know if you recieved it properly(with the photo attachment) down your end.

after minutes,.. of follow up reply to this thread.. thats was really fast isnt it?

good work @witchesmagick!

guilliam

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[hazman]

Great thread!!! I haven't seen a most positive thread in a long time!

You might just re-arrange forms in Mambo...

[Woof]

This is awesome. I can barely run my html-kit and have figured out Facile Forms enough to be dangerous but this bears learning. This tutorial is very cool.

Thanks Guilliam!!

I have to say this community in general is great. It has made my learning Mambo so much easier.

[guilliam]

HiQFM is a really good php form handler.. now how i wish(and i assume not only i who is wishing) that Richard Harkrider will have a time to see thru the mysql architecture of mambo so that the HiQFM will not be a sole send to email form handler but will also have a feature of storing the DATA submitted/posted to the database.. this way.. a frontend query of the data submitted by the form can be viewed. AND also be downloaded as csv file, .xls, or any flat file so it will be portable.

[guilliam]

@Woof --> warmly welcome mate! have you tried implementing the walkthru above given?

upon implementation, IF you run into problems or any inquiries about this FORM CUSTOMIZATION.. feel free to post it here. richard, others who have similar experience and I will share our insights(as long as time and resources permits) to your inquiries.

guilliam

[hark]

Hey guilliam,

Was looking at the source of your site. I like that the script location and therefore config info etc. seems to be hidden from casual prying eyes. Way cool.

Just sent a (maybe to) long as I talk to much reply to your email.

What are rules for sig display. I just made one & don't see it.

[guilliam]

Originally Posted by hark

Hey guilliam,

Was looking at the source of your site. I like that the script location and therefore config info etc. seems to be hidden from casual prying eyes. Way cool.

Just sent a (maybe to) long as I talk to much reply to your email.

What are rules for sig display. I just made one & don't see it.

yes indeed.. its ~somewhat~ hidden.. its due to the "wrapper" of mambo(its a core function) which you can virtually wrap ALL external pages within a page... and this is where i have maximized the full potential of your HiQFM in "wrapping" the FORM PAGE within the mambo site. that makes it almost virtually impossible also to email web spiders to be able to extract the email address of recipients in the config.conf file.

second, yes sir.. i got your vivacious reply thru my email. and its really a BIG priveledge to recieve such an email reply from a "code master" like you! i'll happily reply to it soon..

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ADDED INFO in this way of implementing a FORM PAGE:: you will have a worry free feeling that your email address(reciepient/s) WILL NOT be SPAMMED by email web spiders. ehhehheh.

guilliam

[witchesmagick]

WOW!!! What can I say this form works PERFECTLY!!! Took me a few hours to get it right, but at least it works!!!

Guilliam, your form submit came in perfect! Thank you sooooo much for sharing, really a BIG thanx.


Hugs,
J

[guilliam]

@witchesmagick --> way the go!

hope it wasnt a scare when you recieved my test form submission with MY photo attached on it?? ehehhehehhee

thats the better edge of this implementation is that you can virtually attach almost any type of files.. and you can configure the attachement size, type, type limits, size limits,.. etc..

as i have warned you it will take you sometime to get the grasp out of configuring the form handler.. BUT once you get the hang of it.. a thousand FORMS will be a piece of cake to deploy.

guilliam

[hazman]

Told you guilliam, this is gonna be a big hit.

I've tried many forms and non of them really worked for me. The only one I managed to get going was FacileForms and that one takes days to figure out. Their support forum is not all that good either.

Once I had a 7 page form that took me like 2 weeks to make and misteriously it disappeared and just recently a one page and a 3 page form also dispappeared, but this time I had back-ups.

[maxa]

Hi again guilliam,

I understand that you have found a great way to implement forms, but still i don't see that you have a solution to my wishes that I described before. I have 12-15 text articles (content items) that should be editable through mambo as usual. But in the end of each of these items, I want a More Information request form to be displayed - not a link, not in a module position, but in the end of the content item. The mosformincluder mambot does this if I include {mosforminclude form=FormNumber} in the content. But maybe I can include the HiQFM in my content through an iframe? Can I use iframe within mambo content?

/maxa

[guilliam]

hi maxa!

now i understand what youre trying to implement... thank you for the clarification here. okay.. if its not asking too much..

QUESTION 1: are the content editors be having a ADMIN user level or just content managers? (since my workaround suggestion will be a "module" to be inserted at the top)

QUESTION 2: can we ask for the url of your site in which the forms will be displayed?
(you can do a work around on the template depends on what your templaate layout looks like. let us take a look.)

hope you wont get pissed off; of my inquisitiveness. (",)

guilliam