Frequently and Not so Frequently Asked Questions
Installation requirements
Are HTMLform.com forms easy to install?
Are these forms valid for professional use?
Data storage
Managing forms
WordPress plugins
Editable forms
What are the installation requirements of the forms generated by HTMLform.com?
The forms per se (HTML + JavaScript) can be installed on any web server; however, the scripts that make the processing, storage and listing of the data have been developed in PHP, which is the most popular language among hosting services, hence they require a web server with PHP installed.
We hope to have versions of these scripts for other languages such as ASP, Ruby On Rails, Java, etc. soon.
I don’t have much knowledge about computing, I was capable of installing my WordPress and not much more. Are HTMLform.com forms easy to install?
Installing a HTMLform.com form is extremely simple. If you have a web or develop webs for your customers, you probably know everything you need to install it in only five minutes. Your HTML form doesn’t require any programming or configuration in order to work.
In the page http://htmlform.com/how-to-install-your-html-form we provide you with pretty detailed instructions; basically, it’s all about copying a set of files in your web server and little more, with no need of editing configuration files, creating databases tables or connecting them to your scripts.
If your web is based on WordPress we also give you the possibility of installing your form like a plugin, which is even simpler. We hope to have the same possibility for other CMS such as Joomla or Drupal in the near future.
Will the link “Powered by HTMLform.com” be showed on the footer of the forms when I purchase the lifetime version?
If you buy a Plus account the “Powered…” won’t appear in any form.
I want to use HTMLform.com to include forms in the webs I develop for my customers. Are these forms valid for professional use?
These forms are fully functional (even if you have no database):
You can:
- Include any component in your form: text and numerical fields, check boxes, radio buttons, date selectors, file uploading… as well as other special fields: country, state, region, website, email, telephone number, headers, separators, graphics…
- Configure: tooltips, icons, clarifying notes, default values, aligned field groups, antiSPAM control … Your HTML form can notify you and your visitors, via e-mail, every time that a new record is entered.
- Set data validations in a very simple way. You will be able to define more complex validations using regular expressions.
The forms generated in HTMLform.com are perfectly valid for your own webs as well as for professional use as a web developer for others.
1.Private use: If you want to include quality forms in your web, HTMLform.com will be a lot of help. HTMLform.com tries to be as simple to use and install as possible, so some decisions in terms of design have been made: each form is installed like an independent script or plugin (in the case of WordPress), data is stored in an Open Source database specific for each form (Gladius DB) that you don’t have to worry about installing or setting, and each form adds its own data query tool and data export tool.
2.Professional use: HTMLform.com generates HTML5 compliant code that is compatible with any browser. Your forms will be 100% Unicode and adapted to your own language. You may not care for some of the features of HTMLform.com if you are going to include a form in a web development for a customer: it is possible that you prefer to store your data in a MySQL or PostgreSQL database, modify the look of the forms, integrate them all in an only management tool, etc… because we provide you the source code (HTML, JS, CSS, PHP) to modify any of these things.
I have installed a form generated with HTMLform.com. Where is the data provided through the form stored?
HTMLform.com tries to be simple for everyone, even for those who have no knowledge on databases; therefore, each form downloaded adds a small database in the Open Source Gladius DB software.
This small database consists of a series of files located in a fixed folder inside the form installation where data is stored. If you don’t want to, there’s no need for you to know any of this because you will copy these files in your web server, as you’ll do with the other .html, .php, .css or .js files necessary to make your form work.
Each form also adds a simple script where to list the registered data, as well as to export the data to CSV format, a format easy to use with any database software.
It is important to know, however, that if you erase the folder where your form is installed you will also be erasing the database and logs in it. If you are going to do this, don’t forget to export your data to CSV format in order to have it available in the future.
If I send a file, let’s say an mp3, using a form created here, will I receive a link for download it?
I need to create several forms and maybe modify them in the future if my customers wish so. Where is the administration panel for managing my forms located?
HTMLform.com has no administration panel or similar, actually there is no need of signing in to use it.
HTMLform.com bets on simplicity. You create your forms, download them and you are provided with a URL to edit them whenever you need to.
Remember that once you make the installation, the forms and data will be stored in your own server.
When I download a form like a plugin to install in WordPress, I get a different plugin for each form. Is this necessary?
Obviously not, but we thought it was a pretty simple option, much simpler than previously installing a sophisticated plugin where to install the forms and manage them. If you have a WordPress web and need two or three forms, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to install each of them as a specific and independent plugin.
Can I recover my forms in the online tool and modify them once they have been downloaded?
When you click on the “download your form” button, the form is stored in our servers and is available for future edition.
The procedure is the following:
1. When you download a form, it is stored in our database and you are given a URL that lets you edit the form in the future.
2. When you access that URL, the form builder retrieves the form and allows you to modify it.
3. When you download the modified form, the system generates a form with a slightly different ID and sends again an email with the link to download the code. This form must be downloaded and installed as the old. This is important; the old and new forms are completely different forms. The new version must be installed as was done with the first, but has a different ID and will automatically stored in a different folder in your server host. Therefore, you should stop publishing the old version and publish the new one of the form.
Once I edit a form, how do I add the data stored in the old form to the new version of it?
Again, we choose simplicity. HTMLform.com generates complete forms but with no other code than the necessary, in order to make its use as simple as possible.
If you edit a form you will have to install the new form and stop publishing the old form in your web to publish the new one. In regards to the data, export the data from the old form to CSV format and save this file in your computer so you can look it up with your spreadsheet software in the future.
Can I make little changes in my form without having to edit it and reinstall a new form? For example, modify the access to the data password or the email address where to send notifications?
Of course you can.
For instance, the password is stored in the form_config.ini file in MD5 format, something like:
Password = “e1b7fe50e4232d4a9099b2b3bd4ba657″
Choose your new password and convert it to MD5, edit your form_config.ini file replacing the old password with the new one. You can find a lot of MD5 generators online. For example:
http://7thspace.com/webmaster_tools/online_md5_encoder.html
You can modify the recipient email address editing the form_config.ini file. too.
I’ve made some tests with the form. How can I erase the database logs related to a form?
Forms in HTMLform.com add a simple tool to list data and export it to CSV. You can find a “delete” button at the left of each form entry.
If you wish to empty the database content, you only have to copy again the “db” folder content you’ll find in the .zip file from where you downloaded the form.
Other questions:
How can I add the forms to Google sites or Blogger?
Unfortunately, this is not possible.
HTMLform.com generates complete forms, both the HTML code and the PHP code for the server to process the results. Google sites won’t let you install files on its servers for data processing.
Will this only work with a PHP server? If so, do you have, or will you have, an ASP version?
At the moment the generated code is limited to websites on servers with PHP installed.
Your home page mentions a data tool whereby I get a web page to see all the data entered. How do I create this?
No need to create this page. When you install the form, a script is created (list_data.php) in the same folder as the form (htmlform.html). This script generates a small web page. By accessing this page, you can view the records entered whenever you want. If you want to export them to Excel or to OpenOffice, you only have to click on the appropriate link and you will get a file in CSV format.
As well, I’d like to know if, without the CAPTCHA, is there any spam blocking built into the form? I’m not particularly fond of them and usually leave it to validation and javascript to do the blocking. Of course I haven’t been able to implement these methods into your form so I’d like to know if my form will be vulnerable to attacks.
Your form is protected from the best-known security attacks, but no web form can prevent entry of unwanted data (such as advertising). reCaptcha is a good method to prevent it, but spammers are always looking for ways to avoid them. That is why we have chosen a serious provider like Google (the owner of reCaptcha)
