Online forms (HTML forms) allow users to fill out information on a website and can be used to capture a variety of data/information. In GovCMS, forms can be created in the following ways:

• Creation of custom forms (this requires development expertise and would be done by a development partner or in-house development team).

• Creation of a new Webform using the "Webform Module". This is the recommended option for content authors and the focus of this topic.

Note - Forms can also be created by creating a new Content type. However, this method is not recommended as it can lead to mixing public form submissions with site content. The GovCMS Contact Module can also be used to create a form, however functionality is limited using this method.

Webform module/Content type

Webforms can be used to:

• Setup a complex Contact us form.

• Add a survey to your website.

• Include a feedback form on your site.

• Add an order form to your site.

Webforms can be configured to send emails to selected recipients when the form is submitted by a site visitor. Completed form submissions can also downloaded/exported in bulk from the site.

The Webform template is accessible from the content management area of GovCMS. To create a new Webform, click on Structure in the Admin menu, then hover over Webforms and click on Forms.

On this page you will see a list of all previously created Webforms. Click on the + Add webform button at the top left to create a new Webform. See exercises 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 for the steps required to build a Webform and use it on a site page.

Note: In GovCMS, each Webform is an independent entity; to attach metadata to a Webform, it must be referenced from a Webform content type. This approach allows for broader use-cases of webforms as independent entities and means they can be reused in multiple places.

Webform results

You can view the webform results from the Webform page (if your account has the correct permissions) by clicking on the Results tab. Results can be viewed and downloaded in many different formats.

1. Open an existing Webform

2. Click on the Results tab

In this exercise you will create a simple website feedback form. Before we can create a Webform page and attach a webform entity to it, the entity must exist. Let’s create our first webform entity.

1. Click on Structure on the Admin menu then hover over Webforms and click on Forms.
2. Click on the +Add webform button at the top left of the page.

3. Add a Title, for example "Simple Feedback Form".

4. Add some text to the Administrative description field (optional).

5. Set the Status of the Webform to be as 'Open' using the radio buttons.

6. Click the Save. button.
7. You’ll be redirected to the webform building interface (the Build tab is active), so you can add elements (fields) to your webform, configure various conditions and much more.
8. Click the Add element button, find the Text field element in the Basic elements section, then click on the Add Element button to add a Text field element for the Feedback field.
9. Add text to the the Title field as shown in the screenshot below.
10. Note the other tabs that allow you to configure the field - Conditions, Advanced and Access. Explore those tabs but do not modify anything yet.

11. Click the Save button.

12. Click on the Save elements button at the bottom left of the page.
13. Click the View tab to review your webform. It should look similar to the below screenshot.

14. Try adding some more form fields for practice.

Note If you moved away from your webform at any point during the exercise, use the Admin menu to return to the form via Structure → Webforms → [select the webform from the list].