New Media Lab

Cascade has a form generator that allows you to create a basic web form.  The form backend or processor takes the form data and appends it to a data file that lives in your wesfiles area.

Preparing your WesFiles Area

• create a folder within your wesfiles area for the form data
  • the folder name must end with webform
  • example: information webform

Creating a New Web Page with the Form Template

• Log into Cascade
• Highlight the folder in which you want the form to live
• Go to  New/Second Level Page – Form in the menu bar
  
• Set up the information about the form
  • System Name: the file name used in the url (do not enter the .html).
  • Parent Folder: be sure the correct folder is listed if not click and change.
    
  • Display Name: the name that will appear in your navigation, including the side menu.
    

   

  • Title: the title that will appear at the top of your browser window.
    • System Name: the file name used in the url (do not enter the .html).
    • Parent Folder: be sure the correct folder is listed if not click and change.
    • Publish: if you are testing you can uncheck the publish box.
    • Index: if you are testing and don’t want this included in the navigation uncheck this.

  
  Click on the System tab at the top to change the system information about the form

Click on the Metadata tab at the top to change the form’s metadata.

• Setting up the Form Results
  • Click on the Content tab at the top.
  • The first text box, called ‘Information’ on the form creation page, will display data above the form questions (see: “Adding a Form Item” for an example). In this section you may wish to explain what data the form will be collecting, and for what purpose.
  • Below that text box you will see the following fields:
  • These refer to how the entered data from form submissions will be saved. Forms created in Cascade will be saved as a .txt spreadsheet in Wesfiles.
    • ‘Username’ should be your username, as the submission results will be saved to a document in your Wesfiles account.
    • ‘Wesfiles Filename’ is what you want the submission results document to be called. Do not provide a file type extension.
    • ‘Wesfiles Directory’ is where you want the submission results document to be saved. This folder must end in ” webform” and must already have been created.
    • ‘Confirmation page’ is the page that users will be directed to once they have submitted the form. On this page you may wish to thank them for submitting, and let them know if/when the results of the data will be available.

     

   

   

Adding Form Items

Below is an example of all available form items as well as information that appears above (‘Information’) and below (‘Footer’) a form.

• To add a form item/question, use the ‘Form Item’ box. Additional form items can be added by pressing the small  below the label.
• There are 7 visible form item types, as shown above.

1. Header: The header appears at the top of the form.

• To create a header for your form, first select ‘header’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Fill out the ‘Label‘ field located under the type dropdown. This is what will appear above your form on the live site.
• Enter the name of your header in the ‘Name‘ field. This name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

2. Note: A note appears as plaintext within your form.

• To create a note for your form, first select ‘note’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Fill out the ‘Label‘ field. This label will not appear on the live site.
• Enter the name for your note in the ‘Name‘ field. The name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• Enter the text you would like to appear as the note in the text box labeled ‘Note’. This information will appear on the live site.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

3. Text: Creates a text field.

Example Text Field:

• To create a text field for your form, first select ‘text’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Enter a label for the text field under the ‘Label‘ field, which will appear before the text field on the live site.
• Enter the name for the text field in the ‘Name‘ field. The name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• Enter a size for your text field in the ‘Size‘ field. The size refers to the length of the text field. For a longer text field, enter a higher number, and for a shorter text field, enter a lower number.
• Enter a ‘Max Length‘ for the user inputted information. The user will only be allowed to type in as many characters as the Max Length allows. (ex. a Max Length of 12 means the user can only type 12 characters.) Leave this field blank to allow the user to enter an unlimited amount of characters.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

4. Text Area: Creates a text box.

Example Text Area:

• To create a text field for your form, first select ‘textarea’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Enter a label for the text area under the ‘Label‘ field, which will appear before the text box on the live site.
• Enter the name for the text area in the ‘Name‘ field. The name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• Enter a ‘Max Length‘ for the user inputted information. The user will only be allowed to type in as many characters as the Max Length allows. (ex. a Max Length of 100 means the user can only type 100 characters.) Leave this field blank to allow the user to enter an unlimited amount of characters.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

5. Dropdown: Creates a dropdown of options for the user to select from.

Example Dropdown:

• To create a dropdown for your form, first select ‘dropdown’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Enter a label for the dropdown under the ‘Label‘ field, which will appear before the dropdown on the live site.
• Enter the name for the dropdown in the ‘Name‘ field. The name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• Enter a value for the dropdown in the ‘Value‘ field. This will appear as an option under the dropdown. To add additional options, click on the small  symbol next to ‘Value’.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

6. Radio: Creates a row of options for the user to select from.

Example Radio:

• To create a radio for your form, first select ‘radio’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Enter a label for the radio under the ‘Label‘ field, which will appear before the radio on the live site.
• Enter the name for the radio in the ‘Name‘ field. The name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• Enter a ‘Default Value‘ which will be the default selection of the radio until the user selects another option. You musthave a default value. (The default value for the example above is Monday.)
• Enter additional options for the radio in the ‘Value‘ field. To add additional options, click on the small  symbol next to ‘Value’.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

7. File Upload: Creates an upload box for the user to upload a file.

Example File Upload:

• To create a file upload for your form, first select ‘fileupload’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Enter a label for the file upload under the ‘Label‘ field, which will appear before the file upload on the live site.
• Enter the name for the file upload in the ‘Name‘ field. The name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

8. Hidden: Used to provide information that will not be visible to users.

• To create a hidden field for your form, first select ‘hidden’ under the ‘Type’ dropdown.
• Enter a label for the hidden field under the ‘Label‘ field.
• Enter the name for the file upload in the ‘Name‘ field. The name refers to how that data will be categorized in the resulting Wesfiles data document. You should avoid using spaces or special characters.
• Under the ‘Note‘ field, enter any information that you would not want to be visible to users.
• You do not need to fill out any other fields.

Finalizing Your Form:

• You can reorder your form items by clicking the and  icons visible below the item label. To remove an item, click the  icon.
• After adding all your form items, you can choose whether or not to provide a ‘Reset’ button on your form.
• You may also enter text in the ‘Footer’ box that will appear after your form (see: “Adding a Form Item” for an example). You may wish to use this space to thank users for completing the form, but bear in mind that you also need to have a confirmation page in which you could do the same.
• Once done, click Submit to finalize your form.

Accessing your Form Results

• To access your form results, first log into your wesfiles account by going to “www.wesfiles.wesleyan.edu” and entering your username and password.
  
• Locate the ‘Wesfiles Directory’ you had specified when setting up the form.
• There, you will find a text document under the ‘Wesfiles Filename you had specified.
• Note: If you change any of the form items after a form results file has already been created, you MUST DELETE THE ORIGINAL RESULTS FILE so that Cascade can re-make it with the new form items.