Interactive Form Guidelines

Interactive forms are an integral component of the UMB website. We create forms for several uses such as event registrations, question and feedback submissions, and contact forms. We have provided a list of form guidelines to help streamline the planning of your interactive forms. Also included are brief descriptions of the most commonly used form fields featured in our powerful online form builder, Wufoo©.

Form Planning Guidelines

Refer to the following guidelines, before making a request to have your form built. Once you have a finalized plan, fill out a work request.

  1. First, determine your form's function (e.g., event registration, question and feedback form, contact form). Then, refer to the form field definitions in the section below, "Anatomy of a Wufoo Form," to choose the most appropriate fields to include in your form. Also, decide which fields will be required.
  2. Next, give us the date and time you would like your form to start accepting submissions and the date and time you would like the form to close. Wufoo has the ability to schedule form activity by hour, minute (15 minute intervals), and by specifying either a.m. or p.m.
  3. If possible, provide us with a maximum number of submissions. For example, if your form is an event registration, your chosen event venue may have a maximum capacity. Consider this when determining your form's maximum number of submissions.
  4. Craft language for your email confirmation. An email confirmation is sent to each person who fills out your online form. Please note: Only one email confirmation can be sent to the email address users input in the form.
  5. Next, provide us with a notification email address. Whenever a user submits a form, a notification is sent to your form's administrator.
  6. Lastly, tell us where the form should be embedded. If the form is an event registration, most likely there will be an event post in the Elm Calendar. It is our policy to embed event registration forms directly into the Elm Calendar post. Otherwise, if a form needs to be embedded on a web page, provide us with the URL.

Anatomy of a Wufoo Form

Sample Wufoo Form

Section Break ▾

While the Section Break field does not accept data, it does allow you to place a large amount of text on your form. This field is best thought of as a paragraph — if you wish to write instructions, detailed questions, or have visual breaks on your form, then select the Section Break field.

Name ▾

Use this field when you want to collect the names of users who fill out your form. The Name field places 2 Single Line Text fields next to each other, with the labels “First” and “Last.” No special validation is performed.

Phone Number ▾

The Phone Number field is available in both American and International formats. The American version validates based on the data being numerical and valid phone number lengths. The International version validates based on the data being numerical.

Email ▾

Collect user emails with the Email field. Only valid emails can be entered, which means both an "@" and "." character are found, as well as two or more characters for the email domain. Also, when using Wufoo reporting or exporting, this data will automatically be formatted as a hyperlink.

Website ▾

Collect URL’s or website addresses with this field. For example, http://www.wufoo.com. Only a valid URL may be entered into this field. Also, when using Wufoo reporting or exporting, this data will automatically be formatted as a hyperlink.

Address ▾

The Address field is created in a universal style, which allows for two street addresses, a city, state/province/region, postal code, and country. Most fields are text fields; the country field is a Dropdown that can be predefined.

Date ▾

Available in both American and European versions, the Date field accepts valid dates. Additionally, a pop-up calendar will appear next to the Date field, which allows users to easily select a dates.

Time ▾

This field formats hours, minutes, and seconds on one line. In addition to custom formatting, the Time field also requires that all input is an actual time. For example, if a user were to input “36:10:54 a.m.,”  they would receive an error notifying them of an invalid time.

Checkboxes ▾

The Checkboxes field presents a list of options to the user, who can select any, all, or none of the options. Best used when there are multiple “correct” answers.

Multiple Choice ▾

This field asks users to give their UMB Status. Their choices are "Faculty," "Staff," or "Student"; they can choose only one.

Dropdown ▾

A Dropdown allows users to select one option from a list. While this works identically to the Multiple Choice field, the difference is that this field saves space on your form because the list is combined into one box. Best used when there are an abundance of options.

File Upload ▾

The File Upload field allows users to attach a file to their form submission. Wufoo will allow most files to be uploaded, such as image files (.jpg, .png, .gif), Microsoft Office files (.doc, .docx, .xls, .ppt), and Adobe PDF files. The following file types are not allowed because they may be malicious: .html, .exe, .dll, .php, .php3, or .phps.

Single Line Text ▾

This one line input field accepts all types of text. Entries into this field are limited to 255 characters.

Paragraph Text ▾

Similar to the Single Line Text field, the Paragraph Text field also accepts all types of text. Additionally, this field spans across multiple lines and accepts more text than you will probably ever need.

ReCaptcha ▾

A ReCaptcha field is a way to make sure your form is being filled out by a human. It works by asking the user to type in the word or number combinations shown in an image. This helps your form's security by protecting it against Spam. It is our policy to include the ReCaptcha field on all forms.