I often need to create similar, but very long HTML forms for a client. The forms contain some inter-dependent fields and lot of validations. Some images also need to be uploaded.
Then the client needs to check the database in the CPanel and export it from there.
I want to create something with easy interface which can create complicated forms. Also, client is asking for easy-to-operate back end. The CMS option looks like an overkill. I want to keep the site as lightweight as possible because of performance requirement.
Please suggest me the best path I should take. Should I try to develop everything from scratch? Should I use a CMS? Is there any particular CMS more suitable for the task?
We use ChronoForms along with Joomla 3.1 to create such forms. It has two modes, an easier one that limits the functionality but creation of forms is much easier. The other one offers the full capabilities of the engine but requires manual steps to do even simple things.
Having said that, ChronoForms is the most powerful web based forms designer I have come across. It seems they also support Wordpress now.
They have a drag-drop mechanism to design the forms. Validations are easy to do via check boxes for the standard ones. You can save the results into database tables, send emails, redirect users to specific pages, add captchas.
The backend allows you to view the records and create new tables based on the fields of the form. You can also export the result as CSV.
Related
I'm starting with Laravel and I've some doubts about the external components.
I've already used the laravel collective and the adamwathan/bootforms and the both show me advantage and disadvantage. I've searched for information or discussion about this and a I didn't find anything
For example, I can build forms extremely fast with these components, but I got limited sometimes.
According with the about session of the laravel Collective they say:
The Laravel Collective is a community organization designed to maintain components that have been removed from the Laravel Framework core
So, if the form is removed from the core, should I continue using this component?
And in the readme from the Bootform, they say
Probably not perfect for your super custom branded ready-for-release apps, but a huge time saver when you are still in the prototyping stage!
What do you think about using external components? Do you think it's a good ideia to use or do you prefer the original core from the Laravel?
After 3 weeks working with Laravel. I've learned somethings:
If you want to build easy forms without html, I recommend you to use the AdamWathan bootform or Laravel collective. The only problem is: These tools doesn't has a good option with you want a very customizable field.
Bootform
Pros
Bootform has more components and functions
Reduced Boilerplate
Automatic Validation State
Some custom forms, like the horizontal forms
Cons
Some difficulties with documentation
Laravel Collective
Pros
All necessary things to build a laravel form, like the CSRF Protection and hidden fields.
What I do
Actually, I'm working with Collective and html. I use a mix of the both, when I need a simple field or specific fields (csrf protection, for example) I use collective and if I need a more customizable field, like a button with an icon or a special element in bootstrap, I use just HTML.
Recently I've had the same dilemma, so I decided to examine Laravel Collective Html package.
I wanted to share my thoughts, therefore I created the following post: Is it beneficial to add Laravel Collective Html into your Laravel Project
Hope you will find it useful.
It comes down to personal preference, Laravel Collectives gives you ease of pre selecting select inputs, csrf out of the box, etc... I found myself using it less and less and then eventually just stopped pulling it in altogether.
I'm looking for a CMS for our extranet. We need users to be able to authenticate themselves and we'll want to design forms that submit data to a database. Just wondering what CMS systems people can suggest.
I think the majority of CMS systems can accomplish creation of simple HTML forms for data capture purposes. I guess it really depends on what you want to do with the forms - how complex are they? What do you need to do with the data afterwards?
I have experience with Ektron and can tell you that everything you want to do is possible with Ektron. You can setup Ektron to authenticate against Active Directory to enable Single Sign On for your users. Ektron users can create HTML forms for other users to use to submit data too.
It also depends on your budget - there are several open source CMS packages that you may also want to consider.
I'm developing a site in Symfony, and I'm not sure what the best way is to handle this scenario.
I'm creating a party bookings system. Anyone can go to my frontend app and submit a new booking. Once they're finished, they'll just get a confirmation screen, they can't edit it. Easy.
Only certain users will be able to get to the admin app (it might be secured simply by being on an intranet, but that's not important, just assume it will be only accessible by admin users). They'll be able to view the list of submitted bookings. Easy.
My problem is around code re-use when allowing admin users to edit existing bookings. When you do generate-module in Symfony, the generated module (which as a newbie I'm assuming is a good example of structuring things) creates the form as a partial. I've had to customize this form a lot for my usage (lots of Javascript, etc), so of course I want to re-use this code, to be able to load an existing booking into this form. But there doesn't seem to be a way to share this partial between the apps (I've seen people mention making a plugin...but this seems complicated for this use).
I considered using an IFrame to load the form from the frontend and just passing an "id" parameter to load it in edit mode, but this would mean that the edit mode is not secure - anyone could go to the form on the frontend and pass this parameter to edit a booking.
I also considered putting all of the form display code (HTML, Javascript, etc) in a method on the form object, but this doesn't seem very MVC - all of the display code is then in the form. But this is only because I'm thinking of the form in the same way as a model - is that right?
I feel like this should be a common situation. You can share models and forms between apps, why can't you share this common form display code too?
Thanks!
You should reconsider having 2 applications in the first place. Not only you run into the code reuse problem, but also i18n, testings and other issues. I find it much easier to have 1 application with different bunch of modules for frontend and backend users. You can configure security per module. You can have one sign in form for all users and redirect them to appropriate module based on their credentials.
You can reuse partials between modules inside the same application, but you seem to be talking about two different applications (frontend and backend) so as far as i know the only way is to copy & paste the partial from one application to the other...
We have a number of customers that we have to send monthly invoices too. Right now, I'm managing a codebase that does SQL queries against our customer database and billing database and places that data into emails - and sends it.
I grow weary of maintaining this every time we want to include a new promotion or change our customer service phone numbers. So, I'm looking for a replacement to move more of this into the hands of those requesting the changes.
In my ideal world, I need :
A WYSIWYG (man, does anyone even say that anymore?) email editor that generates templates based upon the output from a Database Query.
The ability to drag and drop various fields from the database query into the email template.
Display of sample email results with the database query.
Web application, preferably not requiring IIS.
Involve as little code as possible for the end-user, but allow basic functionality (i.e. arrays/for loops)
Either comes with it's own email delivery engine, or writes output in a way that I can easily write a Python script to deliver the email.
Support for generic Database Connectors. (I need MSSQL and MySQL)
F/OSS
So ... can anyone suggest a project like this, or some tools that'd be useful for rolling my own?
(My current alternative idea is using something like ERB or Tenjin, having them write the code, but not having live-preview for the editor would suck...)
I think your looking for a reporting tool which is also capable of sending email. Sending a generared report in html or pdf shouldn't be to hard to do as well.
I've used JasperReports in the past for which I think it should fit your needs.
Another good solution is the pentaho reporting tool
You could easily write something on your own.. give them a basic edit control and allow them to use psuedo variables like {customername} {anothercustomerattribute} within the mail body.
On submit either send directly or save as template.
When the template is sent away the script automatically parses stuff like {customername} into the real customers name from the database.
Your own very very simple custom scriptlanguage :)
Everything else like loops and so on would be maintained on serverside. And if you want particular groups of customers to receive the letter, allow the enduser to select from selectboxes or whatever and do the rest on the serverside with pre-defined rules.
I'm considering Wordpress as my CMS platform for a client site I'm doing at the moment.
However, I need to create a couple of custom 'modules'. One of these modules is a form that people will be able to complete and have a quote, and once submitted, in a special place in the Wordpress panel (like a menu or something), there will be a listing of all the submitted quotes (just fetching it from a table in my database).
Another one is to manage a cafeteria menu, so the client can add a different meal to each day of the week.
I know perfectly how to do this kind of things using some kind of MVC framework and doing it 'by-hand', but I'm just wondering if this would be possible to do with WP and if yes, what kind of tools I'll have to use.
Thanks
Quite simply, yes, WordPress would be a more-than-capable asset to your criteria. But it's whether the learning curve in getting to know WP outweighs using a framework you're clearly already familiar with?
Personally, it sounds you like you're pretty solid with PHP, and considering the fact that, in my opinion, what you're planning on doing is relatively easy, I'd say WordPress is an excellent solution.
I'd recommend reading about WordPress 3.0's new custom post type API, and skimming the basics of hooks and filters in the Plugin API.
Submitted quotes would merely be a custom post type. You'd be better off writing the front-end code (like handling the form, UI etc.) yourself, either within a theme or plugin, then using wp_insert_post and let WordPress handle all the database administration. In fact, WP will go one step further and set up the entire admin for viewing, editing and deleting quotes.
Post meta (also known as custom fields) is also there for you if you need to store additional information about a quote that doesn't quite fit the post's table structure.
For the menu, this is even easier. I'd say just create a post category called 'Menu', and the client can publish 'dishes' to it as you would with a blog or any similar rolling format.
I've only licked the surface here. Get stuck in with the above, then check out some other goodies like meta boxes and custom taxonomies!
If you want to try a plugin instead of writing something yourself, Flutter might work. It's a little unpolished sometimes but it makes this sort of thing an absolute breeze.