FORMSNAP Manual – Yabdab Inc. Support

FormSnap stack

FormSnap Base

This Stack Element must be on all pages that contain a FormSnap form. This stack sets the forms basic parameters including the receipt email template and text for the form's error messages. Note that this stack contains settings in both the body are of the stack as well as the Stacks HUD. ALL other form stacks must be placed INSIDE the FormSnap Base stack.

Stack Content Settings (Extended Controls):

Email Template
This field contains the template for the email that will be sent to the FORM RECIPIENT upon successful submission. Customize the text in the template field to meet your needs. This is a styled text field. You can add images to your template and style text with RapidWeaver's styling tools. Simply drag in appropriately sized 72dpi images - they'll be sent as part of your receipt. You can also include field values from the form in the template. We strongly recommend keeping your form item names VERY SIMPLE for this reason. Trust us, simple item names make for MUCH easier template design. Note that item names are only used INTERNALLY on the form. Your visitors will never see them. Get wild with your field labels (the text on the form adjacent to the entry field) but KEEP ITEM NAMES SIMPLE. If you have a field with an item named: email then you'd reference it your template as #email#. If you look at the content area of any form item stack, the item name is displayed at the bottom. Items with spaces will generally have the space replaced with an underscore (ie, your name becomes #your_name# ).Do not use non alphanumeric characters as part of your item name. Keep it simple. A-Z and 0-9. You can also use the following placeholders to collect ip, browser and date info from the sender:
#ip#
#browser#
#page#
#date#
Receipt Template
The receipt template works just like the email template field. However, this template will be used to send a form submission receipt to the form sender. If you DO want to send receipts, make sure you have the Send Receipt checkbox enabled in the FormSnap Base HUD (under Optional Settings).
PHP Custom Code ( Advanced )
This field is self-explanatory to users with php skills required to customize the FormSnap processing script. We can not supply or support custom php code. If you're not sure what this field is for...... LEAVE IT BLANK.

Controls ( HUD Settings )

Required Settings

Send To
Comma separated list of email addresses to send to.
From Name
The name that will be displayed as the FROM name on the form based email. This is a STATIC VALUE. Field Names not allowed.
From Email
The email address that will be displayed as the FROM address on the form based email. This is a STATIC VALUE. Field Names not allowed.
ReplyTo Item
The item name that will receive the value for the reply-to email address. NOTE: This is JUST the ITEM NAME - NO # symbols required here. JUST the item name of the field that solicits your viewers email address. You should use the name of a field that is a text input set to Type: Email. This will insure that the form validates that the sender is providing a properly formatted email address.
Subject Item
The item name that will be the email's subject. NOTE: This is JUST the ITEM NAME - NO # symbols required here. If you want to use a static subject value, add a text input of type HIDDEN and give it a default value of your desired subject.

SMTP Settings

Use SMTP
Enable this checkbox to send via an actual SMTP account. If you leave this option disabled, FormSnap will try and send the message via the web server's implementation of PHP mail(). However.....if your host doesn't have PHP mail() configured correctly or if there is a DNS issue (internal firewall, reverse DNS issue, etc) at your host, it's altogether possible that your form can APPEAR to work, but you'll never receive the message. In addition, if you use SMTP we're able to get much more information on errors if your form is not working as expected. If you have SMTP credentials for an email account you'd like to send mail through, please use SMTP.
RECOMMENDED! It is recommended that you use SMTP as it gives back better debugging info if something was to go wrong.
Host Name
Your SMTP server's host name [Ex: mail.yourdomain.com]
Host Port
The port your SMTP server accepts connections on. This will probably vary depending on whether or not you are using a secure protocol (see below)
Send Secure
If your host supports secure mail connections enable this checkbox and provide prefix information in the next field
Secure Prefix
If your host supports secure mail connections, select the proper protocol (SSL or TLS).
Use Authentication
If using SMTP, Authentication must generally be enabled, check this box to enable and provide username/password below.
Username
Email account username authorized to send mail on the host name provided above
Password
Password for this email account.

Optional Settings

CC
Comma separated list of email addresses to send carbon copy (cc) to.
BCC
Comma separated list of email addresses to send blind carbon copy (bcc) to.
Email Encoding
If you have a specific encoding requirement or are connecting to an BITMIME SMTP server, you may need to update your encoding selection. The default will work for most users. If your mail host or an application you'll be working with to manage mail specifies alternate encoding, you can select your desired method here.
Email Charset
If your language utilizes characters not supported by uft-8, which is the default setting, choose a compatible character set from the pulldown menu.
Send Receipt
If you want to send a receipt to the form sender, enable this checkbox. Make sure you've setup a receipt template in the content area of the FormSnap base stack and have entered a valid item name in the Reply To Item setting in the FormSnap Base HUD.
Receipt Attachment
Enabling this checkbox will send a copy of any files attached via File Upload stack to the receipt. This way the sender will receive an email back that includes copies of their original file attachments.
Receipt Prefix This will be added to the beginning of the email's subject line. This setting is generally only modified if changing the form to a non-English language.

Receipt Prefix

This will be added to the beginning of the email's subject line. This setting is generally only modified if changing the form to a non-English language.

Custom POST URL

If you would like to POST Form Data to your own URL for processing (and disregard the FormSnap 2 built in POST system), place the URL here. Using this means that you've written/scripted your own solution on your own server to handle data posted by FormSnap. We're happy to offer advanced users the option to post to their own solution, however, Yabdab support staff can not train or support users in writing their own scripts. This is an ADVANCED featur

Max File Size
The max allowable size of each SEPARATE attachment here. (Note, if you have 3 file attachment fields and specify 10MB as your Max Attachment Size, that means each file may be up to 10MB - - or a total of 30MB for your form. Check with your host or ISP to make sure you don't exceed their maximum attachment size). Keep it reasonable, some hosts will have limitations on file size or # of files that may be attached to script generated mail. If you are receiving form submissions without their attachments, check with your host to see if you can customize the max_post_size in your php.ini

Debug Mode
Enable this checkbox and then preview your form in RapidWeaver to generate a DEBUG report. Our support staff may ask you for your debug info if you're having problems with your form.

reCaptcha Settings

Use reCaptcha
If you've signed up for your own Google reCaptcha API keys, you can utilize them here. They are not required, if you do not provide key values here, our keys will be used by default.
Public Key
If you need to use your own key, see: http://code.google.com/apis/recaptcha/docs/php.ht...
Private Key
If you need to use your own key, see: http://code.google.com/apis/recaptcha/docs/php.ht...
reCaptcha Error
Text to be displayed if user fails to provide correct reCaptha answer

Redirect Settings

After form submission, FormSnap will display an on-page message letting the user know if the form has been successfully sent or not. If you would rather redirect to a static success or fail page, enable redirects and choose a page.

MySQL Settings

Save to MySQL
Enable this checkbox if you want to save user submitted data to a MySQL database. Note that FormSnap does NOT create your database, table or fields. You must be familiar with MySQL and tools such as phpMyAdmin which allow you to create and manage your hosted databases. You will need to use phpMyAdmin to create your database, at least one table and fields for each form item that needs to be saved. You will map individual form items to MySQL fields on each Stack element's info pane. The settings in the base element provide general information about your database. If you do not have or can not locate this information you will need to obtain it from your host.
IMPORTANT WARNING! This is an advanced featire and requires the user to know what they are doing with MySQL. Yabdab will not offer support for setting up or configuring your MySQL setup. You are expected to know this information if using this feature. Do not email us asking for help setting up MySQL databases or tables or columns or rows.
Host
Your host's MySQL database host name. This is almost always 'localhost' , but could be different for some web hosts ( i.e. db.yourhost.com ).
Database
Your MySQL database name ( case sensitive ).
Table
The table you've created within your MySQL database to store data.
Username
Username used to login to your MySQL database host.
Password
Password used to login to your MySQL database host.
Do Not Send Email
Enable this to prevent form from emailing the data submitted to it. Great forms that collect data in MySQL, but don't want email sent.

String Settings

Error Title
Heading to be displayed above any error messages
Default Error
Text to be presented when the form can not be processed. If FormSnap can determine a specific reason (such as invalid file time or validation failure) then those messages (defined below) will be used instead. This is a "general" error message.
Success Title
Heading to be displayed above the success message
Success Message
This text will be displayed when a form is successfully submitted and all emails have been generated and sent. If your form is submitting successfully but you don't appear to be receiving any emails, try sending to a local email address - - one that is hosted by the same provider hosting the form page. This will help eliminate spam filtering or DNS issues.
File Size Error
If you have a File Upload stack on your form, FormSnap will limit files to the size you specify in the HUD for FormSnap Base ->Security Settings. By default this is 10K. The text you enter here will be displayed if a user tries to submit a form with a size larger than your file limit.
File Type Error
If you have a File Upload stack on your form, FormSnap will limit files to the size you specify in the HUD for FormSnap Base ->Security Settings -> Allowed File Type. Users may ONLY submit files of the type you specify. The text you enter here will be displayed if a user tries to submit a form with a non-allowed file type.
Missing Field
The text entered here will be displayed when you have a field(s) marked as required and no value has been supplied by the sender.
Invalid Email
Email address formatting validation is built into FormSnap. On an input field selected as the REPLY TO item in the HUD of this stack, FormSnap will verify that the input is formatted as an email address (including @ and acceptable TLD extension).
OK Button
Test for the dismissal button displayed when a form success/error message is generated.
Redirecting
If you redirect to success/fail pages, the text provided here will be displayed temporarily while the form processes and the redirect is initiated.

Style Settings

Label Size
The default size in pixels for all field labels on the form. Larger value = bigger text labels.
Labels Color
Sets the default color for all standard (non-required) fields.
Required Label (color)
Sets the default text color for all required field labels.
z-index
A higher value z-index will force FormSnap elements to the "top" of a page. Some themes have unnecessarily high z-index values for elements such as navigation or headers. If you run into issues with elements of your theme overlapping form elements, increase the FormSnap z-index value to push FormSnap above those things so your visitor can see/complete the form.
Label On Top
Enabling this checkbox will place your form labels ABOVE their field instead of to the left. This is generally recommended if you want to keep uniform left margin field alignment.
Bold Label
Enabling this checkbox will apply bold styling to your labels.
Do Not Style
Removes all FormSnap styling and allows form to assume theme styling.

FormSnap Button

Add the FormSnap Button Stack wherever you'd like to place a form Submit or Reset button.

Button Type
Select the action the button should perform (Submit the form or Reset/Clear the form).
Style
Select the color of button you'd like to use. If you don't see a color choice that suits your needs, select CUSTOM and define your own background, text and border colors for your button.
Size
Select Mini/Small/Large button sizes.
Custom Image
If you'd like to use your own image as the button (thereby ignoring all previous style settings) select your appropriately sized custom image for this button in jpg, gif or png format.
Value / Title
The text that will appear on the button. For example "Submit Form" or "Send".
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.

Country (Popup) Input)

Add the FormSnap Button Stack wherever you'd like to place a form Submit or Reset button.

Item Name
This item's name. The item name is used INTERNALLY on the form and templates and should be be alphanumeric ONLY (no symbols/punctuation/mathematical operators).
Item Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Placeholder
Text displayed in the popup manu UNTIL the visitor invokes the popup menu to select a country.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.
Value Type
You can elect to receive either the official two character country abbreviation OR the full country name.
Width Type
Define the width of this input in either Percentage or Pixel values.
Save to MySQL
If you will be saving your form data to a MySQL database, enter the MySQL field name in your database that corresponds to this input. Either the two character abbreviation or full country name (as you've indicated above in Value Type) will be populated in your database.
Validation
Required - when enabled, the user MUST select a country from the list in order to submit the form.

FormSnap Datepicker

Item Name:
This item's name. The item name is used INTERNALLY on the form and templates and should be be alphanumeric ONLY (no symbols/punctuation/mathematical operators).
Item Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.
Date Format
This is a string of characters representing the display order and type of date information. The default is m-d-Y which is month-day-YEAR (4 digit). You can format or localize with the following options:
- d = numeric date value
- D = Day of Week name - 3 Character abbreviation
- DD = Day of Week - full name
- m = numerical value of month 1=Jan, 12=Dec
- M = 3 character Month abbreviation (Jan/Feb/Mar, etc)
- MM = Full month Name (January / February / March, etc)
- yy = two digit year (13 / 14 / 15)
- yyyy = full four digit year (2013 / 2014 / 2015)
Default
Select a DEFAULT date that will be the starting point on the calendar. If you have a conference taking place in the future, and want the user to select a date to attend, make the DEFAULT date the first date of the conference. This way, the sender won't have to scroll through several months if the event takes place 6+ months out. Ender the default date in m-d-y format.
Display Label
If you do not wish to display the field's name next to the file calendar, disable this checkbox.
Language
FormSnap has over 45 languages built right in to the datepicker. These are used to apply language-specific date and month names on the calendar.
Width Type
Choose a METHOD to define the field width:
- Percentage:A percentage of page width (recommended for use in most responsive applications)
- Pixels: A set number of pixels.
Width
Enter your numeric value for either percentage or pixel width here.
Save to MySQL
If you will be saving your form data to a MySQL database, enter the MySQL field name in your database that corresponds to this input. Either the two character abbreviation or full country name (as you've indiated above in Value Type) will be populated in your database.
Validation
Required:When enabled, the user MUST select a date from the calendar in order to submit the form.
Equal To: If you want the user to confirm a date entry on two fields, setup two identical datepicker stacks, set the second stack to validate to the first one, reference the first field by NAME in the Equal To field name. This way you can have a visitor select a date and then confirm the date via secondary selection.
Style
The All new Datepicker has built in color selectors for all calendar elements. Simply choose a scheme of colors that suits your needs.

Input Field

Input Type
There are six field types supported with the Text Input Field:
- Text: A standard text entry field. Users can enter and view text into this field type.
- Hidden: This field type is hidden and not shown to the user.
- Password: Treated just like a normal text field internally but user input is hidden on the form and only solid bullets are displayed.
- Number: Requires the sender to provide a numeric value in this field. Only numeric values will be accepted
- Email: Requires the user to submit a properly formatted email address including @ symbol and domain.
- URL: Requires the sender to provide a properly formatted URL beginning with http:// or https://
Item Name
This item's name. The item name is used INTERNALLY on the form and templates and should be be alphanumeric ONLY (no symbols/punctuation/mathematical operators).
Item Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Placeholder
Text that will appear in the firle UNTIL the user selects the field to provide their own input. This is NOT a default value, Use this for instructional text, for example: "Provide your name here……." Note that if for some reason you DO want a default value assigned to the input, you can enter a default value within the content area of the stack under DEFAULT VALUE.
Width Type
Choose a METHOD to define the field width:
- Percentage:A percentage of page width (recommended for use in most responsive applications)
- Pixels: A set number of pixels.
- Auto: enabled CSS auto width, The special auto value allows the browser to calculate the field width automatically on the basis of other factors.
- Inherit: Width styling will be inherited from the form's parent container…in most cases, the RW theme.
Width
If using Percentage or Pixels width type, enter your numeric value for either type here. This entry is not used for Auto/Inherit Width Types.
Custom Class
If you're writing your own CSS to customize a page, you can easily style fields to your CSS by just providing your custom class name here. If you don't know what this means, you don't need to use this setting. Move along now.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.
Display Label
Enable this checkbox to display the LABEL provided above next to the field. If you with to use placeholders, for example, and not display labels, disable this checkbox.
Save to MySQL
If you will be saving your form data to a MySQL database, enter the MySQL field name in your database that corresponds to this input. Note that radio and checkbox items are an array of values.
Validation
FormSnap Provides four methods of validating user input on a text field. Enabling any validation type will also display a validation error message to be presented with the validation criteria are NOT met.
- Required:The sender must provide SOME value in the field in order for the form submission to be accepted. Doesn't validate type or length of data, only that user has provided SOMETHING in the field.
- Equal To:Used to validate that the provided value for two given fields matches. You must supply the name of the field that you want this one to match. This is a useful validation type for validation Password type inputs. Say, for example, that you had two password input fields named passwordA and passwordB. On passwordB field you could validate TO passwordA to insure that the customer provided the SAME password on both fields even though they can't see the inputs.
- Min Length: Require that the provided value MUST be of a minimum length of characters. Does not validate TYPE of characters (can be numbers, letters, symbols, etc) but insures that a minimum # of characters is provided.
- Max Length: Require that the provided value MUST be no longer than the specified MAX length of characters. Does not validate TYPE of characters (can be numbers, letters, symbols, etc) but no more than the Max # of characters can be provided in one field..

Radio / Checkbox Input

Input Type
The type of item you'd like to add. This stack can be either a Radio button or Checkbox form item.
Item Name
This item's name. The item name is used INTERNALLY on the form and templates and should be be alphanumeric ONLY (no symbols/punctuation/mathematical operators).
Item Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Option Count:
The number of options this checkbox or radio item will have. Use the slider to create the desired number of inputs.
List Horizontal
By default, radio button and checkbox items are displayed vertically. If you'd like to display them horizontally (adjacent to each other), enable this checkbox.
Display Label
If you do not wish to display the field's name next to the input selection, disable this checkbox.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.
Save to MySQL
If you will be saving your form data to a MySQL database, enter the MySQL field name in your database that corresponds to this input. Note that radio and checkbox items are an array of values.
Validation
Select Required if the user MUST provide data in this field to submit the form, enable this checkbox. For example, add TERMS to your form and add a Checkbox field stating that the user has agreed to the terms, make this checkbox field REQUIRED so that the sender can not submit unless they agree to terms.

reCaptcha Test

Note that reCaptcha should be enabled in FormSnap Base if you will be adding this element to your form.

Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Required
In most cases, reCaptcha fields will be REQUIRED fields. Enable this checkbox so that the Form can not be submitted without completing valid reCaptcha challenge.
Display Label
If you do not wish to display the field's name next to the input selection, disable this checkbox.
Width Type
Specify either a percentage or pixel selection to define width.
Width
If using Percentage or Pixels width type, enter your numeric value for either type here.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.
Custom Class
If you're writing your own CSS to customize a page, you can easily style fields to your CSS by just providing your custom class name here. If you don't know what this means, you don't need to use this setting.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.

Security Question

Many users prefer a simple human validation test to a sometimes-hard-to-decipher reCaptcha challenge. If you'd prefer to go this route, add a Security Question to your FormSnap Base. Then define a simple question and answer to allow submission of the form. Spam sucks!

Security Question
Come up with a simple, common knowledge trivia or math question. The default is: What is 9 + 8?
Security Answer
The answer to the above question. Math really works best as you don't have to worry about spelling, etc. The answer to our simple question (9 + 8) is 17. The form will only submit when the user provides the valid answer you designate here.
Answer Incorrect
This text will be displayed if the user supplies an incorrect answer. Consider adding a helpful hint here as they've already sent the wrong answer at least once!
Placeholder
This text will be displayed in the response field UNTIL the user clicks in it to provide their own entry.
Width Type
Specify either a percentage or pixel selection to define width of the field.
Width
If using Percentage or Pixels width type, enter your numeric value for either type here.

Select ( Popup ) Input

Item Name
This item's name. The item name is used INTERNALLY on the form and templates and should be be alphanumeric ONLY (no symbols/punctuation/mathematical operators).
Item Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Placeholder
This text will be displayed in the response field UNTIL the user clicks in it to select their own entry.
Option Count
The number of options (lines) this popup menu will contain. Use the slider to create the desired number of inputs. Be sure to assign each option a title and value in the left hand side of your stacks page in the content area. LABELS are what the visitor sees as the selection. The VALUE is what is sent through to the template if that label is selected. In many cases they may be the same text. Ie, Value: Yes, Title: Yes. But we allow you to customize both.
Width Type
Specify either a percentage or pixel selection to define width of the field.
Width
If using Percentage or Pixels width type, enter your numeric value for either type here.
Display Label
If you do not wish to display the field's name next to the input selection, disable this checkbox.
Save to MySQL
If you will be saving your form data to a MySQL database, enter the MySQL field name in your database that corresponds to this input. Note that radio and checkbox items are an array of values.
Validation
Select Required if the user MUST provide data in this field to submit the form, enable this checkbox.

US States (Popup) Input

Add this stack to insert a popup list of all 50 US States.

Name
This item's name. The item name is used INTERNALLY on the form and templates and should be be alphanumeric ONLY (no symbols/punctuation/mathematical operators).
Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Placeholder
Text displayed in the popup manu UNTIL the visitor invokes the popup menu to select a state.
Width Type
Define the width of this input in either Percentage or Pixel values.
Display Label
If you do not wish to display the field's name next to the input selection, disable this checkbox.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.
Save to MySQL
If you will be saving your form data to a MySQL database, enter the MySQL field name in your database that corresponds to this input. Either the two character abbreviation or full country name (as you've indiated above in Value Type) will be populated in your database.
Validation
Required - when enabled, the user MUST select a state from the list in order to submit the form.

Text Area

Name
This item's name. The item name is used INTERNALLY on the form and templates and should be be alphanumeric ONLY (no symbols/punctuation/mathematical operators).
Label
The label the user will see on the published form adjacent to the input.
Placeholder
This text will be displayed in the response field UNTIL the user clicks in it to add their own text entry.
Width Type
Specify either a percentage or pixel selection to define width of the field.
Width
If using Percentage or Pixels width type, enter your numeric value for either type here.
Custom Class
If you're writing your own CSS to customize a page, you can easily style fields to your CSS by just providing your custom class name here. If you don't know what this means, you don't need to use this setting.
Tab Index
You can control the tab-through order of fields with tab index. The lower the number, the earlier it will be selected via Tab key. 1 is the first field, assign higher numbers to subsequent fields.
Height:
The height (in pixels) of the Text Area.
Display Label
If you do not wish to display the field's name next to the input selection, disable this checkbox.
Save to MySQL
If you will be saving your form data to a MySQL database, enter the MySQL field name in your database that corresponds to this input. Note that radio and checkbox items are an array of values.
Validation
Required - If the user must provide SOME input in order to submit the form, enable this checkbox.

FAQ - Common Issues:

Here are some answers to the issues we most commonly see:

I get the error: proc_open() is not available on this server:
This error indicates that your host has disabled the proc_open function in php. This function is required to connect to an external SMTP server to send mail. You will need to go to FormSnap Base and go to SMTP Settings. Set the USE SMTP checkbox to DISABLED. Then republish your project and test. This will allow the form to pass the mail off to the web server to delivery directly via phpmail (assuming your host has not disabled that on you also!)