Creating the form

1. After signing into the site, click Create content > Webform. 
2. Enter a Title for the form.
3. In the Body section, enter a brief description or introductory text that will appear at the top of the form.

   

4. Optional: Other configuration options (e.g., menu links, XML sitemap, URL path settings etc.) are documented in the KB article Create a page in the WMS
5. Click Save at the bottom of the screen to save your new (empty) form and follow the steps below to add components. 

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Add components / fields

After you save a newly created form, click on the WEBFORM tab; the Form components screen is displayed by default.

Basic steps to add a component:

1. In the box that says New component name, enter the label that you want to appear next to the new component.
2. Choose the Type of component you want to add from the dropdown list.
3. If the user will be required to fill this field, put a check in the Required box.
4. Click the Add button to add the new component.

   

5. The screen will change to reveal additional settings for the component type you have selected. Check the help text under each field to configure the settings.
   View Webform component types in the WMS for an overview of the component types available and their specific settings.

Rearrange components

Once you have several components on your form it will look like the screenshot below. To rearrange the order in which components appear on the form, click the four-pointed arrow icon next to a component and drag it to a different position.

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Configure the email generated upon submission

When users submit the form, an email message can be generated and sent to specific recipients. Follow the steps in this article to set up email.

Total submissions limit: Use this setting to limit the total number of submissions of the form (e.g., for a registration form, where space is limited); otherwise keep the default of Unlimited.

Per user submissions limit: Use this setting to limit the number of times each user can submit the form (e.g., for completing surveys, where each user should only submit once); otherwise keep the default of Unlimited.

Status of this form: The form can be closed for submissions, while keeping it published for authorized users to view results.

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Other form settings

Click the Form settings button at the top of the WEBFORM tab to access additional settings:

• SUBMISSION ACCESS: Check the boxes in this area to limit submission access to certain user roles. For example, it can be useful to restrict the form to authenticated users (those who have signed in).

  Restricted forms:
  To grant access to a specific group of individuals based on their role at McGill, contact the IT Service Desk and explain who needs to be granted access; if there is an Active Directory (AD) group that already exists, specify that group name.

  When a form is restricted to authenticated user or to a specific AD group, end-users viewing the page will see a message telling them to log in before gaining access to the form:

• PROGRESS BAR: Only used in the case of a multi-page form. Expand this section of the page to access the following options:
  
  • Show progress bar
  • Show page number as number of completed (i.e. Page 1 of 10)
  • Show percentage completed (i.e. 10%)
  • Show page labels from page break components (to give pages distinct names, e.g. Contact Information, Education History, Work History, etc.)
  • Include confirmation page in progress bar

  

• ADVANCED SETTINGS: Expand this section of the page to access the following options:
  
  • Available as block:  the form will be contained in a block that can be displayed at the top, bottom, or sidebar region of one or many pages on a site. Note: Webform blocks should not be positioned in distributed Channels items; they will not appear in the Channels hub or when imported to other sites.
  • Show "Save draft" button:  allows authenticated users to save their responses and submit the form later.
  • Automatically save as draft between pages and when there are validation errors: in a multi-page form, this setting will temporarily save a user's entries, so they don't have to re-enter anything if they skip ahead or go back to make corrections. It also saves entries when validation errors prevent form submission
  • Show the notification about previous submissions: this is checked by default and tells authenticated users if they have previously submitted the form.
  • Confidential submissions: on forms set to allow anonymous submissions from unauthenticated users, the results will not include the user’s IP address.
  • Submit button label: to change the text that appears as the "Submit" button, enter it here.
  • Next submission number: submissions are usually numbered automatically in sequence starting with “1” but this can be changed (e.g., if the last submission has been deleted and the sequence has been interrupted, the next submission can be reset to avoid skipping the deleted number).

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Form validation

To ensure that users enter values in a specific way, validation rules can be assigned to specific components of the form.

1. Click the Form validation button at the top of the WEBFORM tab.
2. Select the validation rule that should be applied.
3. All web components to which that rule can be applied are displayed. Enter a name for the rule and choose the components to which the rule should be applied.

   

If a user attempts to submit a form that violates the validation rules, the form will not be submitted and an error message will be displayed.

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Modifying a web form

When site managers change Webform components that include previous submissions, the previous submissions will be updated with the changes. In some cases, data will be deleted.

Beware of:

• Deleting options, e.g., select options: can have negative effect and remove content from past submissions
• Changing conditionals: will be reflected in the results of past submissions and should be avoided
• Changing labels and form content: will be reflected in past submissions

Deleting or editing an existing form would negatively affect data in most cases. Adding new options or components would create fewer issues but is nevertheless, not recommended.

If changing components or deleting options is required, cloning the web form – which would create a new underlying data set – is recommend in order to prevent corruption of previous submissions. 

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Cloning Webforms

1. Go to My Workbench 
2. Find the webform you would like to clone
3. When your webform is found, click Clone under Actions.

   

Note: It is not possible to clone a form from one site to another; you must recreate the form manually if you wish to have the same form on a different site.

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