Review Using Forms in SchoolMessenger Communicate (Part 1) and then continue...
Modifying your Forms template.
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Title
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This is the name of the component you are using. You do not set the title of the form here.
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The Title Bar
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This is where you enter the title of the form. You will notice the text you enter will appear in the Live preview to the right.
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Title Font Size
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You have multiple options regarding title font size. Use the pulldown to pick the size most appropriate for you.
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Description
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You are not required to add a description, but this can help explain the purpose of the form for your respondents.
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Add A Component
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The gray circle with the plus sign allows you to add more components to your form. Continue on with this lesson to learn about each component.
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The Component Menu
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When you're ready to add more components, click on the gray circle with the plus sign. We'll discuss each of these as you continue with this course.
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The Text (Single Line) and Paragraph (multi-line) Components
These components allow you to insert a single line or multi-line field so respondents can type a response to your question or data request.
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The Text (single-line) Component
- This allows you to have customers enter free-form information on a single line of text.
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Label
- The Label is your question, or the request for data. As you see in this example, the right-hand side of the page is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), and as you type here the form changes on the right.
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Label Font Size
- Choose Small, Medium, or Large, whichever best suits your needs. As with other sections, you'll see how that change affects the forms in the window on the right.
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Width
- You can choose how much of the page the line takes up. You can choose 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. The example here is 50%.
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Form Reporting Label
- The text you enter here will be how this data field show in your report. It defaults to the question name, but it is beneficial to shorten that here, so your report is cleaner.
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Placeholder
- Placeholder text is just as it sounds. It is text that shows in the line by default, but does not count as an entry. It will not satisfy the data entry requirements if a field is set to Required.
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Value (default)
- Unlike Placeholder, text entered here works as a default value. If a respondent skips the field, it accepts the default text as their entry. Therefore, be careful using default text, as it will not trigger a "Required Field" warning.
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Help/Instruction Text
- As the name implies, you can clarify instructions for your respondents here.
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Required Field
- Checking this box marks a field as Required, meaning a respondent has to make a selection or enter data before they can submit the form. Remember, if you choose to add a Value(default), they can skip a required field, as the system will just accept the default entry as their response.
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Max Length (chars)
- As it sounds, this sets the maximum number of characters respondents can enter into a text field.
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The Paragraph (multi-line) Component
- This allows you to have customers enter free-form information on multiple lines of text. The other properties are the same as the Single-Line text component above.
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Copy/Delete
- Note when you create a new component, you can delete it here if you change your mind, or duplicate it once you've set it the way you wish, to save you time when creating additional components for your Form.
The Rich Content Components
This component allows you to insert a paragraph that is formatted to make the text stand out. You can add links or images to this field as well. Click the markers below for more information.
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The Rich Content Box
- You can place text here to give your respondents more information. Because it is Rich Content, you can change the font size and font color, you can leave, center, or right justify, add bullet points, and add links and/or images to this content to make your information stand out.
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The WYSIWYG Window
- Remember, the Live Preview window on the right is WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) and updates instantly as you add data in the components to the left.
The Divider Component
A divider is exactly what it sounds like. It is simply a line you can add to better separate sections on your Form. You can choose to make the line 25%, 50%, 75%, or a full 100% of the page width.
The Multiple-Choice Component
Multiple Choice is a common Forms question component. It limits respondents to one (1) choice among many options.
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Label
- As with other components, your Label is the question itself.
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Label Font Size
- Also as with other components, this sets the font size for your question text. You choose from small, medium, or large. and the results of your choice will show in the Live Preview to the right.
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Options
- Options are your possible answers from which you allow your respondents to choose. You start with only one option but can add more by clicking Add Option and overwriting the "Option" text.
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Alignment
- This controls how your answers appear on the page. Choose either a vertical or horizontal alignment.
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Option Label Position
- This controls which side of the selection button your answers appear. We've chosen Right, so the answers are to the right of the button corresponding with that answer. Be careful with the Top or Bottom option, as it can make it less clear to respondents if the correct button is above or below the question.
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Form Reporting Label
- As with other components, this sets the label for the Report. Rather than have the entire question appear as the report label, you can shorten it here.
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Help/Instruction Text
- You can add text here to make it easier for your respondents to understand what data you want, or how to interact with the form.
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Required Field
- As above, clicking Required Field means the respondent must enter and answer or data into this field, or they will not be able to submit the form. Required Fields are denoted with an asterisk, as seen in the Live Preview to the right.
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Live Preview
- As with all other components, the Live Preview updates as you make changes, letting you see how the form will look to respondents.
A Quick Pointer...
It is possible the Forms window can time out. We recommend saving your work frequently by clicking the Save icon in the upper right. The system will not indicate the form was saved. You'll simply see a quick progress bar, then you'll be back to work.
The Checkbox Component
Checkbox is another common form component. It allows respondents to pick as many answers as are applicable. Click the markers below for more information.
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The Checkbox Component
- Checkboxes allow you to create multiple answers to your question, and respondents can choose any or all answers that apply. The square checkboxes usually indicate the ability to choose more than one answer.
- The rest of the fields here work exactly as they do in the Multiple-Choice component described above.
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The Live Preview
- Note I've selected multiple answers here to demonstrate the difference between Multiple Choice (a single answer) and Checkbox (as many answers as are applicable).
The Dropdown Component
Dropdown is another common form component. It allows respondents to pick a single answer from the options listed in the dropdown menu.
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The Dropdown Component
- The Dropdown component allows you to place multiple answers in a dropdown menu. Respondents can pick a single answer from the options in the dropdown.
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Width
- Much like a single-line text entry or a Divider component, you can select the width of the page taken up by this dropdown. You can choose 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%. Typically, the length of your longest answer will determine what you choose here, although you can pick any percentage.
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The Live Preview
- This shows how a 50% width dropdown will appear in our form.
The Linear Scale Component
Linear Scale allows you to have your respondents rate something on a scale you choose (1 to 5, for example).
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The Linear Scale Component
- Linear Scales allow you to have your respondents rate an item on a scale you choose. In this example, it's 1 to 5, with 1 being the best
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From and To Labels
- These labels appear on either side of the scale, letting your respondents know which options represents the low or high, best or worst option on your scale.
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The Live Preview
- As with other components, the Live Preview lets you see how this component will look when respondents fill out the Form.
The Date, Time, and Page Break Components
These components allow you to request respondents to enter a date or a time into the form, and to add a page break if the form needs to be multiple pages. Page breaks can be inserted between any components.
Rearranging Components, and Saving Your Form
Any component you add can be duplicated and moved to a new location to save you time and effort.
Review Using Forms in SchoolMessenger Communicate (Part 3) for final part.
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