Book Image

ChronoForms 3.1 for Joomla! site Cookbook

By : Bob Janes
Book Image

ChronoForms 3.1 for Joomla! site Cookbook

By: Bob Janes

Overview of this book

Joomla! is a fantastic way to create a dynamic CMS. Now you want to go to the next step and interact with your users. Forms are the way you ask questions and get replies. ChronoForms is the extension that lets you do that and this book tells you how. From building your first form to creating rich form based applications we will cover the features that ChronoForms offers you in a clear hands-on way. Drawing on three years daily experience using ChronoForms and supporting users there is valuable help for new users and experienced developers alike. We will take you through form development step by step: from creating your first form using ChronoForms’ built-in drag-and-drop tool; validating user input; emailing the results; saving data in the database, showing the form in your Joomla! site and much more.Each chapter addresses a topic like ‘validation’ or ‘email’ and the recipes in the chapter each address a different user question from the beginners’ question ‘How do I set up an email?’ through to more advanced questions like using some PHP to create a custom email Subject line.Over eight chapters and eighty recipes we cover all of the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ that new users and developers have about using ChronoForms. The recipe structure allows you to pick and choose just the solution that you need.

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ChronoForms 3.1 for Joomla! site Cookbook
Bob Janes
Aug, 2010 | 376 pages
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Table of Contents (17 chapters)
ChronoForms 3.1 for Joomla! Site Cookbook
ChronoForms 3.1 for Joomla! Site Cookbook
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewer
About the Reviewer
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Creating a Simple Form
Creating a Simple Form
Introduction
Downloading and installing ChronoForms
Creating a simple form with the Form Wizard
Sending the form results by e-mail
Showing a "Thank You" page
Editing your form with the Wizard Edit
Redirecting the user to another page
Backing up and restoring your forms
2
E-mailing Form Results
E-mailing Form Results
Introduction
Replying to e-mails
Getting your e-mails delivered safely
Sending a "Thank you" e-mail to the form submitter
Choosing e-mail addresses from a list
Attaching uploaded files to the e-mail
Attaching a "standard" file to the e-mail
Creating a "dynamic" subject line using info from the form
3
Styling your Form
Styling your Form
Introduction
Using ChronoForms default style
Switching styles with "Transform Form"
Adding your own CSS styling
Putting several inputs in one line
Adding your own HTML
4
Saving Form Data in the Database
Saving Form Data in the Database
Introduction
Creating a table to save your results and linking your form to it
Viewing your saved form results
Updating and changing DB Connections
Exporting your results to Excel or a CSV file
5
Form Validation and Security
Form Validation and Security
Introduction
Making "required" fields
Specifying the types of input that are allowed — text, numbers, dates, and so on
Customizing validation error messages
Adding extra security with "server-side" validation of submitted information
Getting the user to confirm their data before submission
Adding an ImageVerification captcha / anti-spam check
Adding a reCAPTCHA anti-spam check
Limiting form access to registered users
6
Showing your Form in your Site
Showing your Form in your Site
Introduction
Including your form in an article using the ChronoForms plugin
Showing your form on selected pages using the ChronoForms module
Linking to your form from Joomla! menus
Using a form to create a Joomla! article
Redirecting users to other Joomla! pages after submission
7
Adding Features to your Form
Adding Features to your Form
Introduction
Adding a validated checkbox
Adding an "other" box to a drop-down
Sending an SMS message on submission
Signing up to a newsletter service
Adding a conversion tracking script
Showing a YouTube video
Adding a barcode to a form e-mail
Adding a character counter to a textarea
Creating a double drop-down
8
Uploading Files from your Forms
Uploading Files from your Forms
Introduction
Adding a file upload field to your form and setting the allowed types and sizes
Saving files to different folders
Renaming files
Linking files to e-mails
Resizing and copying image files
Displaying images in e-mails and articles
Troubleshooting problems with files
9
Writing Form HTML
Writing Form HTML
Introduction
Moving an existing form to ChronoForms
Moving a form with JavaScript
Moving a form with CSS
Creating a form with Wufoo
Creating a form in Dreamweaver
10
Creating Common Forms
Creating Common Forms
Introduction
Creating a simple newsletter signup
Creating a form to link to Acajoom
Creating a form to publish a Joomla! article
Creating a "Contact us" form
Creating an image or document upload form
Creating a multi-page form
11
Using Form Plug-ins
Using Form Plug-ins
Introduction
Controlling form access by user group, day, and/or time with the Watchman plug-in
Creating multi-lingual forms with the Multi-Language plug-in
Showing and editing saved information with the Profile plug-in
Registering users with the Joomla! Registration plug-in
Creating a PayPal purchase form with the ReDirect plug-in
12
Adding Advanced Features
Adding Advanced Features
Introduction
Using PHP to create "select" dropdowns
Using Ajax to look up e-mail addresses
Getting information from a DB table to include in your form
Show a form in a light-box
Tracking site information
Controlling e-mails from form inputs
Building a complex multi-page form
Troubleshooting problems with forms

Downloading and installing ChronoForms

ChronoForms is a Joomla! extension that has been developed by Max (also known as ChronoMan) to allow you to add forms to a Joomla! site. Getting the extension and installing it is the first step.

Getting ready

You'll need a working Joomla! installation. We recommend that you use the latest version of Joomla! and keep your installation up to date with security releases. At the time of writing, the latest release is Joomla! 1.5.20.

Note

If you have an old Joomla! 1.0.x site, then there is an old version of ChronoForms that you can use; it has much less functionality than the current version described here. Both Joomla! .1.0.x and that old version of ChronoForms are deprecated, and little or no support is available. We strongly recommend that you upgrade to Joomla! 1.5.

How to do it...

  1. 1. Go to the ChronoEngine website (http://chronoengine.com/) and click the Downloads link. Follow the folder tree ChronoForms | ChronoForms J1.5 Files | Component and download the current release. Right now this is ChronoForms_V3.1_RC5.5.zip.

    Note

    Although this is an RC (Release Candidate) version, it is the latest and most stable ChronoForms release.

  2. 2. Download the file to your computer. Now open your browser and go to the administrator page for your Joomla! site, for example http://www.example.com/administrator, and log in.

    Note

    Caution: Before installing any new extension it is sensible to back up your site and the site database. You should also check the Joomla! Vulnerable Extensions List at http://docs.joomla.org/Vulnerable_Extensions_List to make sure that there are no adverse reports about the extension.

  3. 3. Once the Administration page is open go to Extensions | Install/Uninstall and open the Joomla! Extension Manager.

  4. 4. Click the Browse... button and navigate to the downloaded ChronoForms ZIP file.

  5. 5. Click Upload File & Install and the installation process will begin. ChronoForms is quite a large extension and it may take a little while to upload.

    Note

    The standard Joomla! installation process usually works perfectly with ChronoForms. ChronoForms has been designed to work with this process, however occasionally it doesn't work as expected. If this happens then usually it is for one of these reasons:

    1. 1. The server settings are too restrictive and the installation "times out". Increasing the PHP memory_limit or max_execution_time settings may resolve this.

    2. 2. There are some permission restrictions on the site; speak to your ISP about these.

    3. 3. A previous installation attempt has left some files in place — you need to remove both the administrator/components/com_chronocontact and components/com_chronocontact folders and all the files in them.

    Note

    Often a "manual installation" will get you past these; see the Joomla! Documentation site at http://docs.Joomla!.org/How_do_you_install_an_extension%3F or a simple video here: http://www.solarenergyhost.com/content/view/182/205/.

  6. 6. Once the installation completes you will see the following screen:

  7. 7. Congratulations, ChronoForms is successfully installed.

    Note

    You can install the ChronoForms Plugin/Mambot (used to show forms in Joomla! articles) , and/or the ChronoForms Module (used to show forms in Joomla! template modules) at the same time, if you know you are going to need them. The process is exactly the same. We will meet these add-ons again in Chapter 6, Showing your Form in your Site.

  8. 8. While we are in the Extension Manager window, click on the Components link and look for the Chrono Contact entry. It tells you that this version — 3.1 RC5.5 — was created on 04 Aug 2009 by Chronoman (also known as Max). This version information is important when you want to upgrade ChronoForms in the future.

  9. 9. Before we finish, click the Components | ChronoForms | Forms Management menu to go to the Forms Manager.

  10. 10. The Forms Manager is the "Control Panel" for ChronoForms and we'll be working with it more in other recipes later on.

Note

The Forms Manager has a "Tip of the Day" feature. If you feel this gets in the way, you can turn it off by clicking the Parameters icon at the top right.

The pink validation bar can't be turned off, but it will turn green if you pay a small subscription to validate your copy of ChronoForms. The only difference between the validated and invalidated versions is this bar and a strap line, Powered By ChronoForms - ChronoEngine.com, which appears under all forms in the invalidated version. All the other features are identical.

There's more...

Max is constantly reviewing ChronoForms, and a few times a year there is a new release. If your forms are working as you want them, there is no need to upgrade unless there is a security release. If there are new features that you want to use, you can upgrade by downloading the new release installation file and installing it as explained earlier in this recipe. You can install an upgrade over the existing version without uninstalling it.

To be safe, you should back up your database tables and all of your forms before you upgrade.

See also

  • See the Backing up and restoring your forms section, later in this chapter for more information on how to do this.

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