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Create a form

From Site explorer, click Forms. Forms appears.

Click New form. The Form Designer appears.

If you do not want to create a form from scratch, you can copy a form or use a sample as a starting point.

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To copy a form, locate it in the Forms gallery and click Click here to copy this form. On the Copy Form screen, enter a name, select a folder, and click Next. The Form Designer appears, and you can edit the form as necessary.

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To copy a sample form, locate it on the Samples tab and click Click here to copy this sample. On the screen that appears, enter a name, select a folder, and click Next. The Form Designer appears, and you can edit the form as necessary. For information about samples, see Sample Forms.

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If you previously exported a form or sample in Blackbaud NetCommunity, you can import the XML to create a copy of the form. To create the XML, you click sClick here to export this form or Click here to export this sample in the Forms gallery. To import the XML, you click Import form. On the Import Form screen, enter a name, select a folder, and paste the XML in the Form XML field. Click Next. The Form Designer appears, and you can edit the form as necessary.

Warning: You must copy and paste the XML from Notepad or another text editor. If you copy the XML directly from an XML editor or web browser, the Form Designer cannot create the form.

In the Form type field, select the form type. The form type determines the elements that are available for the form.

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The Common form type only includes presentation elements and field elements that are available on all forms. Fields on a Common form do not map to another database.

For users with Online Admissions 6.25, you can access code tables from Blackbaud Student Information System on Common forms.

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With the Online Admissions form type, you can access fields and code tables from Blackbaud Student Information System. These form types allow you to create or update records in Blackbaud Student Information System with data that website users submit. On the Form Designer, you add pre-mapped field sets and then select the fields to include on the form

In the Form name and Form description fields, enter a name and description for the form.

In the Folder field, select a folder to store the form. By default, the program uses the Forms root folder.

To prevent website users to start or submit the form, select Suspend form. This allows website users to view the statuses of their forms but not start forms or submit data. You can use this checkbox to enforce submission deadlines and still allow users to monitor their statuses online.

To design the form, click Next. The Form builder tab appears.

Under Available elements, the Form Designer displays the Common presentation elements and field elements that are available for all forms. To design the form, click and drag elements from Available elements to Selected elements. Under Selected elements, click and drag items to arrange the order for the website.

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Under Presentation elements, select items to organize the form. With steps, you create distinct portions of the form for users to page through. With sections, you group elements within each step. Each form requires at least one step, and each step requires at least one section because you cannot place other elements directly on steps. You can also add images and text as necessary.

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Under Field elements, select fields to collect data from website users. The Common field elements include the text field, text area, radio button list, checkbox, checkbox list, dropdown list, and a special email field that sends confirmation email messages to the email addresses that users enter. These fields do not map to a database outside of the program.

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For Online Admissions forms, the Applicant category automatically appears. The fields in this category map to Blackbaud Student Information System.

Note: To edit element properties such as labels, style sheets, and validators, place the cursor over an element in Selected elements and click Edit. An element properties screen appears. For information about properties of presentation elements and field elements, see Properties of Form Elements.

With the Online Admissions form type, you can add field sets that map to corresponding fields in Blackbaud Student Information System. After you add field sets, they appear as categories under Available elements, and you can add their pre-mapped fields to the form to create or update records in Blackbaud Student Information System. To expose field sets, click Add fields. The Add Fields screen appears.

In the Map fields to field, select the category in Available elements to add the field set to. The category determines the available field sets. It can be the record type that fields map to in the source database, or it can be a field set that was added to the form that contains secondary field sets.

Note: For the Online Admissions form type, the Applicant field set appears as a category under Available elements when you create forms. Initially, you can only add field sets to this category, but after you add field sets such as Address, Medical, and Individual Relationship, they become categories in the Map fields to field.

In the Field set field, select the field set to add to the form. After you add a field set, it appears as a category or subcategory under Available elements, and you can add its fields to the form. The fields map to corresponding fields in the source database, and you can create or update records with data that website users submit in these fields.

For information about the field mappings between Online Admissions forms and Blackbaud Student Information System, see “Online Admissions and Online Reenrollment Field Mapping” on page 39.

In the Name field, enter the name to appear under Available elements. For example, you can name Individual Relationship field sets for the relationship to the applicant, such as “Mother” or “Father.”

Click Save. You return to the Form Designer. You can include additional field sets as necessary.

To add mapped fields to the form, click and drag them from Available elements to Selected elements.

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To rename the labels, headings, and other text that appears on the form, select the Language tab. For information about the Language tab, see Language Tab.

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To assign website security rights for users and roles, select the Targeting & Security tab. For information about the Targeting & Security tab, see Targeting & Security Tab.

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To select login settings for the form, go to the Login tab.

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To require website users to log in to access the form, select Require login. Additional login options appear.

Note: The Online Admissions form type requires users to log in. Require login is selected by default and you cannot clear it.

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To allow website users to save their data on a form and return to it later, select Allow user to save form.

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To allow website users to delete a form and not submit it, select Allow user to delete a form in progress.

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For Online Admissions forms, in the Allow users to apply as field, select the users who can submit applications. You can require applicants to apply themselves, allow applicants and selected relationships to apply, or require users with selected relationships to apply on behalf of applicants. If you allow other users to apply on behalf of applicants, select the relationships to allow.

Note: If you allow users to apply on behalf of applicants, you must add an Individual Relationship field set to the form and include the Last name and Relationship fields. This ensures that the users are linked to individual records in Blackbaud Student Information System. Users select a relationship when they log in, and then select it again on the form. For the Individual Relationship field sets where the relationships match, the program creates or updates individual records in Blackbaud Student Information System and links them to website users. If you only allow one relationship type to apply on behalf of applicants, you can set it as a default and hide the Relationship field on the form.

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To create constituent records in The Raiser's Edge for any users who register for your website through this form, select Create Raiser’s Edge sign-up transactions. You enter user login settings for the form on the Form Display part.

Note: For Common forms, Create Raiser’s Edge sign-up transactions is always selected when you require users to log in to access the form.

When a user registers through an Online Admissions form, a signup transaction is sent to The Raiser's Edge. When the user submits the application, the program links that constituent record in The Raiser's Edge to the applicant, student, or individual record in Blackbaud Student Information System.

Note: In Blackbaud Student Information System, when you convert an individual record to an applicant record, the program assigns a new identification number. However, the Online Admissions and Online Reenrollment Plug-in does not assign new identification numbers. When a user with an existing individual record submits an Online Admissions form, the plug-in converts the individual record to an applicant record but retains the individual’s identification number.

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To charge a fee when users submit the form, select the Payment tab and select Charge fee with form. Additional payment options appear.

Note: Fees associated with forms do not generate gift records in The Raiser's Edge. However, you can go to the Data tab in Forms to confirm that users paid the fee. Users must pay the fee to submit forms, so if form data appears on the Data tab, users paid the fee. To view details about the payment, you can access your merchant account.

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Under Fee amounts, to add a fee amount, click Add form fee. The Fee amounts screen appears.

Enter a name for the form fee.

Enter the dollar amount for the form fee.

In the Criteria field, select if the form fee applies to everyone or based on how a website user answers a field on the form.

If you select Based on fields in the form, click Add a new rule. The New Rule screen appears.

Select the step, section, field, and response, that if they choose on the form, the fee is added to the total form fee amount. For example, if a website user answers yes to participation in a club activity, you can charge a conditional fee on only club participants.

Click Save.You return to the Fee amounts screen.

Click Save again. You return to the Form Designer screen. Add as many separate form fees as you need.

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Under Payment setup, select to use a Payment Part 2.0 or to proceed directly to payment with your merchant account.

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If you select to use a payment part, select the payment page and then write an acknowledgement message.

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If you select to use your merchant account, in the Merchant account field, select a merchant account such as your organization’s IATS account to process credit card transactions received through the form.

The system supervisor sets up merchant accounts in Administration. For more information, see Merchant Accounts.

To display CAPTCHA text for users to enter before they proceed with the payment, select Display reCAPTCHA.

CAPTCHA is an automated public turing test to tell computers and humans apart to help prevent automated abuse of your website. You enable reCAPTCHA in Administration. For more information, see the reCAPTCHA.

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Select the payment methods available to users. Credit cards are allowed by default.

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To allow users to pay at a later time, select Bill me later.

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To allow users to waive the fee, select Allow users to waive the fee and enter a waiver code in the field that appears.

Warning: To use the Bill me later or Allow users to waive the fee payment options with Online Admissions forms, you must associate the payment with a track and checklist items in Blackbaud Student Information System. If you do not associate these options with checklist items, the program does not record payment information for these payment types.

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For Online Admissions forms, in the Tracks and checklist items field, select the checklist item to associate with the payment. A track is a series of steps that makes up part of the admissions process, and checklist items are the individual steps that make up the track. For more information about tracks and checklist items in Blackbaud Student Information System, see the Configuration Guide.

When an user pays the fee, the associated checklist item in Blackbaud Student Information System is marked complete.

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To edit settings for when users submit the form, select the Submit settings tab.

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For Online Admissions forms, in the Tracks and checklist items field, select the checklist item to associate with the submission of the form. When a user submits the form, the associated checklist item in Blackbaud Student Information System is marked complete.

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Under Confirmation screen, select whether to use the default screen or create a custom screen.

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To use the default, select Use default confirmation screen.

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To design the confirmation screen, select Use custom confirmation screen. The HTML editor appears. The program’s default confirmation screen appears in the HTML editor for you to customize according to your needs.

Edit the content for the confirmation screen. To format the appearance and layout, use the HTML editor toolbar. To include personalized information, use merge fields. For more information, see HTML Editor.

Warning: If you customize the confirmation screen and then select Use default confirmation screen, your changes to the confirmation screen remain. To remove changes, select Use custom confirmation screen and click Restore default content.

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Under Email alert, select Send an email alert when a user submits a form to send an email to staff members when a website user submits a form.

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Under Recipients, to send the alert to individual users and users in a role, click Add users and roles. The Select users and roles screen appears.

In the Filter field, enter the first letter of the user or role to include.

Note: The Available box displays 30 users and roles in alphabetical order. Use the Filter field to find additional users and roles that do not appear in the box.

Locate the user or role, and click Add. The user appears in the Selected box.

To select multiple users or roles, press Shift while you select the multiple users, and then click Add all. The users appear in the Selected box.

Click OK. You return to the Submit settings tab. The users and roles appear in the Users and roles box.

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To send the notification to a staff member who does not have a Blackbaud NetCommunity account, enter an email address under Email addresses.

Note: You can select to send the notification to individual users and users in roles instead of, or in addition to, individuals who do not have a Blackbaud NetCommunity account. When you enter multiple email addresses, separate them by a comma or semicolon.

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Enter a subject in the Subject field and an email address in the From field for the email alert.

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To display form data in the body of the email alert, select Include form data in the email alert. By default, the email links to a PDF version of the form, and when you select this option, the email also includes form data.

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To edit settings for checklist items on Online Admissions forms, select the Checklist status tab.

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Under Application checklist items, select the checklist items that users can view for their forms. You associate tracks and checklist items with the application in Blackbaud Student Information System, and the program associates this information with your online forms. Website users can view the status of their checklist items on the form landing page.

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To allow users to view all checklist items associated with the form, select Include all checklist items.

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To filter the list of checklist items that users can view, select Filter checklist items. In the list that appears, select the checklist items to exclude. Website users cannot view the items you select.

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Under Checklist item status, select whether to filter the checklist items that users can view according to the status.

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To allow users to view checklist items regardless of the status, select Include all statuses.

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To filter checklist items by status, select Filter checklist statuses. In the list that appears, select the statuses to exclude. Users cannot view checklist items with the statuses you select.

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To create an acknowledgement email for website users who submit forms, click Acknowledgement email. The Acknowledgement Email screen appears.

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Enter a name for the acknowledgement, a subject, a return address, and a name for the From field of the email message.

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In the box, edit the content of the acknowledgement. To format the appearance and layout, use the HTML editor toolbar. For information about how to design an email acknowledgement, see Acknowledgements.

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Click Save to save your progress and continue to set up the form. You can also click Save and Close to return to Forms.

To post the form on your website, place it on a Form Display part. For information about the part, see Form Display.

After you place the form on the website, you can view summary information about the form and manage the data that website users submit on the Data tab in Forms. For information about the Data tab, see Manage Data from Online Forms.