Using form fields
This user guide will help you understand the available form field types, validate and pre-fill form fields.
Form field types
The following form field types are available for your forms:
| Type | Function | Input in the backend, note |
|---|---|---|
| Textfield (Input) | single-line input field for text | |
| Textfield with more Rows (Textarea) | multi-line input area, from the 4th line a scroll bar is displayed on the right side | |
| Selectfield | select an option from several options via a drop-down | enter the choices in the Options field line by line |
| Checkboxes | select one or more options via checkboxes | enter the choices in the Options field line by line |
| Radiobuttons | select one option from several options via radio buttons | enter the choices in the Options field line by line |
| Submit | button | enter the label in the Title field |
| Captcha | easy arithmetic problem (+/-), which is not presented as writing but as a picture and therefore cannot be solved by automation | ensures that the form is not filled out by a program, but by a real person |
| Reset | button for deleting the entered data | |
| Show some Text | explanations, additions and notes | |
| Content Element | integrate content elements from your own website, such as displaying the content of the lecture placed on the lecture page in a lecture registration form | click the folder icon, then click the black arrow with frame to the right of the desired page in the page tree, and finally click the desired content item |
| Show HTML | write HTML code | |
| File Upload | upload a file | the file will be attached to the recipient e-mail |
| Hidden Field | submit text that is not visible in the form itself | if the reply page and the e-mail to the user via {powermail_all} contains all fields, the content of the hidden field will also be displayed; this can be used to transmit the information from which form the e-mail was sent, see also the tutorial Editing e-mails and submit page. |
| Date | calendar with selection option, the date can also be entered manually | no check for correctness possible |
| Country Selection | drop-down in the respective national language | |
| Location | location entry |
Validating form fields
In the Extended tab, you can validate and configure the individual form fields.
Fields marked as mandatory are required for submission.
For all fields with text input, validation of the content is possible:
- E-mail: whether the registered address contains an @ sign and a dot as separation of address and toplevel domain
- URL: whether the entered address contains at least 3 letters and a dot as separation of address and toplevel domain
- Phone: if the string starts with zero and contains at least 3 digits
- Numbers: whether the input contains digits
- Characters: whether the input contains (only) letters
Note
If you want to make sure that the e-mail address entered belongs to the person filling out the form, activate Mail must be confirmed (Double Opt-In) checkbox in the page content element under Plugin – Main Settings.
Initially, the form data will be saved as inactive and will only be marked as active after the confirmation link sent by e-mail has been called up.
Pre-filling form fields
In the Extended tab, you can use 2 fields to assign a default value to your form field:
- With Value: default value will not be overwritten automatically when clicking into the field
- Placeholder: default value will be overwritten when clicking into the field
If your form is located in a protected area, you can also pre-fill individual fields with the data of the logged-in user. To do this, select a valid database field, such as name or e-mail address, in the Value from logged in Frontent User drop-down in the Extended tab.