Working With Templates

Last edited 9/30/2020

Best Practice: Create new forms by duplicating a template.

A template form houses all your basic information, such as payment processor credentials, notification settings, and your most common fields, such as a GL field, so you start every new form with the basics covered. When you need to create a new form, you can duplicate the template and change what you need. You may want to create a few different templates, each designed for a separate general purpose such as fundraisers vs. product sales.

You can also duplicate forms from one common event, such as a district dinner, for the next district dinner in order to copy your settings and then update for the new event.

Step 1: Create a New Template

Start by clicking on "Create New Form!" in the top-right of Form Manager. This will automatically place you in the editor for your new, untitled form.

Step 2: Form Properties

To the right of the screen, click on the "Form Properties" tab. Enter a title and description for your template. These will appear at the top of your form on your webpage. Your page content can also display a title and description with more formatting options, in which case you can check the box to "Hide Title and Description from Public View" to avoid duplicating titles.

Modify your form properties for this template as appropriate. Visit Advanced Form Settings for more details. Click on "Save Form" then "Yes. Continue Editing."

Step 3: Form Fields

To add a field to your form, you can either click on a field type to add it to the bottom of the form or drag and drop a field type to any spot on the form. Added fields can also be dragged into a new order.

Best Practice: It is a good idea to save periodically while working on any form. It is especially important to ALWAYS leave the form editor by saving and selecting "I'm finished," instead of using the back button or closing your browser window.

There are a few fields that need to be on every single form:

  • GL (General Ledger) - Single Line Text field, required for any monetized form
  • Name
  • Email

GL Field

If this is a template for forms that might be monetized, create a GL field by clicking on "Single Line Text" in the brown "Add a Field" tab on the right of the editor. Click on your new field, and the "Field Properties" tab will automatically open. Change the field label to "GL," then check "Read Only" under rules and "Hidden" under field visibility. In the Default Text field, enter the GL Account Number as all digits - no dots, dashes, or spaces - for reporting consistency.

Name and Email Fields

Next, create both a name and email field. Click on each and check "required" under rules. This guarantees every form will have a means of contacting users.

Other Fields

Next, add fields for any other information you're likely to be asking for on your forms, such as council, district, unit type, unit number, number of participants, etc. Once you have your fields set up as you wish, click on "Save Form" then "I'm finished" to return to Form Manager.

Step 4: Notifications

Adding notifications settings to your template can save a lot of time on future forms. See Notifications (Basic) for instructions on how to set up standard notifications and Logic & Advanced Notifications for details on setting up conditional notifications.

Step 5: Logic

Logic can be used to show or hide fields, skip pages, or send specialized notifications dependent on user choices. For example, you may want to have different unit types fill out different form pages, or allow offline payment methods. For more information on using logic, see Logic & Advanced Notifications or Setting up Offline Payments.

6: Payment

Every monetized form will need to have payments enabled and connected to your Authorize.net account. See Payment Settings for an explanation of this process.

Review

All aspects of your template will be inherited by forms duplicated from the template. Therefore, it is especially important to review your template before moving on.

Best Practice: Take another look at each aspect of your form:
  • Form Properties
  • Form Fields
  • Notifications
  • Logic Rules
  • Payment Settings

In Form Manager, click "View" to bring up your form and check all fields, logic settings, and monetization settings. Submit a test entry to confirm notification settings.

Duplicating Templates

Now that your templates are complete, creating a new form is easy. In Form Manager, click on the name of your template, then on "Duplicate." A new form will appear at the top of the manager with the name of "(Your Template's Name) Copy." You can now go into the editor and options screens of your new form and adjust it to your needs.

Best Practice: The best testing is only possible with the assistance of someone who did not help make the form. Have at least one other staff member help test your form before turning it on for clients. Tentaroo Customer Support is always happy to review forms as well. You can schedule a training or send us an email to review your form (please include your form's exact name and allow us three business days).

 
 
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