Creating and converting forms
To create a web form that is accessible, you will need to:
- create both a form (form.asp) and a confirmation form (formconfirm.asp) in FrontPage. These must be two separate webpages (ie have different HTML addresses)
- use the FRONTPAGE to ASP form conversion tool to make your form functional. The form conversion tool creates a webpage titled formconfirm_cvted.asp.
Following these two steps, you will end up with two files you have created - form.asp and formconfirm.asp - and one file that the form conversion tool creates - formconfirm_cvted.asp. The form conversion tool will always create a new file with '_cvted.asp' added to the file name. Please do not delete any of these files. When publishing, publish all three of these files.
How to create a basic form using FrontPage
- Create a new .asp page that reflects the name of your form
- Insert a page title (heading 1) that reflects the name of your form and that this is a confirmation page eg 'Requesting report confirmation'
- Put some text in the page eg 'Thanks for registering your request for a report. We will endeavour to provide the report within [x] working days of this request. Contact [staff name] or ext [phone number] for further information.
- Preview this page in the web and use the URL in the conversion tool (see instructions below)
Extra functionality you can enable for form results
How to create a confirmation page
You will need to create both a form and a confirmation page in FrontPage. These must be on two separate web pages (ie have different HTML addresses). Then use the FRONTPAGE to ASP form conversion tool to make your form functional.
If you are unsure how to create forms then see our instructions about how to create a basic form using FrontPage.
There is some extra functionality you can enable for form results (staff access only), such as:
- create a confirmation page that lists the details the user has submitted
- change the form to import results into Excel spreadsheet
- remove double line spacing from web form email
- prevent unwanted (spam) content in web forms.
You will need to reconvert your form when:
- you make any changes to your form (ie add modify or delete fields)
- you make any changes to your confirmation page (formconfirm.asp)
You will end up with two files that you have created; form.asp, formconfirm.asp and one file the form conversion tool creates formconfirm_cvted.asp. The form conversion tool will always create a new file with '_cvted' added to the end of your file name. Please do not delete any of these files. When publishing, publish all three of these files.
Using the FRONTPAGE to ASP form conversion tool
Access the conversion tool at https://www.publish.unisa.edu.au/publish/forms/. You will see the following screen
- Enter the web (HTML) address of your form
- Press 'Detect fields below' for the tool to automatically detect the confirmation page and email recipient. (If you didn't enter these details in the form properties, you can type them in yourself)
- Check the web (HTML) address of the confirmation page
- Check the email address. Multiple email addresses can be entered provide they are separated using a semi-colon
- Add a Subject line for the email results
- Select 'Include time stamp' if you want the time the form was submitted on the email
- Click 'Convert form'
- View your form in the browser and check to make sure it works
Don't forget, it is possible to enable some extra functionality for form results (staff access only).