The UBCMS supports simple forms. Try Formstack for better storage and many advanced features.
The UBCMS is not an appropriate place to receive, store or share ANY regulated private data, including credit/debit card numbers, government-issued ID numbers, health information or computer passwords.
Last reviewed: August 16, 2022
We discourage building forms in shared content -- this practice may interfere with normal functionality, including validation.
By combining these built-in form components, you can create a wide variety of forms to meet most basic needs, but we primarily recommend their use for generating simple email messages (contact and feedback forms or quick registration or service requests). For more complex or critical needs (including storing responses), please consider a more robust platform such as Formstack.
Forms should be intuitively organized with headings, clearly marked required fields and clear instructions about what information is desired.
Forms must also be usable for people using screen readers or tabbing using a keyboard. This includes providing a clear label for each field.
Much of this functionality is already built into our UBCMS components and Formstack forms, but be careful not to circumvent these settings.
Best practice: For the UBCMS, a meaningful value must be supplied in the title or label for each form component such as the Dropdown List or Text Field.
Do not use the default Other in a dropdown list with the additional text field - both will be labeled the same id. Instead use a separate and clearly labeled "other" text field.
Do not use the built in date picker. Instead provide separate day, month, and year fields.
We have found Formstack (formstack.com) to be a reliable and robust solution for forms that are more complex than the basic UBCMS tools. A reasonably priced local site license will likely meet your needs.
To use a Formstack in the UBCMS, you will first need to build your form in Formstack.com, then embed the code for the form into your UBCMS page using one of these two methods.
Your forms can be styled appropriately for use in the UBCMS using our UB Branded theme.
> Learn more about the UB Branded theme.
Do not use the default Other in a dropdown list with the additional text field - both will be labeled the same id. Instead use a separate and clearly labeled "other" text field.
Do not use the built in date picker. Instead provide separate day, month, and year fields.
Our custom solution to embed a Formstack form into a UBCMS page is the Formstack component.
Using this component, authors only need to paste the default Formstack embed code directly into the Formstack component on their UBCMS page. This code is provided with your form on FormStack.com. Look in the Publish tab, under 'Quick Start' for 'Embed this form on your website (JavaScript)'. Copy that code and paste it into the UBCMS component. It will look something like this:
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://universityatbuffalo.formstack.com/forms/js.php/help_desk_calendar_feedback"></script><noscript><a href="https://universityatbuffalo.formstack.com/forms/help_desk_calendar_feedback" title="Online Form">Online Form - Calendar Feedback</a></noscript><div style="text-align:right; font-size:x-small;"><a href="http://www.formstack.com?utm_source=jsembed&utm_medium=product&utm_campaign=product+branding&fa=h,2754112" title="Powered by Formstack">Powered by Formstack</a></div>
No further adjustments are required.
This method of embedding a Formstack form relies on the HTML Snippet.
This approach works well, but requires selecting 'I don't need jQuery' when the embed code is generated otherwise the page could be corrupted. In Formstack, ignore the Quickstart code and instead open the Embed Form section, and use the 'JavaScript Embed Script ' but be sure to select the Advanced Option of 'I don't need jQuery'.
Note: This method is required to embed multiple Formstack forms on a page. Use the Formstack component for the first form, then an HTML Snippet for each additional form. (Read more about this Known Issue.)