Forms

Overview

Forms are the vehicle by which data is entered, edited, viewed and queried. Forms and form data live in the Site Administration section of ShareVision under Site Content, along with Documents and Calendars.

Forms are accessed from page parts in the front end of the site. That is where users enter and edit data on a daily basis. Forms are created and adjusted from the back end in Forms section by Site Administrators.

Ready to use forms

ShareVision comes with a number of forms that are ready for use from the front end; pages and page parts have been created to make those form accessible to users. These forms are listed as “ShareVision Forms”.

ShareVision Forms that are integral to the basic functioning of the site have editing restrictions. ShareVision training should be completed before making changes to these forms, or hiding related pages and page parts.

Forms Location

Forms are stored in Site Administration under Site Content, Forms.

 

 

Form Organisation

Forms are grouped by ShareVision Forms and User Forms.
ShareVision forms were created by us and cannot be deleted. Editing of ShareVision form names is disabled. Removal of critical fields is also disabled.
User Forms are forms that are added by your site administrator. User forms can be renamed, edited and deleted by the administrator.

 

Forms Library

A Forms Library contains forms that are available for use by your agency. These forms can be previewed and added to your site as desired. Once added to your site, the form can be edited and updated to suit your purpose. Pages and page parts will need to be created.

 

Access Forms Library

Preview of Forms Library

New forms

Site Administrators can create new forms to exactly meet the requirements of your agency, and then create pages and part parts to place them where needed.

Forms Fields

Forms are made up of fields (columns). There are different types of fields that can be used to support your data.


ShareVision Fields

  • Client - filters to display client's names

  • Client Contact - filters to display contacts that have a relationship with the selected client

  • Contact - filters to display people who are listed as General Contacts

  • Email - requires that a properly formatted email address is entered

  • Phone Number - formats the number to that chosen in Application Settings - General

  • Photo Uploader - accommodates inserting photos (images) into a form field

  • Professional - filters to display people who are listed as Professionals

  • Province - includes all provinces and can be set to default to the most commonly chosen one for any form

  • Service - filters to display services

 

 


Basic Input Fields

  • Single Line of Text - allows up to 255 characters of plain text

  • Multi Line of Text - allows for multiple lines of plain text

  • Rich Text Box - allows for multiple line of Rich text (including images and hyperlinks)

  • Link - allows for capture of URLs

  • Number - captures numbers values including currency and decimals

 

 


Date & Time Fields

  • Date and Time - Captures date or date and time data

  • Age - calculates age based on the date field associated with “Date Of Birth Field”

 

 


Choice & Reference Fields

  • Drop Down List - Offer the option to choose a single item from a drop down list of many items

  • Yes/No - Simple Yes or No answers

  • Radio Group - allow for the single pick of items displayed in the form

  • Checkbox Group - allows for selection of multiple items displayed in the form

  • User (Employee) - looks up to users; can be set to auto populate logged-in user

  • Lookup Values - allows for selection of data from a field found in another form

 

 


Form Structure & information

  • Section - divides form into parts

  • Heading - inserts a heading into a form to make the form more readable

  • Information - inserts instructions into the form

  • File Uploader - accommodates attaching a document to a form

  • Signature - allows user to sign on the form

  • Content Display Field - display static text, disclaimers or instructions (not editable by form respondents)

 


Survey & Evaluation Fields

  • Linear Scale - for ratings or evaluations on a numerical scale

  • Checkbox Grid - multiple selections across a matrix of options

  • Multiple Choice Grid - structure choice selection across a matrix

 

 


Removed/Other Fields

  • Contains fields that have been removed from the form

  • Removed fields can be dragged back into the form to be used again or deleted


Form Types

  • List - Most forms have the form type List.

  • Announcements - Are a specialized form type for the purpose of creating short-term memos


Form Considerations

Forms are the foundation of your ShareVision site. Forms should be designed to satisfy requirements of your agency and capture data necessary to your success. It is a good idea to become familiar with the forms that are already in place to determine if they meet your needs. Existing forms can be modified as may be required or not used at all.

  • Forms should be simple as possible while extracting the required information in the correct format

  • Data should only be entered in one place

  • Heading can be used to break a form into related sections to make it more readable

  • Information fields can be used to provide a description of what users should be entering into a form

  • Form Help is available for all fields and provide a place to add instructions

Getting Started

  • Have a printed copy or similar example of the form you want to create

  • Consider whether any of the data in the form already exists elsewhere in ShareVision and doesn't need to be in this form

  • Follow instructions found in Create a New Form.

Editing Forms with Data

Once data has been entered into a form caution must apply when editing form fields. Only limited editing of the options within a field is allowed. The options that you are allowed to edit are generally safe, but it is important that you consider the implications of the change before you act.

 

Many options can be edited without affecting data, but the changes could affect the user experience. Examples are:

Required
If a change is from not required to required, a form previously filled in will require the field to be filled in on the next edit.

Label
Could affect the user's experience.

Help Text
Could affect the user's experience.

Placeholder
Could affect the user's experience.

Default Field
Could affect the user's experience.


Removing Fields

A field can be removed from a form. Removed field will be available to be added back to the form from the section "Removed/Other Fields". A field can be restored to the form by dragging and dropping.

Data that existed before the field was removed is preserved in the state that existed on the date it was removed. Data loss can be an issue if in the meantime changes were made to the 3 types of fields noted below.

Potential Data Lost

Data can be lost when editing "options" for the following 3 field types:

  • Drop Down List

  • Radio Group

  • Checkbox Group

Radio Group and Checkbox Groups have a setting that makes data loss less risky. Consider enabling "Other" before you make changes to options.

Potential Data Lost - Drop Down List

If an option is removed or renamed, the data for that option is lost on the next edit.

  • Page Part view - initially the deleted / renamed choice will display as before the change

  • Display form view - the deleted choice will display as before the change

  • Edit form - the field is empty and another option can be selected

If an option with the exact same name as the deleted one is added back, the option will be restored to full function. However, any items that have been edited and saved will not revert back to the original choice.)

Potential Data Lost - Radio Group

Radio Group - If Enable "Other" is set to no

If an option is removed or renamed, the data for that choice is lost on the next edit.

  • Page Part view - initially the deleted / renamed choice will display as before the change

  • Display form view - the deleted choice is no longer visible and no choice is selected

  • Edit form - One of the available choices can be selected

Radio Group - when Enable "Other" is set to yes

  • Turning on Enable "Other" prevents a loss of data by moving the affected choice into "Other" value

  • If a option is renamed or deleted the choice is moved to "Other"

  • "Other" can only contain one choice, so if multiple changes are made to options some choice data could be lost

Potential Data Lost - Checkbox List

Checkbox List - If Enable "Other" is set to no

If an option is renamed

  • Page Part view - initially the renamed choice will display as before the change

  • Display form view - the renamed choice is not selected; the default choice will be auto-selected if no other choices were checked.

  • Edit form - available choices can be selected, the data for the renamed choice will be lost

Renaming the option back to the original name will restore the choice (assuming no edits of the item).

If an option is removed

  • Page Part view - initially the renamed choice will display as before the change

  • Display form view - the removed choice is no longer visible; the default choice will be auto-selected if no other choices were checked.

  • Edit form - available choices can be selected, the data for the deleted choice will be lost

Adding an option back with the exact original name will restore the choice (assuming no edits of the item).

Checkbox List - If Enable "Other" is set to yes

  • Turning on Enable "Other" prevents a loss of data by making the affected choice become "Other"

  • "Other" can only contain one choice. Multiple changes to options could result in loss of choice data.

If a option is renamed or deleted the choice data is moved to Other

  • Page Part view - initially the renamed / deleted choice will display as before the change

  • Display form view - the renamed / deleted choice is found in "Other"

  • Edit form - available choices can be selected

Potential Data Lost - Lookup

If a source lookup list choice item is edited and renamed, all the existing data that contains that choice is updated in real-time. The changes are effective in the:

  • Page Part

  • Display View

  • Edit form

If a source lookup list choice item is deleted, all the existing data that contains that choice still display the choice in the:

  • Page Part

  • Display View

If source list choice item is restored or a new item added back with the exact same name, then all data that contains that still contains that choice will continue to function as before (edited items will be affected. )

 

 

 

 

 

Requirements/Dependencies

  • Login with ShareVision Administrator permissions.

 

 Related articles

 

 

Related pages