Easy Way to Create Online Web Forms for PDFs

create-online-web-forms

When it comes to creating your first online web forms things can be a little bit daunting.

What do you say? How do you embed a form to your website? What happens when someone fills it in? How do you link it to a PDF?

In this blog, I'll show you how to create your first online web forms and how to start sharing it with your customers.

Creating Your First Web Form

Before we get started, make sure you sign up for a free account at PlatoForms. Navigate to the form builder, and select Create a PDF Form from scratch. The form builder lets you build a PDF form from the ground up, and then publish it online as a web form. Simple.

1. Decide what you need to ask

Before you get started, take a pen and paper (or your favourite word processor), and make some notes about the questions you need to ask your customers. Try to keep it short and simple — you don’t want to overload your customers with questions.

2. Define the scope of your form

Before they fill anything in, your users need to know what the web form is for. Think of a clear title that defines the purpose of the form.

To add your title, add a text box to the Form Builder and enter your text. You can style your text with the tools in the left column.

3. Add the questions to your form

define-title

Use the tools in the top toolbar of the Form Builder to add your questions to your form. As you add fields, you should decide on the best way to present your data — input box, choice (radio buttons), dropdown, etc.

Generally, if it’s a custom answer, an input box will work best; whereas if it is a multiple choice, use the choice tool or a dropdown list. I prefer to use the choice boxes for smaller lists (of two or three items), and the dropdown for longer lists (three or more items). But, it is your choice, see what works best for you.

adding-fields

In the example I’ve used:

Name and Email fields = input box

Type of spaceship required? = dropdown

Do you have your astronaut licence? = choice

Top Tip: Once your fields are set up, you can drag and drop to move them around the form positioning them exactly where you want them.

4. Build your online web form

Once you have all your questions in position, it’s time to create the web form. In the top left of the screen, click Make Online Form (the purple button); it’ll then take a few seconds as it gathers all your data and converts the form. When it’s ready, you’ll have two options: Build an online PDF Form, and Build an Online Web Form. In this case, we’ll click Build an Online Web Form.

create-online-form

5. Add the finishing touches to your form

This next screen is where you can add the final touches to your form, as it shows you all the elements of your web form. There’s little need to make any changes to our fields, but you can use this to change automatically added aspects of the web form, for example, the text of the submit bar, or to link any text boxes to data fields.

For my form, I didn’t make any changes. I like it the way it is.

finishing-touches

6. Publish your web form

To publish, click Publish in the top left of the Form Builder. You have two options for publishing:

Public URL

This is a URL that links straight to your form. Share it with your users or add it to your website. Your visitors can then click the link to access the form.

form url

Embedded

This option embeds the web form directly on your website. Just copy the embed code and add it to an HTML section of your page. The web form is then visible (and fillable) directly on your website.

embed form

7. Test your form

The easiest way to test your web form is to visit the Public URL link. Copy it into your browser and fill out your form.

test-your-form

Once you’ve submitted your form, you’ll receive a notification in the dashboard of your PlatoForms account. You can click the notification to view the data filled out by your user.

That’s it! Great work. Congratulations on setting up your web form. Bookmark this page if you think you might need help again in the future or take a look at our documentation page.

Have you tried creating a Web Form with PlatoForms? Let us know how you got on in the comments below.