USER GUIDE

Forms

Build online forms — contact forms, applications, sign-up sheets, requests — that visitors fill out on your website, and collect every response in one place.

Before you begin

Good news: forms need no special setup. You can build one on an empty site right away. A few things are worth knowing first:

A form must exist before you can show it to the public, so always build the form first, then place it on a page (see the last section).
To create or edit forms you need the Content Admin role. If you do not see the Forms area, ask your site administrator.
Have a rough idea of what you want to collect (name, email, a message, a file, etc.) and who should be notified when someone submits.

Forms live in the left sidebar. Go to Left menu › Forms to open the Manage Forms list. From there you can build a new form, edit an existing one, and read the responses people send in.

1 Find your forms (Manage Forms)

Open Left menu › Forms. The Manage Forms page lists every form on your site with its name, a status badge (Published, Draft, Pending Approval, Unpublished, or Archived), and when it was last updated and by whom.

Use the status dropdown at the top to filter the list — handy for finding a Draft you are still working on. Click any form's name to open and edit it.

Tip: On a brand-new site this list is empty. Click Add Form (top right) to build your first one.

2 Add a form

On the Manage Forms page, click Add Form. A short wizard opens and asks for a Title and lets you check off common fields to include right away — First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Company Name, Phone, Address, City, State/Province, Country, Postal Code, Questions, File Upload, and a Captcha. Check the ones you want (and mark any as required), then save.

EvoCloud creates the form, adds the fields you picked, and drops you onto the form's edit page — a page with tabs across the top. The main General tab holds the settings below. You can leave anything blank for now and come back later.

Setting	What it does
Title	The form's name. Shows in your form list and is used to build the form's web address. Required.
Department	The primary department or group this form belongs to (the label may differ on your site). Optional.
Publication Status	Whether the form is Published (live), a Draft, or otherwise. A form must be Published to appear to the public.
Start / End	Optional dates to automatically show or hide the form during a window (for example, an application period).
Description	Optional text shown at the top of the form to explain it to visitors.
After submitting this form	Choose what happens after someone submits: Show a confirmation message, or Redirect the visitor to another page (URL). Pick one.
Confirmation Message	The thank-you message shown after submitting (used when you chose "Show a confirmation message").
Confirmation URL	The web address to send the visitor to after submitting (used when you chose "Redirect").
Include Captcha	Adds a spam-blocking check at the bottom of the form. Recommended for public forms.
Max Submissions per IP Address	Limits how many times the same visitor can submit within 24 hours. Defaults to 5.

Note: Click Save whenever you make changes. Notifications and form fields are covered in the next sections.

3 Add and arrange form fields

Fields are the questions and boxes people fill in. On the form's edit page, click the Form Fields tab, then click Add Field (there is a button above and below the list). Each new field opens a small card where you set:

Field Title — the label shown next to the box on the live form (for example, "Your Name").
Is Required — turn on if the form cannot be submitted without an answer here.
Field Type — the kind of input (see the next section).
Hint — optional helper text shown under the field (for example, "Format: 555-555-5555").

For choice-style fields (Drop-Down, Radio, Multiselect) you add the options right on the field card. To reorder fields, drag and drop them into the order you want. To remove a field, open it and use its Delete option.

Tip: The fewer required fields you have, the more submissions you will receive. Also, give drop-downs a first empty option named something like "Please Select" so you can tell whether a real choice was made.

Field types explained

When you choose a Field Type, these are the options you will see:

Field Type	Use it for
Text (Single Line)	Short answers like a name or subject.
Text (Multiple Lines)	Longer answers like comments or a message.
Main Email Address	The visitor's main email address. Use this so replies and acknowledgements work correctly.
Additional Email Address	A second, extra email address field.
Radio	Pick exactly one option from a small list of buttons.
Checkbox	A single yes/no or "I agree" box.
Drop-Down	Pick one option from a menu list.
Multiselect	Pick more than one option from a list.
File Upload	Let the visitor attach a document or image.
Date	A calendar date picker.
Section Heading	A heading to group and separate parts of a long form. Collects no answer.
E-Signature	Captures a typed or drawn signature with the affirmation text shown at signing.
Payment Item	Appears only when payment mode is enabled; adds a purchasable item to the form.
Group Recipients Dropdown	Lets the visitor choose which group receives the submission.

4 Set up notifications and recipients

Back on the General tab, tell EvoCloud who should hear about each submission. You must fill in at least one of the notification fields (email or mobile) before you can save.

Setting	What it does
Notification Emails	The email address (or several, separated by commas) that receives each submission.
Notification Email Subject	The subject line for those emails. You can insert values like the form title or the submitter's name automatically.
Notification Mobile Numbers	Phone number(s) in ###-###-#### format to receive a text (SMS) alert. Separate multiple numbers with commas.
SMS Message Body	Optional custom wording for the text alert.

Heads up: If you leave both Notification Emails and Notification Mobile Numbers blank, the form will not save — someone has to be told when a submission arrives.

5 View submissions

Every response is saved so you never lose one, even if a notification email goes astray. Open the form from Left menu › Forms and look on its edit page for the submissions area, which shows a running count of responses.

From there you can browse submissions on screen (each shows the answers, and download links for any uploaded files or signatures) and Export them to a spreadsheet (CSV) using the date range boxes provided. This is the easiest way to work with lots of responses in Excel.

Tip: Exporting by date range is great for monthly reports or for filtering out incomplete payment attempts.

6 Place the form on a page

Building a form does not automatically show it to visitors — you decide where it appears. First make sure the form's Publication Status is Published and click Save.

Then add it to a page: open the page where the form should live (see the Pages guide), and insert the form using the form widget/token in the Page Editor. Your form's own web address is also shown at the top of its edit page ("Form URL"), so you can link to it directly from a menu or button.

Note: If you set Start and End dates on the form, it will only appear to the public during that window even after it is placed on a page.

Next steps

Now that your form collects responses, you may want to add it to a navigation menu, feature it on a department page, or link to it from a News post. See the User Guides index for Pages, Menus, and Departments & Groups.

Need a hand? Contact EvoGov support or visit help.evogov.com.