GETTING STARTED

Build a Form and Put It on Your Site

Turn a paper form or an email-us request into an online form visitors can fill out — a contact form, a permit request, a sign-up — and get it into your site's navigation so people can find it.

Please consider the environment before printing.

Before you begin

Forms need the Content Admin role. If Forms is missing from your left sidebar, ask your site administrator.

Decide two things before you start: what you need to collect (usually less than you think — every required box costs you submissions), and whose email inbox should receive each submission.

A form on EvoCloud is its own page with its own web address. You build it under Left menu › Forms, and then — just like a page — you add a link to it in your menu or from another page so visitors can reach it. Every response is also kept in the dashboard, so nothing is lost if an email goes astray.

1 Start the form and pick the basics

Go to Left menu › Forms and click Add Form. A short wizard asks for a Title (for our example, Contact the Clerk's Office) and shows a checklist of common fields: First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Phone, Address, Questions, File Upload, Captcha and so on.

Tick the ones you need and mark the essentials as required — typically Name, Email and a Questions box. Tick Captcha for any public form; it keeps spam out. Save, and the form's edit page opens with your fields already in place.

2 Add or adjust the questions

Click the Form Fields tab. Each field is a card: its Field Title (the label visitors see), whether it Is Required, its Field Type, and an optional Hint shown under the box. Rename anything the wizard added — Questions might read better as How can we help?

To add a question the wizard did not offer, click Add Field, give it a title and choose a type. The ones you will use most: Text (Single Line) for short answers, Text (Multiple Lines) for a message, Drop-Down or Radio when there is a fixed list of choices (type the options right on the card), Date for a date picker, File Upload to let people attach something. Drag the cards to reorder. Click Save.

Fewer required fields, more submissions. Make something required only if you cannot act on the submission without it.

3 Say who gets the submissions

Back on the General tab, put the inbox that should receive each submission in Notification Emails. Several addresses can go in, separated by commas. You must fill in at least one notification email (or mobile number) before the form will save.

Use a shared inbox where you can. clerk@yourtown.gov keeps working when someone is on vacation or moves on; a personal address does not.

4 Set the thank-you message and publish

Still on the General tab, under After submitting this form choose Show a confirmation message and write a short Confirmation Message that tells people what happens next — Thanks! We answer within two business days. is worth more than Form submitted.

Set Publication Status to Published and click Save. Note the Form URL shown near the top of the page — that is the form's own web address, and it is live now.

5 Put it in the menu (or link it from a page)

Visitors still need a way to find the form. The cleanest way is a menu item: go to Left menu › Menus, open your main menu, click Add Item, choose Form across the top of the pop-up, and click your form in the list. Tidy the Link Label, click Apply, drag it under the right heading (for our example, under Contact or Government), and click Save Menu.

To link the form from inside a page instead — say a Contact Us page that already exists — open that page, type the link wording (Send us a message), select it, click the chain-link icon in the toolbar and paste the Form URL from step 4. Save Page.

Both is fine. A menu item for people browsing, and a link on the related page for people who are already there.

6 Test it like a visitor

Click View Site, find your menu link, fill the form in as a resident would, and submit it. Two things should happen: you see your confirmation message, and the notification email arrives in the inbox from step 3 within a minute or two. Then open the form in the dashboard — the submissions area on its edit page shows your test entry. Delete the test if you like; it is only there to prove the wiring.

If something looks wrong

What you see	What to do
The form will not save.	Almost always a missing Notification Emails entry on the General tab. Fill it in and save again.
The menu link opens a blank or “not found” page.	The form's Publication Status is not Published, or it has Start / End dates that are not yet open. Check both on the General tab.
Submissions arrive in the dashboard but no email comes.	Check the spelling of the address in Notification Emails and look in the junk folder. The submissions themselves are safe in the dashboard either way.
Spam submissions.	Make sure Include Captcha is on, and lower Max Submissions per IP Address if the same sender keeps coming back.
People say they cannot submit.	A required field is easy to miss. Fill the form in yourself, leaving each box blank in turn, and watch which one the form complains about. Consider making it optional, or add a Hint under it.

Next steps

The Forms guide covers every field type, e-signatures, exporting submissions to a spreadsheet, and start/end dates for application windows.
For resident requests that need tracking and follow-up (potholes, missed pickups), Simple311 is the better tool than a plain form.
The menu steps in detail: Add a Page and Put It in the Menu.

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