Part IV: Using the Forms.com Tools

ACTIVITY ONE

The purpose of this activity is to upload the "Course Evaluation" that you created and saved in Part III.

1. Click the link to open the Forms.com site in a new browser window. Use the Taskbar to switch back and forth between the Forms.com site and this course site. (Or, you may want to print this page of instructions.)

2. Type your Domain, User name, and Password, then click the Member Login button.
   • Your Domain is the same as your NISD Webmaster User ID that you use to FTP files to the web server. (If you don't know what that is, stop and e-mail Kelly Smith.)
   • Your User name is your yourdomain@nisd.net

   • Your Password is your yourdomainpass

3. From the Upload menu, click HTML Forms from your local computer or network.

4. Complete the Form Properties dialog box:

• Browse to select the Source (eval.htm that you created in Part III)
• Type a form name (eval)
• Type the form title (Course Evaluation)
• Place a checkmark in the Mandatory field(s)
• Type a URL to re-route your user to after they submit data (http://www.nisd.net, or your school's address)
• Select "Automatically process data. No email notification." (personal preference)
• Click the Upload Form Now button

 

5. Checkmark the "User Must Fill" boxes for the date, course, and instructor fields.

9. Click the Advanced Features button.

10. Select the appropriate data types for each field. (string = 255 characters or less, text = unlimited number of characters. NOTE: date = an actual date & time stamp - not exactly what we want in this situation)

11. Click the Next Step button.

12. Re-check the "User Must Fill" boxes for the date, course, and instructor fields. Then, click the Finish button.

13. Browse to select your title graphic to upload it with your form. Then, click the Finish button.

14. Congratulations! You have uploaded your first form! COPY THE FORM URL FROM THE ADDRESS BAR AND EMAIL IT TO KELLY SMITH TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS ACTIVITY.

15. Exit the Forms.com site by closing it's browser window.

16. Now, go to the URL in step 14 three times and submit three records to the database.

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ACTIVITY TWO

The purpose of this activity is to sort and view the data submitted via the "Course Evaluation" form.

1. Go to the Forms.com site and log in.

2. From the Data menu, click View, Edit, Export.

3. Point and click on eval in the list of databases.

4. The next screen that you see has four steps.

• Step 1: Check all fields (default)
• Step 2: Do NOT show system data (personal preference, but may be useful if you wish to see the exact date & time the record was submitted)
• Step 3: Leave blank, but note how this option could be desirable
• Step 4: Sort in ascending order by date, and then by course, for example. Note that only 100 records will be displayed. You need to type a higher number in that field, if you have more than 100 records.
• Click the View Data Now button

5. You will see the three records that you submitted to the database in Activity One.

• FYI s for future reference
  • You may print this page from within your browser in order to have hard copy of the data.
  • You may export the data, in a comma delimited format, via the Export button in the "view data" window. The data file can then be opened in Microsoft Excel.

5. TAKE A SCREENSHOT (Print Screen) OF THE DATA, PASTE IT INTO A WORD DOCUMENT, AND EMAIL IT TO KELLY SMITH TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS ACTIVITY.

6. Click the User Home link in the bottom, right corner of the data window for the next activity.

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ACTIVITY THREE

The purpose of this activity is to create a report from the data submitted via the "Course Evaluation" form.

1. From the Forms.com user home page, click Reports from the Create menu

2. Select Tabular Report and a color scheme of your choice, then click the Next Step button.

3. Complete the Report Properties dialog box:

• Report Name = evalreport
• Form Name = eval
• Title = Course Evaluation
• Subtitle = your campus name
• Footer = October 2002

4. Click the Next Step button.

5. Select the date, course, and instructor data fields (for example) to display in the report

6. Click the Next Step button

7. Sort alphabetically by course, then click the Finish button.

8. Congratulations! You have created your first report! COPY THE REPORT URL FROM THE ADDRESS BAR AND EMAIL IT TO KELLY SMITH TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS ACTIVITY.

9. Click the User Home link in the bottom, right corner of the report window for the next activity.

10. Exit the Forms.com site by closing it's browser window.

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ACTIVITY FOUR

This is an independent practice activity, for which you will receive credit!

1. Think of some useful data that you need to collect.
2. Create an appropriate data collection form in Dreamweaver.
3. Upload your data collection form to your Forms.com space.
4. Email the address of the form to Kelly Smith.
5. Create a report based on the data.
6. Email the address of the report to Kelly Smith.

NOTES

• You may get an error message on step 4 if you don't log out, and then log back in, to Forms.com.
• In the event you need to change a form, you will have to upload it with a different name, unless you completely delete the old form AND its data first.

You have completed Part IV and the class. You will receive a certificate of completion soon!