Introduction
Forms allow Members to easily fill out information for various uses: joining as a member, sending a donation, renewing a contract or membership, etc.
To access the form section of Mc Trade, select the Communication menu > Form Builder.
The Form Builder includes a list of forms that were created in the browser version of MC Trade.
Each form includes the:
- Name of the form - select to edit the form.
- Number of submissions - select to see more information about each submission, including the date, profile, and any related invoices.
- Type of form - includes Join, Donation, Renewal, Prospect, or General.
- Form ID number - a generated ID to identify the form in MC Trade's database.
- Actions - to create a copy of the form or to deactivate/reactivate the form.
If there is a long list of forms, select a column header to sort by that column, and the option to move between pages at the very bottom.
Adding a Join Form
The process of adding a Join Form involves creating the form, designing the form, reviewing the form settings, and then saving and previewing the form.
Adding the Form
- Select the Communication menu > Form Builder.
Your user role must have access to the 'Web Template Manager' security element to access this.
- In the top right corner, select Create a New Form.
- Choose Join Form.
This will create the form and lead to a screen to can add headers, text, and fields.
- Change the Form Title if desired. This will only appear in the Form Builder, so the title needs to help identify it in the form list when accessing it later.
- Continue with designing the form.
Designing the Form
The form is broken up into blocks. Each block contains an element. Elements can be edited, removed, or re-ordered:
Other elements can be added:
- Select New Form Element.
- This button is at the bottom of the form. When selected, it will add a block at the bottom.
- This button will appear when hovering over a block with your mouse. When selected, it will add a block below the block where the button was selected.
- When the New Form Element window opens, below Select Form Widget Type, select the drop-down, and choose an element:
- Add a heading: Used to create labels to organize a form into sections. This uses the H3 tag in the stylesheet. There is also a sub-header field, which will appear below the heading and use the H4 tag in the stylesheet.
- Add a Block of Text: Used to enter text to clarify something at the beginning, at the end, or to add context to a specific section or field.
- Add a Field: This is the most common element used to gather information from the visitor. Select a field type, and choose a field.
- Click Add.
When adding or editing a field, these options may appear:
- Required: When checked, the field will be required to fill out to submit the form. Use this feature for important information such as the profile name, contact info, address, etc.
- Label Text: Change how the field will be labeled in the form.
Certain fields will pull up more options such as:
- Help Text: This will add a question mark next to the field and, when hovering over it, a text box to provide more context.
- Placeholder Text: Fields where the applicant enters information can have placeholder text. This text will appear in the field to help the user understand what needs to be entered. For example, the Member Contact field: Address 1 could have "Main Address" as placeholder text.
In order for confirmation and notification emails to be sent, there MUST be an email address field on the form for the member profile, and it must be filled out by the applicant. (Best practice: set this field as required so that it cannot be left blank.) An email address field for the main contact will not meet this requirement.
Purchase Item 'Mutually Exclusive' Function:
When adding a Purchase Item on the form, there is an option to make that Purchase Item 'Mutually Exclusive'. When multiple Purchase Items are created and marked as 'Mutually Exclusive', this means that the applicant can only select one of the Mutually Exclusive Purchase Items.
If there are other Purchase Items available on the form that are not marked as Mutually Exclusive, these items can still be selected even after a Mutually Exclusive Purchase Item has been selected.
For example, if there are 5 items, and 3 are marked as 'Mutually Exclusive', then only 1 of the 3 'Mutually Exclusive' could be selected in the form, but both of the remaining 2 that are not marked as 'Mutually Exclusive' can still be selected.
To mark a Purchase Item as Mutually Exclusive, begin by adding the Purchase Item to the join form. Once the item is added, select the Edit button beside the item.
A window to edit the form element will open, and the option to make the Purchase Item mutually exclusive will appear at the bottom:
Select this, and this Purchase Item will only be able to be selected if the new applicant has not selected any other 'Mutually Exclusive' Purchase Items.
Form Settings
Click Form Settings at the top. This includes settings that impact billing, membership, affiliation codes, and e-mail notifications.
- Billing Options: Used to add a credit card payment option to the form, a Bill Me option, or both. If the forms contains the Membership Level or Additional Purchase Items, and any of the levels/items have a cost greater than $0.00, then at least one of these options must be selected.
There is an option: Do not set as Member if Bill Me is selected. If this option is not enabled, if the applicant chooses the Bill Me option, they will be entered into the system as a member (before payment).
- Membership: Set whether this form is an organization- or individual-based membership. Indicate which Member Activity Type should be used when the member profile is automatically created.
The join form creates, by default, an organization-based membership. it can be changed to an individual-based membership in the Form Settings, if desired.
An organization-based membership means that, upon submission, a member profile will be created for the organization (based on the Member Contact Fields) and a non-member profile will be created for the individual (based on the Main Contact Fields) and appear as a related profile to the member.
An individual-based membership means that, upon submission, a member profile will be created for the individual (based on the Member Contact Fields).
When creating a new form, by default it is created as an organizational membership form. To change it to an individual membership form, update the form settings first and save the form. Then, modify the "Organization Information" header text and fields for the individual membership, and modify (or remove) the "Main Contact Information" header text and fields for the related organization info.
- Affiliation Codes: Choose affiliation codes that should be automatically added to the new member profile. Begin typing in the code and a list will auto-populate with a list of matching codes. Select the desired code.
- Email Settings: Select "New Notification Email" to enter an email address which will be notified of all submissions for this form.
- Confirmation Email Message Text: This text will appear in the confirmation email that goes out to the applicant upon submission.
For the confirmation email to be sent, there MUST be an email address field on the form for the member profile (the Email field under Member Contact Fields), and it must be filled out by the applicant. An email address field for the main contact will not meet this requirement. The best practice is to set this field as required so that it cannot be left blank.
Click here for more details and best practices on each Form Settings option.
Discounts and promo codes cannot be applied through forms.
Previewing the Form
After designing the form and reviewing the form settings, click Save at the bottom of the form.
At the top, click View Join Form to preview the form, test it, and obtain the URL. Copy that URL to add to your website.
Be careful with testing. This is the actual page, so if you submit credit card information, it will submit. Following your test, remember to manually delete the resulting profiles/invoices.
Submissions
After the URL is added to your website, the form will be accessible.
When the form is submitted:
- A new member profile will be created.
- All information entered will be saved to the corresponding fields of the new profile.
- Related profiles will be created if the main contact or additional related contacts are gathered.
If membership levels were created and added to the form for the applicant to pick a level, then information from the level will be automatically added to the member, including the profile status, billing records, affiliation codes, directory listings, member activity, and benefits.
- An invoice will be created for the member profile if a membership level or additional purchase item was selected with a price that is greater than $0.00.
- If a credit card payment was submitted, it will be applied to that invoice. If "Bill Me" was enabled in the Form Settings and selected by the applicant, an open invoice will be created.
- View each submission by clicking on the Communication menu > Form Builder, finding the join form, and selecting the number of submissions.
- In the list of submissions, select the Actions button and View Submission to view all of the information that was gathered.
- Click Here for more information on managing submissions.
Copying a Join Form
If there is an existing form that is similar to a new form required, copy the form and alter the copy:
- Find the join form that should be copied.
- Click on the Actions button and Copy.
- Make any desired changes including the name.
- Select Save.
- After saving, select View Join Form to preview the updated form.
Editing a Join Form
- Select the Communication menu > Form Builder.
- Find the join form that should be edited.
- Select the name of the form.
- After making the desired changes, click Save.
- After saving, click View Join Form to preview the updated form.
Disabling or Enabling a Join Form
There is not an option to delete a form as to not lose any history, but deactivating is an option to disable it and to hide it from the Form Builder. Place a check next to "Show inactive forms" (on the ride side above the grid) to open an inactive form.
Disabling
- Select the Communication menu > Form Builder.
- Find the join form that should be deactivated.
- Click on the Actions button and Deactivate.
The form will immediately disappear, but it can be re-opened at any time by placing a check next to "Show inactive forms" on the right above the grid.
Enabling
- Select the Communication menu > Form Builder.
- Place a check next to "Show inactive forms" on the right above the grid.
- Find the join form that should be reactivated.
- Click on the Actions button and Reactivate.
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