Forms 2.0 - Better forms without code

[Anonymous]

[Please add your comments below to help build a strong case]

Since the FORMS 2.0 idea from Glen Lipka has long been lost, it's time to bring it back and get it on the agenda.  It only been raised as an issue for 3 years and more than 2 versions of this community.  Even one of recent ideas from the community for the Amazing Race Idea was for form improvements: Form Widgets!.

Basically Forms need to be come way easier without manipulation through code.  There are a lot of small improvements that could be made to the form functionality that would be a great benefit to clients without access to a web developer skill set.  

At one time or another, I have had marketers request most of the following list of form improvements:

• support for HTML5 form elements
• allow pre-population on a field by field basis as a form designer attribute
• allow text fields to optionally concatenate the new value with the existing data
• field masking for phone, sin number etc.
• add real-time (onblur) validation, validation test conditions and  contextual error msgs
  • email regex,
  • min and max for numbers etc. 
  • phone with or without extention
  • domain name for spam exclusion - i.e. mickmouse@example.com a@a.com
  • alpha-only for names/text fields
  • Automatic formating for proper case including whitespace trimming
• better positioning of the field label and error msg
• more form layouts in terms of 2-3 columns layouts as well as fields that can span the columns
• more control over the submit button:
  • its style/image
  • dynamic button text both before and after click text to make the form reusable on more that one landing page within the landing page editor
  • enable/disable submit based upon required fields/validation
• provide more advanced type of controls:
  • date pickers,
  • sliders (range),
  • dropdowns (combobox) with icons, option groups etc.
  • better support for checkboxes/radio with multi-select 
• dependant selections or skip logic i.e. country/state and surveys
• geo-ip support for country/state
• automatic detection and support for iframes to get parent parameters, adjust the form's target = _top etc.
• better (dynamic) follow up options - new windows, dynamic redirect based upon other form fields, parameters or cookies
• Allow fields from SFDC objects other than contact and lead

Forms have been one of the least attended to areas of Marketo; it has literally been years since any significant improvements have been made while the competition has not been standing still waiting.

Below is a small list for just from this version of community:

• Multi Select in the Values Drop Down

• Better design of Forms!
• Form Widgets!
• Better Usability for forms
• Prefill country and state fields
• An easier way to set up 2 column forms

• Can certain form fields span columns?

• Check Boxes on Forms
• Conditional Logic for Forms

• Customizing Submit Button

• Links In Form Labels

•  

  Forms - Need A Multiple Select Check Box Option

• Forms - Need A Multiple Select Check Box Option

[Anonymous]

Of course, I love it. I am lobbying for it to get higher priority right now. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Interesting idea status.

It reminds me of an adage, if it was easy, it would have been done already. The point of the idea is to take a very complex problem and make it appear easy all the while remaining flexible. Marketo gave us the first part ( make it simple) but as the platform matures we need Marketo to provide the second part, the flexibility

[Anonymous]

Or, just give us the option to play with the HTML source ourselves.  I think creating TABLES isn't beyond the reach of most professionals here.

[Anonymous]

I can't wait for this - sounds fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Is this on the road-map?  I was just writing a similar request... I've included the copy below:

1. More adjustability on form fonts. Bold, Italic etc...

2. The ability to adjust the formatting of a field's 'Inital Value'.  A lot of times this is where 'helper' text lives.  I don't want it to be solid black, but rather a light grey italic.

3. The ability to have a field's 'Initial Value' automatically clear when a user clicks into it.

4. The ability to add a 'Date Picker' to date form fields, so it's not just an empty text box.

5. The ability to shrink the width of a given field. 

6. The ability to do a 'soft-submit'.  For instance, when a user completes <x> out of <y> fields, I'd like to create the lead record in the background.  This would help minimize drop-off and allow me to nurture leads that got 'scared' for whatever reason.  I'm sure this is doable w/munchkin api, but it's kind of a pain.

[Anonymous]

Form Field Restriction/Validation

Problem: Forms in Marketo are not specific in terms of accurately obtaining information from a form field value. Currently if you have a country, and a state/province field, they won't  mapp correspondingly. Meaning you can choose Canada as a country, and choose NY as the state/province. 

Solution:  Create a restriction that when you click onto the country field (ex. USA), the state field is restricted to only those states/provinces pertaining to the corresponding country (ex. MI,NY,MA, ect).

Result: Accurate lead detail, so you can have the right people from whatever region or territory contact that person who filled out the form.
 

[Anonymous]

I would also add :
- dependant checkboxes. Such as if I activate one box, it deactivates onther ones (this currently requires coding). It would be useful to create sophisticated subscription centers
- dependant form sections. Based on a checkbox being selected, some fields would appear or disappear.

All this is strongly needed. One of the thing that could be done is to leave most of the formatting issues to CSS and focus on form logic and validation.

[Anonymous]

Please please please please please!   All of the above!

[Anonymous]

I'm also interested in more easily showing/hiding fields based on selections in earlier fields.

I'm currently hoping to learn enough javascript to modify this guide: https://community.marketo.com/MarketoArticle?id=kA050000000Kyqq in order to build a contact us form that goes into more detail depending on what kind of inquiry the user is making.

[Anonymous]

Other ideas:

• possibility to add a line separator between to fields
• possibility to add a space line between 2 fields
• possibility to group fields in a box
• possibility to add some instruction text at the top, at the bottom or between 2 fields

My 2 cents.