creating form using REST API

[Anonymous]

Could I get some suggestions and help getting pointed in the right direction? I'd really like to get a clear idea what to do, where to start. This is on the edge of my abilities - I'm hoping I can get a certain amount done, before having to involve our already-busy developers.

We want to set up a form that submits/retrieves/interacts with Marketo, and the ability to submit info to a 3rd-party database. We want to do this using the REST API. I see several links to general resources, that list objects and endpoints and, and, and... boom. My head exploded.

For a beginner in REST API, that's like throwing every word in the dictionary at me. I look at words that don't look like they have anything to do with what I want. They may, but I don't know where to start. I just want to know how to compose my one sentence, and then grow from there. Are there any start-to-finish examples of what I want to do. That's how I learn best.

Hopefully that analogy made sense.

[SanfordWhiteman]

Why do you want to use the REST API as opposed to the Form Editor, if you don't speak REST?

"The ability to submit info to a 3rd-party database" doesn't get any easier if you create the form outside the Editor.   The submission still has to be via JavaScript (on the client) or via webhook (on the server) -- not within the form descriptor.

[Anonymous]

Ahhh, I guess I thought the submission to two databases was handled with JSON. I was referencing this page: 5 Ways to Implement Marketo Forms on Your Website I didn't catch that I could submit to a second database using the forms 2.0 Javascript.  Duh!

My REST abilities would be irrelevant, if it was the correct solution, though.

[SanfordWhiteman]

It's a good idea to ignore anything that suggests using the rate-limited SOAP or REST API to submit Marketo forms.

Couple inaccuracies in that blog post:

• The Forms 2.0 API can absolutely be used to integrate with existing forms.  It's actually the recommended method for cross-posting data from existing forms to Marketo.
• The Forms 2.0 API does have call limit namely 43,200 calls per source IP at no more than 2 submissions per minute. This is an astronomically high daily limit compared to SOAP or REST, but it does exist.
• Do you not need a front-end developer to create a form that submits to your back-end server (which in turn uses REST or SOAP)?  Forms don't build themselves. A form that has to bounce off your back-end server is more complex to build, since it has two moving parts that you own: the client and the server.

Also don't really see a reason to distinguish between a "Standard Marketo Form" and "Forms 2.0 API."  I mean, the moment you add a single custom validator to a field (onValidate) you're using the Forms 2.0 API.  I would put these in one column and have "yes, with JavaScript" in some cells.