TIP 193: Automating the Creation of Complex Forms

Creating a complex form with lots of form elements or long popup menus can be really slow and tedious. To make this process faster, GoLive includes several pre-built form elements in the Library palette. Open the Library palette from the Window menu and navigate to the Forms section of the application-wide snippets (Figure 193a). Here you'll find snippets of several common form popup lists, such as countries of the world, credit-card types, and months of the year. Just drag and drop these snippets into the Layout Editor.

Figure 193a. The Library palette includes several pre-built form elements.

If you need even more pre-built form objects, check out the handy Smart Forms extension, which adds dozens more of the most common, pre-built form elements in a new section of the Objects palette (Figure 193b). The feedback regarding Smart Forms has always been really positive, and we've even heard stories of Web designers completing a new form design before their managers were even done making the request! They could save you a lot of time, too.

Figure 193b. Smart Forms can save you time and eliminate typing mistakes.

International Smart Forms

There's also an international version of Smart Forms available that includes 13 pre-built form elements that might be helpful to users outside North America.

First, create a form on your Web page. Now when you need a common form element, such as states in the United States, days of the week, or connection speeds, just grab it from the new Smart Forms section of the Objects palette. There are 35 pre-built form elements, including the following:

• Form Starter

• Ecommerce Form Starter

• Countries

• U.S. Postal

• States and Provinces

• Canadian Provinces and Territories

• U.S. Time zones

• 9-digit U.S. Zip Code

• 10-digit U.S. Phone Number

• Credit Card Types

• Credit Card Expiration

• Delivery Methods

• Gender

• Marital Status

• Age Groups

• Education Level

• Household Income