Form Reform Developer

Form Reform Developer provides a growing suite of resources to assist those developing blocks, handlers and more complex forms for Form Reform.

The core Form Reform addon provides some built in logging and diagnostic options and some logging form handler plugins. These should be enough for creating most forms.

Nevertheless, when developing extensions to Form Reform as handler plugins or as new form blocks, or when developing complex forms, sometimes it can be useful to know a bit more about what is going on behind the scenes. Hence Form Reform Developer. Here we have some extra form analysis and diagnostic tools developers can use with Form Reform to help understand what is going on.

All the form handlers in Form Reform Developer can be removed once your forms are developed and happily running. These handlers are development tools.

Form structure analysis and validation

Form Reform Developer provides tools to review and validate the structure of a form. Watch the video Analysis with Form Reform Developer for details. These tools can help detect mistakes such as using the wrong form name, duplicating an input name or a mistake with a handler in the submit pipeline.

Developer Analysis
  • A Form Analysis button in the main toolbar - analysis of all form and submit pipelines on the current page.
  • A Developer tab in the submit block dialogue - analysis of the form and current submit pipeline.
  • A Find My Forms dashboard page to list all pages with forms and provide a  Form Analysis button to analyze each form from the dashboard.

You will find a Developer Analysis button towards the bottom of each of our example form pages. This shows the same analysis as Form Reform Developer provides in the submit edit dialogue and on the dashboard toolbar.

This kind of analysis is not 100% confident. There could be false positives. Hence checks in the Validate Form Structure handler can be disabled individually or by input name.

  • Validate Form Structure handler - helps identify misnamed inputs and forms.

Logging and diagnostic handlers

Many of the extensions to Form Reform provide form data and metadata as {{place_holders}}, often by adding new categories and keys to a global data structure called StaticDataValues. These values change and are extended as a form executes and especially when iterating through a repeatable group of inputs.

Form Reform Developer provides new handlers to dump the current content of StaticDataValues and other internal data to a form output message and to the site log so developers can see what the values are and consequently what {{category:key}} placeholders are available at that point of the handler pipeline.

See Form Handler Plugins for the latest list of handlers provided by all Form Reform addons.

Form Reform Developer

Form Reform Developer provides additional form handlers to expose data from within Form Reform.

Basic Form Reform

The base Form Reform addon provides diagnostics as

  • Options for Logging and On-screen debug information in the Options tab of the Submit button dialogue.
  • Form handlers to dump form and pipeline data to the site log

Form Analysis

The Developer tab in the submit block dialogue and the Form Analysis button in the main toolbar have subtle differences. The Developer tab provides analysis of the current form and pipeline. The Form Analysis button in the main toolbar provides analysis of all forms and pipelines on the page, in or out of edit mode, using the last saved blocks.

The analysis popup for both tools shares many similarities. The main toolbar Form Analysis button extends analysis to a wider scope which is particularly pertinent on pages containing multi-step forms or multiple forms. Watch the video Analysis with Form Reform Developer for details.

<p>Opens a popup with analysis of the all form fields on the page and the submit pipeline of the currently editing Submit block.</p>

Submit button Developer tab
<p>Opens a popup with analysis of the all form fields on the current page and the submit pipelines for all Submit blocks on the current page.</p>

Toolbar Form Analysis button
<p>The analysis popup for both tools shares many similarities. The main toolbar <strong>Form Analysis</strong> button extends analysis to a wider scope which is particularly pertinent on pages containing multi-step forms or multiple forms.</p>

Analysis Popup
View settings

Dashboard pages

Form Reform Developer also provides a dashboard pages at:

  • Dashboard > System & Settings > Form Reform > Plugin Dialogue Explorer.
  • Dashboard > System & Settings > Form Reform > Block Dialogue Explorer.
  • Dashboard > System & Settings > Form Reform > Find My Forms.

Plugin Dialogue Explorer provides a quickly browsable reference copy of the edit dialogue for all form handlers. These reference dialogues won't save and may only partially work. The dialogues are only there for reference and browsing.

Block Dialogue Explorer provides a similar browsable reference copy of the dialogue and view for for all form blocks. This can come in useful when developing your own handlers and blocks as a quick way of finding existing dialogues you can adapt.

Find My Forms lists all pages where Form Reform blocks are used with the associated form names. An analysis button can then be used to provide a detailed analysis of the forms on a listed page as in Form Analysis above.

Configuration options

Configuration options are held in the file at application/config/generated_overrides/jl_form_reform.php

The Developer tab for the Submit block edit dialogue can be disabled using the configuration setting:

jl_form_reform.form_reform_developer.enable_edit_tab

The main toolbar Form Analysis button will only be shown to users with page edit permission and can be disabled using the configuration setting:

jl_form_reform.form_reform_developer.enable_toolbar

 

Why is this a separate package?

In addition to all the reasons given for other extensions to Form Reform, the form handlers in Form Reform Developer are the kind of thing you may not want to leave available on a live site.

You could go to Dashboard > System & Settings > Form Reform and disable the handlers you are not using. But with this package you also have the easy solution of just uninstalling it and the handlers are gone.

Form Reform Developer

jl_form_reform_developer - v9.0.15

A growing suite of resources to assist those developing blocks, handlers and more complex forms for Form Reform.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.0.15

Single Pages
  • Plugin Dialogue Explorer /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​plugin_dialogue_explorer A reference copy of all plugin dialogues. They won't save and may only partially work. Just here for browsing.
  • Block Dialogue Explorer /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​block_dialogue_explorer A reference copy of all form input block dialogues. They won't save and may only partially work. Just here for browsing.
  • Find My Forms /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​find_my_forms Locates Form Reform forms and the pages they are on.
Form Handler Plugins
  • Dump Added Static Handler Categories
  • Dump Form Data
  • Dump Post Data
  • Dump Query Data
  • Dump Static Data Values
  • Log Added Static Handler Categories
  • Log Static Data Values
  • Post Data Review
  • Validate Form Structure

Form Reform

jl_form_reform - v9.5.0 - resources v9.4.5

Reform the way forms are built. Build a form out of blocks. Take control of how form submissions are processed and how the submitted data is stored. Easy to extend. Easy to reconfigure. Tangible data. Easy to add your own integrations.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.5.0

Block Types Single Pages
  • Form Reform /dashboard/​system/​form_reform Reform the way forms are built. Build a form out of blocks. Take control of how form submissions are processed and how the submitted data is stored. Easy to extend. Easy to reconfigure. Tangible data. Easy to add your own integrations.
  • Form Handler Plugins /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​plugin_list Plugins for Form Handlers.
  • Form Reform Blocks /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​form_reform_blocks Blocks for Form Reform.
  • Form Reform Global Settings /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​global_settings Edit global settings and defaults for Form Reform Submission.
  • Form Reform /dashboard/​reports/​form_reform Reform the way forms are built. Build a form out of blocks. Take control of how form submissions are processed and how the submitted data is stored. Easy to extend. Easy to reconfigure. Tangible data. Easy to add your own integrations.
  • Form Submissions /dashboard/​reports/​form_reform/​form_reform_default Default storage for Form Reform submissions.
  • Advanced Configuration /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​advanced_config Advanced Configuration for Form Reform including adapting styles for non-Bootstrap 5 themes.
Form Handler Plugins
  • Address Geocode
  • Clear Data Category
  • Clear Errors
  • Clear Quarantine Files
  • Comment
  • Condition Else
  • Condition Else If
  • Condition End
  • Condition If
  • End
  • Extend Form Data
  • Extend From List
  • Extend From Page
  • Extend From Table
  • Extend With Text Item
  • Fail
  • Fire Event
  • Generate ID Code
  • Generate QR Code
  • Import Quarantine Files
  • Iterate Data
  • Iterate Data End
  • Iterate Repeatable Group
  • Iterate Repeatable Group End
  • Log Errors
  • Log Handler Results
  • Log Pipeline
  • Log Submission
  • Log Submission Data
  • Magic Tabs Jump
  • Merge From Cookie Store
  • Merge From Default Store
  • Merge From Session Store
  • Message
  • Next Form State
  • None
  • On Error
  • On Success
  • Query Default Store
  • Redirect
  • Remove From Default Store
  • Save to CSV
  • Save to Cookie
  • Save to Default
  • Save to File
  • Save to Session
  • Send Email
  • Set Error
  • Set Error Conditional
  • Sort Form Data
  • Spam Detect
  • Transform Error
  • Validate ID Code
  • Validate Input Fields
  • Wait

Form Reform Display

jl_form_reform_display - v9.2.5

Provides blocks and dashboard utilities to List, display, summarize, generate reports and analyze form submissions from Form Reform. Additionally supports integration with Universal Content Puller.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.2.5

Block Types Single Pages
  • Form Report Generator /dashboard/​reports/​form_reform/​form_reform_report Report generator for default Form Reform submissions.
  • Analysis Plugin List /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​analysis_plugin_list Plugins for Form Reform Display analysis.
Content Source Plugins
  • Form Reform Analysis
  • Form Reform Default Store
  • Form Reform Report
Analysis Plugins
  • Average
  • Average for Group by Label
  • Distinct Values
  • Frequency Analysis
  • Frequency Analysis Matrix
  • Frequency Analysis Numeric
  • Heading Insert
  • None

Form Reform UTM

jl_form_reform_utm - v9.0.3

Not just Form Reform and not just UTM! Capture and hold incoming UTM (or other) tags and make the tag values available to Form Reform and/or Conditional Redirect as {{place_holders}}. You don't need Form Reform to use this.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.0.3

Single Pages
  • UTM configuration /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​utm Redirects to UTM Configuration in SEO settings.
  • UTM configuration /dashboard/​system/​seo/​utm Capture and hold incoming UTM (or other) tags and make the tag values available to Form Reform as {{place_holders}}. Also integrates with Conditional Redirect. You don't need Form Reform to use this!

Form Reform Attributes, Express and Users

jl_form_reform_save_to_attributes - v9.0.18

Save submitted forms to Express objects and user attributes. Add and remove users from groups.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.0.18

Block Types Form Handler Plugins
  • Merge From User Textarea Attribute
  • Remove From User Textarea Attribute
  • Save to Current Page Textarea Attribute
  • Save to Current User
  • Save to Current User Textarea Attribute
  • Save to Express
  • User Groups
  • Validate User

Form Reform Image Picker

jl_form_reform_image_picker - v9.0.6

Form Reform Image Picker provides an image picking input block for Form Reform. The Image Picker Input is preconfigured to connect to most Omni Gallery gallery and slider display widgets, the core gallery block, and thumbnail showing templates for the core page list block. Advanced settings allow the Image Picker Input to be configured to pick images from other galleries and sliders.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.0.6

Block Types Form Handler Plugins
  • Extend From File Properties

Form Reform Data Picker

jl_form_reform_data_picker - v9.0.7

Form Reform Data Picker provides data picking input blocks for Form Reform. The Table Picker Input is preconfigured to connect to Universal Content Puller table display widgets. Advanced settings allow the Table Picker Input to be configured to pick data from other HTML tables.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.0.7

Block Types Form Handler Plugins
  • Delete From Default Store
  • Read From Default Store
  • Update Default Store

Form Reform Dynamics

jl_form_reform_dynamics - v0.2.2

Form handlers for querying Microsoft Dynamics, forwarding and updating form data to Microsoft Dynamics.

Form Handler Plugins
  • Forward to Dynamics
  • Get From Dynamics
  • Update to Dynamics

Form Reform Macros

jl_form_reform_macro - v9.0.0

Extends Form Reform with form handler macros. Provides a new dashboard page at System & Settings > Form Reform > Form Reform Macros to manage macros, and form handlers to run macros.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.0.0

Single Pages
  • Form Reform Macros /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​macro Extends Form Reform with form handler macros. Provides a new dashboard page at System & Settings > Form Reform > Form Reform Macros to manage macros, and form handlers to run macros.
Form Handler Plugins
  • Macro

Form Reform Developer

jl_form_reform_developer - v9.0.15

A growing suite of resources to assist those developing blocks, handlers and more complex forms for Form Reform.

ConcreteCMS Marketplace v9.0.15

Single Pages
  • Plugin Dialogue Explorer /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​plugin_dialogue_explorer A reference copy of all plugin dialogues. They won't save and may only partially work. Just here for browsing.
  • Block Dialogue Explorer /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​block_dialogue_explorer A reference copy of all form input block dialogues. They won't save and may only partially work. Just here for browsing.
  • Find My Forms /dashboard/​system/​form_reform/​find_my_forms Locates Form Reform forms and the pages they are on.
Form Handler Plugins
  • Dump Added Static Handler Categories
  • Dump Form Data
  • Dump Post Data
  • Dump Query Data
  • Dump Static Data Values
  • Log Added Static Handler Categories
  • Log Static Data Values
  • Post Data Review
  • Validate Form Structure

Additional Pages

Reform the way you add new input controls

If you need a specialized template or a custom input element, you can design new templates  or new block types for form elements as you would any block type.

Blocks are easy for third party addition or extension. Block templates and are the first thing any Concrete CMS developer learns to code. They are one of the easiest things to code. The underlying mechanisms are well established and reliable.

Reform what you can do with form data

Form handlers are built about the same extensible plugin system as many of my other addons (Universal Content Puller, Omni Gallery, Extreme Clean ...).

The whole system is aimed at easy extension within Form Reform, by third party addons, by agencies and by site building developers.

Handlers can be easily added to do whatever you want with the form data.

Reform where you can save form data

Saving form data with Form Reform is simply a handler in the processing pipeline. You can save to multiple locations or just one location.

If you need to save data elsewhere, such as to a dedicated table, a table provided through another addon, to another database, send it to an API, forward it to another server, or anywhere you can imagine, you can adapt or develop a form handler to do so.

The complexity of the code depends on where you are saving or sending the data, but wrapping that into a form handler plugin for Form Reform is straight forward.

The Form Reform handler plugin system is designed for easy extension.

Form Reform

Reform the way forms are built. Build a form out of blocks. Take control of how form submissions are processed and how the submitted data is stored. Easy to extend. Easy to reconfigure. Tangible data. Easy to add your own integrations.

Form Reform Display

Provides blocks and dashboard utilities to List, display, summarize, generate reports and analyze form submissions from Form Reform. Additionally supports integration with Universal Content Puller.

Form Reform UTM

Not just Form Reform and not just UTM! Capture and hold incoming UTM (or other) tags and make the tag values available to Form Reform and/or Conditional Redirect as {{place_holders}}. You don't need Form Reform to use this.

Form Reform Dynamics

Form handlers for querying Microsoft Dynamics, forwarding and updating form data to Microsoft Dynamics.

Snapshot

A suite of advanced image capture and upload tools. Enhanced drag and drop file uploading. Make screengrabs from within Concrete CMS. Capture images directly from device webcams. Edit images before uploading.

Form Reform Attributes, Express and Users

Save submitted forms to Express objects and user attributes. Add and remove users from groups.

Form Reform Image Picker

Form Reform Image Picker provides an image picking input block for Form Reform. The Image Picker Input is preconfigured to connect to most Omni Gallery gallery and slider display widgets, the core gallery block, and thumbnail showing templates for the core page list block. Advanced settings allow the Image Picker Input to be configured to pick images from other galleries and sliders.

Form Reform Data Picker

Form Reform Data Picker provides data picking input blocks for Form Reform. The Table Picker Input is preconfigured to connect to Universal Content Puller table display widgets. Advanced settings allow the Table Picker Input to be configured to pick data from other HTML tables.

Form Reform Macros

Extends Form Reform with form handler macros. Provides a new dashboard page at System & Settings > Form Reform > Form Reform Macros to manage macros, and form handlers to run macros.

Form Reform Developer

A growing suite of resources to assist those developing blocks, handlers and more complex forms for Form Reform.

Learn with a simple form

While you may have plans to implement some much more complex forms using Form Reform, we strongly recommend you start with a simple form such as our contact form example in order to review the basic principles of using Form Reform before you move onto anything bigger.

  1. Start by submitting the form at Getting Started - Your First Form a few times, even making some deliberate mistakes.
  2. Watch our Getting Started with Form Reform video to see how the form is built.
  3. Read through the rest of Getting Started - Your First Form for more details of how this form is built.
  4. Create a test page on your site to build your own version of Getting Started - Your First Form and experiment.
  5. Develop your test page with some of the concepts introduced by our further examples and experiment with some of the other form inputs.