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ChronoForms v4 (?)

I have several forms I need to create so I am thinking about buying the unlimited version but I dont want to do this unless I know I can not only do what I need but figure out how to create these forms in the backend. Below you will find a few questions ranging from setup to how I can tell which version of ChronoForms I am currently running.

1. I have tried to get ChornoForms to work in the past but I have never been able to get things to work properly. I went into to my dev site and tried installing the newer version but I believe it needs to be updated. Unfortunately, I do not see anywhere that tells you what version you are currently running on. I am 99% sure I am running a version of ChronoForms 4 but I am not sure which one. Where does a person look in the backend to see which version is currently being used?

2. One of the sites that I need a form for only needs to collect the email address. In response, the person is supposed to get an email with a PDF attachment. I see a place for upload which to me sounds like the person can upload a file to my server not that my server will email them a file. How do you send a message in response to the form with the attached PDF?

3. I have another form that will be rather elaborate. I would rather create this form in HTML and then upload the code. Is this possible? If so, how?

4. I have a couple sites that are using v3. How do I upgrade these to v4? Do I just install it or do I have to uninstall and reinstall? If I uninstall, what happens to the forms already created?

5. I have a 3 Forms subscription which I purchased when I was using v3. If I can get all of this to work, will I be able to upgrade them all to my unlimited version?

6. When I do buy the unlimited package, does it have to be updated each year or do I receive an unlimited number of updates?

Thank you in advance.

Hi Kim,

First off - you should test out ChronoForms with the free version before buying a subscription. The free version is fully functional but adds a strap line under the form and shows a red message in the admin area.

1. . . . Where does a person look in the backend to see which version is currently being used?

You can find the version from Site Admin | Extensions | Install/Uninstall | Components in Joomla! 1.5 or Site Admin | Extensions | Extension Manager | Manage in Joomla! 1.6.

2. . . . How do you send a message in response to the form with the attached PDF?

You can do this with the standard Email action with a bit of Custom code - but I suggest that you use my Email [GH] action which supports static file attachments in the configuration dialogue.

3. . . . I would rather create this form in HTML and then upload the code. Is this possible? If so, how?

You an either use the New Form icon; then click the Code tab and enter your HTML directly there. Or, my preference, is to create the code in Dreamweaver and add an include statement in the code box.

<?php
include (JPATH_SITE.DS.'components'.DS.'com_chronocontact'.DS.'includes'.DS.'form_name'.DS.'formhtml.php');
?>

This loses a little functionality as ChronoForms can no longer see and parse the Form HTML but is IMHO much easier to work with than the ChronoForms textarea. (If you need ChronoForms to parse the HTML then you can develop it like this, then copy and paste the final verson into the Form FTML box.)

4. I have a couple sites that are using v3. How do I upgrade these to v4? . . .[/code][code]

There is no automatic upgrade :-( You can copy and paste over the Code blocks but you then have to recreate the other functionality. IMHO it's probably better to leave the existing forms in CFv3 until you have to upgrade the site to use MooTools 1.3 for some other reason.

5. . . . will I be able to upgrade them all to my unlimited version?

6. When I do buy the unlimited package, does it have to be updated each year . . .

For any question about licensing or validation of any of the ChronoEngine products please contact Max directly by using the Contact Us form from the link above. I don't know how Max has the product validation set up. (Unofficially I believe that you can upgrade your licences and there is no annual resubscription required.)

Bob

You can do this with the standard Email action with a bit of Custom code - but I suggest that you use my Email [GH] action which supports static file attachments in the configuration dialogue.

Thank you for your reply. Right now I have one question. I downloaded the email action you mentioned but it doesnt have an XML file for installation. I dont see any installation instructions inside the zip or on the page for download.

Any suggestions?

This loses a little functionality as ChronoForms can no longer see and parse the Form HTML but is IMHO much easier to work with than the ChronoForms textarea. (If you need ChronoForms to parse the HTML then you can develop it like this, then copy and paste the final verson into the Form FTML box.)

My concern about using the wizard to create my form is I do not the the wizard is capable of creating the form in the format I need. I would much rather create it in Dreamweaver and then cut and paste the code. However, you mentioned I will lose functionality. What kind of functionality are you talking about? You also said if I need to parse the HTML... I am not sure if I know what you mean by that.

One form I am doing is very simple. I need only one field that will collect an email address. The form should then turn around and email a confirmation message along with an attached PDF.

The other form will be much more elaborate which is why I concerned with using the wizard. It will have drop down selections and need to show options to choose from. Think of something similar to Dell's website when you build a desktop.

I do appreciate all of your time.

Hi Kim,

For the email action:

To install the actions download the file from here; unzip it and copy the included folder into the administrator/components/com_chronoforms/form_actions folder on your site. You should then see a new action name e.g. Show HTML [GH] in the actions box.

Please see the Help tabs for the actions to see how to use them.

I'm not exactly sure what functionality you will lose in CFv4 if you include the code. The automatic validation - browser and server side, the automatic Captcha insertion, the form table creator, the profile plug-in, . . . None of them vital. These are all things that depend on ChronoForms ability to parse the Form HTML and identify the inputs or to use search and replace on the Form HTML. (Some of them will still work if you use copy and paste rather than including the file.)

Bob