I am asking the users to help me out a bit and answer some questions for me. Sorry musawir if this is in the wrong forum.
I am currently in the process of developing the next generation of phpFormGenerator (version 3) I've spent hours apon hours reading every single posting on these message boards, scouring the web to see other form generators, and other phpformgenerator sites. All to find out what you guys and gals, the users want in this program.
Of course when designing an application, I need to keep the target audience in mind. Although, with this project there is a broad range of users, from people who just want a form on thier site that works, to developers who want a speedy way to enter results into a database. I plan to have able ability for both types of users.
What I am asking for your help with is; What do you want included in the program, what makes it great for you? What is the current biggest problem with v2.09b that needs to be fixed? Are you using this for forms purely on the same server as the generator or are you moving the forms to different servers? How should the program flow?
I want to give you guys the best we have to offer, but I also want to be sure we are offering what you need. Also, yes I will be including a login feature, as many many posts I see are about the protection of other people using the generator. The new engine also uses XML to be able to create/edit/delete forms. I am hoping to be able to include dynamic form processing, which is something I havent seen in any of todays form generators. What dynamic form processing is, is actually simple but a little more difficult to setup, say a form asks a user how many fields you want on your form, then it displays that many field input boxes just like v2.09b perhaps anyone else could give me a bit more ideas on what you want to do with dynamic forms.
One thing musawir told me was to 'keep it simple' for basic users. I do plan to, almost all the new features mentioned will only be shown when you turn on advanced features in your user control panel. I am also taking into account that this program works without a mysql database, so even if you dont have mysql, or dont want to use it phpformgenerator v3 will still work. The features listed arent all the new features that are coming out by the way. Although, I ask you please be paitent as I need to make sure this application will best suite everyones needs. If you'd like to email me you can at - skhale at gmail dot com
I hope you enjoy using the program and let me know whats missing, thanks, Steve
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This place is just fine for the purpose. I hope the users will provide Steve with the feedback he needs.
However, I think it would be better if the users post their suggestions and comments on the message board rather than a private conversation. This way, everyone would be able to collaborate and most of all, we will avoid redundancy of having multiple people ask the same thing again and again and again.
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Steve, sounds like some great work ahead. Some of my suggestions as a new user of the script:
1) Even as an advanced user, I overwrote my first form with my second. I'm sure it's in the docs and I found out on the forum... but I just wasn't expecting that kind of behavior. Perhaps what is needed is a "new form directory name" which will create a new directory for each form instead of having to do it manually.
2) There's nothing quite like filling out 22 fields of information only to realize that you needed 23 or 21... and having to start over. Perhaps a way to change the number of fields before the final creation of the form? (Sounds like what you're already planning on doing but just wanted to make sure ;) )
3) I do quite a bit of Open Source PHP work myself and would be happy to take on some small tasks to aid you with this project.
John
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One more thing I was thinking of. How about a way to pass fields from the completed form to the thankyou page? Fairly simple I think... that way the thank you page can be customized with a name or some math... just a thought...
John
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well, both of the things that you mentioned are already part of the program.
v2.09b/c creates a new directory for every form. It also passes the field values if you use the "generate thank you page" option.
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Ah, I'm running 2.08... that could be why I hadn't seen the updates. Sorry. Good work Musawir... once again, if you have any tasks or whatnot, please feel free to delegate.
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Steven,
The only problem i have found with the fantastico version is that the below files are not in a directory. Therefore they can not be password protected. These files should be put in a directory, say Admin, and coded to function from there.
I am asking the users to help me out a bit and answer some questions for me. Sorry musawir if this is in the wrong forum.
I am currently in the process of developing the next generation of phpFormGenerator (version 3) I've spent hours apon hours reading every single posting on these message boards, scouring the web to see other form generators, and other phpformgenerator sites. All to find out what you guys and gals, the users want in this program.
Of course when designing an application, I need to keep the target audience in mind. Although, with this project there is a broad range of users, from people who just want a form on thier site that works, to developers who want a speedy way to enter results into a database. I plan to have able ability for both types of users.
What I am asking for your help with is; What do you want included in the program, what makes it great for you? What is the current biggest problem with v2.09b that needs to be fixed? Are you using this for forms purely on the same server as the generator or are you moving the forms to different servers? How should the program flow?
I want to give you guys the best we have to offer, but I also want to be sure we are offering what you need. Also, yes I will be including a login feature, as many many posts I see are about the protection of other people using the generator. The new engine also uses XML to be able to create/edit/delete forms. I am hoping to be able to include dynamic form processing, which is something I havent seen in any of todays form generators. What dynamic form processing is, is actually simple but a little more difficult to setup, say a form asks a user how many fields you want on your form, then it displays that many field input boxes just like v2.09b perhaps anyone else could give me a bit more ideas on what you want to do with dynamic forms.
One thing musawir told me was to 'keep it simple' for basic users. I do plan to, almost all the new features mentioned will only be shown when you turn on advanced features in your user control panel. I am also taking into account that this program works without a mysql database, so even if you dont have mysql, or dont want to use it phpformgenerator v3 will still work. The features listed arent all the new features that are coming out by the way. Although, I ask you please be paitent as I need to make sure this application will best suite everyones needs. If you'd like to email me you can at - skhale at gmail dot com
I hope you enjoy using the program and let me know whats missing, thanks, Steve
This place is just fine for the purpose. I hope the users will provide Steve with the feedback he needs.
However, I think it would be better if the users post their suggestions and comments on the message board rather than a private conversation. This way, everyone would be able to collaborate and most of all, we will avoid redundancy of having multiple people ask the same thing again and again and again.
Steve, sounds like some great work ahead. Some of my suggestions as a new user of the script:
1) Even as an advanced user, I overwrote my first form with my second. I'm sure it's in the docs and I found out on the forum... but I just wasn't expecting that kind of behavior. Perhaps what is needed is a "new form directory name" which will create a new directory for each form instead of having to do it manually.
2) There's nothing quite like filling out 22 fields of information only to realize that you needed 23 or 21... and having to start over. Perhaps a way to change the number of fields before the final creation of the form? (Sounds like what you're already planning on doing but just wanted to make sure ;) )
3) I do quite a bit of Open Source PHP work myself and would be happy to take on some small tasks to aid you with this project.
John
One more thing I was thinking of. How about a way to pass fields from the completed form to the thankyou page? Fairly simple I think... that way the thank you page can be customized with a name or some math... just a thought...
John
well, both of the things that you mentioned are already part of the program.
v2.09b/c creates a new directory for every form. It also passes the field values if you use the "generate thank you page" option.
Ah, I'm running 2.08... that could be why I hadn't seen the updates. Sorry. Good work Musawir... once again, if you have any tasks or whatnot, please feel free to delegate.
The futures I'm missing:
-easy template changing (I prefer radio buttons next to each other)
-grouped questions (for radio buttons if you have some questions after each other with each the same answers, for example disagree-neutral-agree)
-more pages (max 10 questions per page for example)
Steven,
The only problem i have found with the fantastico version is that the below files are not in a directory. Therefore they can not be password protected. These files should be put in a directory, say Admin, and coded to function from there.
copyfunc.php
del_form.php
fantversion.php
fields.php
global.inc.php
index.php
process.php
process2.php
process3.php
style.css