How to Create Online Forms for Free
Most experienced web masters will tell you that when you create a website you should not list your email address on the site. That is because bots can scan your site, find your email address, and sell it to spammers and other Internet deviants. Instead you should create an online form that allows the web visitor to enter in his details, such as name, email address, and a contact message. The contact form is great to use because it does not expose your own email address to potential spammers. You can set one up for free using a web form service.
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Instructions
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Building the Form
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Create an account with an online form creation service. Popular sites include Response-o-Matic.com, Freedback.com, EmailMeForm.com, and MyContactForm.com. Enter your email address, a user name and password.
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Log into your account and select "Create Contact Form" or similar.
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3
Enter the website address where you want the form to appear (such as the contact page, homepage or other). Decide if you want a predetermined subject to show in your email when someone fills out and submits this form.
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4
Decide if you want an autoresponder to be sent to the web user after submitting the form. (Some services will require you to pay for this option.)
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5
Create your form. Add the fields that you feel will help you gather all necessary information for each web user. This could include anything you'd like, even a question like "Did you like the site?" Choose from various formats, including a standard text box, drop down box, radio selection buttons, or boxes that can be checked and unchecked. Determine the size and length of each form field and whether or not it will be required to submit the form.
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Enter a redirect page. This is the page that the visitor will be sent to after submitting the form.
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Set error messages that will display if the user fails to enter the required information. For example, "You did not fill out the email field. Please go back and try again."
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Change the look of your form, including colors and font sizes, if that is an option with the free service. Set your submit button to read "Submit," "Go," "Notify Me" or anything that you would like (not available with all free services).
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Complete the free form creation wizard. Copy and paste the provided code to your website HTML editor. Be prepared to have a link or ad run alongside your form as a condition of the free service.
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Tips & Warnings
Sign up for a web hosting service that offers free form creator tools as an alternative (see "Resources" for an example).
