addedValues Plugin

Forms

Starter Forms

You will certainly want to define a basic form with which to enter in data manually in a story...

Give it a meaningful name and select its use as 'Manila ETP'. That way you can have the 'Edit This Page' form that is formatted to your data entry requirements.

Click on the edit button to edit the form. There are three steps involved.

1. Picking the variables to be included in the form
2. Defining how variables render (be it the number of rows & columns, a dropbox limited menu, radio buttons.... This in turn is a three step process:
   1. choose a variable.
   2. pick the options for how it should render (simple textbox, dropbox limited... and the features of that particular rendering)
   3. clicking on the render button.
   4. But in fact that does not end there, addedvalues then gives you an example of how the rendering would look like in the form underneath the options you've just picked. So you can refine you choices!
3. Layout the form with HTML & CSS. The only requirement you must meet is that the variable you want for input be identified by two opening (and closing) square brackets.
   As such: [[myVariableFor Entry]]

A few pointers...

• If you are making a form that will conduct a search, do not forget to add in your layout the input tag to get the value you want on your button; it defaults to 'Test' otherwise. <input type='submit' value='somethingOtherThanTest'>
• Make sure you know whether you want to include the variable in the form for a user to see/use. Alternatively, you may want to force a value on the variable for a number of reasons, in which case you can the variable and 'hide' it with the hidden command.
• In rendering the variable, keep in mind a few distinctions & peculiarities... A dropbox will allow the user to choose 'Other' and input the value s/he so desires; if you don't want that, choose dropbox limited. The value can be computed by associating a query with an output report. In any case, AV shows you what the rendering would look like in the white background cell.
• The addedValueMacros.formErrortext macro is very useful when testing your form and your loaded database: you may discover interesting things to clean up before going live...
• If you already know that you are going to have various input forms for different needs, consult this.