Creating a CMS Lite form page

To make a form available for testing and eventual release to the public, you'll need to create a form page in CMS Lite.

On this page:

• The purpose of form pages
• Who can work with form pages
  • Workflow review
• Where to place form pages
  • Consider a form library
  • Consider a form assets folder
• Creating a form page
  • Settings suggestions
    • Title
    • Nav Title
    • Page Path
    • Visibility
  • Supplemental boxes and alerts
  • Metadata suggestions
    • Content Type
    • Keywords
    • Description
    • Subject
    • Publication Date (optional)

The purpose of form pages

Form pages:

• Assign a GUID to a form
• Make linking to a form easier
• Maintain links if the form is moved
• Provide content management options and data
• Support a QA and PROD split
• Allow for scheduled publishing
• Wrap forms with the government header, footer, and navigational aids
• Present forms with government styling

Form pages are basically content topic pages without the Topic tab.

Who can work with form pages

The ability to create a form page in CMS Lite is limited to:

• Form authors who have access to CMS Forms
• Content managers with elevated privileges

Moving, modifying and publishing form pages is generally available to CMS Lite users that can:

• Access the location of the form page
• Move content around in the architecture
• Edit and publish content

Workflow review

Here's a quick review of the forms development workflow:

1. A form is created or revised in the Form Builder
2. It is published to the CMS Lite QA environment
3. If needed, a form page is created for reviewing and testing the form
4. When approved, the form page is released to PROD

You generally only need to create a form page for a new form.

• Revised forms are tested through the QA version of the existing page
• You can change the form a page links to if you're replacing or renaming it

Where to place form pages

When you're set up as a form author, you're provided access to:

• The "Form testing" section of the website
• A ministry folder within that section

This folder should only be used for:

• New forms still being reviewed and tested
• Test forms that will never be released

Released forms should be moved into a content area so that others can manage them.

Consider a form library

It's common for program areas to provide a list of forms available for their clients.

• They may be listed within a page of other content
• They may be listed on a specific page, usually called "Forms" in the navigation

When listed separately on their own page, it is described as a "form library".

For users, form libraries:

• Can provide quick access to a specific form
  • This is helpful for those that have to complete forms frequently
• Can be bookmarked
  • They can quickly access the latest version of the form
• Can be subscribed to (optional)
  • They'll be informed of new or revised forms
  • They can update any local copies they maintain, such as pre-filled PDFs

For form authors and content managers, form libraries:

• Provide a convenient location to manage forms
• Make it easier to release an updated form and library page together
• Can link to older form editions when needed
• Can be used to promote A/B tests
• Provide a quick reference for:
  • The number of public-facing forms being managed
  • Non-web forms that could potentially be converted

If a program area has more than a few forms, a library should be considered.

Consider a form assets folder

Program areas will often have a variety of Word, Excel and PDF forms to support their clients and program services. These forms may have been scattered in different locations over time.

Consider creating an asset folder for forms in the same location as your form library, and relocating downloadable forms there.

A form assets folder can:

• Make them easier to find for linking to
• Reduce the chance of duplicates
• Reduce the chance of linking to outdated versions
• Provide a quick way to count non-web forms
• Can store "pre-forms" (downloadable forms people can use to prepare to complete an online form)

Forms may already be in a "downloads" folder, but should be separated from other types of documents.

For additional information see:

• CMS Lite manual | CMS Lite assets menu

Creating a form page

You create a form page the same way you create other pages in CMS Lite.

• CMS Lite manual | Create a new page

To create a form page in CMS Lite:

1. Navigate to the location the page should be created
2. Activate the Actions menu
3. Select New Page
4. Choose Form as the Type
5. Click Confirm

A "New Page_####" will be created, ready to edit.

This page works just like a Topic page, except:

• The Settings tab has a form selector and different visibility options
• There is no Topic tab

To connect your page to a form:

1. On the Settings tab, scroll down to the Form Settings
2. Click the Form Template selection box
3. Select the form you want to link to

Things to note about form selection:

• Only published forms are available
• Forms are listed based on form-name:app-name
• New forms are usually at the bottom of the list
• Unlinked forms are missing a GUID
• Forms can only be linked to from one page
• You can change the form that a page links to

Once your form is linked:

1. Edit other settings
2. Add metadata
3. Click Save

Content suggestions are provided below.

Settings suggestions

Consistency is helpful for managing content, forms included. Below are suggestions for form page settings.

Title

• Use the Form Title for 'transactional' forms such as service requests or applications
• Use a conversational title for 'voluntary' forms such as contact and feedback

Nav Title

• Use the Form Name to make it easy to identify for linking and updates
• You can replace dashes with spaces for readability

Page Path

• Use the Form Title to keep the human-readable URL shorter

Visibility

• Select "Hide from navigation?" to keep the navigation clean and prevent people from jumping to a form directly
  • Program areas often have many forms, some with similar names
  • Content pages help people learn about a service, eligibility, prerequesites and what form(s) to complete
  • Rapid access is better supported by a form library
• Select "Exclude from Search Engines?" to prevent people landing on the form directly from a third-party search
  • Many forms have similar names, so they could land on the wrong form for them
  • They may bypass important information from the related content

Supplemental boxes and alerts

Avoid supplemental boxes on forms.

• They currently appear on the right side, but will eventually move to the bottom
• Any useful information wouldn't appear until after the form is completed
• Useful information should be included in the form itself

Alerts should be used very sparingly on forms.

• A Danger alert might be used when an issue is preventing successful submissions
• A Warning alert might be used when there are significant processing delays
• An Information alert might be used to call attention to an alternate form during an A/B test

Metadata suggestions

Metadata will be custom for each form based on purpose and business area, but there are a few suggestions of changes or additions for forms.

Content Type

• Replace the default "General Content" with "Forms"

Keywords

• Include the form number if there is one to help people who know the number perform a search

Description

• Write a plain and simple description of what the form is used for
• See Creating a new form (General form settings) for phrasing guidance
• If the form's Description is used for this purpose as well, they should match

Subject

• Include the subject "Forms" with any other subjects

Publication Date (optional)

• Consider using the form's edition date in this field
• Don't forget to update when a new edition is released