Forms help please

[pepper]

I have managed to do a forms box for name/ email contact etc. I have printed pages of information to try to get to the next stage but WHERE IS THE CUSTOM COMPONENTS TOOL / FORMS HANDLER DIALOG BOX ???
I have been trying to sort out a contact link from my websites for nearly 2 weeks - it is now urgent. Any help to complete a forms / contact box very much appreciated as I am now moving way out of my comfort zone !

[gotFusion]

I have managed to do a forms box for name/ email contact etc. I have printed pages of information to try to get to the next stage but WHERE IS THE CUSTOM COMPONENTS TOOL / FORMS HANDLER DIALOG BOX ???
I have been trying to sort out a contact link from my websites for nearly 2 weeks - it is now urgent. Any help to complete a forms / contact box very much appreciated as I am now moving way out of my comfort zone !

If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7 you must run NetObjects Fusion as an administrator for some of the components to work. Go over this tutorial on how to make the settings on your computer: http://www.gotfusion.com/tutorials/tut.cfm?itemID=4037

Here is a tutorial on using the Formshandler component: http://www.gotfusion.com/tutorials/tut.cfm?itemID=4024

[Adendum]

Pepper,

Welcome. There are two methods to create such form using NOF tools. One is the email component tool (found on the fly-out then slide-down menus at the extreme left of the screen) and the other is to manually create a form using the form tool bar (found from the menu bar at the top of your screen). Plus you have numerous external alternatives.

Personally I prefer the manual approach. Which requires a form area to be placed on the page and then all the entry fields and labels have to be added. With the component all you have to do is place the component on the page and then edit the properties it shows you.

Hope that helps?

[pepper]

Thank you for the replies.
gotFusion - The tutorial on formshandler components looks easy to follow and I am sure I would have been OK, except that I could not find any reference, anywhere, to ASP / PHP so could not make the selection (I have checked to see which is supported by the web host) - a lot of the other info on this tutorial was also missing. I am using windows XP - should I continue with the other tutorial you suggest re. components working properly? The tutorials suggested on this forum seem easy to follow - but only if you can find the right buttons to push! This is the problem.

Adendum - I was lost on the first part of your reply because again it is finding the appropriate 'buttons' - mine all seem to be in hiding! The email component ? This bit might impress you - I have used the forms box and added the fields and labels.

Sorry to be so dim - I am sure I could work my way through this - if only the relevent menues/ palettes/ lists could be found.

Thank you again - your continued help (and patience) would be appreciated.

[gotFusion]

Thank you for the replies.
gotFusion - The tutorial on formshandler components looks easy to follow and I am sure I would have been OK, except that I could not find any reference, anywhere, to ASP / PHP so could not make the selection (I have checked to see which is supported by the web host) - a lot of the other info on this tutorial was also missing. I am using windows XP - should I continue with the other tutorial you suggest re. components working properly? The tutorials suggested on this forum seem easy to follow - but only if you can find the right buttons to push! This is the problem.

Sorry for the confusion. The tutorial is for Fusion 11 (current product) not Fusion 7.5 (Essentials). The Essentials "form handler" is only a mailto which is not good unless well protected from spam bots (which it is not). Here is my tutorial for that older component http://www.gotfusion.com/tutorials/tut.cfm?itemID=407

You can use a javascript/ascii munge routine if you wish to have just a mailto link. This tutorial will go over how to do this in Fusion: http://www.gotfusion.com/tutorials/tut.cfm?itemID=4047

If you wish to use forms with Essentials you will need to use a 3rd party form processing script. Unless your host offers ColdFusion. Then you can use the simple <cfmail> tag to process forms to email, but your host must offer ColdFusion on your hosting account.

[pepper]

I am trying to establish a direct link from my websites which is reasonably safe and secure. It does not necessarily need to be as a form. With the information you have, Fusion Essentials / windows XP and the web host, Fasthost - also my limited knowledge, what would you recommend?
About to check out your last reply -

[gotFusion]

I am trying to establish a direct link from my websites which is reasonably safe and secure. It does not necessarily need to be as a form. With the information you have, Fusion Essentials / windows XP and the web host, Fasthost - also my limited knowledge, what would you recommend?
About to check out your last reply -

There are pluses and minuses with any of these options.

The simplest is the forms handler component. BUT the drawbacks are 1) it is a mailto which requires the visitor to have a local mail client installed. If they use web mail only (gmail, hotmail, etc) they will not be able to use your form *. 2) it exposes one of your email addresses (the one you use in the component) to email spambot collection. DO NOT use a "real" address, create one just for the form (one you can delete it if becomes a large spam magnet) if you go this route.

Using the munger tool and installing the code as outlined in the tutorial will allow you to have a simple email address link that cannot be harvested as the address is encoded and broken up by the munger. The drawbacks to this: 1) it is not easy to put into fusion unless you can follow the tutorial. 2) visitors that use web mail cannot contact you *.

Using a 3rd part script or ColdFusion drawbacks: You must be very knowledgeable to install and use either. They require basic programing knowledge. There are some tutorials online that will walk you through but most users have the most difficulty with this way of handling web site contact routines.

* Now very savvy users can make a web mail client their default browser selection for mailto but they muse be using FireFox and they must be very experienced users. Must users who use web mail do not fall into this category