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Create your e-mail question form or chat form using Forms Manager

Overview

In the QuestionPoint Administration module, you can set up your library's e-mail question forms using Forms Manager. You specify the content of your forms. QuestionPoint hosts them and provides URLs for linking to them.

Soon you will also be able to set up your chat forms using Forms Manager.

This new method for managing your e-mail question forms was released in March 2008. It is now available for you to try and to adopt. However, the earlier method is also available: forms that are based on QuestionPoint templates and hosted by your library.

Note: If you want to set up the Qwidget, see Create your Qwidget (QuestionPoint widget).

Benefits

This method for managing your forms:

  • Is easy to use and reduces the need for IT staff involvement.
  • Lets you customize your forms.
  • Provides forms in multiple languages.
  • Supports improved access to data about reference transactions.
  • Provides improved protection against spam.

Setup steps

The setup steps for your QuestionPoint e-mail question form are:

  1. Decide what you want your form to contain. (For more information, see Options.)
  2. Go to Forms Manager at Administration > Institution > Forms > Forms Manager. When you first view the Forms Manager page, some links are inactive (grayed out). They become active as you complete prerequisite steps.
  3. Click Choose Languages. Here you select the languages in which you want the forms to be available. (For more information, see Options for Choose Languages.)
  4. Click Define Look and Feel. Here you define the banner for the top of your form. (For more information, see Options for Define Look and Feel.)
  5. Click Choose Form Fields. Here you select and customize fields for gathering information from patrons. These fields are in addition to the Question field, E-mail field, and Name field that you select and customize in a later step. (For more information, see Options for Choose Form Fields.)
  6. Click Create Question Form and do the following:
    1. Select the languages that you want to support in your e-mail form.
    2. Select the fields that you want to appear on your e-mail form. Here you select from the fields that you selected and customized in Choose Form Fields. You also select and customize other fields, including the Question field, E-mail field, Name field, Assignment Selector, and heading and instructions fields.
    3. Put E-mail Fields in Order.
    4. View e-mail form.
    5. Publish E-mail Form. This step makes the forms available on the web and provides the URLs for linking to them. You must repeat this step each time you make changes to the forms.

    For more information, see Options for Create Question Form.

  7. Add links to the form on your web site (or on other sites such as MySpace) and publicize your service.

Note: If you are replacing a form created through another method, check your Question Form URL at Administration > Institution > Forms > Question/Viewport to see if you need to replace it.

Options

Options for Choose Languages

Your choices in Choose Languages apply to your e-mail question form and your chat form. Here you select:

  • Supported languages in which you want the forms to be available.
  • Default language. This is the primary language for listing fields when you work with your forms in the Administration module.

You can customize the wording in each language that you select. Full translations of default text are available for French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Italian, Catalan, Slovenian, Dutch, and German. For other listed languages, you must enter all text. If you want to provide forms in any of the other listed languages, contact your OCLC regional service provider to ask for more information.

When you publish a form, you receive a form link for each language. And patrons can choose any of your supported languages from any form.

Options for Define Look and Feel

Your choices in Define Look and Feel apply to your e-mail question form and your chat form. Here you define the following elements of the banner for the top of your form:

  • URL of the image file for the logo (image) that appears on the left in the form banner. Recommended height of the image is 40 pixels.
  • URL of the web page to which the patron goes if the image is clicked.
  • Alternate (alt) text for the image.
  • Banner text that appears next to your logo (40 character limit).
  • Color (hexadecimal color code) of the background of the banner.
  • Color (hexadecimal color code) of the banner text.
  • URL and link text for up to two links that will appear in the banner.

If you have forms in two or more languages, you may either define a default banner that applies to all languages or customize the banner for each language.

Options for Choose Form Fields

In Choose Form Fields, you select and customize fields for gathering information from patrons. These fields are in addition to the Question field, E-mail field, and Name field that you select and customize in a later step.

  • Up to 10 fields. You can select and customize up to 10 fields.
  • Available fields and custom fields. You can select fields from a list of available fields or add (create) custom fields.
    Note: If there is an available field for a question that you want to ask patrons, select and customize it rather than create a custom field. Available fields provide more uniformity of data about reference transactions across libraries.
  • Types of fields. You can select or create the following types of fields:
    • Select list, a drop-down list of up to 30 items from which the patron can select one item.
    • Radio list, a radio list of up to 5 items from which the patron can select one item.
    • Text area, a text box with multiple entry lines (255 character limit).
    • Text box, a text box with a single entry line (255 character limit).
  • If you select an available field, you can:
    • Customize the text of its label or question for each of your supported languages.
    • Provide the text of the items (answers) in a select list (that provides customizable entry) for each of your supported languages.
    • Add or delete items (answers) from a radio list or a select list (that provides customizable entry or pre-populated values).
    • Designate a default item (answer) for a select list or radio list.
    • Add a header instruction such as "Select from" to a select list.
  • If you add (create) a custom field, you:
    • Select a field type.
    • Provide the text of its label or question for each of your supported languages.
    • Provide the text of the items (answers) in a select list or radio list for each of your supported languages.
    • Designate a default item (answer) for a select list or radio list.
      Note: If you do not want to designate a default item for a select list, add a list header and provide text for the list heading, such as "Select one." The list heading is visible in the list before it is pulled down.

Options for Create Question Form

In Create Question Form, you:

  • Select the languages that you want to support in your e-mail form.
  • Select the fields you want to appear on your e-mail form (see notes below).
  • Put E-mail Fields in Order.
  • View e-mail form.
  • Publish E-mail Form (see notes below).

Notes about: Select the fields you want to appear on your e-mail form

For the fields that you selected or created in Choose Form Fields, you can:

  • Add them to, or remove them from, your e-mail question form.
  • Indicate whether they are required or optional (Settings).

To customize these fields, return to Choose Form Fields.

For the Question field (required), you can:

  • Customize the text of its label or question for each of your supported languages.

For the E-mail field (required), you can:

  • Customize the text of its label or question for each of your supported languages.
  • Indicate how you want to validate the e-mail address (Settings).

For the Name field, you can:

  • Add it to, or remove it from, your e-mail question form.
  • Customize the text of its label or question for each of your supported languages.
  • Indicate whether it is required or optional (Settings).

For the Assignment Selector, you can:

  • Add it to, or remove it from, your e-mail question form.
  • Indicate how assignment of submitted questions will be done (Settings).

Note: To use the Assignment Selector, you must also set up Web Form Assignment (Administration > Institution > Settings > Web Form Assignment). For more information about Web Form Assignment and the Assignment Selector, see Set up web form assignment.

For E-mail Form Title, E-mail Form Introductory Text, and E-mail Form Instruction:

  • E-mail Form Title appears below the banner and has larger bold type.
  • E-mail Form Introductory Text appears below the E-mail Form Title and has regular type.
  • E-mail Form Instruction appears below the E-mail Form Introductory Text and directly above the fields that patrons complete. It appears in a gray bar in bold, regular size type.

You can:

  • Add them to, or remove them from, your e-mail question form.
  • Customize their text for each of your supported languages.

Notes about: Publish E-mail Form

When you click Publish E-mail Form, QuestionPoint redisplays the Create E-mail Form page with a URL for an e-mail question form for each of your supported languages.

Each time that you change a published form you must click Publish E-mail Form to add the change to the published forms.

Click Delete Published Forms if you want to remove the forms so they are no longer available.

If you delete published forms, be sure to remove any links to them that you added to your web site. If a patron clicks a link to a deleted form, an error page instructions the patron to contact your library.

Note about language customization:

If you add a language, check each field that you selected for your forms to add any needed answers for the new language.

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