How Can We Help?
Table of Contents
< Back
Print

Field Types

Single Line Text

Single Line Text fields are the most commonly used field type. They are typically used to insert a small amount (or single line) of text, such as a name or a city.

Standard field options

A Single Line Text field has the following options:

Default values and field icons

The default value icons can be used to specify whether the text entered in a Single Line Text field on the form builder page should be a default value or a placeholder. Learn how to set a default value and how to set a placeholder in a text field.

Field action icons allows you to duplicate, delete, and/or move a field on the form builder page. See the field action icons article for more information.

Field specific options

Format
Use the Format field option to make sure users provide information in the right format. This can range from phone numbers to postal codes to serial numbers, and much more!

Paragraph Text

Paragraph Text fields are used to insert multiple lines of text, such as a description or request. The text box size can easily be adjusted by the user by clicking and dragging the bottom right corner of the box.

Standard field options

A Paragraph Text field has the following options:

Default values and field icons

The default value icons can be used to specify whether the text in the box on the form builder page should be a default value or a placeholder. Learn how to set a default value and how to set a placeholder in a text field.

Field action icons allows you to duplicate, delete, and/or move a field on the form builder page. See the field action icons article for more information.

Display Paragraph Text fields

Display the value submitted in a Paragraph Text field in a form’s confirmation message, email, or View.

Shortcode options

    • Display text: Display the submitted text. Paragraph tags will be added automatically.
[x]

Replace x with the ID or key of the Paragraph Text field.

    • Text without paragraph tags: Display the submitted text without automatically adding paragraph tags.
[x wpautop=0]

Replace x with the ID or key of the Paragraph Text field.

Limit Characters/Words

If you want to limit the amount of text entered in a paragraph field, you can customize the default HTML for the field and add the ‘maxlength’ parameter.

  1. Navigate to your form Settings → Customize HTML.
  2. Find the paragraph field section that you want to limit.
  3. Change [input] to [input maxlength=”140″]. Replace ‘140’ with the character limit you want to use.

Note: While this is a widely available browser feature, there are some browsers that do not support it. You can check browser support on the ‘Can I Use’ website.

Dropdown

Dropdown fields allow users to select an option from a list of options. The options will only be visible when the user clicks the dropdown arrow, so you can add as many options as needed and it won’t take up unnecessary space in your form.

Standard field options

Checkbox and Radio Button fields have the following standard options:

Field-specific options

In addition to the standard field options, Dropdown fields have several field-specific options. Browse the sections below to learn more about the options specific to Dropdown fields.

Add Option

Click this button to add a new option to your field.

Reorder individual checkbox, radio or dropdown select options by moving the drag and drop icon

Bulk Edit Options

Use the Bulk Edit link to add, edit, or remove a lot of options quickly.

Click the ‘Bulk Edit Options’ link and type or paste your options into the box that appears. You can also use this option to populate your field choices with a ready-made list of Countries, U.S. States, U.S. State abbreviations, age ranges, levels of satisfaction, importance, or agreement.

To bulk edit options with separate values, put the label, followed by a |, followed by the value. For example:

Excellent|10
Very Good|8
Fine|5
Not so great|3
Poor|1

Note: you need to check the separate values checkbox, as described below.

Default values and field icons

Set a dynamic default value in your Checkbox or Radio Button field. If you would like to retrieve a value from an entry see the Get a Value From an Entry page. If you would like to set a default value, see the Default Values page.

Field action icons allows you to duplicate, delete, and/or move a field on the form builder page. See field action icons for more information.

Note: Do not leave the saved value blank on a radio or checkbox option. When the value is blank, it will be checked by default when the form is viewed, and there is no way of knowing if the user selected the option or not.

Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

Checkboxes and Radio Buttons are very similar. They both display a list of options which a user can select from. Checkbox fields allow the user to select one or more options and boxes can be checked and unchecked. Radio Buttons fields will allow only one option to be selected. A Radio Button cannot be unchecked.

Standard field options

Checkbox and Radio Button fields have the following standard options:

Field-specific options

In addition to the standard field options, Checkbox and Radio Button fields have several field-specific options. Browse the sections below to learn more about the options specific to Checkbox and Radio Button fields

Add Option

Click this button to add a new option to your field.

Reorder individual checkbox, radio or dropdown select options by moving the drag and drop icon

Bulk Edit Options

Use the Bulk Edit link to add, edit, or remove a lot of options quickly.

Click the ‘Bulk Edit Options’ link and type or paste your options into the box that appears. You can also use this option to populate your field choices with a ready-made list of Countries, U.S. States, U.S. State abbreviations, age ranges, levels of satisfaction, importance, or agreement.

To bulk edit options with separate values, put the label, followed by a |, followed by the value. For example:

Excellent|10
Very Good|8
Fine|5
Not so great|3
Poor|1

Note: you need to check the separate values checkbox, as described below.

Use separate values

Check this box if you would like to store an entry as a value distinct from the selected value. For example, if your user selects ‘black t-shirt’, you can store the value as ‘black t-shirt $25.00’.

Default values and field icons

Set a dynamic default value in your Checkbox or Radio Button field. If you would like to retrieve a value from an entry see the Get a Value From an Entry page. If you would like to set a default value, see the Default Values page.

Field action icons allows you to duplicate, delete, and/or move a field on the form builder page. See field action icons for more information.

Note: Do not leave the saved value blank on a radio or checkbox option. When the value is blank, it will be checked by default when the form is viewed, and there is no way of knowing if the user selected the option or not.

Email Address

The Email Address field is used for entering a single email address and will only pass validation if the value entered is in a valid email format. The Email Address field checks the text to make sure it matches the pattern expected of a real email address (ex. a user mistakenly enters ‘johnsmithexample.com’ as their address – missing the ‘@’ and would show an error).

Standard field options

An Email Address field has the following standard options:

Website/URL

The Website/URL field is used for entering a single website and/or URL and will only pass validation if the value entered is in a valid URL format. It also allows user to reference images that are already uploaded or located elsewhere online. This field can contain URL validation and a thumbnail image for the specified image.

Standard field options

A Website/URL field has the following options:

Phone Number

Add a phone number field to a form when you need a value submitted in a specific format. By default, a Phone Number field checks if the value entered is a valid phone number. Several types of phone number formats will be accepted. The field can easily be modified to allow a specific phone number format or any other alphanumeric format, including social security numbers and zip codes. Beyond that, you can use a regular expression (regex) to enforce virtually any format that you want.

Standard field options

Phone number fields have the following standard options:

File Upload

Add a field to your form to capture images, videos and documents. By default the allowed file types are images, but you can select any number of file formats to be accepted by the upload field. The newest feature added to this field is the checkbox to ‘Automatically resize files before upload’. By checking this box, you can define an image size to stop people from submitting images that will blow out if you need them for something specific. This will also help reduce the number of images created on the server.

Standard field options

File upload fields have the following standard options:

Hidden Field

A Hidden field is not visible in a form. It is used for storing a value that can not be seen in the front-end form. It is commonly used to store a calculation, a dynamic default value, or a static default value.

Field options

A Hidden Field has the following options:

More information on field options:

Note: Fields that are not Hidden Fields can still be hidden from view by using the Formidable CSS shortcode frm_hidden

Default values and field icons

Set a dynamic default value in your Checkbox or Radio Button field. If you would like to retrieve a value from an entry see the Get a Value From an Entry page. If you would like to set a default value, see the Default Values page.

Field action icons allows you to duplicate, delete, and/or move a field on the form builder page. See field action icons for more information.

Display Hidden fields

Even though the field is hidden in the form, you can still display a Hidden field’s submitted value in a form’s confirmation message, email, or View. Just insert [x], where x is the ID or key of the Hidden Field.

HTML

The HTML field is used to display descriptive text or HTML to form visitors. The text or HTML can only be inserted on the form builder and cannot be modified by users. An HTML field is commonly used to display static text instructions, a progress bar, or terms and conditions.

Standard field options

An HTML field has the following options:

More information on field options:

Field specific options

Content
Insert text or HTML in the Content box. The text or HTML will be displayed in your form.

Field icons

Field action icons allows you to duplicate, delete, and/or move a field on the form builder page. See the field action icons article for more information.

Display default values

Use default values in an HTML field to display specific information.

1. Add an HTML field to your form.

2. Open the Field Options. Insert any default value shortcodes in the Content box.

3. Save the form and click ‘Preview’. When the form is visited it will look something like this

Show values from another field

An HTML field can be used to display values from other fields. When the value is in the same form, there must be a page break between that field and the HTML field. Then include the field id like [25] inside the HTML field.

Create a terms & conditions field

Create a scroll box that holds terms and conditions. A required checkbox field will ensure that the user agrees to the terms and conditions before submitting the form.

1. Go into the form where you would like to add the terms and conditions.

2. Add an HTML field.

3. Open the field options for the HTML field. Insert your terms and conditions in the Content box.

4. Insert the frm_scroll_box shortcode in the ‘CSS Layout Classes’ box. This will turn the text into scrollable terms and conditions box.

5. Add a checkbox field. Give it a title like ‘Terms and conditions’ and set the first option to ‘I agree to the terms and conditions.’

6. In the field options, select Required. Also, change the Label Position to None.

7. Save the form and click ‘Preview’. Now when the form is visited, the terms and conditions will be shown in a scroll box with a required checkbox field for the user to indicate their agreement.

Display an image

If you would like to display an image inside of your form, follow the steps below.

1. Go into the form where you would like to add an image and insert an HTML field in the form builder.

2. Open the field options for the HTML field. In the Content box, insert the HTML img tag with the link to the image. It should look something like this:

<img src="https://example.com/image.jpg" alt="myimage">

Replace http://example.com/image.jpg with the location of your image and myimage to a descriptive alternate text.

3.Save the form and click Preview. Now when the form is visited, an image will be displayed in the form.

Add a download link

If you would like to add a link that downloads a file upon clicking it, follow the steps below.

1. Go into your form and insert an HTML field in the form builder.

2. Open the field options for the HTML field. In the Content box, insert the HTML tag, including the download attribute.

<a href=".../wp-content/uploads/image.png" download="image">Download File</a>

Replace /wp-content/uploads/image.png with the file URL and replace the image with the filename of the downloaded file.

3. (Optional) If you would like to include an icon with your download link, install the Formidable Bootstrap add-on to prepend/append Bootstrap Glyphicons. Your content may look like this:

<a href=".../wp-content/uploads/image.png" download="image">Download file <i class="glyphicon glyphicon-download"></i></a>

4. Click the Update button to save the form.

5. Now when the form is visited, a download link will be displayed on the form.

reCAPTCHA

Requires the user to verify that they are human before submitting the form. This helps protect your account from Spam. The reCAPTCHA keys must be set up before it will be functional, please contact us if you require this.

Field options

A Hidden Field has the following options:

More information on field options:

Field specific options

Color

When you insert a reCAPTCHA field into your form, you have the ability to use either a light theme (default) or a dark theme. You can adjust this in the Field Setting of the reCAPTCHA field.

Please note: This setting does not apply to invisible reCAPTCHA.

Size

When you insert a reCAPTCHA field into your form, you have the ability to make the reCAPTCHA window appear its default size, or a compact size as shown below. This is particularly helpful if your form is in a small space! You can adjust this is the Field Options of your reCAPTCHA field.

Please note: This setting does not apply to invisible reCAPTCHA.

How to disable reCAPTCHA

If your form includes a reCAPTCHA and you would like to turn it off, delete the reCAPTCHA field from the form builder page. Delete the reCAPTCHA field on any form that includes a reCAPTCHA that you would like to disable.

Was this article helpful?
0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars 0%
4 Stars 0%
3 Stars 0%
2 Stars 0%
1 Stars 0%
5
Please Share Your Feedback
How Can We Improve This Article?