Filled In Plugin
Filled In is a generic form processing plugin that will validate and store data submitted through forms. You can use it for any kind of data input, from simple contact forms on a blog to full-blown questionnaires on a business site.
The basic features of Filled In are:
- Customizable data filters and data processors
- Central data storage, with exports to CSV and XML
- Email reporting, with attachments and inline images
- AJAX support (forms always work in browsers without JavaScript)
- Built-in CAPTCHA support
- Built-in poMMo mailing list support
- Built-in file upload support
Read the history for a complete list of features.
Filled In is available in the following languages:
- English
- Italiano, thanks to Simone Righini
- French, thanks to Zesty
Installation
Installation is like any WordPress plugin:
- Download filled-in.zip
- Unzip
- Upload the
filled-indirectory to/wp-content/pluginson your server - Activate the plugin
Note that if you are upgrading from 1.5 you will need to reconfigure your forms. As much information as possible is retained, but the configuration details of individual filters and processors are not. You are advised to backup your data before upgrading, just in case something bad happens.
You can find full details of installing a plugin on the plugin installation page.
Using Filled In - The Basics
Filled In takes an existing XHTML form and routes all data submission through it's own routines, providing you with a consistent interface for managing form validation, data processing, and data storage. In order to route data you give the form an ID that matches a receiving Filled In form name (as created in the Filled In interface).
Create a Filled In form recipient, giving it a unique name.
Create a form (or modify an existing form) and give the form element an ID attribute that matches the Filled In form recipient name.
Look forward to a fully validated form!
Note that all messages and styles are fully configurable.
If you are unfamiliar with HTML and don't understand how this all fits together then don't worry, there are plenty of pictures and even a few movies that will hopefully explain everything. You can use any application you want to create the forms themselves (for example, Dreamweaver), and the only required action is that the form ID must match a Filled In form.
If you were paying attention to the above images you might have noticed that no action or method attribute was needed on the form. As long as the ID can be matched, Filled In will insert the required form attributes, making sure the form is fully functional.
Taking It Further with Extensions
Filled In provides a lot more than just being able to change form attributes. When a form is submitted, Filled In passes the data through several customisable layers. These layers perform all kinds of tasks from validating the data, to sending out email reports.
Each layer can have any number of extensions. Filled In comes with a selection of default extensions, and you can download or develop third-party extensions to perform any additional task yourself.
The default extensions are:
- Pre Processors
- Exclude/include fields - remove specified fields
- Must be logged in/out - the user must/must not be logged into WordPress
- Filters
- CAPTCHA - add a CAPTCHA image to a field and ensure the field contents match the image
- Checkbox/Radio - ensures a field is a checkbox or radio button
- File upload - limit upload size and file type
- Is Email - ensure a field contains an email address
- Is Equal/Not Equal To - A logical equality comparison
- Is Greater/Lesser - A logical comparison
- Is Numeric - Ensure the field is a number
- Is Required - Ensure a value is given
- String Length - Ensure a certain number of characters are given
- Word Count - Ensure a certain number of words are given
- Post Processors
- Send as email - send the data in an email with full templating, attachments, and inline images (courtesy of the super Swiftmailer)
- Send to poMMo mailing list
- Save to CSV - suitable for use with Excel
- Save to XML
- Save upload - move uploads into a directory of your choice
- Login to WordPress - take submitted data and use it to login to WordPress
- Register in WordPress - take submitted data and use it to register a new WordPress user
- Result Processors
- Display a message - simple give feedback to the user
- Redirect to a post or URL
- Redisplay input form - pre-filled with original data or empty
If a failure is detected on any layer then the progress of data is stopped, and a message displayed back to the user. Regardless of what happens, all data is stored, allowing you to not only review correct data, but to check what problems people have with a particular form.
The rest of these instructions will be based upon the concept of creating a contact form. Naturally you can adapt the details to any kind of form you want.
Further documentation
You can learn more about using Filled In by reading the documentation or the SDK. Details on certain extensions can be found on the extensions page.
Support
Please direct all support questions to the Filled In support forum. Any support questions left on this page may not be answered.
Bugs & New Features
| Date | Current outstanding bugs | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 09 Mar 2008 | Creating CAPTCHA filter not working | |
| 06 Sep 2008 | Downloading attachments |
A full list of all bugs can be found in the Filled In issue tracker.
A full list of all requested features can be found in the Filled In feature tracker.
Comments (page 6 of 13)
Jul 23, 2007 11:36 pm
Deuce: Did you set the post status to private, or did you create a post password? Setting a password will just prompt the user for the password while a private post should require the user to be logged in.
Also, did you create any result processors? You need to configure Filled In and tell it what data is valid (filters), what to do with the data (post processor), and what response to display to the user (result processor)
samwithans: What are you referring to with the videos and pictures?
Nathan: The paths need to be absolute (/home/username/storage/directory). The only reason for the 'failed to move' error should be either the path you specified is invalid, or the permissions are incorrect (+w for group/other). If this doesnt help then send me a screenshot of your form's configuration and I'll see if anything stands out.
Jul 23, 2007 6:07 pm
I've been using Filled In for several forms and I love it. However, I'm now tackling a form that requires file upload and I can't get it to work. It keeps returning a "failed to move upload" error. It's not saving anywhere, though - in the Options-set dir or the move-to dir. I set a path in the Options and I added a move upload post processor. Both dir's are writeable. I'm not sure what I'm missing.
FYI, I tried entering the path as relative to the root /wp-content/uploads and also hard coded. Is there something like the WP bloginfo('url') I could try?
Jul 11, 2007 11:05 pm
Did you mean that there are videos and pictures in the plugin files? Or elsewhere?
Jul 7, 2007 11:20 pm
I can't get the Filled In forms to work. I have tried to add the id for the form and it seems to submit, but will not do anything other than that. I must be doing something wrong obviously. I would definitely listen and take any suggestions from anyone reading.
I know this plugin in works. I've seen others using it. I just would like to see it used on my site.
Thanks in advance
Jul 6, 2007 10:35 pm
Maybe I don't know wordpress like I think I do. I actually tried to make it private and it just says login with one password field for the password I set for it. And when I try to not put a password it lets you see the site.
Do I need a permissions plugin or something. I guess I will try to use the Sniplets, but I definitely will be lost a bit after not being able to figure the login thing out.
Is there any documentation for making a page prompt users to login to see?
Thanks in advanced!
Jul 6, 2007 8:12 pm
Deuce,
There are a couple of ways of tackling this. First you could create an upload page that is only accessible to logged in users (for example, making it 'private'). On this page you would then create an upload form.
Alternatively you could use something like Sniplets and create a sniplet that only displays a form if a user is logged in. You can display an alternative form if the user is not logged in.
On the Filled In side of things you should make sure to restrict the form to logged in users.
Jul 6, 2007 7:04 pm
I do apologize someone already has answered this. I am a webdesigner, but fairly new to the forms. I have
the plugin and installed, but do not know how to configure it to be on the website.
This is what I'm trying to achieve:
-I would like to have a form were visitors come and, in order to upload a file, they have to register first and then is given access to the upload button.
-Or simply have the users come to the site. And be able to register and then are allowed to upload files.
Either would be great. I am trying to allow users the ability to have a login, but in order to use the upload file form they would have to be a logged in member.
Hopefully I'm making sense. If you can help me or point me in the right direction I would be obliged.
Thanks Again Guys,
BTW-John Godley you are a God for creating such a SWEET plugin.
Jul 6, 2007 2:46 am
Croco: Yes, Filled In works with WordPress 2.2.1 (it's used here). Do you have JavaScript enabled? Are there any JavaScript errors?
Brett: Did you upgrade from a previous version? It looks like your database is missing a column, and the only reason I can think for this is that you upgraded from a much older version and the upgrade procedure didn't add the column.
Animator: Currently, no. But there is no reason why an extension couldn't be written to add data to comments. I'll put this on the list for the next version
Jul 1, 2007 6:11 pm
Hello,
Great plugin!
I have a question, maybe is silly but i have to try
Is it possible to use Filled in for Comments?
Thankx
Jul 1, 2007 1:40 am
Hi LK, I've got something similar to that lined up for the next major revision. Thanks for the input!
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