It depends on what you want to do with the web form. Here are the basic kinds of forms, and how we can help you put them together:

• Simple forms -- These forms fit on one page (though they can still be long, if needed), and send an email to one or more carleton email addresses when they are submitted. We can set you up with Reason-based tools for forms like this. The advantage of a simple form is that you will be able to manage the form yourself, and the form can be online in a matter of hours.
• Forms with credit card processing -- these forms allow visitors to make a payment with a credit card. They currently require custom work by Web Communications, so make sure to request a credit card form several weeks in advance.
• Multi-page forms -- these forms take the results of one page and use them to customize the next page's questions. These are very complex, and may require several months of custom development. Please contact us as soon as you think you may need one of these forms.
• Surveys -- If you want a web form so that you can conduct a survey, first check the Institutional Review Board's guidelines to see if you need to submit your survey for approval. Their Administrative Research policy is particularly helpful in this regard.
• Authenticated forms -- these forms require visitors to sign in before completing the form, and include reliable information about who submitted the form. These can only be used by people who have Carleton user accounts. They generally require a couple of weeks to create, so contact us early.
• Database-backed forms -- rather than sending an email, database-backed forms put the results of visitors' submissions into an online database for easy searching and browsing. These are another of the more labor-intensive forms, requiring a couple of months lead time.

We hope that information is helpful in figuring out what kind of form you need and how to go about getting it. Please contact us for more information or to request a new form.

• Matt Ryan, 19 July 2004
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