Forms / Form Elements

About Form Elements

Using Forms and Form Elements is an easy way to survey your Attendees when they're registering for an Event, after they register, or after the Event has ended. This can give an insight on reporting to capture the voices and opinions of Attendees.

Supported Form Element Types

• Big List Group

• Checkbox

• Date

• Divider

• Email

• File Upload

• Hidden

• Multi-Select Picklist

• Number

• Parameter

• Picklist

• Text

• Text (30,000)

• URL

Mapping Phone Numbers

A value in a Form Element with Type = “Number” cannot be mapped to Phone Number fields in Salesforce. We recommend using a Form Element with Type = “Text” if you need to map a phone number to a Phone Number field.

Add Form Elements

Form Elements can be added to several places, but first, there are a few picklist options that need to be added to the Type field on the Form object.

• "Pre-registration": This is for answering Form Elements during the Checkout process. These will be displayed when the Attendee fills in their information to register.
  

  • Pre-registration Form Elements can be added at the Event level or to the individual Event Items but not both. Otherwise, the custom questions will be duplicated on the registration form.

  • This can also be set on an Event Item to be used with Visibility Control. This allows asking specific questions to specific Attendee.

• "Post-registration": This is for answering Form Elements after the Attendee registers for the Event. The questions will be displayed on a confirmation page through their AttendeeLink.

View Attendees Answers

Field Limitation

The Dietary Preference field on the Attendee object is automatically set to map to the Dietary Preference field on the Event Item. As a result, the Attendee's Dietary Preference field does not work with custom Forms.

There are a few easy ways to view an Attendee's answers! The Forms are submitted to Salesforce through the Blackthorn Events Form Submission object. There are two Related Lists that can be added on the Attendee object to easily access an Attendee's answers: Form Submission & Form Submission Answer.

1. Navigate to the Form Submissions Related List, and click on the Form Submission Name you want to view or Navigate to the Form Submission Answer Related List, and click on the specific answer you want to view.

2. If a specific Form Submission fails to process, open the Blackthorn Events Form Submission, and click the Process button. This will reprocess the answers and submit the form properly.

3. The following Form Element Types do not map to the Answer field on the Form Submission Answer object. For the Types that are not mapped to the Answerfield, see the mappings below.

   • Form Element Type = "Date" maps to the Form Submission Answer Answer Date field.

   • Form Element Type = "Number" maps to the Form Submission Answer Answer Number field.

   • Form Element Type = "Multi-Select Picklist" maps to the Form Submission Answer Answer Text Long field.

   • Form Element Type = "Text (30,000)" maps to the Form Submission Answer Answer Text Long field.

   • Form Element Type = "Big List Group" maps to the Form Submission Answer Form Big List Option field.

Share Files Uploaded via Form Elements

Salesforce offers several ways to share files uploaded via Form Elements with Type = “File”. To learn more, select an option on Salesforce’s File Privacy and Sharing document that meets your requirements.

Create a Form

Do you need to clone a Form?

Click the Clone button on the Form record you want to clone and follow the steps below to add/edit the Form Elements.

1. Navigate to the Forms tab and click New to create a new Form.
   

2. In your newly created Form, click the New Form Element button in the top right-hand corner.

3. You can now create a variety of questions.

Form Element Fields

Type: defines the type of question you want to ask.

Required: defines whether or not the question is required.

Maps To (Object)(Optional): defines where the Attendee's answer will go. If you select "Contact" from this picklist, the Attendee's answer will be defined on the Contact object.

Maps To (Field)(Optional): defines where the Attendee's answer will go. If you select "City" from this picklist and "Contact" from the Maps To (Object) field, the Attendee's answer will be populated on the “City” field within the Contact object.

Enter your question to ask below: defines the primary question.

Supplemental Question Information: This is a supporting field to the Enter your question to ask below: field. The text will appear below the primary question and can include any rich text, such as hyperlinks, colors, and formatting.

Default Value: defines the default value for a picklist, text field, etc. when an Attendee opens the registration form.

Default Checkbox Value: defines the default condition for a checkbox Form Element.

Hint: defines the help text for the question.

Check out the following screenshots below

Conditional Questions

The following types of Form Elements allow for conditions.

• Checkbox

• Date

• Email

• Multi-Select Picklist

• Picklist

• Text

• Text (30,000)

• URL

Setup

After clicking the New Form Element button, you'll see the Form Element page. We've filled this section as an example.

After you begin filling in the Form Element fields, the Add Condition button will appear at the bottom, right-hand side of the page. Clicking Add Condition allows you to add conditions based on selected values.

Conditional Questions were added to give you more flexibility. For example, if an Attendee selected their meal preference as "Steak," the next question would be "What would you like as a side?".

In this example, if they selected any other food, they wouldn't have the option to select a side item.

Example

Here, we have a similar question "What is your favorite sport?". Depending on how an Attendee answers the question, the question "What is your favorite team" will change. If the Attendee selects "Baseball", they will see baseball teams. If the Attendee selects "Football", they will see football teams.

File Uploading

Who can access the files that are uploaded as part of a Form Element?

Only an authorized user can access/view the files section in Salesforce. Since there can only be one authorized user for Blackthorn Events, this user will be listed as the creator of all records (i.e. Attendees, files) created during registration from your Event webpage. All other users must be given specific access to the files under the authorized user.

We have added file uploading as part of the new Form Element. The files can be written to anything in the Maps To (Object) picklist. The file is uploaded after checkout and will be added to Salesforce Files as well as the object defined in the Maps To (Object) picklist. Please keep in mind that files can take up to 5 minutes to relate to their respective record.

Supported File Types

• All image file formats (for example, .jpg, jpeg, .png, .gif, .svg) and

• PDF (.pdf).

Setup

1. Choose Form ElementType = "File Upload".

2. Enter the text you want the Attendee to see in the Enter your question to ask below: section.

3. Files that Attendees upload will be added to the Files section of Salesforce. This can also be added as a Related List to the Attendee/Contact/etc. object that is defined in the Maps To (Object) picklist. This will allow you to easily see the file the Attendee uploaded.
   

Example

Big List Group (Typeahead)

Form Big List Groups were added for picklists with thousands of options. Including a Form Big List Group gives Attendees the option to search for the answer they'd like to select.

Setup

1. Open the App Launcher and navigate to Form Big List Group.

2. Click New in the top-right-hand corner.

3. Enter a name in the Form Big List Name field.

4. Click Save.

Example

For this example, we will use Zip Codes.

Imagine if an Attendee had to scroll through thousands of Zip Codes just to find where they live. That’s very inefficient. Now, an Attendee can simply search for their answer and click it.

1. Open the App Launcher and navigate to Form Big List Group.

2. Click New in the top, right-hand corner.

3. Enter “Zip Code Test” in the Form Big List Name field.

4. Click Save.

5. On the new record, click New in the bottom, right corner (next to "Form Big List Option").
   

6. On the next page, you will see:

   • Option Name - The value that is saved in Salesforce as the answer. 

   • Option Value - The text an Attendee will see when completing the checkout process.

7. Click Save.

8. Navigate to Forms.

9. To create a new Form Element, click "Big List Group" in the Type field.
   

10. Define the question on the Form Element.

    • For the Zip Codes example, enter "What is your Zip Code?".

    • Select “Zip Code Type” in the Big List Group field.
      

11. Click Save.

Results

1. The user is asked to enter their zip code.
   

2. The user enters “540” and only sees the options that start with “540.”
   

Dividers

Dividers allow you to add a blank space between questions or include more information for Attendee to see!

Setup

1. Choose Form ElementType = "Divider".
   NOTE: If you do not initially see "Divider" in the Type picklist, go to Blackthorn | Events Admin > Upgrade > and click Update Picklists.

2. Optional: Define the text you want the Attendee to see in the Additional Information to display below the divider: field.
   

The Supplemental Question Information field will be displayed at the bottom of the Form Element.

Example

This is what the finished product will look similar to!

Hidden Form Elements

To map a hidden Form Element to a field on a different object, you must assign a default value to the hidden Form Element. This default value will then map to the configured field after an Attendee registers and completes the Form with the hidden Form Element.

Examples

Map to a Checkbox

If you want to map a hidden Form Element to a checkbox on a different object, set the checkbox’s default value to true. When the Form Submission Answer is processed, then the checkbox field will be checked.

Map to a Text or Picklist Field

If you want to map a hidden Form Element to a text or picklist field on a different object, set the hidden Form Element’s Default Value to the desired text or value. That value will then be mapped to the text or picklist field when the Form Submission Answer is processed.

UTM Parameter

UTM Parameters are tags that you can add to a URL. When the link is clicked, the tags are sent back to Google Analytics (or your preferred system) and tracked. The tags are stored in the Attendees' local storage for 30 days after clicking on the Event link.

Setup

1. Choose Form Element Type = "Parameter".

2. Define the text. The text entered here will be a part of the original URL.
   

Example

Parameter question types will not show up in the Additional Information section. Here is an example of a URL that includes the parameter.

"https://events.blackthorn.io/en/3h2AhtF7/g/HNex28aSVs/test-all-custom-question-types-4a123hZrGq/overview?utm_param=utm_param_Value"

Notice that at the end of the URL, "?utm_param=utm_param_Value," is the text, "utm_param" that was defined in the image above.

After the user navigates anywhere in the URL, the “?utm_param=utm_param_Value” disappears from the URL. Even though the text isn't visible, all the information will still be tracked.

URL

The URL option allows for an Attendee to enter a URL upon registration. This field will validate that the text entered is a proper URL. When written to a URL Salesforce field, this will appear as a hyperlink. When written to a text field will appear as text with no hyperlink.

Setup

1. Choose Form ElementType = "URL".

2. Define the text you want the Attendee to see in the Enter your question to ask below: field.

3. Optional: Define Supplemental Question Information, Default Value, and Hint fields.

Example

When an Attendee enters data into a URL field, it will be validated that the text starts with http:// or https:// and the text has a top-level domain (.com, .gov, .io,. etc.) identified.

Post-Registration Forms

Does prefill work for post-registration Forms?

No, prefill only works for pre-registration Forms.

Forms with Type = "Post-registration" use AttendeeLinks to gather information. Once an Attendee registers for an Event or is invited to an Event, they'll receive their AttendeeLink via email. The AttendeeLink will include the post-registration questions.

Setup

1. Go to the Forms tab.

2. Click New.

3. Set Form Type = "Post-registration".

4. Click Save.

5. Complete the following fields to create the Form Element.

   • Type = The question type you want to use. (required)

   • Required

   • Maps To (Object)

   • Maps To (Field)

   • Enter your question to ask below: (required)

   • Supplemental Question Information

   • Default Value

   • Hint

6. Click Save.

7. Go to the Event record.

8. Add the Form to the Form (Post-Registration) field on your Event.

That's all there is to it. Attendees will now see a form when they revisit their AttendeeLink.

Example

This is what the finished product will look like!

Change the Text

The generic text that appears on the post-registration Form is “Thank you for attending [XYZ]. Please take a few moments to answer our survey."

If you want to change the original text, use the MSG_SURVEY_TITLE Key from the Blackthorn Events Data Dictionary document. Click here for more information about the Data Dictionary feature.

Post-Event Survey

Post-Event Surveys/Questions can now be translated. However, please note the following.

• Default values, picklist values, and big list values will not be translated to accommodate custom flows and logic.

• Since Post-Event Questions can work independently from Events/Event Settings, they are not impacted by the Event Settings’ Source Language and Target Language fields. Instead, the questions will be written in the language set by the org’s locale.

Post-event surveys allow Attendees to give feedback on an Event. They can be added to Event, Event Item, and Attendee records. If you want to set up a process to automatically send the Post Event Questions URL, we recommend using the process builder or flows.

Complete the following steps to add a post-event survey.

1. Go to the Forms tab.

2. Click New.

3. Fill in the following fields.

   1. Form Name (required)

   2. Type = “Survey.”

4. Click Save.

5. Add one or more Form Elements to the survey.

6. Go to relevant Event, Event Item, or Attendee record and add the previously created Form to the Post Event Questions field.

Note: The Post Event Questions URL is unique to Attendee record. The field pulls from the Form added to the Post Event Questions field on the Event, Event Item, or Attendee records.

The same functionality applies at the Session level. The Post Event Questions field can be found on both the Session and Session Attendee records. The Session Attendee record also includes the Post Session Question URL, just like its Attendee record counterpart.

FAQ

Q: How do we automatically send the Form’s URL to ONLY the Attendees who actually attended?

A: Use the Email component to create and send an Email Template with the Post Event Questions URL and the Attendee Filter set to Attendance Status = “Attended.”

Form Preview

From your Form record, there is a button called Form Preview that allows you to preview your form and change the Sort Order of questions.

To change the Sort Order, drag and drop a specific question or use the up/down arrows next to each of your questions.