One of the many features that makes Formsite popular and powerful is the Calculations item. This item lets form builders perform basic mathematical equations on form answers, then uses the equation result later in the form.

Our Order Form items make building order forms simple and the Calculations item isn't needed in those cases. If the simple order form items aren't enough, however, the Calculations item lets you specify a custom equation.

Some uses for calculations include:

• Adding product options
• Order additions (tax, shipping, etc.)
• Scoring calculations
• Custom calculators

• Storing in your own database
• Connecting to a third-party API
• Logging in to your site and passing more information
• Displaying custom content based on form answers

Your Formsite form collects your form results in its Results Table where you can view, sort, and filter them. You are also able to export your results to a file you can save on your computer for a variety of reasons including:

• Regular backups for safe-keeping
• Order fulfillment
• Periodic reports
• Data source for external applications
• Copying your form (with results)

There are many formats and options available on the Results -> Export page to help you with these tasks.

Your Formsite form has its own unique URL that you can customize for any reason. Whether you’re looking to change the link to include your company name, a category tag, or if you’re just looking to simplify the link, here are some instructions and tips for making a custom URL for your form.

Your form link follows this format:

https://fsX.formsite.com/account-directory/form-directory/index.html

The Likert scale is a common way of asking the level of agreement and disagreement the visitor has for a question, and should be familiar to anyone used to making or taking surveys. The basic format of the Likert scale is a 5-column answer, which choices like:

• Strongly disagree
• Disagree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Agree
• Strongly agree

Making a Likert scale is easily done using a regular Radio Button Matrix item and adding each question as a row, with each answer as a column heading. Additional items available for collecting survey data include:

• Rating item
• Ranking item
• Star Rating item

When should you use each item?

• Two-factor Authentication
• Sub-user login page
• Save & Return username/email piping
• New Credit Card item
• Form Folders
• Password-protected attachments

Your form results can be viewed in several ways, from individual results in Notifications to exporting as a complete spreadsheet. Exported spreadsheets can be opened by a few applications and the most common is Excel for both Mac and Windows operating systems. Google Sheets is a free alternative and is accessed through your browser, and most of these tips can be used interchangeably with both.

If you’re brand-new to Excel, a good place to learn the basics is at Microsoft’s help and training pages at https://support.office.com/en-us/excel.

Working with your results in Excel can be an integral part of your data collection process, and here are some ways to make the most out of your results spreadsheets.

A popular Formsite feature is our Results Reports area that lets account owners give access to the form results without giving access to the account. Creating a report will show links to both a table and a chart display, which allows the viewer to choose from a few different formats.

Setting up Reports is as easy as giving the report a name and clicking the Save button (see the documentation page for a tutorial video showing the basic setup). Using the optional settings can expand the usefulness of the function. These settings include setting a password to restrict access, allowing edits to the results, and using Results Filters and Results Views for more focused reports.

One of the most frequently misunderstood concepts is the Admin item setting on your Formsite form items. Using the Admin setting allows you to create form items that are for admin use only, but what does that mean and why would you use it?

The Form Editor says that Admin items aren’t shown on your form. That means that the item will appear in your Results Table as part of the form, but the item itself will not appear on the form when the visitor completes the form.

Uses for this feature include:

• Creating an internal status or notes item for each result
• Editing or removing items from the form without losing the recorded results
• Triggering follow-up email notifications

A popular request is how to send email reminders when people don’t complete your form. The dilemma is how to trigger something based on something NOT happening. For customers looking for this ability, Formsite's Mailchimp integration and Mailchimp’s  Automation tools make it possible.

Let’s dive right in. You will need:

• A Formsite form you want people to complete
• A Mailchimp account
• A list of email addresses for your visitors

The easiest way to start is by adding your emails to a new Mailchimp list, although you can use another form to make your list (more on that at the end). The order things will happen is:

1. You send your Mailchimp Campaign with a link to your form to a list of email addresses
2. When recipients click the link to visit the form, submitting the form records a value to the subscriber at Mailchimp
3. After a set period of time, the reminders are sent to all subscribers without the value