The shortest path to a form on your site takes five steps.
- Formulus → Forms → New. Give it a title: it is shown above the form on the site.
- Fields tab, right-hand column, Start from a model block: click the one closest to your need.
- Adjust the labels, remove what you do not need, add what is missing.
- Sending and Mails tab: say who receives the responses.
- Save, then create a menu item that shows it (chapter Showing the form on your site).
The models
| Model | What it asks |
|---|---|
| Contact | Name, email, subject, message. The simplest. |
| Quote | Two titled rows: contact details (name, company, email, phone), then the project (service, budget, deadline, description, attachment). |
| Registration | Name, email, phone, number of people. |
| Call back | Name, phone and preferred time. |
| Application | Contact details, then the application: online profile, position sought, motivation, CV. |
| Booking | Contact details, then the booking: preferred date, number of people, details. |
| Survey | Satisfaction, suggestions, and an optional address for those who want a reply. |
| Newsletter | An address, the topics of interest, consent. |
Every model also adds what a public form must have: consent to data processing, the submit button and the native CAPTCHA if it is enabled. The models used to sell or to book add the terms acceptance box; the survey has none, since it sells nothing.
A model is chosen once. As soon as it is applied, the Start from a model and Add a field blocks fold away: the form has its fields, and you only come back for an occasional addition. The chosen model keeps an outline.
Changing models replaces everything. If the form already has fields, Formulus says so first, in a confirmation window. That is deliberate: a model is a starting point, not a layer to stack.
What will be output
Under the models, the What will be output block draws the form as the visitor will see it: the rows, their titles, the fields at their width, the star of required fields. A hidden field (crossed-out eye) is not there, nor is a button without a label.
It answers the question you keep asking while setting things up: "where will this field land?".
The Texts tab
The optional introduction text sits between the title and the fields. Status, access and language are Joomla's: an unpublished form is not shown, neither through its menu item nor through a module.
The closing text, also optional, sits below the form: a reminder, a response time, another way to reach you. Like the introduction, it disappears after a successful submission. To style it, its class is formulus-fin.
Show Title shows or hides the form's title above the fields. Hidden, it does not quite disappear: screen readers still read it, and the page keeps a heading that says what it holds. Hide it when the page or the module already says what the form is about.
Up to date for Formulus 1.0.733.