Create a form using text markup. Get an URL pointing to the form and mail it to your customers.
I recently received a PDF form (created by M$ Word). I use Linux and managed to open it with Libreoffice (Draw!).
The text entry boxes were misaligned or just missing. Digits each had a separate text field. Tiresome...
By the time I had re-exported it to PDF with the fields filled, some of the formatting had been changed/lost.
So I made this.
I'd rather fill out forms in my browser. Browsers can print PDF. What could go wrong?
I just tried it in Firefox (latest/postmodern, Linux) and none (not a single one) of the form's fields are editable.
It's an even worse experience than Libreoffice.
This is really cool! One suggestion - don't expose when 'identical form exists' on duplicate creator names. This can be de-anonymizing, because I can put some (fictitious) 'target's name into that box and see if they made a form using your service. Also it's not clear to me why it's necessary to have a creator name in the first place.
The de-anonymizing attack is very interesting. Thank you for highlighting it.
The creator name is 'feature creep' about a future use scenario. People were trying to add uniqueness by changing the creator name, so I added it to the key generation hash.
Instead I should have removed the creator name field from the interface.
I hate pdf forms but old-fashioned organizations love them - so I have to deal with them. The worst is when they scan a paper form and send it as pdf - second worst is pdf form with non-fillable fields. I use xournal as a “typewriter” to fill out these monstrosities. I can even add a scanned signature to avoid having to print, sign and re scan the thing.
I too, have resorted to the same techniques, making me feel like a "master forger" at his painstaking art.
I was imagining a tool which would just let me create an interactive overlay on a PDF. It sounds like Xournal might be just the thing I need. So, thanks for the tip.
I like the concept a lot. A couple of suggestions you might consider:
1. Grab a lightweight CSS framework like Milligram (there are a bunch of them) and add it so the forms will be styled in a more modern way.
2. Test on mobile. For me the layout of the current forms shows up wrong, it doesn't take the full screen width and labels in the example form run over other elements.
Thanks for the Milligram suggestion. I will look into it. It may even fix your mobile experience.
Also thanks for for the mobile test feedback.
Can I ask what mobile device you tested on? Such data points would be really useful to me.
I actually did test on my phone first, Android/Chrome and _in landscape_ it appeared usable.
The PDF also produced OK. It was not an _amazing_ experience but compared the PDF form experience I had it was a delight. I don't consider a phone when I have to fill out a form but in an emergency it would have been possible.
One real-world scenario where it seems to be a problem is for you to show off your work :)
Clicking "create form" (to see the example you provided) returns the identical form error again. I have to modify it to see how it works, rather than using the example you provided.
Not a show stopper at all, but not intuitive for an example website as there is no indication that I need to modify your example form before being able to see the example of what is produced.
I think it’s perfect as it is. I hope you ignore the people who’ll try to pressure you into adding libraries to making it look like every other bloated webapp on the web.
(just between you and me, I was planning on ignoring the suggestions for extra libraries and "modernisation"; also it's a feature that it doesn't use a gui form designer. ssshh don't tell anyone...)
Srsly tho. at the moment I don't have those features, but neither did the PDF form experience I'm trying to beat. It's a low bar, but we are still expected to fill out PDF forms today, in the future year of 2022.
Create a form using text markup. Get an URL pointing to the form and mail it to your customers.
I recently received a PDF form (created by M$ Word). I use Linux and managed to open it with Libreoffice (Draw!). The text entry boxes were misaligned or just missing. Digits each had a separate text field. Tiresome... By the time I had re-exported it to PDF with the fields filled, some of the formatting had been changed/lost.
So I made this.
I'd rather fill out forms in my browser. Browsers can print PDF. What could go wrong?
Tell me in the comments below.