5 Ways to Use Conditional Forms

Last week, we released Caspio 7.3 as a small feature release to offer conditional logic in web forms.

A new “Rules” tab now appears in the DataPage wizard when you create or edit a form in Caspio.

You can create multiple rules on each form, and each rule can contain multiple criteria that trigger certain action(s) on one or more fields.

5 Ways to Use Conditional Forms

Below are some simple ways to use conditional behavior to improve your web forms.

1. Keep it short and sweet

It is a known fact that the shorter your form, the higher your completion rates. Consider hiding any conditional fields so your forms initially appear very short. Below: A large section of address fields remains hidden unless “Mail” is selected for the Delivery Method.

View interactive example

2. Don’t neglect the “others”

Whenever “Other” is selected, a new field can appear for the user to type the more accurate response. Below: Selecting “Other” from the Industry dropdown automatically displays a new text field underneath.

View interactive example

3. Ask and ye shall receive

The experience of filling out a form is usually more positive when the user can efficiently communicate relevant details and preferences along the way. Below: When selecting Contact Preference, either the email or phone field becomes required (and an alternative phone field appears).

View interactive example

4. Make searching intuitive

When there are numerous ways to search for data, consider using conditional search fields so the most common search methods are easy to use. Below: When searching for local libraries, the user can choose to search based on the library name or the distance from their ZIP code.

View interactive example

5. Streamline the overall user experience

Because forms have such an important role in managing data, think of the ways to make it extremely easy for the user to enter information, finish a step, or verify data. Below: Clicking the “Edit contact information” checkbox makes that section editable on-demand (such as on a details page or multi-step confirmation page).

View interactive example

The above examples are just a few of the ways to use conditional forms in your apps. Tell us how you would use them.

This release is available now to all accounts. Read the release notes for more information, including step-by-step documentation for setting up rules in Caspio.