How to duplicate form fields to submit multiple information in form?

  • rtolmach
    Asked on December 18, 2017 at 3:57 AM

    some students will want to sell more than one book. I do not want to make them repeat the info about themselves, their college, etc.

    How would we set it up so they could submit multiple books and not have to repeat anything? We would have them put in general info, then info about book 1, then info about book 2, then info about book 3, etc.

    And when we get the chart of data, it needs to be clear that the same person is connected to all those books (that is, entries from several people with several books each cannot be scrambled if they are online at the same time). And if they stop after some number, or accidentally disconnect, or whatever, we want to save whatever info they have submitted as they go along, so they do not risk losing everything if they mess up.

  • Ashwin JotForm Support
    Replied on December 18, 2017 at 4:09 AM

    Yes it is possible to achieve your requirement by adding "Configurable List" widget in your form.  This widget will allow user to add repetitive fields data again without any extra effort. You may like to take a look at the following guide which should help you:  https://www.jotform.com/help/282-How-to-Set-Up-the-Configurable-List-Widget 

    Alternatively you can also achieve your requirement by duplicating the form fields multiple times (for multiple books) and then add conditions in your form to show another set of fields to add more books. The following guide should help you how to add condition in form:   https://www.jotform.com/help/57-Smart-Forms-Using-Conditional-Logic 

    Hope this helps.

    Do get back to us if you have any questions.

  • rtolmach
    Replied on December 18, 2017 at 5:43 PM
    Hi Jotform

    Thanks.

    The Configurable Fields app looks scary!

    Duplicating the form fields multiple times sounds easier. I have four questions about that approach:

    1. I know the basics of conditional logic. Is this the way to do it?
    a. Call the fields for the first book: ‘Title of Book 1’, ‘Author of Book 1’, ‘ISBN of Book 1’, etc.
    b. At the end of the set of fields for the first book, we would have a radio button asking: “Would you like to list a second book?” If they click NO, it shows them the Submit button. If they click YES, it shows the fields for the second book: ‘Title of Book 2’, ‘Author of Book 2’, ‘ISBN of Book 2’, etc.
    c. We would repeat steps b and c ten times for ten books.
    d. It seems that each author field, title field, etc. and each radio button has a unique name that refers to book 1, book 2, etc., so the logic knows which one we are talking about. Right?
    e. Having each book section on a separate page would keep this form from becoming too long.

    2. Can we make the form save info as the person goes through it, so if they mess up, they do not lose all the books they have listed?

    3. I know how to duplicate one field and drag the duplicate to another location. However, each book the person is selling requires a dozen fields. Is there a way to duplicate an entire set of fields? A way to do that repeatedly? Duplicating a dozen fields, one-at-a-time, and then doing that ten times (so they can sell ten books) would take a long time. Or if I break the form into pages, is there a way to duplicate an entire page?


    4. If we collect the info this way, we will have a very wide spreadsheet with all the info for a person in one row like this simplified version with two books:

    George Washington George@aol.com Biology book $45.00 good-condition Chemistry book $32 new-condition

    Is there a way we can get it to automatically display for us in multiple rows like this:

    George Washington George@aol.com Biology book $45.00 good-condition
    George Washington George@aol.com Math book $32.00 new-condition

    Or even this would help:
    George Washington George@aol.com Biology book $45.00 good-condition
    Math book $32.00 new-condition

    Or do we need to break the long line into separate lines in Excel? (We will need separate lines to import books into our website)


    Thank you again!
    Robert


    ...
  • Jan
    Replied on December 18, 2017 at 7:49 PM

    1. I know the basics of conditional logic. Is this the way to do it? 

    Yes, you can use the Show and Hide condition to achieve this. I recommend you use the Section Collapse tool. This tool will wrap the set of fields into 1 section. In this way, you can use condition easier to multiple fields.

    151364397412 19 egs2v Screenshot 10

    Here's a demo form: https://form.jotform.com/73517323828965

    Here's the result:

    1513644184addfield Screenshot 21

    Please check these guides:
    How-to-Show-or-Hide-Fields-Base-on-User-s-Answer
    Hide-or-Show-Multiple-Fields-at-Once
    Show-or-Hide-Multiple-Fields-at-Once-Using-the-Section-Collapse-Field


    I need to create a separate threads for your other questions. Please wait for our reply on these threads:

    Question #2
    https://www.jotform.com/answers/1326732

    Question #3 
    https://www.jotform.com/answers/1326733

    Question #4
    https://www.jotform.com/answers/1326734


    Hope that helps. Thank you.

  • rtolmach
    Replied on December 18, 2017 at 9:43 PM
    Hi Jotform
    Thanks.
    I know a bit about the Section Collapse tool. Is it possible to style it? It is big and bulky.
    If it requires CSS, do you have any code available for that? We are not techies.
    Thanks!
    Robert

    Robert Tolmach
    Co-Founder
    ChangingThePresent.org
    rtolmach@ChangingThePresent.org



    ...
  • Ashwin JotForm Support
    Replied on December 19, 2017 at 3:02 AM

    I have moved your question to a new thread so that we can address it separately. You will be answered in the following thread:  https://www.jotform.com/answers/1326899