I have been looking for a form program that can be highly customizable. This is the ticket. By including JC and CSS attributes into the form program I can customize forms any way I want.

The program takes an absolute approach to placing elements on the form in pixels so lining up elements are a snap. pixels from left, top, width and height. Then you can add extra CSS or HTML parameters. You may use any other events like onmouseover, onmouseout, onkeydown, onkeypress, onkeyup, onblur to create nice visual effects on the form.

The support is excellent. If I have any problems the ITorris support team are there to help!

It helps to have a minimal amount of knowledge about HTML or CSS but it is NOT required.

I have built complex forms without any trouble. The program does not allow for copy and pasting but that is not a big deal.

The form elements are drag and drop and works without issue.

The data can be emailed, stored in database or both. The email can be plain text or HTML and form elements can be included in the email.

When finished I will have around 50 forms built. This program delivers what is promised...

I like this component. It works well and is relatively easy to use. Maybe not quite as easy as implied - I have reasonable html / css experience and I think this helps. I really like that it easily stores data that can be exported. I'm happy to pay the license fee and use this product for sites requiring a few forms.

It does have problems with the drag and drop function - I tend to position absolutely using the element properties and would probably need to do this anyway, to make things position exactly.

Also it's probably handy to know that when you use the list element and want it to multi-select - you need to put "multiple" in the extra params box. This took me a moment to sort out.

I want to start by saying that Itoris gave top-notch and very fast support responses. If you have any problems or questions, they respond quickly via e-mail and they have a bug tracker as well.

I was immediately drawn toward the intuitive interface, however after purchasing the product and using it for a few days, I noticed some serious shortcomings that forced me to go with RSform instead:

1) The drag and drop interface is very slow and buggy. Many times I accidentally assigned negative widths to elements by dragging too quickly. Region selection works sometimes at best.

2) There is no copy and paste for elements. This makes creating a complex form almost impossible.

3) There are no alignment commands. Aligning elements ends up being a chore because you have to manually type in left and top positions for each and every element.

4) Buggy in general. There are several bugs I found within a short amount of time. One notable one is that if you make a static text element and put a link in it, the entire form becomes unresponsive and uneditable until the link is removed.

Overall, definately not for anyone trying to make more than a simple contact us form.

I've used a fair number of methods to create forms over the past 4 years with Mambo/Joomla - from hand coding to GNU and commercial components.

I have to say I was a little sceptical after reading reviews that it would live up to the ease of use indicated.

However, video and manual are reasonably descriptive and combined with the comprehensive and speedy return of support requests there is little else to say other than 'congratulations - well done!'.

Support also extended to include a date patch to allow dd/mm/yyyy as used in AU (sorry we don't all live in the US with mm/dd/yyyy).

I can recommend this to novice users willing to follow instructions and those with more experience wanting to achieve fast quality results.

Sadly to say, this is my first review of a component and all be it a negative one. But I can't post anything on Itoris's forum... because there isn't one!!! And yes, the link here for support is a dead link too.

I purchased this after using RSform!Pro for another website, hoping it would speed the process and maybe better configuration... but I'm very dissapointed.

The elements and properties menus are floating in the template, unlike the demo, which I assume was a Joomla 1.0 version since I purchased the Joomla 1.5 version. Maybe they should have a demo of each on their website. You can see what I am talking about in the manual... there are some pics there.

Also, the drag and drop function is slow and very sticky. I never cursed so much trying to drag things around. Getting everything lined up correctly takes time, especially on longer forms.

And speaking of longer forms... if your form is going to be longer than 900 pixels or so (don't know the exact dimension off hand), you can't use the drag and drop feature. The template isn't long enough. You need to be a math wiz once it gets past the template's height. You have to manually input the padding info on any items below the template.

And after spending an entire day tweaking a form, I now have something wrong with my form where it makes the page I installed the form on about 30,000 pixels in height. I think it has something to do with being longer than the template, who knows at this point. I am going to be very upset if I have to rebuild the entire form. Which, I'd rather spend the money at RSform than spend another entire day building one with this.

Also, if you plan to change the background color of the form, the white trim or border around checkboxes and radio buttons will remain white, which looks bad in my opinion. But RSform!Pro doesn't even have that option to change the background, so I can't be too upset with that. If your template body is something other than white you may have problems. It has CSS controls, but I personally know very little about it. Does this control the colors? Who knows, Not in the manual.

My only other grip is that there isn't a forum for Smart Former users to help eachother with. Just a lonely email address.

I respect the effort of all that try to create components and add-ons for Joomla, but for a commercial extension, I am not impressed. I will spend my $25 elsewhere from now on.

I'm developing a website for a company that needs to be able to build their forms quickly and easily, with no HTML involved. This component fits the bill perfectly, and it was money well-spent.

However, the mouse-detection on the dragging really doesn't work so hot. (FF3, IE7) It looks a lot better in the video.

And, it would be wonderful to have some kind of a fieldset/label component as in regular HTML. Even just a colored box that we could fill in as a backdrop to certain regions of the form would be perfect.

Been using FacileForms on J!1.0.x for ages. On migrating to J!1.5 tried using Breezing Forms but thought I'd look to see if there was a better way. There is!

Out of the box SmartFormer enabled me to very quickly build the forms I needed. However I had a couple of issues with validation localisation and other element usage.

Itoris provide a support tool which is second to none that I have seen. Issues posted on the system have been answered in minutes including being mailed an updated version which fixed my needs. That is truly awesome!

Don't struggle with other form solutions. $25 is nothing compared to the time I've spent trying to get others to work.

I have tried several form builders, both GNU and commercial.
Well, all I can say - I love Smart Former most.

Several components position themselves as WYSIWYG, yet this one is the only real WYSIWYG.
You simply drag the form's elements on the working place - and that's it.
No need to click on arrows for hundred times to shift and align elements also - just select it and move where you want!

I would mark as well the way the guys work - they hear their customers and include in the next versions the updates asked.

SF becomes more and more complicated as I see - now even advanced users can use it to fasten their job - yet it stays the most intuitive form generator ever.

The only minus I can find for now is the absence of the ability to format the admin's e-mail template, yet I believe this minor drawback in the following release.

Nice work, guys!!

After watching the flash presentation i bought it, cause SmartFormer is the easiest way i could imagine to create forms (and is cheap). Just drag n' drop!
The User Guide shows how to put the form as a static page (you can link to a menu), put inside a module or directly in a content item.

But i think some things are missing. I mean, many web forms are just for the user to fill in, so that the user don't need to use a pen, but afterwards print the filled form, and sign (this time with a pen) to mail later or send by fax.

SmartFormer can't do it so i leave it as an upgrade suggestion.

I tried to use Form Preview feature to manage making that possible but it has some problems:
1- Protection Code is previewd (a "Show at Form Preview" checkbox at element properties would be great)
2- Can't translate "Form Preview" and "Close Window" at admin backend
3- There is no Print button
4- There could be an option to show a "Sign here _________________" at the form preview generated window(and translate that "sign here" at admin backend). Or just make it possible to static text (or images) show at form preview.

That or even better just create 2 more "Available Elements" to drag and drop:
1- an element that represents the form already filled in by the user at previous page(s)
2- Print Button
And so that the admin could use those 2 elements (plus static text to write "Sign Here: ____________") at the next page of the form.


I think that would make the extension a must have and the best form extension available. Hope something similar is developed in the next version.

Owner's reply:
Hi Darkyyy,



Thank you for your ideas.

In 2.1 version all features you describe are available. Please update your component.



I hope Smart Former will now be more useful to you.

I used this plugin to create a 5 page working form very quickly. I really like the ease of making the form and the built-in ability to make multi-page forms.

Would like to see some way to add scripts and functionality to the submit buttons. Maybe there is, but I haven't found it yet.

Anyway, it does what it says it does and does it pretty well.

This is a Very nice forms component and quite intuitive! However, one major flaw with native 1.5 version is that it does not function with legacy 1.0 turned on in Joomla 1.5. That is a major flaw! Legacy is key while many major components are being updated to native 1.5. I am sure many Docman and Community Builder users will not want to adopt this forms component if they are unable to use legacy. I recommend allowing for the use of legacy.

Owner's reply:
Dear Neriv,



Thank you for your report. Frankly speaking we have missed the issue.

I think we will include support for Joomla 1.5. legacy in the following update.



Thank you again - it is important for us to get the feedback, we try our best to include the features people ask for.

I purchased it a few days ago due to some good reviews but it seems to be very basic form component. It seems that they have not thought of many functions for example, your form cannot be posted into a module or embedded into a page. So basically all you can do is to put a link on the menu item for the form and it will appear on its own.

I wanted to do the following which I cannot do;

* I wanted to publish it in a module but it is not possible. So you are stuck to publish it from menu item and only in a central position

* Secondly, I wanted to embed it in the webpage so my other text and service/story etc could compliment the form but it is not possible. So I cannot have this form on the webpage but it can only appear by clicking a link on the menu item.

I sent two messages to support team with the above issues and the only reply I had was; it is not possible, Or they will keep it in mind for the next version, and finally they told me to upgrade it when they have the next version out. They did not offer any help to resolve the issues now when I needed it.

I cannot understand why this form component is listed as "HOT" when there is nothing hot about it.

So if you don't mind a simple form that is just linked to the menu item and cannot be published in a module or embedded within a page then go ahead and buy it. But if you want the flexibility then look elsewhere and let me know also if you find anything better.

Owner's reply:
Dear Zakir,



I think we have done our best to describe the features the component has.



Yes, it is very simple, as any developer can simply put some php on its HTML form and that's it - no need for the component at all.



The funny thing is there are so many people that do not take the trouble to simply read (or even view Flash)docs - and then blame developers of not corresponding to their ideas... Well, it is very easy to make all your ideas come true - just developer yourself and that's it. Or read the docs to know in advance what you get.



OK, let us come back to our support. What do you think they can do for you??

They can not offer anything, as there are no features you want, as you haven't read the docs to know it.

So should they make a customization of the component especially for you for free or what?



Explain me when you buy a car - and them come back to the sellers filing a claim it doesn't fly and and has no autopilot to take you home - what do they do? Do they normally just reconstruct the car for you so that it correspond your needs? Lucky you are...



You have been informed, that the features you need will be included in the next release coming this month. You will be able to update them for free.

Well, the previous review confused me, yet I've tried to give it a shot.
Looks like the easiest WYSIWYG form creator I've seen ever - quite simple yet I've done everything needed.
And by the way - the support answered my questions within 30 minutes. Looking forward to getting the 1.5 version

I'm waiting to hear from the developer, but so far, this component was a waste of $25 for me. The layout system turned out to be messy, and at any point in time one of my static text boxes will get a border around it. The only way I found to remove it was to delete the item and create a new one.

There also doesn't seem to be a way to make the form longer than the layout area, and so far I can't get the submit button to do ANYTHING.

I'd steer clear if you need something that just works.

Owner's reply:
Hi Brian,



We do our best to support people ASAP, so the patch for your case has been sent in two hours after your addressing.

Sorry for the possible inconvenience.



Support team

The form component is great but it's better if it's cheaper :) .