Creating a Form in Eloqua 10

Learning about your prospects and contacts can be accomplished in a few different ways.  The primary method, however, is by placing a Form on a Landing Page that is reached through a click in a marketing Email. In this fashion, your contacts can provide varying degrees of personal information that you can then use for tailoring future communications.  For example, a simple Form could ask for just First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Industry.  Once those fields are completed and submitted through Eloqua, it is possible to target these prospects in campaigns that address specific topics based on the prospects' digital body language.

To create a Form in Eloqua 10 Using Contact Fields:

1. Navigate to Assets> Forms.
2. The Forms Editor opens.
3. On the left-hand panel is the toolbar:
   
4. Begin adding fields to your Form by single-clicking Contact Fields.  The Contact Fields browser opens on the right-hand side of the application window:
   
   
5. The Fields from which you can choose are created in the Setup> Fields and Views area.  In order to use a field that is not in the list, you must return to the Setup area and create the Contact field.  The next time you access the Field browser, your new field will be shown.
6. In the screenshot above, note that there are different icons representing the different field types.  For example, since the Lead Rating - Last (SPOI) is marked as a Single Picklist data type, the icon shows a down-arrow, indicating a drop-down menu:   For a checkbox, an icon with a checkmark is displayed (), and for standard text fields, the icon is plain white.  The icon for Lead Source - Original indicates that this field is a Multi-Select Picklist (indicated by the double blue lines) ().
7. To add fields to your Form, either double-click on the name in the browser or drag-and-drop them onto the canvas, one by one.
8. Once you have added a field to your Form, single left-click the field in the middle pane so it is highlighted in blue.  The configuration panel opens on the right-hand pane:
   
   
   The following settings are configured on the leftmost tab:
   --Field Label: The name of the field that will be displayed to the person filling out the form, in this case, his or her First Name.  Note that you can change the name that will appear for that field to anything you would like, as well as its location in relation to the field itself.  By default, the label appears above the entry field.
   --Field Instructions: This label will appear below the field.  By default, this setting is blank, but is there for you to provide any instructions the contact may need in order to complete the requested information.  For example, you might want to indicate that a two-letter abbreviation for a state or province should be used rather than writing out the full name.
   --Size & Position: Some fields may require more space for entering data, for example a Comments field.  In that case you select Large for the Field Width.  You can manage the width by changing it to Small or Medium, according to the amount of space required for the type of information being collected.
   --Label Position: By default, the field label appears on top of the field.  You can change that position to the left of the field, for example if you use a colon after the field name such as Name: or City: or something similar.  In the following screenshot, the Field Label is set to left-aligned:
   
9. The second 'tab' on the configuration panel is the validation tab ().  Here is where you specify any requirements that must be met before a form can be submitted.  The first option if enabled, forces the prospect or contact to enter a value for that field before he or she can submit the form.  The Validation Error field is a text field for you to customize the message the person submitting the form will receive if he or she does not provide a valid value.  The default message is This field is required. but you can change it anything .  The next setting, Must contain a valid email address forces the submitter to enter a valid email address before being able to submit the form, and the standard validation error message is Please enter a valid email address, but can be changed if you wish.  The third validation setting, Must contain a valid number of contacts defaults to between 1 and 10, but is configurable according to your needs.  This setting is useful in cases where you want to limit the length of the contact's response, for example, number of digits in a phone number, from 10 (area code + number, no spaces or parentheses) to 14 (in the format (areacode) xxx-xxxx)).
   
   
10. The third tab on the settings panel is the Pre-population tab.  Unless you wish not to pre-populate this field with a certain value,  select the second option, Use a static value.  As an example, you may wish to pre-populate the field with the country in which most of the contacts will be located, or a time zone, or a job title, etc.  The contact can then change the selection to the one that applies to him or her before submitting the Form.  The final value on this tab, Use a Field Merge, allows you to merge the information from a Contact Field when the contact submits the Form.  Using this option will make the value that is displayed for that field more personalized for that contact, perhaps ensuring that the form will be submitted.  As with other Editors in Eloqua 10, if a Field Merge is selected, it is highlighted in yellow.
    
    
11. A Submit button is the only required field on a Form, and is included automatically after you begin adding fields to the Form.  This Field cannot be deleted (there is no Delete option using the right-click action, and there is no 'x' in the upper-right corner of the field indicating that you could remove it from the Form).  Although the label on the button defaults to Submit, you can change the button to say whatever you would like, for example, Click to Submit, or Send Now, etc.
12. The final tab on the panel is only selectable when working with Field Groups.  Field Groups are discussed later in this document.
    
    

To create a Form Using Custom Fields:

1. Navigate to Assets> Forms.
2. The Forms Editor opens.
3. On the left-hand panel is the toolbar:
   
4. Begin adding fields to your Form by single-clicking Custom Fields.  The Custom Fields browser opens on the right-hand side of the application window:
   
   
5. The type of Custom Fields from which you can choose include: Single and Multiple Picklist, Radio Buttons and Single Checkbox.  Also available are: Single Line Text (used for entering a limited amount of free-flow text), Paragraph Text (a box that allows for up to 32000 characters), and Multiple Checkboxes.  For more information Field Types available in Eloqua 10, please refer to
   
   There are also two types of fields that you can hide to the person submitting the Form, but will provide the opportunity for you to collect additional data that is relevant to your campaigns.  These fields are: Hidden Campaign ID Field and Hidden Field.  The Campaign ID can be obtained by viewing the URL for a specific campaign (for example, https://qasecure.eloquacorp.com/Main.aspx#campaigns&id=2781 tells you that the Campaign ID is 2781). A Hidden Field could be used, for example, to track the path that the contact used to arrive on your Landing Page (e.g. from a Google search, etc.).
6. In the screenshot above, note that there are different icons representing the different field types.
7. To add fields to your Form, either double-click on the name in the browser or drag-and-drop them onto the canvas, one by one.
8. Once you have added a field to your Form, single left-click the field in the middle pane so it is highlighted in blue.  The configuration panel opens on the right-hand pane:
   The following settings are configured on the leftmost tab:
   --Field Label: The name of the field that will be displayed to the person filling out the form, in this case, his or her First Name.  Note that you can change the name that will appear for that field to anything you would like, as well as its location in relation to the field itself.  By default, the label appears above the entry field.
   --Field Instructions: This label will appear below the field.  By default, this setting is blank, but is there for you to provide any instructions the contact may need in order to complete the requested information.  For example, you might want to indicate that a two-letter abbreviation for a state or province should be used rather than writing out the full name.
   --Size & Position: Some fields may require more space for entering data, for example a Comments field.  In that case you select Large for the Field Width.  You can manage the width by changing it to Small or Medium, according to the amount of space required for the type of information being collected.
   --Label Position: By default, the field label appears on top of the field.  You can change that position to the left of the field, for example if you use a colon after the field name such as Name: or City: or something similar.
9. The second 'tab' on the configuration panel is the validation tab ().  Here is where you specify any requirements that must be met before a form can be submitted.  The first option if enabled, forces the prospect or contact to enter a value for that field before he or she can submit the form.  The Validation Error field is a text field for you to customize the message the person submitting the form will receive if he or she does not provide a valid value.  The default message is This field is required. but you can change it anything .  The next setting, Must contain a valid email address forces the submitter to enter a valid email address before being able to submit the form, and the standard validation error message is Please enter a valid email address, but can be changed if you wish.  The third validation setting, Must contain a valid number of contacts defaults to between 1 and 10, but is configurable according to your needs.  This setting is useful in cases where you want to limit the length of the contact's response, for example, number of digits in a phone number, from 10 (area code + number, no spaces or parentheses) to 14 (in the format (areacode) xxx-xxxx)).
   
   
10. The third tab on the settings panel is the Pre-population tab.  Unless you wish not to pre-populate this field with a certain value,  select the second option, Use a static value.  As an example, you may wish to pre-populate the field with the country in which most of the contacts will be located, or a time zone, or a job title, etc.  The contact can then change the selection to the one that applies to him or her before submitting the Form.  The final value on this tab, Use a Field Merge, allows you to merge the information from a Contact Field when the contact submits the Form.  Using this option will make the value that is displayed for that field more personalized for that contact, perhaps ensuring that the form will be submitted.  As with other Editors in Eloqua 10, if a Field Merge is selected, it is highlighted in yellow.
11. The Submit button is the only required field on a Form, and is included automatically after you begin adding fields to the Form.  This Field cannot be deleted or moved from the bottom position (there is no Delete option using the right-click action, and there is no 'x' in the upper-right corner of the field indicating that you could remove it from the Form).  Although the label on the button defaults to Submit, you can change the button to say whatever you would like, for example, Click to Submit, or Send Now, etc.
12. The final tab on the panel is only selectable when working with Field Groups.  Field Groups are discussed in the next section.

Using Field Groups

If your Form calls for standard groups of fields such as First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Postal/Zip Code, for example, there are some pre-configured groups that can be dragged-and-dropped into your Forms Editor so you do not have to recreate them each time you create a Form.  They include:

• Basic Contact Info - First Name, Last Name, and Email Address
• Extended Contact Info - Title, First Name, Last Name, and Email Address
• Address Field Group - Address 1, Address 2, City, State or Province, Zip or Postal Code, and Country
• Date Field Group - Month, Day, and Year (MM DD YYYY)
• Time Field Group - Hour, Minutes, and Seconds (HH MM SS)
• Custom Two Column - Two blank fields, one in each column
• Custom Three Column - Three blank fields, one in each column

1. To access these groups, click Field Groups in the toolbar on the left-hand pane in the Forms Editor.
2. Double-click (or drag-and-drop) the desired group to add it to the Form.  In this example, the Address Field Group will be shown.
   
   
3. The fields that make up that group are added to your Form. Individual fields in the group cannot be deleted, however they can be edited, just as shown for standard Contact Fields described in the sections above, including changing the name, field instructions, validation and pre-population.  To modify the settings for any one of the fields in the field group, simply select it (single left-click) and the field is outlined in a dashed line:
   
   at which point the settings panel on the right allowing you to configure the field for your needs.  You do not have to make any changes to the default settings.
4. In order to make it easier for you to add a group of two (or three) fields side-by-side, Eloqua 10 also includes two Field Groups called "Custom Two Column" and "Custom Three Column".  These two groups include two (or three) blank fields in columnar format, since you may often need to have that type of requirement.  For example, if you use City and County in your Form and wish for them to be shown side-by-side, using this custom two column group will make that task easier.  Note that the Custom Field Groups' settings are valid only for that Form, i.e. they will not be saved for future use (you would have to recreate them).

Rearranging Fields on your Form

One of the advantages of the Eloqua 10 Forms Editor is the flexibility that is offered for rearranging, moving, and editing the Forms.  You have already seen how to create and configure the fields.  However, what if you need to rearrange (reorder) the fields?  There are a couple of ways in which to do this.

To move a Field to another location:

1. If you wish to move the Field down, highlight the Field (or Field Group), and click the down arrow in the upper-right corner of the field.  The Field (or Field Group) moves down one level.  For example, to move the Contact Info Field Group below the Address Field Group, click the arrow highlighted in red in the screenshot below:
   
   will result in:
   
   
   
2. If the Field (or Field Group) is the first (topmost) on your Form, the only option you have is to move it down.  However, any other Field (except for the Submit button) can be moved up or down, by clicking on the appropriate up or down arrow:
   
3. Perhaps the simplest way of moving Fields on your Form is to simply drag-and-drop them into the desired position.  Single left-click on the Field, then while holding down the left mouse button, drag the Field (or Group) to the correct position and release the mouse button when correct.  As you are dragging the Field (Group), it is outlined in a dashed line to indicate it is being moved:
   

Deleting a Form Field

To delete a Form Field:

1. Right-click on the Field and select Delete Field, or
2. Click the x in the upper-right corner of the Field.
   
3. Click Delete in the Confirmation dialog box that appears, or Cancel if you do not wish to delete it.
4. The Field is removed from your Form.
   
   

Form Settings

The Setitngs Panel for a Form includes the following three options:

• Name - the name of your Form, it should be descriptive and also make its purpose clear.
• Validation Failure Page - the name of the Landing Page that the submitter of the Form will be taken to if Fields are not completed properly.
• Form HTML name - The HTML name that this Form should be referred to as when uploading a Landing Page that references this Form.

1. To access the Form Settings panel, click on the Action Menu (gear icon) in the top-right of the application and select Settings.
2. Type in a name for your Form.  It can be whatever you wish, however it is best practice to make it unique so that the purpose of the Form is immediately evident.
3. Select the Validation Failure Page that will displayed.  Click on the down arrow to open the drop-down list of all Landing Pages in your Eloqua instance from which you can choose.
4. The Form HTML name.  The default name that Eloqua assigns to your Form can be changed to something else.  Once you enter an HTML name, Eloqua will do a quick validation check to make sure that it is unique.  If it is not being used for another Form, a green checkmark is displayed next to the HTML name and if it is not valid (already in use), the checkmark will be red, in which case you have to change it to something else.
5. Click Save to save your Form and settings.