How to Create a Registration Form

Registration System Overview

The Brick River platform was developed to serve a customer base which needed an easy way to manage complex registration processes for large regional conferences. Yet, the registration forms manager is a very versatile system. It can be used to easily create registration forms of all types, including event registrations, donation forms, anonymous surveys, grant applications and more.

In this guide, you will understand the steps for creating a new form and learn about the many features available in the registration system.

IN THIS DOC
  • Setting up and editing your form settings
    • Choosing Your Form Type
    • Index of Available Form Settings
  • Adding and customizing form fields
  • Setting up conditions and email notifications
  • Sync to DB Functionality
  • Managing Your Created Form
  • How to Delete a Form

CREATING AND LAUNCHING A NEW FORM

  1. Login to the Brick River system, and click Reg->Forms on the top menu.
  2. On the Registration Forms page, click New Form at the top right of the page.

SETTING UP AND EDITING YOUR FORM SETTINGS

Required Information

The three required fields — title, friendly URL and event coordinator email — pop up in a box and must be completed before all of the other form settings options are revealed.

  • Title: Choose a title that fits your event/purpose (e.g. 2030 Conference Registration Form). This title will be visible to the public.
  • Friendly URL: This is the URL extension for the form that is automatically generated by the system (i.e. http://[custname]-reg.brtapp.com/[friendlyurl]). 
  • Event Coordinator Email: Enter the email address for the person registrants can contact should they have questions. This email address will automatically populate in confirmation emails.

Choosing Your Form Type

Registration: Selecting registration automatically creates a required contact information block. At a minimum, registrants must input a First Name, Last Name and Email. Donation, for sale and lodging fields are available in a registration-type form.

Donation/Fundraising: Selecting the donation/fundraising form type does the same thing as the “general” and “registration” form types with the addition of unlocking the ability to indicate a fundraising goal amount and optionally show a progress graph of money raised towards the goal. Both the goal and graph options appear under the Design Elements section of the form settings, specifically under the branded template drop-down.

General: Selecting “general” automatically creates a required contact information block. At a minimum, registrants must input a First Name, Last Name and Email. Donation, for sale and lodging fields are available in a general-type form. This form type only differs from the registration form type in internal categorization.

Survey/Anonymous: Selecting this type allows you to create a form without the required contact information block, which allows respondents to truly remain anonymous.

Skipping down to a related setting, located under the Closed Message textbox:

Allowed registrations: Choose to allow people to register one person at a time (single) or a bunch of people at once (group). Setting the form to group mode allows for a contact for the group as well as the opportunity to enter contact information and answer registration form fields specific to each group member. For example, if the form has a field for T-shirt size, in group mode the individual filling out the form could select a different size for each registrant in the group.

Other Property Fields to Customize Your Form

  • Description: This text shows up on your form below the title and above the first field.
  • Registration Period: Enter optional Start, Early end, Late start, and End registration periods that affect pricing. These can be left blank to allow for no restrictions. 
  • Closed Message: The text entered in this box appears when the registration form is closed — either before the start date or after the end date. Consider using this space to offer users a next step, instead of a dead end, such as a person to contact or a webpage to visit.
  • Allow Changes To Submitted Registrations: Check this box to allow the registrant to return via their confirmation link, delivered via email, and edit their registration form. 
  • Allow Registrants List To Be Seen Publicly: Select the checkbox if you want users to see who else completed the form.
  • Track Attendance: Check this box to enable this functionality.
  • Use Ticketing: This field appears once you’ve enabled tracking attendance. Checking the “Use Ticketing” box opens an optional field where you can set event-specific ticket text. Learn more about ticketing in this support article.
  • Form Language: By default, it is set to English. Choose either English or Spanish, per your requirements. This will set the language for form elements such as button text, screen hints and default confirmation text. 
  • Tag: Select a tag from the drop-down list to group similar events so that you can search for registrants who participate in similar events and keep your forms organized in the Registration Forms Manager. Learn more about managing tags in this support article.
  • Internal ID: This allows you to link your registrations back to your existing internal system, like an accounting package, etc. The contents of this field pass through to your connected payment processing service and can help indicate which transactions are related to the form. Accounting departments appreciate this when it comes time to reconcile. Note that for this purpose, the form can have only associated IDs and not IDs specific to a field.
  • Internal Notes: Enter "for office use only"-type notes that are specific to the registration form.
  • Password Protect: Enter a password to require it for front-end form access.
  • Add CAPTCHA: Select the checkbox to verify that the form completer is human. CAPTCHA is a good idea to turn on to keep out spam bots.
  • Choose A Branded Template: Choose any of your existing custom-built templates from the drop-down menu to apply it to the reg form. Learn more about setting up registration templates in this support article.
  • What Do You Want Your Form Submission Button To Say? (By default it will say "Submit Form"): Enter your custom message for the form submission or leave it as it is.
  • What Background Color for the Submission Button? (By default it will be black): Choose the color as per your requirements.
  • Are You Embedding This Form? You can add an HTML style block and font links here. This is only for embedded forms:  Enter some other styles like changing the font, removing the borders, etc. You can also leave it as Default.
  • Choose a Payment Account: If you’ll be accepting payments or donations digitally on this form, select an account option from the drop-down to connect it to your form. Learn more about setting up payment gateways and supported payment processors in this support article. 
  • Require Online Payment: By checking this box, payment for the registration is required within one hour of form submission. Registrations not paid within one hour will be dropped into the canceled category.
  • Allow Deposits: Check this box to allow the user to make a partial payment of an amount determined by you.
  • Confirmation Text: Enter the confirmation message the registrant sees after completing their form. The confirmation text will be used in the confirmation email if no other text is indicated in the email confirmation textbox.
  • Email Confirmation Text: This is the text that appears in a confirmation email. If no text is entered, the confirmation text entered above will be used. Alternatively, you can indicate the option to not send a confirmation email. Custom confirmation email text might include details that registrants need to refer to as the event draws near, such as location, pre-work for the event, parking directions, etc.
  • Email Template: Using this drop-down, select a template to use for the confirmation email. Learn about setting up email templates in this support article. Alternatively, you can set brand assets specific to a registration template. Learn more about setting up registration templates in this support article.
  • Organization Contact Information: Enter the email address for the person who will be your organizational contact, which is displayed in the confirmation email and on the invoice.

Once you have finished indicating the settings for the form, click Save. The form’s settings can be edited at any time from the settings link in the left-hand panel.

ADDING AND CUSTOMIZING THE FORM FIELDS

Here, you will now begin building the components of your form. If you selected general, registration or donation/fundraising as your form type, the form comes pre-populated with a required contact information block. This block includes fields for First Name, Last Name and Email. Instructions for making adjustments to the contact information block are detailed below.

To add a field, select it from the set of options on the left-hand side. To change the fields, click the title of the field. Doing so opens the field editor, which allows you to customize the field. All fields can be dragged and dropped to reorder. Generally, every field option requires a title and allows space for an optional description that appears immediately below the form field title. Most fields can be marked as required or optional for a user completing the form. A required field must be answered before the form can be submitted.

The Brick River Reg System has many field options that can be customized to fit your needs. Let’s dive into the available options and their functionalities.

  • Heading: Adds a title to the form in the largest font point size available. Use this for indicating different form sections. 
  • Description: Adds text to the form in a regular font point size. Use this to include instructions or notes to users. This is only for text and cannot be used for asking questions that require a response. 
  • Textbox: Allows you to ask a question to which the user responds in a single or multi-line textbox. You can also choose a format for the textbox from the drop-down list, including date, phone number or numbers as well as an option to limit the character count for the textbox.
  • Yes/No: Ask your users a question that requires a yes or no response. If the field isn’t required, a “No Response” option will automatically appear.
  • Checkbox: Ask a question that requires users to check one single box. This field doesn’t include multi-choice functionality and is perfect for asking users to acknowledge something, such as a health and safety policy.
  • Multi Choice: This is the Swiss Army Knife of form fields. Use it to ask users a question in which they have several options to choose from. You can allow them to choose one option or multiple. If the field isn’t required, a “No Response” option will automatically appear on the list of choices.

    When customizing the field, under the heading “How are selections made?”, the following options are available:
    • Only one answer: Displays the choices as radio buttons, where only one selection is possible.
    • Multiple answers: Displays the choices as checkboxes, where multiple selections are possible.
    • Drop-down list: Displays the choices as a drop-down list, where only one selection is possible. This option is best when there are numerous choices that, when listed, would create a very long list.
    • Rating: Displays the choices as radio buttons in a horizontal format. Only one selection is possible.

    When customizing the field, under the heading “Where would you like to get the options?”, the following options are available:

    • I will specify: Add your choices manually using the green “Add Choice” button. Organize them using the available alphabetizing sorts or the up and down arrows for each choice.
    • Upload from a CSV: Add your choices by uploading a .csv file. This option is best when there are numerous choices that would be laborious to add by hand.
    • Prefill with rating options: A drop-down list appears and allows you to select from pre-built rating options, such as ranking 1-5 or indicating levels of satisfaction. Once you’ve selected a pre-built option, the choices populate on your field and are able to be edited.
  • For Sale: Use this field to sell one item or offer one type of registration. For creating one field with multiple for-sale options, we recommend the For Sale With Choices field. For registration, you can indicate early, regular and late pricing. The dates that this pricing takes effect is set in the form properties in the settings options detailed above. So, for example, maybe the registration fee is $20 for early birds, $30 for standard folks and $40 for late reg folks.

    If you are selling items, you can allow the user to enter the number of items they wish to purchase; for example, how many chimichangas would they like at the banquet?

    You can also set a max amount available. For example, maybe you're selling the registration fee and can only accommodate 100 registrations. Set the max for sale item availability quantity to 100.
  • For Sale With Choices: Use this field to sell multiple items or types of registration. Maybe you're selling meal choices at the banquet, and you ask, "Pick your banquet meal.” Each choice can have different prices — including indicating early, standard and late — and max capacity (or amount) available. For example, maybe you have 100 small T-shirts and 200 large ones.
  • Donation: This allows the user to simply enter the amount they'd like to give you. For example, "Enter the amount you'd like to donate." Form builders tend to combine the Donation field and a For Sale With Choices field. For example, create a For Sale With Choices field titled "Pick a Donation" that includes $25, $100 and $250 options. Below it, create a Donation field titled "Or enter any amount you'd like” to give them the open-ended amount option, too.
  • Lodging: Use this field if you're managing rooms, and you need to keep track of the capacity and collect payment. For example, on a Lodging field titled "Pick your room choices at the Grand Lodge," you could add choices such as "private room" and give that a per-room occupancy of one. You might also add a "double room" choice, which you would give a per-room occupancy of two. Setting room capacity can help event planners build a rooming list.
  • Coupon: Add this field to allow entry of a promo code for a discount. Set the promo code itself, such as FREE20 or CLERGY, and indicate its discount amount and the number of available uses. Then, when users enter your code into the field, they will receive the already indicated discount off their total. 
  • File: Do you need users to upload a file? Add the file field to allow users to upload files in the .jpeg, .png, .gif, .ppt(x), .doc(x), .xls(x) and .pdf formats up to 25 MB. 
  • Calculated: Build a calculation based on what the user has entered in previous form fields. To build the calculation, place your cursor in the calculation box then click on the title of the field, listed above the calculation box, you'd like to use in the calculation. Calculations can include Multi Choice, Textbox, For Sale, For Sale With Choices, Donation, Lodging and Checkbox fields. For form field options that don’t inherently include a numeric value, one must be set using the “Id” field available for each choice.

    For example, on a form totaling the number of dinner selections a user can make, the choice “taco” might get an id of two because two tacos come on the plate. Related, the choice “enchiladas” might get an id of three because three enchiladas come on the plate. 

    Be sure to include the mathematical functions necessary to make a calculation. Calculation formula example: (q21220 + q21226 * 2) / q21223
  • Signature: Collect a signature on the form and include any stipulations and conditions the user is agreeing to with their signature.
  • Copy: This allows you to copy fields from other forms. Simply choose the form from which you want to copy and then select all the fields you want to copy into the current form.

A Note About Visibility

The option “Display Only in the Registration Manager” makes the field a “For Office Use Only” type of question that’s only visible to form managers. Other visibility settings allow you to make fields visible for a set interval of time or entirely invisible. You can also set a specific choice as invisible or specify an interval of time for its visibility on Multi Choice and For Sale With Choices fields.

When you have completed building your form, click I’m done building my form, which returns you to the form manager.

SETTING UP CONDITIONS AND EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS

Setting Conditions

Conditions are a way to allow specific fields to appear based on a user’s selections in a previous field. Note that conditions can only be set for the entire field and cannot be altered to hide or reveal specific options within a field.

To set a condition:
  1. While in the reg form builder, navigate to the conditions tab in the left-hand panel.
  2. Select a field from the drop-down menu under the heading “Add a Condition.” Note that only fields with set options (i.e. multi choice, checkbox or yes/no questions) will appear on this drop-down list. 
  3. Once you’ve selected the field, use the checkboxes to select the options you’d like to set a condition for.
  4. Once you’ve selected the options, use the second set of checkboxes to select the fields you’d like to display.

For example, in the question “Do you like dogs? Yes or No,” you could set a condition for the textbox field “What kind of dogs?” to display when the answer yes is selected.

Note that conditions can only display questions, not hide them. If you’re building a complicated set of conditions, it’s best to map out the logic order before starting to set conditions.

Notifications

Notifications are a handy way to alert folks to new form submissions pertinent to them. There are a few types of notifications you can set up:

Basic Notifications: Simply enter an email address to receive an email notification every time the form receives a new submission. At the bottom of this screen, you can select which field responses get displayed in the notification email. 

Conditional Notifications: Just like setting fields to appear conditionally based on previously selected options, you can set email notifications based on options selected in specific fields. For example, on a form indicating RSVPs to dinner, an event coordinator may want to receive a notification anytime someone fills out the dietary needs field. Alternatively, an event coordinator may only need to receive a notification if someone indicates vegetarian in the dietary needs field. Both of these would be conditional email notifications.

SYNC TO DB FUNCTIONALITY

By default, any submission to a reg form generates a contact record under the view Registrants. This view is accessible from both the Contacts menu and the Reg menu. When someone registers, the system uses a matching process to identify whether or not there's already a record for that entity existing somewhere in the database. If that entity already exists, it additionally tags the existing record as Registrant and relates the reg form submission to that record.

You can optionally sync these Registrant entries to other Contact views in your Brick River system. In the sync, the registrants' names, email addresses and addresses will be synced with your database.

  1. From the top, black menu bar, select Reg -> Forms. From the available list of forms, select the specific form that you'd like to manage. Then, select Design Form from the gray bar of options.
  2. Now in reg form design mode, select Sync to DB from the left side menu.
  3. From the drop-down menu, specify the additional view you would like to sync the form submission contacts to. Note that any active Contact view, whether visible or invisible, displays in the drop-down.
  4. Once you've selected the Contact view, you can optionally indicate other columns to update in your specified view in the sync. The options available in the Additional Column Settings drop-down list will vary depending on the view you indicated in step three. Sync to DB doesn't support updates to relationship fields.
  5. After configuring your options, select Save to initiate the sync.

MANAGING YOUR FORM

At the bottom of the page, under the Getting People to This Form, you will see options to direct people to this form. You can use the URL to link them directly to the form, or you can use the HTML embed instructions to insert a button to register and/or donate to an email communication. The entire form can be embedded into a webpage.

At the top of the page, there are a few options which are explained below:

  • Back to all forms: Click this to go back to the main registration forms screen and the list of all forms.
  • Reports: Click on this button to see a summary of items including: 
    • By Question: Summary, details and donations
    • Lodging: Summary or details
    • Payments: Type totals, transactions, and all questions and payments

Learn more about reporting capabilities in this support article.

  • Design Form: Click on this area to make edits to your form fields, settings, conditions or email notifications.
  • Register People: Click on this button to register a new person or group on the form. The form manager can use this button to create new submissions to the form while the form is closed.
  • View in Site: Click to see what your form will look like to the user. The form must be open for this to function.
  • More > Registration Managers: You can select additional admins to manage the form. Search for a user by email or add them to the system.
  • More > Archive Form: Click on this link to include a form in your library of archived forms. The form will now only display in the list of all registration forms when the archive view is enabled.

The options View in Site and Archive Form — as well as make a copy of the form, add to FormShare and update form tag — are available in quick access for each form from the main reg forms screen.

Jumping down to the gray bar with the search option, you’ll see these buttons:

  • Tags/Labels: Clicking this button bumps you to the Registrants view, where you can download name tags and labels specific to a form. Learn how to do this in any view in this support article.
  • Email: This allows you to email the registrants associated with the form. Optionally, you can include a link to their confirmation screen and/or their invoice screen. 
  • Download: You can download a .csv of form responses, or you can view or create shared, browser-based reports of the form data. Learn more about reporting out of reg forms in this support article.

How to Delete a Form

To delete a form, first the form must be archived. Then, from the main reg forms screen, an “X” option will appear next to the other quick access options. Click the “X” and affirm the choice to delete on the pop-up to permanently delete the form.