A form widget puts an entry form directly on a page, so you can log a new entry without opening a separate screen. It shows the same fields as the form set up there and files the entry against the place the page belongs to.
Where form widgets appear
A form widget is one block on a page — the same kind of block as a table or a chart. It sits on a tab alongside the other widgets, but instead of showing data already captured, it shows a ready-to-fill form.
Because every new entry is filed somewhere in the directory, a form widget belongs to a directory page. The entry you log through it is filed there, the way it would be if you opened the page and started a new entry. Whoever builds the page chooses which form the widget shows; you meet it already in place when you open the page.
You reach it the same way you reach any directory page: open the site or asset in your directory and go to the tab the widget is on. For more on how these pages are put together, see Directory pages.
Submitting
Filling in a form widget works like the full entry form, kept inline on the page.
- Fill in the fields the widget shows. Some may already hold a value drawn from where the form sits in your tree — check these and adjust them if needed.
- Select the widget's submit control at the foot of the form.
- The form checks your answers before it sends them. If a required field is empty or a value doesn't fit, the widget points to what needs fixing and keeps your other answers while you correct it.
When it goes through, the widget confirms the entry was logged and offers to start another, so you can capture several entries one after another without reloading the page. The entry is filed straight away, so any table on the page that lists the entries here picks it up. If the entry can't be saved, an error message explains why and your answers stay in the form so you can try again.
Submitting through a form widget logs the entry there and then — there is no draft state to return to. To save partial work and finish it later, use the full entry flow instead, which logging an entry walks through from start to finish.
Submitting through a form widget logs a new entry, so it depends on your permission to create entries. If your role does not include it, the submit control is turned off and you cannot log an entry from the widget.