You should consider moving your forms to other options BEFORE the form server goes away. Right now, your forms are being PROCESSED by GlobalSCAPE. Their server is used to push that form to YOUR email address. It offers us very basic form services that meet the MAJORITY of needs for basic users. Even offers minimal security from spammers. From an earlier post I made about spam protections:
"The Trellix and CSB forms are very basic and have no such protections. HOWEVER, the server that processes the forms does have a few protections like limiting the size (no more than 20 fields) and limiting the number of times the form can be submitted (no more than 10 per hour). This protects your site from being pulled down by your host for spamming, but does not prevent a spammer from getting 10 emails out before being stopped." But the standard CSB form does NOT protect your email address! Spambots can grab it ANY TIME they find your site!
New forms section of samisite.com is being worked on.
In the meantime, you might consider some options I have been testing and some that other folks have suggested:
(FYI: I get NOTHING for mentioning these to you, no cost break, no payments affiliate programs, nothing).
I AM NOT RECOMMENDING ANY SCRIPT OR FORM SERVICE!
ONLY MENTION THEM HERE AS POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES.
USE OF THE SCRIPTS/SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK!THIS POST WILL BE MODIFIED OVER AND OVER TO EXPAND/ADJUST INFORMATION.
Remember you can use a combination of services. I use a free form service for some sites and use paid scripts for others.
Before choosing a third-party HOSTED option, PLEASE read any PRIVACY statements provided by the form server. Do they specifically tell you that the email addresses will not be harvested, maintained, etc...Or are you putting clients at risk of being spammed? You need to be sure you know that answer before implementing any third-party form! Some sites are not reputable and use form processing as a way to gather email addresses.FREE OPTIONS - ONLINE hosted email forms. Build a form, get a piece of code, put it into an insert HTML and your form appears on your page! Forms are processed on the 3rd party site, like what we have had with CSB form server. Consider the following sites:
PRO: If the form gets spammed/attacked, it will not harm your site. Form service does the maintenance. Easy to put on your web page.
CON: Limitations on number of forms, or submissions, design, etc. Dependent on another website.
---------------------
<a href="http://www.emailmeform.com" title=”EmailMe Form”>EmailMe Form[/url] - A free service offering customizable web forms (Contact forms, online Questionnaires and Surveys ) and they host it on their server, so it works with any site, regardless of the ability to run scripts.
- EASY to setup and use.
- Can make many forms per person, and/or forms for more than one site all under same account.
- PRO: This one can work inside an iframe so your thank you page will appear where the form is-great for tight space or for full page use. After tweaking the code a bit, I put a tiny iframe form in
the bottom of the left border for some friends of mine: tuckerkirby.com/contact.htm
- For what I need to do with free forms, this is the best so far
<a href="http://www.jotform.com" title=”JotForm”>JotForm[/url] is the first web based WYSIWYG form builder. Its intuitive drag and drop user interface makes form building a breeze. Using JotForm, you can create forms, integrate them to your site and collect submissions from your visitors.
- EASY to setup and use.
- Has a forum for support.
- free and paid version for more forms/fields, etc.
- Can make many forms per person, and/or forms for more than one site all under same account.
- CON: This form does not work in an iframe if you want to adjust the code. Thank you page replaces the WHOLE PAGE every time. So you can not define where the Thank you appears.
- Tried this one first, went with emailmeform.com instead so I could control where Thank You page appears.
- If you are not trying to fit your form into a table, a border, etc then this service could still work for you.
formsite.com Build professional, non-branded, advertisement-free registration forms, secure order forms, and customer surveys in just minutes. There is nothing to download or install. All results are stored in our database and can be optionally downloaded or emailed. We provide over 100 professional templates to get you started fast.
- EASY to setup and use.
- free and paid version for more forms/fields, etc.
PAID OPTIONS - ONLINE hosted email forms. The services that are free above also come with PAID options.
PRO: Provide more services (more submissions per site, more forms, storage, database, etc., etc than free versions). If the form gets spammed/attacked, it will not harm your site. Form service does the maintenance. Easy to put on your web page.
CON: Monthly or annual cost. Some have limitations on designs. Dependent on another website.
---------------------
emailmeform.com plans: $9.95/month
formsite.com: $9.95/mo, other plans (captcha not available til $19/95/mo)
jotform.com plans: $9.95/month
omnistarforms.com: $7.95/month
web-form-buddy.com: $39.95/annual =$3.33/mo for a SINGLE domain.
whiz-mail.cc: 2 forms= $3.95/mo (or $2.07/mo if yr paid), other plans more forms, options...
PAID OPTIONS - FORM ON YOUR SITE using code! PRO: More control of form design and function. Independent. No other site controls your forms.
CON: Must be installed on your web server. Script has cost. If the form gets spammed/attacked and script is not secure, it could harm your site or have it taken down by your host! You are responsible for updating the script to keep it secure. Some scripts come with free upgrades, some don't. Some HTML coding helpful.
---------------------
-
coffeecup form - flash form $39
-
Ultimate Form Mail PHP form script - pricing varies depending on how many licenses
-
omnistarforms.com: $27 PHP script (couldn't find clarification but download cost is probably per site)
-
csFormBuilder $49
FORM SECURITY- IS YOUR FORM SAFE? I am not referring to encryption or credit card ssl type security. I am mean spammer safe.
The options built into your script, the more it matches this description, the better the security on the form.
Insecure forms can cause YOUR SITE to be used by a spammer to send hundreds/thousands of emails and your host will take action against YOUR SITE to stop it, possibly taking your site DOWN to stop the flood. Remember your form is your responsibility. Your insecure form can cause a host/server to get blacklisted.
Very basic security: CSB form offers this, but spammers can still use the form.
- might limit the number of fields (CSB form does this)
- might limit number of entries per IP address (CSB form does this)
- might limit number of entries per hour (CSB form does this)
- might allow you to require certain fields so form will not send without them
- should keep your email address private (CSB fails here. CSB's form has email addy in webpage source code, exposed to spammers!)
Human input - advanced security:- might include CAPTCHA or a hidden token code so the web page is specific to human entry. Note: Some
CAPTCHA images are now readable by spambots so this is not the ONLY security measure you should use!
- might include limitations on which fields will allow email addresses. If you put email addy into unapproved field, form fails.
- should not allow certain characters into certain fields. This prevents code injection. Spammers push their code into a form and make a form send hundreds of emails.
- should check for changes to the form/content (try to send it to other address instead of yours)
- might verify field input like phone is actually a phone number, etc
- might have a confirmation screen before sending the form
- might include other security features not mentioned here (like flash, currently not readable by bots).
Other considerations: - should not be part of the FORM MAIL family of scripts - very insecure and will get your site taken down.
- Script information should not be included in web page. PHP code is a good suggestion here since an external document is used to define the email processing.
- read comments on hotscripts and other script sites
