Video Screencast: Four easy and affordable ways to build web forms

Update 3/13/2012: Machform v.3 is now available. The color scheme of the admin isn’t my cup of tea, but the new functionality looks great. I love the PayPal payment option.

Also Forms for Joomla v.2.5 is available. I’m very pleased Phil Taylor at Blue Flame IT decided to support Joomla v.2.5. If you’re using Joomla and need forms, then I highly recommend Forms for Joomla.

In this short screencast, I review four easy and affordable ways to build web forms, including Wufoo, MachForm, Forms for Joomla, and Drupal Webform. In the past, coding a form required special coding skills. Now it’s easier than ever for a non-technical content manager to create, edit, and publish forms.

View on YouTube.

1. Wufoo: A hosted form builder with fees ranging from free to $199.95/mo. Great route if you need a form quickly and don’t want to deal with installing or hosting anything on your server.
2. Machform: Has easy HTML form builder like Wufoo, but is self-hosted. The one-time $39 license fee allows you to host the PHP script and mySQL database on your server. This is perfect if you prefer to pay a one-time fee instead of monthly subscription. You can create unlimited forms and accept unlimited submissions.
3. Forms for Joomla: This is a component for Joomla. So if you’re already using Joomla CMS, then you should consider this extension for only GBP £19.99 per domain. It allows you to create unlimited forms and accept unlimited submissions without any monthly fees.
4. Drupal Webform module: This is a free module for Drupal open source CMS. Webform is a “must have” module if you use Drupal. It allows you to create unlimited forms and accept unlimited submissions without any monthly fees. Did I mention it’s free? Courtesy of Nate Haug