
If you’re looking to create versatile and feature-rich forms quickly in Drupal, the Webform module is your go-to solution. Form data collection is crucial for any organization, requiring a system that offers flexibility, customization capabilities, and robust features.
The Drupal 9 Webform module stands out as one of the most powerful and adaptable modules available. Developed by the community, it’s open-source and designed specifically for creating and managing forms, along with tracking entries. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced Drupal user, integrating the Webform module can significantly enhance your project’s capabilities.
To effectively leverage the Webform module in Drupal 9, you’ll need to understand its setup, configuration, and best practices for form creation and management.
Advantages of Utilizing Drupal’s Webform Module
Drupal Webform is a module that can be used to build forms and ask people for information. For example, you can make polls, contact forms, and feedback forms with the Drupal Webform module. After submission, this module lets the user send an email and let the administrator know that a submission has been made. There are choices to view the submission, publish it as a node, page, or block, and export the results to a CSV file.
- The Drupal Webform module is open source, which means it is free and you only need time to set up and setup the forms.
- You can use hooks, Webform handlers, or the Drupal Webform Clientside Validation tool to check if a form is correct. For this to work, you need to add the Clientside Validation module.
- The fields on these Webforms can be changed to fit your needs because they are flexible.
- It gives you a lot of useful choices in a single installation, like sending emails and notifications to the user and the administrator.
- With Drupal Webforms, it’s easy to export the submission data. In the admin interface, users can see the result of the form they entered and can also export the result in CSV format with a single click.
Check out this piece for a more in-depth look at what the Webform module can do.
Initiating Your Journey with the Webform Module in Drupal 9
The Drupal community has given us some amazing tools, and Drupal Webform is one of them. The creator and manager of the Webform module, Jacob Rockowitz, once talked to us about Webform and what he did for the Drupal community. “Everyone has his or her way of making software. After 20 years of writing software, I’ve realized that I like working on a single goal or project, which is the Webform module for Drupal. At the same time, I’ve learned that building open-source software is more than just providing code; it’s also about supporting and building a community around the code.
Installing the Drupal 9 webform module and making Webforms is the next step.
Installing and Enabling the Drupal Webform Plugin
Here is where you can get the Drupal 9 Webform plugin and turn it on.
Source: Specbee
To turn on the Webform, go to Extend and look for a Webform and a checkbox in the Webform area, as shown above. Enable the Field API, the System module, and the User module to work with Drupal 9 Webforms. Webform can’t be turned on unless these three features are turned on.
There are different choices under “Webform” that do different things. Turn them on based on what you need.
Creating Your First Webform in Drupal 9
Turn on Webform UI and Webform Access to make a new Drupal 9 Webform. Webform UI has a good user interface that makes it easy to build and manage webforms. Webform Access is in charge of the nodes of the webform. Before allowing Webform AccessThen go to Structure -> Webforms.
Source: Specbee
Here are some things you can do with Webforms.
- On the first tab, Forms, there is a list of all the Webforms you have made. By default, a Contact form is always there.
- On the Submissions tab, you can see the forms that people have filled out and sent in.
- The Options tab has a set of numbers that can be used over and over again for the radio buttons, checkboxes, and menus.
- On the Configurations tab, you can make general changes to the web forms.
- Under the “Access” tab, you can make a group of users and give that group access.
- On the tab for Add-ons. You will see a list of modules and tools that can be used to improve the Webforms.
To make a new Webform, you must:
- Click on Webform Add.
- Now, when you open a tab, it has a title, description, category, and state.
- Add a title and a short explanation to the Webform.
- You can choose between open and closed under Status. This means that if the state is “open,” the user can use the form. If it’s not “open,” the form is closed.
- Once you’ve changed all of the choices, click Save.
Source: Specbee
Adding Fields to Your Drupal 9 Webform
When you click “Save,” a page with the subject of the Webform, which in this case is “Registration,” opens.
Source: Specbee
- Click the +Add element button to add fields to the Web form.
- Now, a pop-up window will show you the list of fields that can be used in the Webform.
Source: Specbee
- Click on Show Preview in the top right area to see a preview of the elements. To add an element, click the “Add element” button next to the element you want to add. On the right side of the page, a pop-up window now appears.
Source: Specbee
- You will now see choices for changing the field’s title and making a lot of other advanced changes. Click the Save button when you’re done making changes to the settings. Click the checkbox next to the word “Required” for each area on the Webform that must be filled out.
Source: Specbee
- If you click on the View tab at the top, you can see the Webform you made. When you add something to the Webform, the Submit button is instantly made.
- The Webform can be tested on the Test tab. Random numbers are automatically put into the form fields.
- On the Result tab, you can see what was filled out on the form that was sent. Under the result tab, there are three choices.
Source: Specbee
- Under the Submission tab is a list of all the forms that have been sent in.
- Under the Download tab, you can download data in four different formats: Delimited text, HTML tables, JSON document, or Yaml document.
- In the Clear tab of results, you can delete all the forms that have been sent in.
- On the Settings tab are the Webforms’ general settings, which can be changed based on the user’s needs.
- From the Export tab, you can get a copy of how the Drupal Webform is set up. The setup is shown, and if you click the Download button at the bottom of the page, you can save it. It is downloaded in Yaml format because it is easy to import a Yaml configuration file into another Drupal server.
Populating Information in Your Drupal Webform
As soon as the Drupal 9 Webform Node module is turned on, a “webform” content type is made. It has fields for things like title, body, and Webform. The Webform has a dropdown that shows all the Webforms that have been made.
Go to Content > Add content > Webform to add content to the Webform. As already said, a title and body will already be there. You’ll see a dropdown menu called “Webform,” which has the titles of all the web forms you’ve made.
Source: Specbee
Right next to that is a link that says “Webform settings.”
Source: Specbee
Under Status, there are three options: Open, which keeps the form open for users, Closed, which closes the form for users, and Scheduled, which gives you a date and time field and keeps the form open for users to fill until that date and time.
You can also give default data by putting a token into the Default submission data box. To look at a token, click on You can use tokens. If you click on the Example link, you can see some examples of how to write the code. Under the “Result” tab, you can see all of the forms that have been sent in.
Integrating the Drupal 9 Webform into Content Types as a Field
Now, let’s add the Drupal Webform to a content type.
- Go to Structure > Material types > Manage fields for the type of material that needs the form.
- Select the Add field. Select “Webform” under “Add a new field.” Under “References,” give that field a name, and then click “Save and Continue.”
- In Field settings, you can tell the field how many values it can take and then click “Save field settings.”
- You can choose the default form from the default number or click “Save settings” to choose a different form.
- Now, go to Contents > Add content and choose the content type that has a Webforms field.
Source: Specbee
- Choose the form from the drop-down menu that this information needs. On that page’s Result tab, you can see the form that was sent.
Implementing CAPTCHA in Drupal Webforms
Captcha is used to check people on many websites today. Before a form is sent, it asks the user a question and waits for an answer. This keeps bots from sending too many form entries and email submissions, which usually happen more than once.
You can add the Captcha part to a Drupal Webform while making the web form. To use the Drupal Webform captcha, you must turn on the Captcha module.
How to put a Captcha on a form:
- Get the Captcha code and turn it on. To use the image choice in Captcha, you will also need to turn on the Image Captcha module.
- To set up the captcha module, go to Configuration > People > CAPTCHA module settings.
- Go to Structure > Webforms.
- Click on the form build where the Captcha is needed.
- Click “Add element,” then click “Advanced elements.” When you expand, you can see the list of advanced features. To add the captcha, click on Add part of CAPTCHA.
Source: Specbee
- When you click on “Add element,” a settings window will pop up on the right. Check the box next to “Admin mode” so that the administrator can fix bugs and see the captcha.
- When you choose the Challenge type, you can choose between Math and Image. You can choose any of the options. Then you should click Save and Save parts. You need to turn on the picture captcha module if you don’t see the image option here.
- Add the field to the content type of the Webform field type and point to the form where the captcha is being added.
- Now, go to Content > Add content > and a content type that has a form field.
- Fill in the title, and then save the information. Now, when you look at the information, both the form and the captcha are shown. Before you click the “Submit” button, you should fill out the “Captcha” box. If you don’t, the form won’t be sent, and you’ll get an alert message.
Source: Specbee
Conclusion
Forms are a must-have on websites today, whether you want to contact someone or give them feedback. The Drupal Webform module makes it easy to make forms in Drupal. It has a lot of important features and can be changed to fit the needs. With Webforms, the forms are more flexible and useful, and they can be fully linked to your Drupal website. We hope that this lesson on Drupal 9 Webforms helped you learn more about this great module. Need help using the tool to make forms that are easy to use? Get in touch with our team of expert Drupal developers right away.
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This blog is inspired by <https://www.specbee.com/blogs/drupal-9-webform-module>