Based on feedback from the user experience survey we blogged about last week and the UserVoice forum, we’re rolling out a new version of the Form Builder.

Usability and Appearance Updates

You’ll probably notice that we’ve updated the look of the application and added a new button on the toolbar: “New Page.” The multi-page functionality has always been there, but we made it easier to use. This will enable you to quickly add new pages to your form.

The Outline and Properties tabs have been fine-tuned to be easier to use in a number of small but important ways. In addition, if you would like to keep the preview visible when editing your form, you can now check the “show only one tab at a time” box.

Default Selection for Multiple Choice Questions

One oft-requested feature that we’ve implemented is the ability to define a default choice in a multiple choice list. You’ll now see a checkbox or radio button–depending on the type of multiple choice list you’re making–that allows you to denote one or more selections as the default.

Custom Predefined Elements

If you have sections that you want use on multiple forms, you may find the ability to create and save your own predefined elements helpful. To do this, simply create the section you use frequently and in the “predefined element…” dropdown list, select “Create new from selection.” You can delete and edit custom sections by selecting “Manage predefined elements” from the same dropdown. The new predefined element will then be available for use in other forms.

Custom Validation and Error Messages

Many of you asked about adding the ability to change the error messages that appear when a respondent does not enter an answer into a required field or enters an answer in the wrong format. You can now use regular expressions to define the correct format for a free-text response and the message you would like your respondent to see. To learn about regular expressions, click here.

Thanks for all your input via the survey and the UserVoice forum. We’ve got more updates in the pipeline, so check back in the next few weeks.

If you signed up to receive emails about providing feedback to FormAssembly, you should have seen an email about our first Customer Experience Survey about a week and a half ago.

We really appreciate the time many of you took to complete the survey. Your comments will guide important upcoming improvements to the application. We were excited to see how many of our users provided constructive criticism so we can make FormAssembly a better product for your needs.

If you haven’t taken the survey but have something to say, click here to fill it out now. We’ll continue taking responses for the next week.

Keep your eyes open for future surveys, as we’re hoping to get your opinions periodically. In the meantime, don’t forget that you can always submit feature requests via the UserVoice forum.

We have a small update for our Salesforce customers. If you are using FormAssembly for AppExchange, you may now upgrade to the latest release.

What’s new:

This update ensures that access to your FormAssembly data is done over an encrypted connection (SSL) only. This eliminates an annoying warning for Internet Explorer users about the presence of mixed secure/unsecure content on the page.

How to Upgrade:

If you are the Salesforce administrator for your organization, go to our AppExchange listing, click the ‘Get It Now’ button and follow the instructions.  You do not need to uninstall FormAssembly for AppExchange first, your package will simply be updated.  No data will be modified or deleted.

If you have any question or suggestion regarding this update, please leave a comment below, or email us.

If you’ve checked into your “My Account” section in the past week, you’ve probably noticed some changes there. In the first tab, called “Preferences”, you’ll see that you can let us know when (and if) you’d like to hear from us, and also decide if you’d like to use FormAssembly over an encrypted connection by default.

Communication Preferences

You have several options for receiving communication from FormAssembly. If you check the first checkbox, you’ll receive occasional emails about surveys to tell us how you use FormAssembly, what you like (and don’t like) about it, and what changes you’d like to see.

If you mark the second checkbox , you’ll receive very occasional newsletters as well as announcements about FormAssembly (including notification of any downtime and subsequent notification when we’re up and running again).

You can mark as many of these options as you like and you’ll automatically be subscribed or unsubscribed. We value your privacy and your time, so we’ll never share or sell your contact information with a third party. (See our privacy policy.)

Secure Browsing

The other option on this tab lets you choose to browse FormAssembly over a secured, encrypted connection. If your forms collect sensitive information that you intend to review while on FormAssembly, you may want to consider checking this box. Browsing with an encrypted connection will significantly lower the chances that someone else might be able see your information. However, browsing with an encrypted connection is considerably slower, so if you are not dealing with sensitive information, we recommend you do not check the box.

We hope you’ll take advantage of these new options and that they enhance your time on FormAssembly! As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts about these changes or anything else you’d like to see.