Taking all of these points into consideration, it seems like a no-brainer to have one of
these on your site. In most respects, it is. The only major disadvantage is the design and
configuration of the form, which should be handled by someone with experience working
with a server-side programming language like PHP or ASP. However, there are many free,
practically plug-and-play scripts that allow web designers with only a passing knowledge of
code to get a form up and running. (HotScripts has a huge library of contact form scripts
in all languages,8 and Wufoo actually hosts forms to eliminate the hassle of manual configuration
completely.9)
Asking the right questions
Now that you??™ve wisely decided to create a contact form, it??™s just a matter of deciding
what fields should be on the form, and which ones should be required. This is not a decision
to be made lightly. You can come off looking amateur if you don??™t ask for the right
information, but just as easily intimidate people with a poorly designed form that asks for
too many unnecessary details. People want to feel confident their message will land in the
right inbox without them having to offer their blood type, marital status, and favorite
Beatles album.
Pages:
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299