Forms
Jahia Forms is a Jahia add-on module, available to Enterprise Edition customers, that lets business teams build a web form, publish it on the site and follow the responses without going through a development cycle. The form becomes content like any other, placed in a page, translated and updated at the pace of campaigns.
Definition and how it works
A web form collects information from website visitors, whether a contact request, an event registration, a quote request or a job application. For an organization, it is the point where an anonymous visitor can become an identified contact. It is also where conversion, data quality and consent rules are decided.
The Academy documentation describes a Forms Builder with ready-made field types, multi-step journeys, validation rules, conditional display of fields and multilingual support. Responses are stored in the Jahia content repository (Content Repository) or in jCustomer, Jahia’s customer data platform. They can be mapped to the visitor profile (jExperience). Dedicated roles separate building forms from viewing their results.
Academy documentation: getting started with Jahia Forms
Related terms: Content Editor · Field · Conversion · Visitor Profile (jExperience) · Content Repository
Resources that cover this term
- Portals for government
- 4 steps to personalize your customers' web journey
- Enterprise CMS: Definition, Key Features and Benefits
- Extranet solution: How to choose the right platform for your clients, partners, and suppliers
- Headless CMS personalization: How to deliver truly adaptive experiences
- How Integrators Can Design the Ultimate Content Author Experience in a CMS? (Integrators Tips Pt.1)
Jahia Forms vs Content Editor: the differences
The word "form" covers two different things in Jahia. The module produces the public kind, filled in by visitors. Content Editor is the internal kind, where editors enter the site’s content.
| Concept | What distinguishes it |
|---|---|
| Content Editor | The contribution interface used by the teams who run the site. It edits content; it does not collect visitor responses. |
| Field | In the Jahia glossary, a field is a Content Editor element used to edit a content property, not a question asked to a visitor. |
| Conversion | A form submission can count as a conversion, provided a goal declares it as an action that matters to the business. |
Jahia Forms in practice
The events team is preparing a webinar. It builds the two-step registration itself, translates it for its two markets and places it on the event page. Responses arrive in Jahia. The registration can also feed the visitor’s jExperience profile so the replay can be offered to them later, provided the visitor returns with the same browser without having cleared their cookies, or logs in.
Before going live, the team still has to decide who receives the responses, how long they are kept and, where required, which consent or notice wording goes with them.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a developer to build a form with Jahia Forms?
Not to build one. The module is designed so that business teams build and publish their own in the Forms Builder (fields, steps, validation rules, translations). Developers step in earlier, to install the module, set up roles, align the rendering with the brand guidelines or connect specific processing to the responses received.
Is Jahia Forms worth it when the organization already uses forms from a marketing automation tool?
Choosing Jahia Forms depends on where you want the data to live. The marketing automation tool’s own forms feed its workflows directly. The Jahia module keeps responses in Jahia or jCustomer, can map them to jExperience profiles for on-site personalization and can also pass them to other tools, for instance through StackConnect. The decision can be made case by case, based on what the responses will be used for.
Where are responses stored and who can see them?
According to the Academy documentation, responses are stored in the Jahia content repository or in jCustomer, depending on configuration. Access is governed by dedicated roles, separate from the builders’ roles. An analyst can thus view results without being able to edit the form. Retention and consent rules remain for your organization to define.