NOTE: The university also provides information and guides on using inFORM to collect data online. The most recent version and the version covered in this tutorial (inFORM v3) requires the form to be registered with the university and also allows greater security. This will be described in detail below. To view university information on inFORM v3, please click on the links below.

The goal of this tutorial is to provide step-by-step instructions for creating a survey using inFORM v3 and Dreamweaver. This tutorial requires that the user have basic working knowledge of a computer and Dreamweaver Web design software. This tutorial also requires that the owner of the form be NC State University faculty or staff, have a valid email address, and unity id. This tutorial has been designed for a PC user running Windows 95 or later and Dreamweaver version 4.0. A preview of what a finished result would look like can be viewed here.

Before you begin...

• Print out each section of this tutorial**
• Prepare a set of questions and answers
• Verify that Dreamweaver is installed on your machine
  • You can download a trial version of dreamweaver from Macromedia
• Verify that you have a valid Unity Login and email address

Getting Started

Now that you have Dreamweaver installed on your PC, you need to answer a few questions. Your answers will determine which settings you choose when you register your form.

• Will you be saving your data via email? If so, to what email address(es)?
• Will you be saving your data to files? If so, to what directory (in AFS filespace)?
• Will you want to import the data into a spreadsheet?

If you answered "yes" to either of the last two questions, you will need to establish locker permissions for the directory where you want the data files to be saved. These data files (*.dat) can then be downloaded and imported into a spreadsheet at a later time. **If you answered "No" to the last two questions above, you can skip the section on PuTTY.

The Tutorial

For your convenience, this tutorial has been separated into three distinct sections. Each section describes a critical step that must be completed to ensure the successful operation of your form/survey.

1. Using PuTTY to Establish Locker Permissions - If you wish to save your data to files on NC State's Web servers, then the Web servers that run inFORM must have permission to write to that AFS filespace. PuTTY allows you to set these permissions.

2. Registering Your Form/Survey Online with inFORM Admin - Regardless of whether you want your data saved to a file in your project locker space or want data emailed to you, you must register your form so inFORM will know how to process your data.

3. Creating Your Online Form/Survey with Dreamweaver - In this section of the tutorial, you will create your form, but do not skip the first two sections. Those sections lay the foundation on which your form is constructed and must be completed before you begin this final section.