Website builders - help needed!

[wmrcomputers]

Hi guys.

A long shot here, so bear with me......

Basically I've been requested to build a site for an existing business contact of mine. I only use weebly.com for making all of my sites (yeah, crap I know but it keeps it simple for people to make changes themselves etc. - and I admit that I'm no master of HTML)

Now, general sites with pics / vids / contact forms etc. are all a breeze using weebly... BUT my contact requires a form which will process some figures entered into it and return the resulting answer. The calculation is quite lengthy and will also use a variable which is date dependant (if they enter a date before a certain date then A = 20, and after that certain date A = 25. Apart from that the calculation is the same)

The tricky part is that weebly doesn't allow for plug-ins or anything like that. The only possible way around it is by inserting "Custom HTML" and having the form created elsewhere and loaded into the existing webpage that way, or it DOES allow the upload of SWF files (flash based).

Now, does anyone know of a form generator which would run on it's own site that would give me the required HTML code to insert? It would also be a HUGE bonus if there was a solution to export data from the form to an excel spreadsheet automatically (and possibly create a word letter based on the results) - but this side of it isn't of concern to me yet. The basic form which performs a lengthy calculation and returns the result IS.

As it stands I can see me having to pass off this project and send my contact elsewhere, but if anyone can offer me a workable solution which then goes on to materialise then there could be a surprise few quid in it for you.

PS - I forgot to say that the form would not necessarily need to process confidential information, as I can find another way around that. Basic calculation could be insecure, then I could use a standard webform for confidential information which securely emails me the actual "real form" and that wouldn't need to show a resulting calculation as the data would be processed manually at this end.

ANY THOUGHTS???

 

[wmrcomputers]

Additional info from weeblys help section...

Can I use PHP, MySQL and Other Server-Side Languages?​

You can edit your site with HTML, CSS and Javascript (client-side languages); however, Weebly does not support building your site with server-side languages, such as PHP or ASP. We also do not currently offer database access.​

 

[wmrcomputers]

UPDATE - I've discovered Spreadsheet Converter which allows me to create the form in excel and then convert it to a flash file and put it on my website at weebly. Not a bad job of it either, but the $357 (£228.68) price tag before I can publish it is a bit OTT for a one off form :S

 

[tek-monkey]

SO they enter data, you present a result, all on the one page without leaving it? I can probably do it in javascript for you, depends on the calculation really. PM me and I'll take a look, what are the time constraints?

 

[wmrcomputers]

Hiya Tek.... at the moment he's loving the version createdf in Excel - it's just a bum that the software is so expensive - so on an alternative note, do you know of a free program that converts excel to flash?
Cheers for the help

 

[tek-monkey]

I dont I'm afraid, but like I said can probably do it in javascript if it just needs to display data. To store it you need server side stuff though, which again I can do but you'd need a different host. If you want an idea of what it will take feel free to reply here, or pm me if preferred. As long as its not a massive job I wouldnt charge you.

 

[Ecker]

Just wondering if this workflow would be suitable / acceptable:

o Create Adobe Acrobat form to accept values
o Use Javascript to generate the value required
o Send all values to a database table using ASP

If it is, it's been a long time since I created this kind of application
but I could give it a go for you. Alternatively, if you know someone
with the full Acrobat product and ASP experience, I could lend you
the book: Extending Acrobat Forms with Javascript.

Hope this is of some help....Ecker.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Cheers for your feedback guys, but like I said the host is pretty crap and doesn't accept ASP or the likes. Javascript IS workable on the host, but the main problem is that I may be asked to change the calculation at frequent intervals so need to understand it myself to action changes. At the moment the Spreadsheet Converter does seem a good option as it allows me to work with excel which I'm very fluent with... so if he wants me to go ahead with this then he'll have to cover the cost of the program unless I can find a free alternative in the meantime.

Thanks for the offer of assistance though guys
If i'm still struggling with anything then I will get back to you.

 

[tek-monkey]

No worries mate

 

[Ecker]

You are more than welcome....Ecker.

There is the possibility of using "mailto:" to send the data
from an Acrobat Form or would the number of hits be too
great for that?

 

[wmrcomputers]

Interesting... I wasn't aware that it could work that way. So are you saying that there might be a way that a user opens an editable PDF form which then automatically submits via their own email client?

 

[Ecker]

Interesting... I wasn't aware that it could work that way. So are you saying that there might be a way that a user opens an editable PDF form which then automatically submits via their own email client?

That's about the gist of it, yes. If I create a form with forename and a family name fields and set the submit action to be: mailto: myself with the data in html format, I get: familyname=Smith&forename=John in a file called:Acrnnnnn.tmp sent to me
where nnnnn is a generated number

 

[wmrcomputers]

Very interesting. I doubt i'd go this way with it in all honesty, but I will still bear this in mind for future reference... so thanks for the info

 

[Kickstart]

Hi

Javascript might do it, but could be tricky with the odd person having it turned off.

However, if you have access to hosting with php support then you could have your form in an iframe, so only the form is PHP based while the rest of the site continues to use the current framework. You could even have the form in a hidden iframe and use Javascript to take the details from the form in your framework and use messaging to pass it to the hidden iframe.

All the best

Keith