Wufoo Tool Review Module 6

1. Name of the Tool: Wufoo

2. URL of the Tool: http://wufoo.com/

3. Please select the one, primary category for this tool: Productivity Tool

4. Please describe this tool in your own words in about 150-250 words.

Wufoo is an internet application online HTML form builder that helps anyone create beautiful contact forms, online surveys and event registrations without having the task of writing a single line of code. It was developed by Infinity Box Incorporated. Wufoo comes with an automatically built database, backend, and scripts to enable you to start collecting data quickly and easily. Wufoo is an extremely versatile application that allows you to generate a wide variety of forms such as; contact forms, surveys, invitations, quizzes, and planners, database and poll. Forms can be built from scratch or there are templates available that will give you a good starting point for your forms which you can then customize as you desire. Forms are among the easiest, efficient and most popular ways to collect data as well as keeping your website visitors interested and wanting to come back. Everything is hosted by which means you can get started right away with access to a browser, internet connection, and just a little bit of time. It has readymade templates available or you can build your own.

Wufoo is cost effective. For example; making a form from scratch can be expensive and time consuming, since you more than likely will have to hire an IT person. Wufoo provides some main features such as; graceful degradation that can run without JavaScript, CSS, and cookies; 508 accessibility compliancy; both required and hidden fields; customized confirmation and redirection to WebPages; and password protection. There is a theme designer available and you will be able to add your own logo.

There are five membership options available: free, Ad Hoc, Bona Fide, Carpe Diem, and Ad Infinitum. The free membership of course allows one user to have up to three forms with ten fields, three reports, and up to 100 entries per month. Ad Hoc membership costs $9.95/month, allows one user to create ten forms with up to 500 entries per month and they will have access to twenty reports. Bona Fide membership costs $24.95/month, allows five users to create unlimited forms with up to 3000 entries per month with payment integration option. Carpe Diem membership costs $69.95/month, allows twenty users to create unlimited forms with up to 15,000 entries per month and it also comes with payment integration. And finally, the Ad Infinitum membership costs $199.95/month and allows sixty users to create unlimited forms with up to 100,000 entries per month. Please note the start up version is capable of producing a professional looking from even though it may not have all the bells and whistles that most free version of any software offers.

5.     Try using the Tool (you may need to sign up for a free or trial account) so that you will learn how it works and what its capabilities are - and so that you will be able to answer the following questions.

I’ve created an account have played around with the tool. I must say that Wufoo looks like one of the easiest form-building products to use. It’s really dead simple to use. The interface is slick and intuitive. Even a non-techie like me could use it. I created the form below in less than 5 minutes which included signing up for an account. I believe this would be very beneficial for small businesses without a dedicated web coder and a non- techies like me.

6. What do you need to know before using this tool?

One would need to have basic computer skills in addition to be able to navigate through different websites.

7. What do you need to have before using this tool?

Resources that will be required for using this tool are:  a computer and good internet access. I would not recommend dial-up version as it may be too slow because there is a little lag time in opening up the application.

8. How do you use this tool? (Write the basic steps using a numbered list)

1.     Create an account

2.     Login to your account (Immediately after log in it prompts you to create your own form).

3.     Click on “let’s go make one”

4.     Click on the different filed options available such as; single line entry, paragraph entry, name, date, e-mail address, phone number, etc. If you are creating a survey you have the option of using multiple choice questions or single questions, drop down menus (whatever information you deem necessary for your form).

5.     You can create a title for your form, choose to e-mail or share it; change fonts etc.

6.     If you want to edit by removing a field, click on the (-) sign on the right hand corner of the form and it will remove that field.

7.     Click saved, if satisfied with all the fields of your form.

8.     When dome go back into mange my form to retrieve the form that you’ve just created

9.     You can now integrate into different web applications such as blogs.

9. Locate or create your own example of an educational resource created with this tool and discuss what you found or created. Also, please include the URL for this example or embed it into your blog post, if applicable.

This video will demonstrate how to integrate data collected on Wufoo into any WebApps. Using a program called Automato. I can see using this to organize data collected from a presentation. I can also see using Wufoo to collect survey data for busy folks who may rather complete an online research survey for your business or research project, instead of using the traditional pen and paper form. I think that this is a good example of how you could use Wufoo by integrating it into another WebApps.

10. Include screenshots, audio podcasts, screencasts, or other multimedia elements that help describe the tool and how you used it. (Please indicate what program you used for this task.)

Here is a youtube video that describes how Wufoo is used. It’s a well organized sequence of steps that you can follow.

11. Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment (150-250 words).

Wufoo can be easily integrated into a teaching environment not only as a productivity tool but also as a collaborative tool. Below is another example on how I could use this tool in a teaching environment. This is a great tool for data collection and management. Wufoo can be used for textbook review forms, student registration request forms, teachers evaluation forms and project application forms. Teachers can create PTA forms on website since it has the ability to collect payment using Paypal etc., on a secured site (https//). I’ve included a step by step video demonstrating the use of Wufoo in creating a PTA form. This demonstration shows the easy to use features of Wufoo. Created forms can be edited at any time. Required fields can be also added in addition to a number of form management options such as, response to email, who the response and reply should go to. Should there be an automatic response generated on e-mail etc. Overall, this stool can be used to measure students’ productivity.

Here’s a second example of form building.

Here are two examples of reports Wufoo can generate for teachers. I can see using it to collect survey stats, students’ productivity on how often they access the check their assignments or participate in the forums, parental involvement with keeping up with the kids’ assignments as well as staying engaged and up to date on current activities etc.

12. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment? 

Wufoo is flexible, usable and is a good reporting tool. The interface is slick and intuitive. Wufoo allows you to integrate data collected on its forms into any WebAps using other programs like “Automato” (still in beta), that interface well with Wufoo. The video demonstration under question # 9 did a good job as demonstrating that. Even a non-techie person could use it. It’s really dead-easy to set up and to integrate in any blog you run. I must say that I was highly impressed by the excellent form-building and report-management/analysis tools that Wufoo offers. This would be a fantastic tool for business users who can now take the hassle of involving IT, in building forms and I suspect it may even spell trouble for the likes of Survey Monkey and other traditional web-survey services.” As a matter of fact Survey Monkey is currently in negotiation in purchasing Wufoo. What a good integrative Team!

Wufoo offers:

·       Themes to help match organization identity

·       Accepts payments without writing any codes

·       Allows for copying embedded code onto form

·       Helps with workflow

·       Make collecting data from people easy

One disadvantage I see with Wufoo is that it does not have its own ability to be creative with fancy typography as you could find in TypeKit which is a software service for adding custom fonts to your websites which are not free, although they have a free plan which is limited as any of the free options offered by most of these services. However, Wufoo does offer some nice custom fonts (called bell fonts or whistle fonts) that will enhance your form even more and they are free.

13.  Would you recommend this Web 2.0 tool to others, or suggest that they explore a different tool?

Yes…yes…yes. If businesses are smart, they would start looking into using form building tools such as Wufoo. This would significantly reduce cost, since approximately 80% of budgeted cost for an employee is compensation and fringe benefits.