Blue Flame Forms Beta – Now available
Now Available For Existing Customers Only
The long awaited beta version of bfForms, the next generation forms extension
I am pleased to announce the beta program for the next version of our forms application.
Firstly, we are rebranding Joomla Forms to become Blue Flame Forms (bfForms). This is primarily because of the trademark of the word Joomla! in certain countries.
As already blogged, I’m on holiday next week, and so I wanted to leave something for you to play with while I am away.
There have been some huge changes to bfForms since the last version back in June 2008, and therefore I want to run a beta before replacing the current version.
To get access to the beta, you need to be an existing Joomla Forms/bfForms customer, login to myJoomla.com and you will see a new download available called “ Blue Flame Forms (bfForms) BETA – NOT FOR USE ON LIVE SITES” (just to ram home the message that this is a beta and should not be used on live sites!)
For the week long beta we invite ALL FEEDBACK relating to bfForms Beta Version to be EMAILED ONLY to the dedicated email address beta@phil-taylor.com – you most probably will not get a reply, I’m on holiday and only working 1 hour a day, but be assured we will read your emails. To log bug reports please also use this method. We will attempt to fix bugs asap on our return from holiday and release as soon as we can after that.
****NO Help or Support will be available for the beta until it is released as stable.****
Sing with me:
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!
Please also read the following blog posts as they also contain very important information:
http://blog.phil-taylor.com/2009/02/26/joomla-forms-release-plans/
http://blog.phil-taylor.com/2009/02/24/on-holiday-2-10-march-2009/
http://blog.phil-taylor.com/2009/02/15/joomla-forms-an-update/
This PRE RELEASE of the beta version is only available to EXISTING CUSTOMERS of Joomla Forms.
To download, go to myJoomla.com, login to your account and you will see the new item in your purchases, you can download from there.
DO NOT USE THE BETA ON A LIVE SITE – THIS IS A PREVIEW RELEASE FOR TESTING ONLY – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
If you are running an older version of Joomla forms, uninstall it (The forms and data are not deleted) and then install bfForms Beta and follow the prompts, your database schema will be automatically upgraded.
A list of known issues will be posted here:
http://www.joomla-forms.com/beta-known-issues
Thanks for taking this for a test drive – be sure to provide feedback – remember this is a BETA and not meant for live site use 
Phil.
bfForms Online Demo Upgraded
I know there are some of you jumping at the bit to get your hands on bfForms Beta
Here is something to whet your appetite.
I have just upgraded the online demo site with a snapshot build of the new version:
http://demo.joomla-forms.com/administrator/index.php
Have Fun!
Joomla Forms Release Plans
Its almost here… 
Firstly, we are rebranding Joomla Forms to become Blue Flame Forms (bfForms). This is primarily because of the trademark of the word Joomla! in certain countries.
As already blogged, I’m on holiday next week, and so I wanted to leave something for you to play with while I am away.
There have been some huge changes to bfForms since the last version back in June 2008, and therefore I want to run a beta before replacing the current version. The beta of bfForms will be made before I go on holiday (I leave on Monday morning!), it may be sooner, possibly tomorrow!
To get access to the beta, you need to be an existing Joomla Forms/bfForms customer, login to myJoomla.com and you will see a new download available called “bfForms BETA – NOT FOR USE ON LIVE SITES” (just to ram home the message that this is a beta and should not be used on live sites!) Once the beta is released, and added to existing customers accounts, I’ll write a new note here on the blog – ITS NOT AVAILABLE YET.
For the week long beta we invite ALL FEEDBACK relating to bfForms Beta Version to be EMAILED ONLY to the dedicated email address beta@phil-taylor.com – you most probably will not get a reply, I’m on holiday and only working 1 hour a day, but be assured we will read your emails. To log bug reports please also use this method. We will attempt to fix bugs asap on our return from holiday and release as soon as we can after that. NO Help or Support will be available for the beta until it is released as stable.
Sing with me:
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!.
This is a beta and should not be used on live sites!
I’ll post upgrade instructions in my next announcement too.
So, remember I AM ON HOLIDAY, and so ENJOY while I am away, and I’ll pick up the issues on my return.
Joomla Forms – An update
I had a worrying email this morning, someone thought I had abandoned Joomla Forms! Well I know its been a long time since the first release of Joomla Forms was made but really I apologize for the long time between releases, however Christmas, New Year, Wife separation, Kids etc all got/get in the way..
I’m working very hard on the code base for forms, along with a rebrand to a new name (Blue Flame Forms (bfForms)) and wanted to blog about the upcoming release as a taster for those waiting (patiently – Eighteen 5 STAR Reviews) and those critics that leave negative reviews (One person!).
So what has been acheived so far:
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Manual resize of textareas when submitting forms
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Automatic resize of textareas when submitting forms
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Fancy Multiple Select Alternative
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Redirect Browser with POST/GET of submitted data
+ NEW FEATURE !! – sh404SEF SEF Extension, now all urls to forms are SEF
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Automatically Generate the content of the emails send – ONE CLICK!
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Ability to set the default checked checkboxes and radioboxes
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Ability to copy form elements and have them actually work
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Integration with ListMessenger to subscribe/unsubscribe behind the scenes
+ NEW FEATURE !! – Execute ANY PHP script on form submission – thanks Kenneth
And the number one requested feature:
+ NEW FEATURE !! -Ability to embed forms in module areas or content items!
Along with this over 50 bugs have been identified, researched, fixed and are awaiting this next release. We have also made some sweeping changes to our own framework so that the overall speed of the application has increased, making creating great forms with Joomla even faster!
However, with all these changes we have had some regressions, in-particular the handling of validations has had to be completely overhauled to make it work under the new framework, and as a solution we are implementing a brand new way of displaying the validation errors This will all improve the ability for YOU to modify the layout and style of the validation errors (yeah we admit it looked rubbish in the first release )
When can you get the next version?
Again, I’m sorry its taking so long, but I will get there and release when I am happy of the quality of the product and its new features, and not before.
Thanks for all your support, for a tiny sum that most of you paid for this application (Only £9.99) I think you are getting a lot more than your moneys worth
Update: WOW It was 12 July 2008 when I last released forms! Sorry about the delay – it seems a long long time ago because it is…
How To Add Forms Into Joomla Content or Modules
Using Phil-a-form you used to be able to put forms into modules or embed them into content articles using a mambot syntax.
I am getting a lot of emails from existing customers of Phil-a-form who are migrating to Joomla 1.5 and Joomla Forms asking how to do this in Joomla 1.5 – well at the moment you CANT with Joomla Forms ! (and we have said this a few times before! – And yes we know competing products have this )
But we are working on it! Along with a load of new features the next release – you will not be disappointed with the next release There are a lot of hidden gems in it and we are taking our time in getting it right.
Thanks for your patience – Joomla Forms is already a fantastic application and we are working harder and harder to make it better.
I’ll post again shortly when this feature is released
Red Flag Green Flag Cross Tick
This article applies to the latest versions of Joomla Forms, Joomla Knowledgebase and Joomla Tags extensions.
It came to our attention some time ago that using green 
and red flags 
to indicate published/unpublished states was not very easy on the eyes, and especially for those people who have trouble with colour-blindness or other disabilities.
Therefore we have a hidden tweak in the above extensions If you would prefer tick 
and cross 
icons instead of the flags you need to edit the file:
/plugins/system/blueflame/bfTweaks.php
And change the line that says this:
define ( 'bf_useflags', true ); // DEFAULT: true
to this:
define ( 'bf_useflags', false ); // DEFAULT: true
job Done
Joomla Forms :: Update On Development Progress
Dear Fans
Well its been a while since we released a version of Joomla! Forms and now a lot of you are asking for it!
I want to apologise for the delay in this version, which is not only a bug fix version, but also has a MAJOR new feature which can be found in a, so-called, “competing product” but was not really a core feature of phil-a-form or Joomla Forms before. We need a bit of time to implement this as it meant major structure changes in our code, plus we also wanted all forms to be backwardly compatible.
I am pleased to say we are “almost” there!, but not quite.
Recently I have been forced to move house and have had other personal issues to resolve this side of my monitor, and therefore code has taken second place to support and emails.
The number one requested feature so far has to be the inclusion of forms in Content Items and Module Positions. This feature has not yet been coded, but I am hopeful that it will make it in the next release mentioned above.
We have also made huge improvements in validation rules, new field types and custom submit actions – so keep all eyes peeled on this blog for more announcements to follow…
Joomla Forms: Introductory Videos Now Online
Well since Joomla Forms has been released a lot of people have been asking for some introductory videos to show how the basic principles of Jooml Forms work (Before downloading)
We are pleased to publish three videos, a quick “how to install”, and two 10min long videos that take you through creating a simple contact form with Joomla Forms.
Click here to see the videos for yourself – FREE!
Joomla Forms – Preview – Submissions Manager
(Sorry this post is late!)
Continuing our series on previewing Joomal Forms features, we are pleased to introduce you to the submissions manager (Ok there is not a lot to see but its there ).
If you add the “Save” Form action while creating your form, Joomla Forms will save a copy of every form submission into a special database. You can view this information, sort it by columns and filter the data to create your own views. Furthermore using the export options you can even export all of the form submission so you can manipulate it on your own desktop!
The Submissions manager is evolving into more though…. watch this space for daily blog updates on new features added…
Tomorrows post is entitled “Why Joomla Forms Doesn’t Use CAPTCHA” – Stay Tuned!
Joomla Forms – Preview – Export Options
Continuing our look at the features of Joomla Forms, we are pleased to show that Form Submissions in Joomla Forms can now be extracted from the database in several ways.
Currently we have options for exporting the data to XML format and CSV format – two of the most useable and compatible formats for exchanging data between different applications and suported by all good applications!
We even have the options to backup your form’s configuration, form field configs and actions configurations to XML file so that you can restore or move forms between your sites easily without having to recreate them!
This, coupled with the built in submissions manager (see tomorrows post) we think will make managing your submissions a breeze