Sidewalk is a nice-looking Ajaxy
web form builder. While it doesn't have very advanced validation options (just "required" or not), adding and
arranging form elements is fast and easy and setting up a new form from scratch really does take just minutes. The
drag-and-drop positioning, though becoming passé in the age of
Prototype, is still cool, and Sidewalk forms can be embedded in any web page
just by copying and pasting a bit of JavaScript, which I think is one of its greatest selling points. When someone
fills out your form their answers are e-mailed to you as well as added to a web-based database where you can search the
responses and export them to CSV. Sidewalk isn't without its limitations, though. One missing feature that might be a
show-stopper for some is the inability to edit fields once they've been created. For simple text fields this isn't a
big deal, but for radio groups or drop-downs with many options it's a pain to have to re-create the whole thing just to
make one small change. Another limitation is that, unless I'm missing something, it's only possible to create one form
per account. Sidewalk is free to try for 30 days, after which time your forms will remain active and editable, but
responses will only stay in the database for one day. A more permanent account will cost you $7.99/mo.
Tags: ajax, crm, form, forms, prototype, sidewalk, webforms
