Web Forms for Marketers, Sitecore Forms, MVC, & Sitecore 9: A Strategy for Upgrades

A Brief & Focused Introduction

When upgrading to Sitecore 9, there are a lot of important considerations especially if you are working with a legacy Web Forms project that heavily utilizes Web Forms for Marketers (WFFM). Here’s a quick reference of what you need to know about Sitecore Forms, WFFM, Web Forms, and MVC.

Sitecore Forms vs. WFFM

Sitecore Forms will replace WFFM eventually; however, there is a version of WFFM for Sitecore 9 that is a separate module from the new Sitecore Forms.

Installation

Please note: you will need to be logged in to your account on dev.sitecore.net to access the following resources.

WFFM is installed from a package that you can download from the Sitecore Downloads Page. Additionally, you should refer to the Web Forms for Marketers 9.0 Installation Guide for instructions on how to complete the post-installation steps.

Alternatively, Sitecore Forms is included with Sitecore 9 so there’s nothing to install. Just log into your Sitecore 9 website and click the Forms button on the dashboard to get started!

If you install WFFM in your Sitecore 9 website, you will have access to both Sitecore Forms and WFFM if you are using MVC. WebForms vs. MVC While WFFM continues to support both WebForms and MVC, Sitecore Forms only supports MVC. If you are working with a WebForms project that utilizes the full extent of WFFM, you may have to wait to switch to Sitecore Forms. There are a lot of great features in this new product, but it is also lacking in areas in which WFFM excels. Features Sitecore Forms and WFFM both have similar field types available out of the box. However, Sitecore Forms is missing a few key field types: CAPTCHA

Credit Card

File Upload Below is a full list comparing all field types that are available out of the box in both Sitecore Forms and WFFM. If you want to switch to Sitecore Forms but you need to support a field type that is not available out of the box, you can create a custom form element. Field Type WFFM Sitecore Forms Text Yes No Single-line text Yes Yes Multiple-line text Yes Yes Number Yes Yes Email Yes Yes Telephone Yes No SMS/MMS Telephone Yes Yes Checkbox Yes Yes Date Yes No Datepicker Yes Yes Dropdown List Yes Yes List Box Yes Yes Checkbox List Yes Yes Radio Button List Yes Yes Password Yes Yes Password Confirmation Yes Yes Section No Yes Page No Yes Submit Button Yes No File Upload Yes No CAPTCHA Yes No Credit Card Yes Yes A great new feature that Sitecore Forms has is drag-and-drop fields. It is very easy to drag the field type you want to add from the Form Elements pane onto your form. You can also reorder fields, set validation, create sections, apply styling and more from the user-friendly interface. Custom Save Actions You can create custom save actions in both WFFM and Sitecore Forms. You can view instructions on how to set up custom save actions for Sitecore Forms on the Sitecore Documentation page. There are also instructions for creating custom save actions in WFFM. The future of Sitecore is .NET Core and that will not support WebForms, only MVC. WFFM lives to fight another day but they are phasing that out as well. If you are working with a WebForms project that uses WFFM, you should weigh the features available in both WFFM and Sitecore Forms to decide if it is time for you to make the switch to Sitecore Forms and MVC.