As an experienced SharePoint developer, I've spent years customising forms and workflows to expedite business processes and enhance user experiences. The ability to customise SharePoint to fit individual organisational demands has always been a challenging and rewarding endeavour. Today, I'll discuss how to customise forms and processes with ULTIMATEFORMS, a tool that greatly simplifies the process.

Project Experience

One of the most major projects I worked on was with a huge financial organisation. To manage the loan approval process, the customer requested a bespoke form and workflow solution. The complexity stemmed from the requirement to combine many phases of approval, conditional alerts, and a dynamic form layout that changed dependent on user input.
Initially, we utilised SharePoint Designer. However, this method was time-consuming and prone to mistake. Due to the intensive testing and debugging required, even minor modifications might cause severe delay. Managing permissions and making forms mobile-friendly introduced an extra degree of complexity. While we eventually produced a viable solution, the process demonstrated the limits of traditional methodologies.

Customization Guide

Using ULTIMATEFORMS, the customization of forms and workflows becomes much more manageable. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to customize forms and workflows using this powerful tool.

1- Accessing the Form Designer:

• Navigate to your SharePoint site.
• Go to the list or library where you want to customize the form.
• Click on "Infowise Design" from the ribbon, and then select "Form Designer".

2- Creating a New Form:

• Choose whether you want to create a form from scratch or use a template.

3- Designing the Form Layout:

• Drag and drop controls from the left panel onto the design surface. Controls include containers, tabs, buttons, and custom scripts​​.
• Use the properties pane on the right to configure each control. You can set permissions, styles, and behaviors based on user roles or conditions.

4- Adding Dynamic Rules and Actions:

• Define dynamic rules to automate field behavior based on user input or other criteria. For example, you can set a field to become visible only when a certain condition is met​​.
• Use the "Actions" component to automate processes such as sending notifications or updating list items when forms are submitted.

5- Workflow Automation

• Access the Actions component from the Business Logic Section.
• Create custom actions triggered by item creation, updates, or deletions.
• Define actions like updating list items, sending emails, running workflows, or managing permissions​​.
• Use the built-in scheduler to automate tasks at specified intervals.

6- Using Alerts for Notifications

• Set up alerts to notify users about changes in list items.
• Customize alert templates with placeholders to dynamically include item details in notifications​​.

7- Publishing and Testing:

• Save your form and workflow configurations.
• Use the "Preview" function to test the form in different scenarios and devices to ensure it behaves as expected.
• Once satisfied, click "Publish" to make the form and workflows live.

Best Practices

When customizing forms and workflows, consider the following best practices to ensure effective and efficient solutions:

1. Plan Thoroughly: Before diving into customization, map out the entire process. Understand the user requirements and the business logic thoroughly.
2. Use Templates: Leverage existing templates to save time and ensure consistency across forms.
3. Test Extensively: Use the preview and test functionalities to catch issues early. Test under different user roles and conditions.
4. Document Your Work: Maintain clear documentation of all customizations. This will be invaluable for future updates and troubleshooting.
5. Keep It Simple: Avoid over-complicating forms and workflows. Simplicity enhances usability and reduces the chance of errors.

Conclusion

ULTIMATEFORMS makes it easier to customise forms and processes in SharePoint than ever before. The easy interface, along with strong capabilities, enables the development of complicated solutions without substantial code. Following the methods and best practices listed above can help you streamline your operations, improve the user experience, and save time.
I recommend you to look at ULTIMATEFORMS for your next project. The advantages of effective form and workflow customisation are numerous, and this tool may considerably improve your SharePoint development experience. Happy customisation!