How Conditional Logic Can Help You Build More Beautiful Forms

We’ve been pretty busy over at POWr headquarters, trying to create new features for you, our beautiful users. One of the most exciting new premium features is the addition of conditional logic to our most popular and powerful plugin, POWr Form Builder.

What is conditional logic, you ask. Well it’s actually very straightforward; it’s logic that you can apply to any form or survey, based on certain conditions or rules. Currently, conditional logic in POWr forms allows you to show certain aspects of your form, depending on a customer’s answer.

It's particularly useful if you have a need for a fact-filled form on your website, but want to keep it as visually tidy as possible, and make the most of your limited online real estate. For example, say you have a lengthy Q&A form about handedness. The first question might be “Are you right-handed or left-handed?” followed by multiple-choice boxes. By adding a certain number of conditions or rules, you can then make sure that your right-handed, left-handed, and ambidextrous visitors only see questions relevant to them.

This gives you the power to turn any boring old form into a more customized and interactive chart. Also, it stops you from annoying your visitors by helping them bypass questions not relevant to their situation. Here’s an example of how conditional logic can make a simple contact form just a little bit tidier and more pulled together:

For an in depth look at how to add conditional logic to your form, make sure to check out our knowledge base article on the topic, but here’s a quick overview:

Create a rule for your conditionally logical form by checking out the Advanced Options for a Form Element. At the very bottom of the list, you’ll see an option that looks like this:

That is the rule builder you'll use to create actions and conditions. Right now, the only possible action is to show an element; this means that when a condition is met, the element in question will instantly appear on the form.

Once you get the hang of it, there’s no limit to the number of elements or conditions you can add– making it super easy to pull off an accordion effect on any online form. It also can enable you to give your visitors a more streamlined and curated online experience:

And the list of ways you can use this sort of conditional logic goes on and on – trying to create a lunch order form? Neaten it up by adding a few rules:

When we introduced conditional logic last month, we decided to start off by introducing just one action: showing an element. In the future, however, we hope to add a whole slew of different actions based on conditions – including the ability to direct visitors to different pages based on logic, or to let them go ahead and skip whole sections of a form. If you would like to be notified when new conditional logic features go live, please vote for this feature request.

Do have you used our conditional logic feature on your website? Please let us know in the comments!