Regardless of the subscription plan you select, all users can create a form that allows their website visitors to submit records for inclusion in the database.
This procedure was previously done using the Form Layout. In new Interfaces created after 2020 in the Interface Builder, we use the Crowdsourcing "Add" link setting as shown below:
Setting "Show Add Link" to Yes triggers the display of the "plus" icon indicated above on the right.
Clicking this new "plus" button triggers the display of a form which anonymous visitors can use to submit new records to the database. These new records are not published by default, and the account owner will receive a notification via email.
This feature for submitting new locations only. Editing existing locations requires users to first sign in and requires the Crowdsourcing add-on described here.
The form presented to end users can be configured to display only the fields they are allowed to edit. Add, re-order and customize each form field using Crowdsourcing Form group of settings shown below. Adding fields to the crowdsourcing form is similar to manipulating the search form or lead form in the Interface Builder.
Testing
To test the user experience, you must do so as a logged-out user, in order to experience as the end user would. To do this, you can save your changes and open the Interface in a Private Browsing window. Notice in the preview shown in the Interface builder, the system displays a warning below the Submit button and it is disabled.
Creating a Standalone Form
Sometimes it is desirable to create a page on your Website that only displays the "Add" form. There are two strategies to implement this behavior:
Create an interface that only displays the lead form.
Deep link to the interface to trigger the crowdsourcing form.
Both of these approaches utilize the deep linking strategy described here which triggers the form to display automatically. However, in the first strategy, we create an interface which displays no search, locations or results in order to have display the form in a completely stand-alone context.
To create an Interface suitable for embed as a stand-alone form, follow these essential steps:
Set "Results > Initial State" to "Show None"
Remove all elements from the Search Form
Set Layout > Show Map > No
Set Layout > Show List > No
Configure your Crowdsourcing form as desired as described above.
Create a page on your Website that will host the standalone form, such as "yourwebsite.com/submit-your-location.html"
Install the interface using the provided installation code.
Place the following script *above* the standard MetaLocator installation code. However, the value of the "id" should be modified to indicate the target location ID.
<script>
var ml___params = {
'ml_trigger_cb_edit_form_template': 1,
};
</script>
Alternatively, you can "deep link" to the edit form using this deep link parameter