FORMSTANDARDS

what’s the BIG DEAL?Imagine yourself as a new real lifer. You venture online to sign up for Discover Real Life only to �nd 7 di�erent forms. None of them have the same header or questions, and you don’t recognize if you’re signing up for the Clermont campus or the Altamonte campus. How con�dent do you feel that your answers will go to the right person or that you’re signed up for the right class? Think about it.

The more we grow, the more important form consistency becomes externally and internally. Externally, our forms provide a way for people to Connect with our church and ministries, and connection is the �rst step in our pathway to changed lives. When you put it in that context, our

weak presentation could hinder the progress of changed lives. That should change the way you think about forms. Internally, forms serve as a means of communication. Maintaining a consistent look and feel is not only professional, but it shows our integrity to the cause of changed lives.

Every form has a feeling associated with it. Whenever you see a new patient registration form, how do you feel? Stressed? Overwhelmed? You’re de�ntely not glad. That’s the feeling associated with the form. We’re not saying you can make someone love �lling out a form, but we are saying it makes you feel a certain way. That’s the user

experience; and that’s what we’re trying to protect.

This document provides guidelines for the visual and verbal articulation of Real Life forms, as directed by our Communications Team. This piece is to serve as a quick guide to make sure any forms you are putting together adhere to the same standards that our designers created.

If you need ANY assistance at all, please use the contact information at the very end of this guide.

Which form Providers do we use?Real Life uses two form providers: CCB and Formstack. Forms are to be created solely in these two outlets by a form adminstrator using the templates the Real Life Communications Team has provided. We do not use Wufoo, Google Forms, or other third party providers. In Formstack, we have full customization capabilities, while with other third party form providers we do not. Lastly, Formstack meets the requirements of mobile-friendly forms while other third party form providers do not. In the event that Real Life’s two form providers do not meet your needs, you must recieve approval from the Director of Marketing to proceed with third party form providers. Use Formstack for Internal Forms Use CCB for External Forms

Formstack formsFormstack forms are primarily used for internal communication. The Communications Team has created the template, “Real Life” located in the Formstack Template section. This is the only approved template when using Formstack. Use this one! Form colors and fonts are preset for your convience and should not be altered. The links to these forms should directly send the user to the Formstack page. If embedded into a website, the form border should be removed to make it feel naturally attached to the page. The beauty of Formstack is that all �elds can be automatically connected and exported to a google spreadsheet. Training to use Formstack can be provided upon request. Always use the “Real Life” template located in the template section Connect to a Google spreadsheet if needed Use for all internal forms Remove border when embedded into a website

CCB FormsCCB forms are used for external communication only. Why? All CCB forms are viewable to the public, and we want to control what the public sees and doesn’t see. Secondly, we don’t want to overwhelm their form list by having hundreds of forms to choose from. Each user’s form lists should become the go-to-place for forms. Lastly, by using Church Community Builder forms, Real Life will be able to associate all form submissions with the user’s account. In short, we’ll have a record of every form entry. CCB forms are to be mainted by Church Community Builder Director and can take up to 3 weeks to create as part of the Real Life Communication Team’s 10 week Project Timeline.

Plan ahead, it can take up to 3 weeks for your CCB form to be created Use for all external forms You may be asked to join a Process meeting to set up the CCB Process

Print Forms All print forms should be made by the Real Life Communications Team. No exceptions, unless approved by the Director of Branding. Print forms are asked to be scheduled a minimum of �ve weeks out.

Form PaymentsBoth of our form providers allow you to take payments. Occasionally, you may need to take form payments. This process is a little more tedious than normal. Each form needs an associated account code that can take our Finance Team up to one week to create for you. If you require form payments, you must coordinate with the Director of CCB and the Real Life Finance Team to insure form payments are set up properly.

general design ruleswhat not to do in A FormNO unapproved colors! NO Pictures! Keep a form, a form. Don’t add a lot of header text. No more than 100 words.

HeadersWhen creating a header, remember simple is always better. What’s the minimum you can get away with and say everything you need to say? Read, reread, then proofread. Then take words out. People don’t have time to read your three paragraph introduction. We recommend header text less than 20 words. Zero is best. If you don’t need header text, don’t add it. Some forms are self explanatory. Lastly, do no add header images unless they are approved by the Director of Branding.

AttachementsOccassionaly, you may need to ask for an attachment, like an image or resume. Keep in mind the maximum �le upload size and the limitations of the form.

NEED HELP?The Communications Team is here to help! Asking questions is never a bother. We would rather help you up-front with a project than to help you salvage something that’s too late in the process for us to do well.

QUESTIONS?COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR | Sally WhitemoreBRANDING DIRECTOR | Crystal HutchesonMARKETING DIRECTOR | Jonathan Pollock

staff.real.lifeFill out a ‘communications brief’ to request new formsFind approved logos and photos you can useDownload templates Download official fonts