Preview website and forms as they look for visitors or members
I'd love to see is a preview that shows the page without outlines, and other components from the editor so I can see the page as a user would (Think the "Preview page" option in Word Press). Sometimes we notice little things about spacing, positioning, etc. that are easier to see in a full layout and not as much when there are borders and artifacts.
![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/3a62b3b781d91e53181dff9a62aa4632?size=40&default=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.uvcdn.com%2Fpkg%2Fadmin%2Ficons%2Fuser_70-6bcf9e08938533adb9bac95c3e487cb2a6d4a32f890ca6fdc82e3072e0ea0368.png)
![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/37b4da918c33c1007d18ea15727da4eb?size=40&default=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.uvcdn.com%2Fpkg%2Fadmin%2Ficons%2Fuser_70-6bcf9e08938533adb9bac95c3e487cb2a6d4a32f890ca6fdc82e3072e0ea0368.png)
I have merged several similar suggestion together – they all about previewing various site functions from members perspective. For example, wen pages, registration and application forms, etc.
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Elizabeth commented
I wish I could vote for this 100 times. It is so annoying to have to log out and start to actually create a new membership in order to see what my membership form looks like. "Public view" only shows the landing page, not any of the actual form!
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Ariana Chandra commented
Allow admin to be able to view the site as a member. This will be useful when troubleshooting an issue for a particular member. For example, I just got a message from a member saying that she cannot sign up for an event. I checked her membership and everything looks good. If I can see what she's seeing, that would be most helpful.
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MCTLC Webmaster commented
Dmitri, I think Tracy means "duplicate". We can duplicate an event, but not a registration type in order to make minor changes.
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Chuck OShea commented
Something I've seen on other sites that I really like is the ability to login (administrators only) as someone else with their membership level etc to see how the system looks and acts given their role, groups, etc (whatever is assigned to them)
I manage several Drupal sites and Masquerading is one of the things they offer. You look up a contact and in there record is choice to Masquerade as them.
In QuickBase there is a dropdown under your name that lets you chose any of the roles you have setup and then you see how the system looks. I really like this method as you can end the test and go back to being you. Where in Drupal you have to log out and log back in to be yourself.
In particular this came up as we have a membership level setup as a 3 Week Trial. In order to see exactly what they see I would need to create a member with that level.
Thanks,
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Michael Humphreys commented
When creating a Form, we need to be able to:
1. Review and make changes.
2. Copy and send to other Admins for review.
3. Save with a unique name in a location so we can find it and reuse it as required.
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donahuea commented
Or you can do what I do and just open up a different browser - e.g., Internet Explorer if you're working in Firefox. :)
But I'll chime in on this thread that being able to preview the form would be very helpful, it is really time consuming to have to log in and go through the first registration steps in order to view a single change in the form, and then do it all again each time you tweak something. Thanks!
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Becky Parsons commented
Thanks Dimitry!
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Dmitry Buterin commented
Becky - incognito mode is also known as privacy mode, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_mode
it allows you to open a new browser window which doesn't use your current cookies, in this way your original window can show the admin backend and the new window can show you a public/member view. Once you open it, you can review the membership form in detail.
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Becky Parsons commented
Having the ability for the site administrator to view the finished form in whole would be very beneficial - and very important.
What is 'incognito' mode?
You've suggested to create a dummy "test" contact or membership, which is not really helpful. I am a member, so when I need to test the new member application and process I can't because my email address is in the membership database.
When I took over the webmaster functions I had to ask a non-member to become a member and give me feedback and screen prints so I could see the form and the process - not professional at all.
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Dmitry Buterin commented
Until we build a special feature for this, a quick workaround is to open a second browser window in 'incognito' mode - then you can view the site as a public visitor or as a member (you would have to log in for that - e.g. by creating a special test member record)
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forallweknow commented
I agree that there needs to be a way to preview what the membership form looks like to the general public as they are registering. I just added field instructions. It says I can format them. But if I can't actually see them, how do I know if I like the way they look?
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Dmitry Buterin commented
Thanks for the suggestions.
Can you elaborate - what do you mean by 'dupe the fields rename it and move it into the appropriate location'?
Re instructions - we will have special field in our next version 4.4 for instructions and you can adjust its formatting.
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Tracy Brown commented
Is there a way for an admin preview the form(s) that are developed without going to the public view. because if I'm the admin and go to public view the system wants me to register. Then if I'm not a member it gives me an error and wanting me to join. I have gotten around this by making a fake member record and using that to register. This seems really backwards. The admin should be able to see the entire form prior to making the form live.
This would also be very helpful as we have the ability for members to bring additional registrants and I wanted to make sure the pricing structure was correct for each registrant. So I have had to do a lot of clicking in and out of fields.
Also, there should be a way to dupe the fields rename it and move it into the appropriate location. Instead of re-keying the drop down or multiple choice options
The section divider and text fields should be able to apply h1, 2, 3, bold, italic, etc formatting to those form fields. I have been using them to give special instructions to potential registrants. Or maybe on the other form fields you can have another field with in the field that displays special instruction in smaller text. Something like "choose all that apply" "mark one" or "Event Date".