7 interesting facts about ONLYOFFICE forms everyone should know

ONLYOFFICE Docs v7.0 comes with a brand-new feature, fillable forms. They are also known as OFORMs and allow you to automate your paperwork routine making it easier to create and fill out model documents, whether it be a legal agreement or business report. In this post, you will find the 7 most interesting facts about ONLYOFFICE forms.

Fact 1: OFORM is short for “online form” and “ONLYOFFICE form”

The OFORM abbreviation stands for “online form” and “ONLYOFFICE form” hinting at the intended use of the new feature. An OFORM is a document with some fields of different types that can be filled out by other people. It can be created from scratch or using an existing DOCX file.

The philosophy that lies behind OFORMs is helping users significantly reduce the amount of time they spend on creating standard documents and optimising the process of electronic document management. Thus, you can easily create a fillable form online (OFORM) using the ONLYOFFICE editors and share it with other users.

Fact 2: OFORM is a native format of ONLYOFFICE forms

Developed by the ONLYOFFICE team, OFORM is an extension of the well-known OOXML format and is exclusively designed for creating fillable forms. The main goal of the new format is to allow users to create documents with highly customizable fields. The concept behind OFORM also implies improved security by further enabling electronic signatures and encryption.

DOCXF is another format developed by the ONLYOFFICE team. It’s a file extension that is based on DOCX and designed to create form templates from scratch or using an existing DOCX file.

OFORMs can be saved to PDF, so other users can open them using any PDF editor and fill out the required fields with ease.

Fact 3: OFORMs are compatible with Microsoft Office content controls and Adobe forms

OFORMs offer a set of fillable fields, like text, combo boxes, drop-down lists, checkboxes, radio buttons and images that are similar to the standard content controls but come with advanced field properties. Like MS content controls, ONLYOFFICE forms allow users to format the entered text, enable multi-line entry, resize fields automatically to fit the text, adjust the field border/background colours, move, rotate and lock fields if necessary.

If you are already familiar with Adobe forms, you will find a lot of similar field properties, too. In addition to text formatting, multi-line entry and limits of characters, you can also apply a comb of characters, adjust the border and background colours, add tips and placeholders, mark some fields as required, group fields so that they can be filled out simultaneously and lock them.

Ready OFORMs can be saved to PDF, so you can open them like standard PDF files and fill them out in Adobe Acrobat. Another saving option is DOCX, so you can open your work in MS Office.

Fact 4: OFORMs are cross-platform

It doesn’t matter how you prefer to work — online, offline or even on the go. You can always access and edit your OFORMs wherever you are.

This feature is available in the self-hosted editions of ONLYOFFICE Docs and ONLYOFFICE Workspace, which allows you to create a secure collaborative environment on your server with total control over your data and confidential information.

OFORMs are also part of the cloud-based solutions. For example, you can freely create and edit fillable forms for personal use in ONLYOFFICE Personal or sign up for ONLYOFFICE Docs in the cloud if you need to enable form filling in your company.

OFORMs can be created and edited locally. Just download the free ONLYOFFICE desktop app for Windows, Linux and macOS and enjoy this feature on your laptop or PC.

If you are always on the run, the ONLYOFFICE mobile apps for iOS and Android are there for you. They support viewing and filling OFORMs out on your mobile device.

Fact 5: OFORMs are open

OFORMs are open, in every sense of the word. This functionality is available in all ONLYOFFICE solutions, both free and commercial. Its source code can be found on GitHub.

OFORM templates can be freely downloaded from our library. Feel free to modify them if necessary. You can also create your own ready-to-use OFORM templates and make them available for everyone by adding them to the ONLYOFFICE library or creating your personal collection.

Fact 6: OFORMs are currently available in 11 third-party solutions

The list of the supported integrations looks impressive and includes Nextcloud, ownCloud, Alfresco, Confluence, Jira, Plone, Liferay, Redmine, HumHub, Nuxeo and Chamilo.

Are you a software developer who wants to integrate ONLYOFFICE Docs and enable online form filling within their own product? Make this happen by dropping us an email at sales@onlyoffice.com.

Fact 7: Our OFORMs are free, yours pay off

The OFORM functionality is part of the free ONLYOFFICE solutions, so you don’t have to pay to be able to create and fill online forms out. All the OFORMs templates that you can find in our library are also free. You can freely download and modify them according to your needs.

However, OFORMs can make you a bit richer. We offer a special program for those who create OFORM templates and add them to our library. The main requirement is that your templates must be good-quality and useful. CVs, admissions forms, recommendation letters, legal contacts, agreements — create what other people might find useful and get paid!

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Watch this video overview to learn more about ONLYOFFICE forms and how they work: