Installing Web Forms For Marketers (WFFM) 2.5 for Sitecore 7.5

I am writing this post to share some issues I faced while installing WFFM 2.5 for Sitecore 7.5. Although it is minor issues but it can save you few precious hours when you are too busy to figure it out.

• The installation was smooth and straightforward, however, if the browser stuck or the installation took extra time just be patient and don’t interrupt the process.
• Don’t forget to do the Post installation steps, especially, the following two steps:

1. In the [site root]\Website\Data find WFFM_Analytics.sql and run it on the reporting db of your current instance.  This will create 3 additional tables in your reporting db.
2. Add the following nodes to the Web.config:

    <add name="CaptchaImage" verb="*" path="CaptchaImage.axd" type="Sitecore.Form.Core.Pipeline.RequestProcessor.CaptchaResolver, Sitecore.Forms.Core" />
    <add name="CaptchaAudio" verb="*" path="CaptchaAudio.axd" type="Sitecore.Form.Core.Pipeline.RequestProcessor.CaptchaResolver, Sitecore.Forms.Core" />

• For IIS 6.x under the configuration\system.web\httpHandlers node
• For IIS 7.x and up under the configuration\system.webServer\handlers 
• Check that Mongo Server is running and well configured.
• There is no longer “Save to Database” action in WFFM 2.5, the forms are saved by default.
• Remember with the release of WFFM 2.5 the submitted forms are saved in the MongoDB; you will see nothing in the SQL server DB instantly after posting the form but data will be transferred to SQL after sometime.
• While validating a form with “Captcha” field I got the following message “Error: Reference to undeclared entity 'nbsp'. Line 107, position 40. [107, 40]” , this message will disaper by replacing “&nbsp;” by “#160” in “Captcha.ascx” file where you can find in : “Website\sitecore modules\Web\Web Forms for Marketers\UI\UserControl”.

If you have any tips, tricks or resources you would like to share with the guild please email chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com

Error when installing WFFM 2.5 rev.150209 in Sitecore 8.0

Issue: While I was trying to install Web Forms For Marketers "WFFM 2.5 rev.150209" on a fresh installed Sitecore 8.0 instance i got the following error:



On pressing on details here is the error message:

Could not load type 'Sitecore.Shell.Applications.WebEdit.Commands.WebEditCommand' from assembly 'Sitecore.Client, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.
  Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
 Exception Details: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'Sitecore.Shell.Applications.WebEdit.Commands.WebEditCommand' from assembly 'Sitecore.Client, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.
Source Error:  An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. 
Stack Trace:

[TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'Sitecore.Shell.Applications.WebEdit.Commands.WebEditCommand' from assembly 'Sitecore.Client, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.]
   System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.GetType(RuntimeAssembly assembly, String name, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase, ObjectHandleOnStack type) +0
   System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.GetType(String name, Boolean throwOnError, Boolean ignoreCase) +41
   Sitecore.Reflection.ReflectionUtil.CreateObject(String assembly, String className, Object[] parameters) +41
   Sitecore.Reflection.ReflectionUtil.CreateObject(String typeName, Object[] parameters) +122
   Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager.ReadCommands() +467
   Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager..cctor() +50
[TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager' threw an exception.]
   Sitecore.Shell.Framework.Commands.CommandManager.GetDispatchCommand(String command) +0
   Sitecore.Web.UI.Sheer.ClientPage.Dispatch(String command) +28
   Sitecore.Web.UI.Sheer.ClientPage.RaiseEvent() +101
   Sitecore.Web.UI.Sheer.ClientPage.OnPreRender(EventArgs e) +525
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +83
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +974
 

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.34209

Here is the environment information:

• OS: Windows 7 32-bit
• MS Sql Server Express 2012
• Mongodb 3.0.1 32-bit
• IIS 7.5.76

After that i am not able to access several modules including the Desktop!

Solution: I came across this article on Web Forms for Marketers on Version 8 that helped me solve the issue

The solution is to download and install Sitecore 8 - Update 2 and the WebForms for Marketers specifically for Sitecore 8.0 on the Sitecore 8 download page.

Alternatively, you can contact us regarding a Sitecore Environment QuickStart.  Email us at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com for details.

Configuration Include Folders Order of Inclusion

Question: Now that you can place folders below the /app_config/include folder what is the order in which the files are appended?

Answer:  Thanks to Andrew Vieau for investigating the answer. The files are appended in the following order:

1) All the files in the root of include in alphabetical order from A-Z.
2) All the folders are included in alphabetical order from A-Z.
3) Within each folder the files are include in alphabetical order from A-Z.

Example: This would be the order the contents of the file are processed.

/include/apple.config
/include/zebra.config
/include/apple/apple.config
/include/apple/zebra/config
/include/zebra/apple.config
/include/zebra/zebra/config

Additional References: 

Working with web.config include files:

• Sitecore web.config include files (auto-include)
• The Web config include files: The definitive guide – a post by John West!
• Organizing your Sitecore Patch include files

If you have any questions, please email us at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com