Now that we have set up a Joomla 4 website, we are ready to install and learn how to use Fabrik. Our goal is to create a form that looks like this:
Step 1 Download Fabrik
The first step is to download the complete Fabrik package from this page: https://fabrikfriends.com/downloads
The package includes the component and about 60 plugins. The file size is about 70MB. Ideally, you should have either an Ethernet connection or a high speed WIFI connection to download and install it using the Joomla Installer. Then go to Extensions, Plugins and type Fabrik in the Search box. Then select and enable all of the plugins
Then check and disable the two visualization plugins at the bottom of the list. Then clear the Search box.
Step 2 Create a Contact Us List (and Form)
We will create a Contact Us List (which will also create a matching form) in part because all websites need a Contact Us form and in part as practice with a simple form before we create a more complex form.
Go to Components, Fabrik, Lists and click New. For Label, type Contact Us. For Intro, leave the box blank.
Then click on the Data tab in the left side menu. By default, the Table Name will be based on the List Name we just entered, for example, contact_us. However, this means that our Fabrik tables will be scattered all over the database. To keep all of our Fabrik tables together and to make sure that they appear at the top of the list of database tables, consider adding a 3 letter prefix to the beginning of each table. Choose something you will remember like abc or ace. Because Fabrik is an Advanced Form Component, we will add the letters afc and an underscore to the beginning of every table we create, for example, afc_contact_us. Do not try to change the name of the table later. This name change needs to occur before you save the list!
Then click Save.
The Content type drop down arrow shows a content type called Contact Us. However, we will use the Default content type to give us more freedom to design our own contact us form. Click Save and Close.