Freeform 5 "Formatting Template" is a required field

[thisisjamessmith]

What happened?

Running into another problem during FF 4 to 5 upgrade (though still in Craft 4) when using a semi-manual templating approach:

In each form's Settings tab there's a required field called "Formatting Template". I don't want users to be able to select a template, everything is rendered using my own template and passing it the appropriate form handle. I've tried setting Include Freeform's Sample Formatting Templates to off in the Form Builder settings, but this simply empties all the options from that formatting template dropdown.

The existing forms render ok on the front end, but I can't save them without selecting a value from that Formatting Template dropdown, and they won't submit successfully either. Ideally I just don't want/need FF to get involved at all with the templating side of things.

Errors and Stack Trace (if available)

How can we reproduce this?

Freeform Edition

Pro

Freeform Version

5.8.7

Craft Version

4.14.0

When did this issue start?

After upgrading from older Freeform version

Previous Freeform Version

4.x

[kjmartens]

Thank you for your feedback @thisisjamessmith.

I see your frustration with this. However, it has always been a general expectation that a formatting template would be supplied for the form.

I will see if we can create a setting in Freeform that would allow you to specify if you plan on using your own manual templating instead of formatting templates so that this doesn't interfere with your flow.

In the meantime, you could work around this by using a sample template or create a simple custom one that is set for every form and locked (Settings -> Form Builder -> Formatting Template) and then ignore it.

It will then always assign that formatting template to new forms by default and lock it (optional) so that a user doesn't even see the option to touch it. 🙂

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

[thisisjamessmith]

Thanks for the workaround. Given that this was working fine in FF4 and breaks forms during upgrade, I'd still classify this as a bug though.

The workaround suggested also only works for newly-added forms. If I apply those locked settings, then I can't even save forms at all because the formatting template dropdown remains both blank and disabled for those forms.

[kjmartens]

Yes, you would need to make sure you apply your custom template (or Flexbox template, etc) to all existing forms to complete the workaround.

As for a better solution for this, we have it on our list to address it, so this FR will not get lost in the shuffle -- it will happen very soon. 🙂