Format question

[A. Smith]

I've done some searches but can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

Situation:
We have a small rental and a web site for it. I currently have all the forms in paper format and have to either fax them or snail mail them. I would like to put the forms on our web site. I want prospective renters to be able to:

1) View them online.
2) Print them.
3) Fill them out and email them to me (if that's not too complicated).
4) Fill them out be hand and fax or snail mail them back to me.

What would be the best format? Just use a plain text file so anyone can print them? I can't afford Adobe's s/w so I guess pdf is out of reach. Most of the forms are just text, a couple have some graphics.

Thank you all!

[Narasinha]

I can't afford Adobe's s/w so I guess pdf is out of reach.

Not necessarily so! Adobe's software may be a bit pricy, but there is software available that will allow you to save files as PDF format, and the software is free.

OpenOffice.org is an open-source multiplatform office suite project that will do what you need. Or, if you have the document in another format, find someone with OpenOffice to convert it for you.

Best Regards,
Dan

[A. Smith]

Thanks Dan, I'll download it.

[Webnauts]

Welcome back Dan!

[Narasinha]

Welcome back Dan!

Many thanks. Come to think of it, it has been quite a while since I was active here, hasn't it?

[A. Smith]

Well, we don't know each other, Dan, but I'm glad you did! That software is really cool. I've only been using the word processing part so far, and I like it very much! Thanks again!

[RegDCP]

It is easy enough to put the forms on line and have a (plain) confirmation page that will be automatically emailed to you, or be printed out for later faxing.

IMO PDFs suck.. I hate waititng while they load and in most cases they are not necessary.

Reg

[A. Smith]

Yes, PDF does take a little longer to load. But I was under the impression that it was the most versatile format? What do you recommend?

[Webnauts]

Yes, PDF does take a little longer to load. But I was under the impression that it was the most versatile format? What do you recommend?

I would recommend RTF. :)

[RegDCP]

Why not just a html page with the form to fill out online?
Reg