Passing data in a hyperlink (HTTP GET)
You can pass data by appending the Certain name-value pairs in the hyperlink containing the URL of the form. For example, to pass the username " jfkennedy@whitehouse.gov " and password “jackie” to the form, use the following hyperlink:
Note that the Password field must be set to "Hide Text? = No" in order to pre-populate that form field. You can change this setting on the Form's > Entry page in your event.
The URL for your online registration form is found on the Form's > Setup page.
Passing data in a form submission (HTTP POST)
You can also pass data to the first page of the Certain online registration form by posting a form submission to the URL of the registration form and passing the Certain variables as hidden fields. For example:
<form action="https://www.certain.com/event/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x21239a912" method="POST"> <input type="hidden" name="username" value=" jkennedy@whitehouse.gov "> <input type="hidden" name="password" value="jackie"> <input type="submit" name="go" value=" Online Now"> </form>
Advanced developers can achieve the same result using JavaScript or server-side commands.
The POST method of data transfer has several advantages over GET
The amount of data that you transfer in a GET statement is limited by the browser that the attendee is using. In general, the GET data transfer should be less than 1024 characters total.
There is no limit to the amount of data that you can transfer via the POST method.
The POST method is transparent to the attendee. The GET method shows the data being transferred in the URL.
Either method allows secure transmission of data by using the "https" protocol instead of "http". Whether encrypted or not, the data is exposed on the Internet with either method.
The POST method is more "psychologically secure" because end users cannot see their data in the browser's address window.
Important items to consider
Passing personal data and passwords in a URL presents a privacy and security risk. Certain recommends using SSL transmission because the methods described above rely on the https:// protocol.
Data passed via a hyperlink or form submission will appear in the form fields to the registrant. Data passed via hyperlink or form submission will not be saved until the registrant submits that page of the online registration form.
The data of any fields passed to Certain will override data that may have been contained in the database. For an attendee who has already registered and is returning to modify their record, passed fields override database data.
Variables passed via form submission reside only on the first page of the online registration form. This means that passing the pro_lname field in the HTTP POST will not pre-populate the “Last Name” field on later pages if the “Last Name” field is not collected on the first page of the registration form.
The hyperlink method forwards passed variables automatically to all subsequent pages of the registration form. This behavior avoids the later-page pre-population issue described for form submission.
When passing values in a URL using a custom registration question, the "®" will change to the registered trademark symbol. This change can produce an error because ® is URL encoding for the registered trademark character.