{"id":3325,"date":"2019-06-21T11:06:40","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T05:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/?p=3325"},"modified":"2025-02-27T17:10:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T11:40:35","slug":"the-future-and-alternatives-to-microsoft-infopath-to-create-forms-on-sharepoint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/the-future-and-alternatives-to-microsoft-infopath-to-create-forms-on-sharepoint","title":{"rendered":"The Future and Alternatives to Microsoft InfoPath to Create Forms On SharePoint"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_72 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/the-future-and-alternatives-to-microsoft-infopath-to-create-forms-on-sharepoint\/#What_is_Microsoft_InfoPath\" title=\"What is Microsoft InfoPath?\">What is Microsoft InfoPath?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/the-future-and-alternatives-to-microsoft-infopath-to-create-forms-on-sharepoint\/#Should_You_Continue_to_Use_InfoPath_with_SharePoint_Development\" title=\"Should You Continue to Use InfoPath with SharePoint Development?\">Should You Continue to Use InfoPath with SharePoint Development?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/the-future-and-alternatives-to-microsoft-infopath-to-create-forms-on-sharepoint\/#Should_You_look_for_Other_Alternatives_or_Possibilities\" title=\"Should You look for Other Alternatives or Possibilities?\">Should You look for Other Alternatives or Possibilities?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Infopath and SharePoint Designer are two primary products that have been extremely popular and have helped to expand the SharePoint platform within many organizations by offering IT Pros and users the ability to create electronic forms and workflows. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Though SharePoint Server 2019 will still continue to offer its services to both the technologies, Microsoft has ceased to invest in them, with the mainstream support ending on July 2021 and extended support ending in mid July 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Here in this blog, I will try to give a better overview of InfoPath and its relation with SharePoint development.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Microsoft_InfoPath\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20pt; color: #000080;\"><strong>What is Microsoft InfoPath?<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Released as a part of Microsoft Office 2003, InfoPath has made it quite easy for the non-developers to design electronic forms by using a WYSIWYG form designer, linking it to structured data in SharePoint. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">By managing forms from a central location, users can now easily streamline their business processes and also improve their relations with partners, customers and suppliers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">InfoPath enables you to publish the form templates that you have designed from a common location across the organization and the users can also submit it to SharePoint libraries.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_You_Continue_to_Use_InfoPath_with_SharePoint_Development\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; color: #008000;\"><strong>Should You Continue to Use InfoPath with SharePoint Development?<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">A few years back, Microsoft had announced that they were no longer going to offer support for InfoPath in 2023. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">During the announcement, Microsoft also stated that they were investing in some new forms technology across Access, Word and SharePoint. This decision was taken because of the customer\u2019s dissatisfaction with the tools. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Issues like the forms stored in XML format that has HTML rendering challenges, improper functioning of the mobile version and etc. became the core reason to discontinue. The tool also failed to offer integrated forms experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin: 40px auto; border: 2px solid #065beb; padding: 20px 25px; border-radius: 6px; background: 0;\">\n<div style=\"display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; width: 62%;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Are You Looking to Hire Dedicated SharePoint Developers?<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; width: 36%;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"padding: 10px 22px; margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 1.3em; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle; cursor: pointer; color: #ffffff; background-color: #065beb; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; display: block;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/dedicated-sharepoint-developer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Call us today!<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_You_look_for_Other_Alternatives_or_Possibilities\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; color: #008000;\"><strong>Should You look for Other Alternatives or Possibilities?<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 16pt; color: #008080;\">If InfoPath is Gone for SharePoint Collaboration Tool, then What will the Users Do who are Using it?<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">So, if you are starting a new project and you have in-house developers who know how to create web forms, then the best scenario is to create by using HTML, some JavaScript, CSS and develop the best experience forms that are responsive or touch enabled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">But in case you don\u2019t have such a backup, then using InfoPath with <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/sharepoint-development\/\">SharePoint development<\/a><\/span> is okay as Microsoft will offer support in SharePoint 2016 till the year 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/office-365-consultation-services\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2955 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Office-365-Consultation-1.jpg\" alt=\"Office-365-Consultation\" width=\"823\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Office-365-Consultation-1.jpg 823w, https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Office-365-Consultation-1-300x36.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Office-365-Consultation-1-768x93.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Office-365-Consultation-1-560x68.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 16pt; color: #008080;\"><strong>What are Some of the Best Alternatives?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Custom .Net Forms<\/strong>: <\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Forms that are created using Visual Studio offer a lot of flexibility and options. You can add anything and the form can also work with many other technologies. It is an extensible tool, but one negative aspect is that these can be difficult to maintain.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Spreadsheet Forms<\/strong>:\u00a0 <\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Excel worksheets can be used to store forms that can be developed in One Drive. This is an excellent alternative as it is easy to use, visualize and transform. But one major drawback is that these forms are not mobile friendly.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Access Online Apps Forms<\/strong>: <\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">These can be used where Access Apps are the database. The data is stored in SQL server. Access is used to build independent apps, the forms are easy to use and offers a wide range of data table templates.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"box-shadow: 0 0 16px #cccccc; padding: 10px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Also Read:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"\/blog\/sharepoint-home-sites-a-personalized-intranet-solution-for-intelligent-workplace\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">SharePoint Home Sites: A Personalized Intranet Solution for Intelligent Workplace<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Infopath and SharePoint Designer are two primary products that have been extremely popular and have helped to expand the SharePoint platform within many organizations by offering IT Pros and users the ability to create electronic forms and workflows. Though SharePoint&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[256,643],"tags":[875,876,278],"class_list":["post-3325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cms","category-sharepoint","tag-microsoft-infopath","tag-sharepoint-cms-development","tag-sharepoint-development"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3325"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10787,"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3325\/revisions\/10787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idslogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}