21 Years of Formsite: Past, Present and Future

Formsite reaches 21 years in business! Founded in 1998, Formsite began with the goal of providing an easy way for non-programmers to make forms. Setting up a hosting environment and a website was—and still is—an unreasonable obstacle for most people. Choosing Formsite for online forms and surveys means:

• No complicated hosting setup or contracts
• System updates performed by someone else
• Security is top-notch and automatic
• Support is a click away

Over the last 21 years, the internet grew to become the primary communication, entertainment, and shopping tool for most of us. Through these changes, sites and companies have come and gone as technology evolves.

21 Years Ago

1998 showed the world Formsite for the first time. Some sites and services that already existed include:

• Netflix (1997)
• Hotmail (1996)
• Craigslist (1995)
• Amazon (1994)
• Yahoo! (1993)

Coming soon are Google (1998-1999), Monster.com (1999), and Web 2.0 (1999). Web 2.0 was a time in the WWW when static HTML pages evolved into more interactive and dynamic experiences. Some innovations during that period include Flash, social media, blogging, and other interactive concepts.

Before Web 2.0, websites were essentially electronic brochures, or one-way conversations. The new web gave everyone the ability to contribute regardless of their technical knowledge.

Formsite Steps Up

An innovator in the online form industry, Formsite allowed anyone with web access the ability to create forms and surveys easily. With no hosting requirements or programming knowledge, anyone could make forms to collect information using their browser.

In 1999, peer-to-peer file sharing began with applications like Napster becoming instant hits. This evolution of the new web sparked discussions of ownership and boundaries on accessibility. Within a few years (2001), Napster found itself stopped by U. S. federal courts.

In 2003, WordPress, Myspace, and Skype appeared, giving people even more abilities for non-technical publishing and communication. Followed shortly by Facebook in 2004 and YouTube in 2005, social publishing and blogging hit its stride.

The first 5 years of Formsite grows the service into a valuable tool for businesses and individuals to easily collect data. Everything from contact forms and registration forms to order forms and surveys were being used by members of the new online community.

Here To Stay

Through the early legal decisions outlining the web up to the current GDPR regulations, Formsite continues to evolve. Features have changed in the last 21 years to grow with the internet landscape and needs of our customers.

Formsite sincerely thanks its customers for helping us grow into the powerful service we are today. Thank you!