Before you begin designing or deploying InfoPath form templates, review the following overview topics. These topics describe InfoPath Forms Services capabilities and customization options that are available to form template designers, developers, and administrators.

• Introduction to InfoPath Forms Services

• Getting Started with InfoPath Forms Services (developer) (developer)

• Scenarios for using InfoPath and InfoPath Forms Services

• Ways to share a form template

• Windows SharePoint Services and Forms Services (Webcast)

• Working with forms

• InfoPath 2007 features that are unavailable in InfoPath Forms Services

Plan form template design

Plan form template deployment

Plan server supportability and maintenance

Before you deploy browser-enabled form templates, you must configure InfoPath Forms Services. You do not need to separately install InfoPath Forms Services because it is installed as a core component of Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise Edition. If you do not plan to deploy browser-enabled form templates, you do not have to enable InfoPath Forms Services.

For more information about configuring InfoPath Forms Services, see the following resources:

• Configure InfoPath Forms Services for Office SharePoint Server

• Configure session state for InfoPath Forms Services (Office SharePoint Server)

You can use Office InfoPath 2007 to design browser-enabled form templates that users can fill out by using either Office InfoPath 2007 or a Web browser.

When you design a browser-compatible form template, the same form is used in either the browser or in the client program, which simplifies the processes of form template design and management. You can also build template parts, which are reusable components that you insert into multiple form templates. Template parts that are designed with browser-compatible features can be used in both InfoPath forms and browser-enabled forms. In addition, you can create forms for mobile devices.

For more information about getting started with InfoPath forms in Office SharePoint Server 2007 and about designing form templates, see the resources listed in the following sections.

Overviews and demos for form template developers

Form design considerations

Managed code development

Data connections and data connection libraries

Before users can fill out a form in a Web browser, you must publish your browser-enabled form template to a server that is running InfoPath Forms Services. For form templates that contain managed code, require full trust, or use data connections that are managed by an administrator, the server farm administrator deploys the form templates to a central location, and then activates the form templates to one or more site collections. Site collection administrators can also activate form templates to their site collections. For information about deploying form templates, see the following resources:

• Deploy form templates (Office SharePoint Server)

• Deploy administrator-approved form templates (Office SharePoint Server)

• Demo: Deploy an administrator-approved form template (video)

• Form template deployment considerations for site collection administrators

• How to: Evaluate and approve a form template

• Deploying and managing InfoPath forms (lab)

• Publishing an InfoPath 2007 Form Template to a Server Running InfoPath Forms Services (lab)

• Publish a form template to a server running InfoPath Forms Services

• Enabling digital signatures in InfoPath 2007 form templates (lab)

• Restricting permissions to InfoPath 2007 forms and form templates (lab)

• Hosting the InfoPath 2007 Form Editing Environment in a Custom Windows Form Application (developer)

• InfoPath Resource Center

• InfoPath Team Blog

• Guide to InfoPath 2007 Developer Documentation

This topic is included in the following downloadable book for easier reading and printing:

• Design and build sites for Office SharePoint Server 2007

See the full list of available books at Downloadable books for Office SharePoint Server 2007.