Application form updates

This PR is a rollup of several enhancements and updates based on user feedback. Pending changes from Abby's feedback which Ehud is reviewing as I open this.
> I just took a look at it... it uses a method from a gem, not sure how to customize/format the data, but after installing it, it did make a working xls file and seems easy to use elsewhere.
> 
> I'll try using it here too, looks cool.

Nice!