Create Form Template
A form template is a form as the Dashboard manages it: a name, a collection it belongs to, and a list of versions that people fill in. This guide creates a template, opens its first version in the Designer, and publishes it so it reaches the people who need it.
Before You Start
- Creating templates needs the Admin or Form Manager role. See Role Matrix.
- Have a collection ready to put the template in. See Create Collection.
- Search Form Templates first. If the form already exists, give it a new version instead of a second template. See Form Template Versions.
Steps
Create the template
- Open Templates > Form Templates.
- Select New Form at the top right of the table, or open a collection first and select New Form Template from its ⋮ menu so the template lands in that collection. Either way the Form Template Settings panel opens on the right.
- Enter a Name. This is the title people see in the Dashboard and in the app's form list.
- Optionally add a Description, check the Collection the template belongs to, and set the Owner. Owner defaults to you and is a reference only.
- Select Save. The template opens straight away with one version, v1, unpublished and with no entries.
Design the first version
- On the template page, the left panel shows All Entries and the Versions list with v1. To come back later, select the template's row in Form Templates.
- Select Design at the top right. The Designer opens v1 with every design feature available, because the version is not published and holds no entries.
- Build the form, save it, and close the Designer. How the Designer works is covered in 2.1 The Design Screen.
Publish it
- Back on the template page, with v1 selected, use the publication button at the top right to set the version to Published.
- Optionally select Capture to fill in a test entry in the browser and see the form as a user will.
The template's row in Form Templates now shows v1 as the live version. Users with access to the template or its collection get the form at their next sync, and it is listed on the app's Forms page unless you hide it there.
FAQs
Why can nobody see the new form in the app?
Three things must be true: a version is published, the user has access to the template or to its collection, and the template is not hidden with Hide In Forms In App. The app also has to sync before a new form appears. See Form Template Settings and Actions.
Can I start from an existing template instead of a blank form?
There is no duplicate action on a template. Export the template to a .zff file and import it into the collection you want, which creates a copy, see Export and Import Form Templates. To reuse parts of a design, copy elements between forms with the Designer's File menu.
Can I build the form from a Word document?
Yes. Import Forms on a collection accepts a Word file and turns its text, tables and images into form elements. See Import a Form from a Word Document.
Can I keep editing the form after it is published?
Only in minor edit mode: labels, options, PDF settings and similar. Structural changes need a new version. See Form Template Versions.
