Build a form

The form builder shows the form exactly as a person filling it in will see it, with an outline beside it and the selected question's settings on the right. Open the form under Pages and choose Edit from the menu under its title. A new form opens in the builder by itself.

The builder needs a computer's screen. The form itself works on a phone; switch the builder to Phone at the top to see it that way.

The builder

• The outline, on the left: the table the form writes into, as a heading, then its questions in the order the form asks them. A section of lines has its own row with its questions under it. The table's fields the form does not ask come last, dimmed. At the end are the footer and After it is sent.
• The form, in the middle. Click a question to select it.
• The settings of what is selected, on the right.

Every change is kept as a draft shortly after you stop typing; there is no Save button. A change that cannot be kept yet, such as a read-only question with no value, is shown with its reason and not saved until you finish it. People keep filling in the published version until you publish again.

Add, order and remove questions

• The eye on a row in the outline asks a field, or stops asking it. A field not asked stays in the outline, dimmed, one click from coming back. It is not hidden: a field the form does not ask is not written by it.
• Drag questions in the outline to change their order.
• Hover the gap between two questions on the form and press + to add one there, or choose Add in the outline. New question… adds a new field to the table at once, as the table's own Add field does, and puts it on the form.

Each question writes one field. The top of its settings says which table it belongs to ("A field of Orders"), and its ⋮ offers to open that table, where the field's type and default are changed.

A question's settings

On the form says what the question is:

A calculated field of the table is shown read-only, worked out by the table. For a linked record, Read-only and Set, not shown take a Record you pick instead of a value. Some field types cannot be set by a form, and the choice says why.

An asked question also has:

• Label: what the form calls it, such as "Company" for a field called Name. Responses use the label too.
• Help text: a line under the box.
• Show: Always, or Only when… an earlier answer meets a condition you set.
• Required: No, Always, or Only when… an earlier answer meets a condition. Under What the customer reads, write what the person is told when it is empty, such as "When should we deliver?".
• Starts at: what the box is filled in with from the start, which the person can change. It is the field's default value in its table.
• Can be filled from a link: a link to the form such as ?Reference=SPRING24 puts a value in the box; the person can still change it. It is offered outside sections of lines only. For a Set, not shown question, A link can set it does the same; turn it on only where it is acceptable that whoever writes the link chooses the value.
• Requirements, for a number: choose Add a requirement and pick At least, At most or A multiple of, then a number, or a field of a record the person picked, such as "Box size of Product". Write what the customer reads when it is not met, such as "Olive oil ships by the box of 12." A requirement on a plain number is checked as they type and again at Send; one that reads a picked record is checked at Send.

Linked records, such as a product picked from your Products table or a customer found by tax ID, have more settings: see Linked records.

The top of the form

Select the block above the first question to set:

• Title and Description.
• Send button: its label. Left as it is, the button reads "Send" in the workspace's language.
• Closes, with What they read when it is closed, and Per hour: see Limits that protect a public form.

What the person sees after sending is set under After it is sent: see After it is sent.

The footer

A form has the same footer as a dashboard. In the outline, choose Add to footer and pick Text (a heading and a note, such as your delivery terms), Link or Button (a page, a form, a website, a phone number or an e-mail). Each link and button has its own Shown to.

A form has no headings or text between its questions. Heading or text is in the Add menu but not available yet. Use Help text on a question, the form's Description, or the footer.