Create a form

Start interacting with respondents by creating a form.

1. From Forms, select Create form and then Create new
   

2. Enter a name for your form

3. Choose a workspace (if you're on an Enterprise plan)

4. Select Create

The form builder 

You’ll taken to the Build screen.

This is where you add fields to your form. Do this by dropping fields into your form from the toolbox on the left of the screen. 

The toolbox is broken up into three sections:

• Basic fields let you collect different kinds of information from your respondents such as text, checkbox and dropdown selections, dates, and more
• Advanced fields deal with more complex data. Use these to let respondents upload files, draw signatures, and make payments. You can collect location data, and drop more complex sets of questions (like matrices and field sets) into your form. 
• Layout fields help you organize your form, with sections and groups, and add explanatory content to guide your respondents. This is also where you'll find office use only groups if you're on an Enterprise plan. 

Check out the list of fields for a full rundown of all the field types available in OpenForms.  

Get started 

You’ll notice we’ve automatically added a section to your form already. Enter a name for the section.

Drag a field from the left toolbar and drop it into the first section of your form.

Once you’ve added a field, you can hover over it for more options (these will vary depending on the field).

Keep adding fields and setting them up until you're happy with your form. 

When you’re finished, use the buttons on the bottom of the screen to Save and preview, Save or Publish your form.

Save and preview

Choosing Save and preview will open a preview version of your form that you can use to test what you’ve made. Go to Test and publish your form for the details.

Save

Choosing Save will save your form without publishing it. Come back to it whenever you want to make changes and publish.

Publish

The Publish button makes your form go live. After you've published it, you can share it and start getting responses. But before you publish, you might want to test that everything’s working properly - visit this page for more on testing and publishing. 

If you're on an Enterprise plan, it's also a great idea to map out a workflow to process responses when you come in.

Enterprise forms also support versioning. Enterprise users create a new version of a form each time you update it. You can go back and see old form versions whenever you like, and even restore an old version. Add notes when you publish a new version to record what changed and why.

Set a publish date

If you've created a form but don't want to publish it immediately, you can schedule it for publication later. There are two places you can do this - in your form's Build screen and Settings screen. 

In the Build screen:

1. Choose Publish and select Schedule for later 
   
   
   
2. Set your publication date, add any notes, and choose Publish.

In the Settings screen:

1. Go to General Settings
2. Under Set publish date, select Set date and time. If you've previously set a publish date, you can also change that date here.
   

Set a deactivation date

You may also want to set a deactivation date, at which point your form will stop accepting responses. This can be set through the Build or Settings screens, or - for enterprise users - in the History screen. 

In the Build screen:

1. Select Publish, and either publish your form immediately or schedule it for later. 
2. Choose Publish
3. Choose Set deactivation date
   
   
4. Enter a deactivation date, and choose Set.

1. Go to General Settings
2. Under Set deactivation date, select Set date and time. Note that if your form is already live, you'll have to choose Edit to change the deactivation date. If you're on an Enterprise plan, this will create a new version of the form, so it's best to use the form History tab instead.

Enterprise Plans

In the History tab:

1. Choose the version of the form you'd like to edit, and open its '...' menu.
2. Select Edit deactivation schedule
3. Enter a deactivation date, and choose Set

What next?

Use Smart Logic to show or hide parts of your form based on what’s come previously, so users only see what they need to see.

Customize your form by adding a form description, changing the look and feel, choosing what happens with responses and more.

Create a workflow to process responses as they come in.

Once it’s published, see how your form is performing - view the responses you’ve received, and get insight into submission numbers and times.