Stop Form Submissions Based on Respondent Answers

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The Stop form submissions smart logic option is available on sections, and you can use it to prevent respondents from progressing and submitting the form. You could use this option to set up scenarios in which the respondent won’t be eligible to complete the service, saving your organization time and cutting down on respondent frustration.  

For example, if you require pets to be microchipped before they can be registered, you can set up stop logic for a section in which they answer “No” to “Is your pet microchipped?" As stop logic is applied to sections, you can then add a Content field to the section, detailing why the respondent can’t submit and providing advice on what steps they can take.

This feature supersedes submission logic, which prevents form submissions but requires respondents to submit the form before doing so. The advantage of stop form logic is that it allows you to prevent submission after any scenario and explain why in depth, so respondents can immediately know that they won’t be able to submit and why.

Set Up Stop Logic

To use stop form logic, your form layout must be set to Section per page; this is the default, check this by going to the form Settings > Display settings > Choose form layout > Section per page.

These instructions will continue the pet registration example from above.

1. Add a radio button question to your form that asks, “Is your pet microchipped?” with the options of “Yes” and “No.”
   
2. Add a new Section to your form after the question. You may want to name the section something relevant to the form, for example “Sorry, your pet can't be registered.”
3. Add a Content field to the section and use it to explain why the respondent can’t progress. You can also include links to other forms or services that may help them.
4. Select the gear icon for the Section Field Settings and go to the Display logic tab.
5. Choose Show from the drop-down menu and select Add scenario.
6. Build a rule that dictates when you want to stop respondents from progressing further. In this example, you would build a rule stating that if the question “Is your pet microchipped?” is equal to “No,” then this section is shown.
7. Add your rule and Save the scenario.
8. Enable Stop form submissions.
   
9. Save and Publish your form.

Now when a respondent indicates that their pet is not microchipped, they will see the section and content field you created stating that they cannot progress. The Save, Continue, and Submit buttons will be hidden from them, but they can select the Back button.

If there are any fields or sections between the stop logic section and the field it is based on, respondents will still need to go through them. We recommend basing stop logic on a field that immediately precedes the section.