What's New in OpenForms

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COMING SOON - SEPTEMBER, 2025

Form Publishing Review

Whether you publish 10 forms or 300 forms this new functionality is another tool in your tool belt to maintaining clarity and consistency across those forms. Bringing together the organizational benefits of Workspaces and the facilitation of Form Versioning & Scheduling, the Form Publishing Review step will help you keep on top of everything your authors are producing.

Never more will you find yourself coming across yet another hidden-away form that an author had published months ago that you didn't know existed and could use a helping hand to improve. For each Workspace you'll be able to select one or more admin staff to be assigned as reviewers for any new forms and changes to existing forms that happen in that space.

Form reviewers will be able to make changes to the forms that get sent to them so that minor changes can be made without needing to circle back to an author. For major changes you can instead write a note and send the form back to the author. Reviewers will also be the ones to enter any future scheduled publish dates in the form settings.

This feature will be available to customers on non-legacy subscriptions that also include Workspaces and Form Versioning & Scheduling features.

New Form Templates - USA region

We've been collaborating with our customer teams in the US to bring new form templates to life based on the needs we've heard from city clerks. Check out these additions and be inspired to use them as a base for your own forms:

• Affidavit of Lawful Presence Application
• Boards and Commissions Application
• Claim for Damages
• Mail-In Ballot Request
• Meeting Item: Public Comment Request
• Proclamation Request
• Public Communication to your Council Member
• Public Records Request
• Short-Term Rental Application
• Title VI Complain

Customers in the ANZ region: what templates would you like to see added to the library? Submit your ideas.

Enhancement for Location Fields Using Google Maps Connector

If you use the Google Maps connector for your Location fields you'll now be able to choose between two map designs. The default design that we're all used to seeing from Google will remain the default. However, when you use a Location field in your form you can now alter the settings of it and choose the Satellite map instead.

Depending on the purpose of your form sometimes the satellite view is necessary for residents to pin a specific location, while at other times the illustrated map is simpler to view at a high level.

Improved Navigation and Collation of Statistics

Earlier in the year we introduced two new reports to our Insights area which have helped customers refine their form management and authoring processes, and make payment reconciliation a simple task. However, we noticed we lacked an introduction to this area of OpenForms and such needed a landing page to bring core statistics together and help guide users on which report to go to next. We've fixed that now, so check out the new "Our Organization" landing page the next time you log in.

Continuous Improvements and Bug Fixes

• Accessibility improvements to the form builder interface providing keyboard access to move elements up and down the form in addition to the new up and down arrow buttons.
• SharePoint connector settings on forms were limited to staff with the Admin role. This has been updated to allow staff with the Author role to complete this task so they can complete the configuration of forms themselves.
• User accounts being synced from Azure AD (Entra ID) that are missing a first name or last name were causing errors when attempting to log in. This has been fixed so that these users can log in successfully.
• Occasionally, authors were seeing an error when attempting to delete a field in their form and were not able to complete the action. This has now been fixed. Authors will be able to delete those fields.
• Occasionally, when navigating to the responses Exports page in the top menu it would not show any exports in the list unless the page is refreshed. This was an issue with the pagination of the listing. This will no longer be an issue. Users will be able to see the list correctly the first time.

 

15 JULY, 2025

File Upload & Signature Fields Not Uploading Files Correctly with Version 1 Themes

Changes were made in our June release to attend to WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility issues on our form display. Unfortunately these improvements have caused a problem for file upload and signature upload fields on forms that use version 1 themes.

When respondents view the form they are presented with our default "upload" button while also seeing a browser default "upload / select file" input. The respondent then selects files using either input and submits the form. Those selected files are then not being uploaded to OpenForms.

Fixing This Issue Yourself

You can fix this issue yourself by updating your theme to use the latest version (version 2). We advise making a copy of your theme and testing it on a draft form first to see if there are any other complications with your custom CSS.

Once any CSS issues are resolved, copy those changes into your first theme and update it to use version 2. Once saved you cannot revert that theme back to version 1. Testing changes in a duplicate theme first is highly recommended, especially when your theme has custom CSS implemented.

Fixed by Us

This change has fixed the issue on your forms so that any respondents who load the form after release will be able to upload files successfully. You will not need to update your theme from version 1 to version 2 to see this issue resolved.

We do however highly recommend updating all themes still using version 1 of the OpenForms base theme to use version 2 so that you can remain up to date and receive all the latest styling and accessibility enhancements.

30 JUNE, 2025

Pre-set Retention Period for Form Responses

Tired of manually clearing out old form responses that have passed your retention period policies or removing them to keep under your file storage quota? Be tired no more! You’ll be able to configure the retention period for form responses at an organization level or on individual forms so that responses are automatically deleted from OpenForms on your behalf.

Need responses to stick around for 90 days on your Contact Us form? Simply update that form, enter 90 in the new retention period setting and publish your changes. Then any new responses submitted to that form will automatically be deleted 90 days after their submission date.

When viewing the responses for a form you can also now search for those that will be deleted soon so you can export the data and files before they are removed. Need more time? Update or set a new retention period for already submitted responses on a form using the bulk action tools.

Keep up to date with email snapshots so you know exactly how many responses in your forms will have their deletion date upcoming in the next week or month and make sure you login in time to export the data and files before those responses are deleted.

This feature is available on all new subscriptions of OpenForms. Not available on legacy subscriptions.

PayWay Payment Gateway

A new version of the PayWay payment gateway is available and we advise customers who use the existing gateway to upgrade to this latest version. This new version of the gateway uses the latest security and performance improvements from PayWay. When used on your forms, respondents will be redirected on form submission to fill out their payment details in the PayWay interface and then returned to OpenForms afterwards. In comparison, the previous gateway we have in OpenForms presents the input fields for entering card details in the final section of the form itself.

We will in time be removing our previous version (now flagged as “legacy” in the connectors interface) of the PayWay gateway from our product so that our customers can keep up to date with the latest, more secure version of the PayWay gateway.

Google Maps Connector for Location Fields

In our previous notes we spoke about Google Maps transitioning some of their API services to legacy status in March 2025, giving us a year to migrate to newer versions. We’ve worked as quickly as possible to get the new versions working so that you can upgrade your Google Maps APIs to the latest versions too.

For now, our connector will work with both the legacy and new versions of the APIs. We’ll be in touch in a future release to let you know when we’ll stop supporting the legacy APIs.

Accessibility Improvements

We’ve always worked to maintain WCAG AA accessibility compliance for our forms display so that as many people as possible can easily access, interact with, and submit the forms you create. We’ve now moved to bring our admin interface under this same accessibility compliance banner.

We’re first focusing on the major components of the screens that you use every day and will continue to enhance our interface throughout the rest of the year. Keep an eye on future release notes for more updates.

Business As Usual

Bug Fixes

• Archived forms could still receive test submissions if the form had already been loaded in the web browser before it was archived. These responses will now be blocked from submission.
• One of the columns of data in the Form Governance report was missing from the CSV export. This data is now included.
• Exporting a single form response was failing if it included attachment files. This export will now download correctly, including files.
• Exporting form responses that include duplicate checkbox values was causing the export process to fail.
• The storage usage chart for Account Owners was not showing data correctly, now it does.
• When duplicating a theme, the modal to confirm the duplication wasn’t closing. Now it will close when you confirm the duplication.
• When exporting form responses that include a field that holds more than 32,000 characters we will now truncate the export of that field so that it can still successfully complete the export. Previously the export would fail.

Enhancements

• A payment gateway that was only used on deactivated versions of forms wasn’t able to be deleted, now it can be.
• When “stop sections” are used in a form, it will automatically change the layout of the form to showing section by section if it was previously set to show the whole form all in one page.
• The form builder page width has been made consistent between the various tabs. Previously each tab had a slightly different width. The build and settings pages especially have more width. Noticeably the settings tab shows the list of available sections in three columns rather than two.
• Data Connections will now include a flag in the output from OpenForms denoting if the form response is a “Test” response vs a response from a published form version.

Deprecations

• If an internal version of a response PDF created prior to December 2018 that includes links to signature files and is published on a public domain, e.g., on a city website as part of council meeting agenda/notes; it was allowing search engines to follow the links in those documents and have the signature files listed in their search results. The endpoint that serves those signature files has been removed.
• As we build new versions of payment gateways it is occasionally not possible to update the existing gateway and we need to release a totally new type of gateway. In this case you will notice that some gateways will have a banner showing the word “Legacy” in the Connectors landing page

20 FEBRUARY, 2025

Insights Dashboard Revamp

 

Data alone can be just a number or a piece of text, but grouped together becomes information and insights that can help us make better decisions.

Previously our Insights page had two basic lists of information and a small handful of statistics showing the number of responses received and the amount of payments transacted in the forms.

We've refreshed the layout to make these reports easier to view, navigate, and search. Giving more purpose and focus for each report. We've also introduced two new reports to help you more easily manage your forms with a birds-eye view and give your finance team a central location to see all paid transactions.

New Insights reports (payments and form governance) are only available on non-legacy Enterprise subscriptions. Existing reports with refreshed interfaces are available to everyone.

Enhancements Throughout OpenForms

1. New organization-level settings for file upload fields: configure the settings for this type of field so that when authors use it on their forms it will already have the right max file size and number of files. One less thing for your authors to remember when creating a form, making the process more efficient.
2. Old API keys from deprecated version 1, 2, and 3 will be removed from the system, cleaning up your keys listing.
3. Performance improvements for the CSV export of form responses.
4. Refactoring and performance improvements across the administration site. Navigating between pages should feel faster and more responsive

An Update on Our Google Maps Connector

We've received notification from Google Maps that certain API services we use in our connector will be transitioned to Legacy status on 1 March 2025. They will still work for a year to give us and customers time to migrate to newer versions.

Do not update your Google Maps account to use the latest versions of these APIs as they will not work with our current connector in OpenForms. We will be in touch again once we have updated our connector and you can then update your configuration through your Google Console.

If your usage of the Google Maps connector in OpenForms exhausts your free quota from your Google Maps Console you may be charged at a different rate to what Google has charged you in the past. We will be working as quickly as possible to upgrade our connector to reduce any disruptions and costs of this service.

12 NOVEMBER, 2024

Workflow & Azure AD Partner Up

To bring efficiencies to your forms' workflow management we've expanded our Microsoft Azure AD connector to now work inside your forms' Workflow settings. You can select an Azure AD Group as a reviewer in addition to, or instead of, selecting individual staff members. Now when staff move positions or leave the organization you can simply update their assignment in Azure AD and the changes will flow through to OpenForms without you needing to update forms individually.

Don't have the Azure AD Connector and/or Workflow available on your subscription? Chat with us about upgrading. This update will be available on non-legacy Enterprise subscriptions with the Azure AD add-on.

Enhancements Throughout OpenForms

1. Introduction of a search feature on many pages throughout the Admin and Integrations sections of OpenForms. Many of our customers have a large number of Lists, Themes, Snippets, Data connections, etc., which can be hard to scroll through and find the one you're looking for. Now you can simply search by name to filter the list.
2. Writing content for emails to staff and respondents in form settings has always been done using a HTML editor, now we've introduced the ability to swap it over to the "visual editor" so you can write and format the content of your emails without needing to write any code.
   
   When updating existing forms make sure to check the content to see if it is still formatted the way you want as we convert your HTML. Some HTML is not supported in the visual editor, e.g., tables; so if you use those you will need to keep your content in HTML mode.
   
   This editor is also available when writing content for the message that appears to respondents after successfully submitting their form.
3. Location fields in forms are now more configurable with the introduction of the option to show or hide the "Use my current location" button. This gives you more control if you also use Data Connections or an ESRI connector with a Location field.
4. Squashed bugs of note:
   • In certain scenarios the default PDF for responses would download an incorrect version from the Responses page in a form. This has been rectified and will now download the latest version.
   • If one of the files attached to an email was invalid, e.g., was missing an file extension, the email was not being sent at all. This has been fixed so that the email still sends.
   • ESRI field settings were not showing all options correctly in certain scenarios. This has been fixed so that the settings show correctly now.

 

Upcoming Decommissions

The POLi payment gateway uses cookies and will therefore stop working once the Google Chrome web browser stops accepting 3rd party cookies. We're getting ahead of this and advising customers to retire this payment gateway and move onto another gateway of their choice so that payments can continue to be collected through OpenForms successfully.

The PayNow payment gateway will also be decommissioned.

If you are using either of these gateways we will be in contact soon to help you move forward with an alternative gateway.

 

17 SEPTEMBER, 2024

This release introduces the govDelivery integration for subscriber capture, multi-factor authentication for user login, and many feature improvements and bug fixes that will provide you with the best experience possible in OpenForms.

govDelivery Integration

Available on current (non-legacy) subscriptions. Not sure what subscription you're on? Reach out today.

OpenForms can now integrate with govDelivery, the Granicus communications product. If you already have govDelivery and OpenForms, you'll be able to collect new subscribers to your mailing lists directly in your forms. Get in touch if you're interested in learning more about govDelivery.

How it Works

Before you begin, ensure your govDelivery administrator has the relevant account, topics, and categories configured in your organization's govDelivery environment ready to receive subscribers.

Your OpenForms administrator can then proceed to set up the govDelivery connector. Once the connector is ready, form authors can insert the Subscriber Capture field to any form they like, and select the preferred govDelivery connection and topics to display in the field settings. They will also provide a link to your organization's privacy policy, which respondents can consent to when they subscribe. 

As your respondents fill in the form, they will see the Subscriber Capture field as part of the form (example above). To subscribe, they simply select Yes, enter their email address and topic(s) they are interested in. This email address will automatically pre-populate if they have already entered one in a previous part of the form, further saving them time.

Once a respondent submits the form, their subscription preferences will be automatically sent to govDelivery. Depending on how your govDelivery administrator has set this up, every new subscriber will receive an email confirmation from govDelivery, including a link to manage their subscription preferences moving forward.

Multi-factor Authentication for Your Login

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is one of the most effective ways to protect your valuable information and accounts against unauthorized access. As an OpenForms user, you can choose to enable MFA when you login. All you need to do is navigate to your Profile page in OpenForms and enable 2-step verification. You will be prompted to scan a QR code into your preferred authenticator app and follow the steps to complete the process.

Once enabled, you will be asked for your username and password, plus a verification code each time you login to OpenForms. You can disable this 2-step verification anytime, and if you are unable to you can reach out to your Account Owner to disable this on your behalf.

Please note that this MFA feature will not apply if you currently use Azure AD or an OpenCities account to login to OpenForms.

Convenience Fee for Paymentus Payment Gateway

In our last release, we launched Paymentus payment gateway connector for use in OpenForms across the US. This connector now supports convenience fee based on payment type, so the amount you configure in your Paymentus account can flow through to the payment field automatically in OpenForms. On the form we display a confirmation popup to respondents prior to form submission to inform them of the fee amount and total charge. 

If you are interested in using the Paymentus connector, we recommend reaching out early to Paymentus Support to setup your test/live environments, whitelist our IP addresses and configure other settings such as convenience fee before you add the connector. More details are available on the Paymentus connector page in OpenForms.

Continuous Improvements and Bug Fixes

Form Authoring and Usage

• Form template library: Added duplicate form name check when user creates a form based on template, fixed up feedback form URL on template library page. 

• Workspaces: Moving form from one workspace to another refreshes the UI straightaway, update workspace permissions to handle AD user belonging to more than one AD group.

• Saving form: No more issues saving imported forms with specific references to fieldset and smart logic.

• Date field: Operator against today's date now saves correctly if author clicks Save and preview straightaway, user no longer gets prompted unnecessarily if Date field is required and has a default date set. 

Form Workflow and Review

• Workflow transition with 2 email notifications (one with response PDF attachment and one without) now works as expected.

• The "Add notification" button is no longer disabled when a notification to respondent is present for final workflow step.

• Improved error handling when publishing form from Workflow tab.

User Profile

• Resending of verification email allowed if user changes their email address.

• Status now displays as Awaiting Verification when user updates their email which is pending verification.

Administrator Function

• Updated AD user sync to handle organization's AD properties unsupported by OpenForms.

• Added scroll bar to left navigation menu in Admin so all links are visible when Organization Default is expanded.

• ArcGIS ESRI connector: Increased API key field length in ESRI connector to support ESRI's latest API keys.

• SharePoint connector: Files with same filename are renamed (instead of replaced) during SharePoint export, fixed issue with export when not all repeated fields are answered.