Create a Form

This page walks you through creating a new form in your project and building it out with sections and questions.

Step 1 - Create the form

1. Open your project and click Forms in the project sidebar.

2. Click the Create Form button in the top-right corner.

3. Enter a name for your form (3 to 64 characters).

4. Select the Form Type:

   • Insert - the default type. Each submission creates a new row in the linked table. Use this for collecting new observations, records, or entries.

   • Update - each submission edits an existing row in a linked table. When you choose Update, you must also select the table to update and tick the columns you want the form to be able to edit.

5. Click Create.

Creating a new form

The form builder opens. You will see an empty form with the name you chose as the header.

For Update-type forms, the table picker and column checklist appear as soon as you select "Update". Tick only the columns you want respondents to be able to change.

Step 2 - Add sections

Forms are organised into sections. Each section can contain one or more questions. Sections help you group related questions together and make longer forms easier to navigate.

1. Click CLICK HERE TO ADD A NEW SECTION at the bottom of the page to add your first section.

2. Click the section name to enter inline edit mode - type a name (e.g. "Observation Details") and click Save to confirm, or Delete to remove the section entirely.

The form builder in edit mode

Step 3 - Add questions

To add a question within a section:

1. Click CLICK HERE TO ADD A QUESTION inside the section.

2. Click the question name to enter edit mode and type your question label - this is what the person filling in the form will see.

3. Choose a question type from the Type dropdown (see Question Types for the full list).

4. Click Save to table to choose the table this question's answer will be stored in. If the table you need does not exist yet, click Create Table in the picker to create one without leaving the form builder.

5. Click Save to column to choose the specific column. If the column does not exist, click Create column in the picker to add a new column to the linked table.

6. Click Save to save the question, or Delete to remove it.

Configuring question properties

Each question has a set of toggles and settings you can adjust:

• Required - makes the question mandatory. The form cannot be submitted without an answer.

• Hidden - hides the question from the person filling in the form. Useful for metadata or default values.

• Locked - prevents respondents from changing the pre-filled value. Use this when you want to display information without letting the respondent edit it.

Expanded configuration panel

Click the cog icon on a question card to open its expanded configuration panel. This gives you access to:

• URL Query Param Key - if you set a key here, the field will be pre-filled automatically when the form URL includes a matching query parameter (e.g. ?site=plot-42).

• Default value - a value that is pre-filled when the form loads, which the respondent can then change (unless the question is Locked).

• Icon Type - selects the icon shown alongside this question in "Icons and Text" layout forms. Options include Camera, Video, Text, Audio, Location, Help, Tag, Paperclip, Split, and Merge.

• Icon Text - the label shown next to the icon in icon-layout forms.

Short text question - extra options

Short text questions have additional length controls in the expanded panel:

• Min length / Max length - restricts the number of characters allowed.

• Min words / Max words - restricts the number of words allowed.

Dropdown, Multi-Radio, and Multi-Checkbox questions - options list

For these question types, you manage the list of available choices directly in the question card:

• Click an option label to edit its text inline.

• Click Remove next to an option to delete it.

• Drag the reorder handle to change the order of options.

• Click Add Option (or Add Multi-Option) to add a new blank option.

• For Dropdown questions only, toggle Allow new items to let respondents type a custom value that is not in the predefined list.

Reordering sections and questions

To reorder sections or questions after you have built the form, use the Reordering card in Form Settings (see Form Settings).