The Advanced Form Editor handles changes the Basic Editor cannot: adding fields, editing tables and bulleted lists, setting dependencies and filters, marking fields required or hidden, changing field types, and editing Likert and multi-part field definitions. All form edits start by cloning the active form into a draft, since the active version is locked from editing.
Who has access to add and edit forms?
Types: System Admin and Admins
Permissions: Any
💡Quick Answers
- What can I do in the Advanced Editor that I can't do in the Basic Editor? Add fields, edit or add tables and bulleted lists, set dependencies and filter options, mark fields required/optional/hidden, change field types, edit Likert definitions, and control which parts of multi-piece fields (like name prefix or nickname) display.
- Why can't I edit my active form directly? Active forms are locked. To make changes, clone the active version to create a draft. The active form stays in place for families until you publish the new draft.
- How do I create a draft? Settings > Forms > select the form type. Find the row marked Active in the State column, click Select in Actions > Clone. That creates a Draft row you can edit.
- How do I open a draft in the Advanced Editor? In the Actions menu on the draft row, choose Go To Advanced Form Editor. You can also start in the Basic Editor for text changes and switch to Advanced via the Go to Advanced Editor button.
- Where can I add new fields, sections, or comments? Two ways. (1) Scroll to the bottom of the form and click Add Field, which appends to the end. (2) Click Actions on any existing field and choose Add field above or Add field below. Drag and drop the gray section handle to reorder later.
- Can I track what changed between versions? Yes. Add a Form Comment in the text box next to your draft on the form setup page and click Save. The comment stays with that version for your internal team's reference.
- Where do I learn about field types, dependencies, and filters? Form Fields & Options and Field Dependencies & Filters on Forms.
How-To: Create & Edit a New Draft
Online forms can be created or edited by navigating to Settings > Forms and then clicking on the type of form you want to update (e.g. teacher recommendations, contract, etc.).
To edit a form, it must be in a draft state. To make a draft of an existing form, navigate to the specific form from the Settings menu, and then follow these steps:
- Locate the currently active version of the form (the one with active listed under the 'State' column).
- Click on the Clone button under the 'Actions' column. This will create a draft copy of the form you cloned.
How to Get Started
Go to Settings > Forms and select the Form you'd like to edit. In this example, we're going to edit the Application Form. Navigate to the 'Active' version of your form, which is the one that's currently viewable to families if it's a parent-facing form, or that's active internally such as an Interview Notes form.
Next, you'll need to clone the active form so that you have a draft version. Within the 'Actions' column, click on 'Select' and choose 'Clone.' Please note, the active version will remain active until you publish a new version.
This will create a 'Draft' version of your form. Important note: Drafts are not visible to families - they will always see the active version of any form. Click on the 'Select' drop down from the 'Actions' column and select 'Go To Advanced Form Editor.
If you prefer, you can also start in the Basic Forms Editor for text edits and then navigate to the Advanced Editor for all remaining changes. Click on the 'Edit Form' button to open the Basic Form Editor.
You can now make text edits with ease. For all remaining edits, click on the 'Go to Advanced Editor' button in the top right of the form.
Page Name and Order
Once in the edit mode for any page, you can edit the Page Name at the top of the edit window.
This name appears at the top of the page when a family is filling out the form. To edit or re-order other pages of the form, click on 'Return to Page Selection.'
You can now see all pages within your form. To learn how to add a new page from the option at the top, click here. The actions you can take include:
- Edit - Click here to make edits within the Advanced Editor view.
- Delete - Permanently delete the page.
- Move Up - Move the page to an earlier position of the form.
- Move Down - Move the page later in the form.
Each page of the form is composed of various sections with different settings and options as explained below.
How-To: Add a Section, Field, or Comment
Once you are in the Advanced Form Editor, you have two options for adding sections, fields, or comments to the form.
Option 1: Add to the Bottom of the Form
You can add a section, field, or comment by scrolling to the bottom of your form and clicking on the Add Field button, right above the Save button. This will add the field below everything else on the form (i.e. at the bottom of the form).
Option 2: Add to a Specific Area of the Form
You can also add a section, field, or comment to a specific area of the form. To do so, locate the existing content above or below where you want the new content to be placed. Then, you can click on the Actions button to the right of the existing content, and choose to Add field above or Add field below, as appropriate.
With either option, if you add a section, field, or comment, and then later want to move it to a different area of the form, you can reorder anything on the form with a few clicks. Click and hold your cursor on the grey area of the section to move and drag and drop it to the desired location.
How-To: Add Fields, Dependencies and Filters on Forms
To learn how to set all of the criteria for a new field (the questions on your forms), how to set dependencies (if "x", then "y") and filter options list, please refer to the articles below.
How-To: Save Changes & Publish the Draft
After making all of your desired changes to a page, make sure to scroll to the bottom and click on the Save button. This will redirect you to the main form page with all of the pages listed. If you are done making changes, click in the top right to go Back to form history.
Back on the form setup page, you can add a Form Comment to your new draft version by typing in the text box to the right of your draft, and then clicking the Save button. Form comments are useful so that your internal team can track what changed which each version of the form.
If you are ready to make your edited draft the currently active version of the form, all you will need to do is click on Publish from under the 'Actions' menu.
As soon as you click to publish, the form state will change from 'draft' to 'active', while the previously active version of the form will change to 'retired'. This is because you can only have one active version of each form at any given time.
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