Forms: Designing a form

After creating your form, you can start designing it (and once that's done, you can begin soliciting responses for it). Forms consist of fields, headings, and text that are organized into one or more pages. Here's a look at the controls for adding and sorting elements:

• Add a field lets you add either a linked field or a regular field, which are both explained in greater detail below. Fields are what you use to collect information from respondents.
• Add heading or Add text lets you add headings and text to help organize and explain the form's fields.
• Add a page starts a new page on which you can continue the form. Pages are handy for making longer forms easier to use and navigate for respondents.
• Add any of the above right below an existing form element.
• Click and drag this symbol to reorder form elements.
• Edit the form element or delete it.

Linked fields

Linked fields let you collect information from respondents that update some built-in profile fields as well as various custom information fields.

1. Click Add a field or and select Linked field.
2. Select the field for which you'd like to collect information.
   • The Person fields update information on Profile > Info.
   • The Name field, if set to Required, will require at least a first and last name. Other name fields, like Prefix, etc. are always optional. (If you will want to link responses to people, make sure you use the Name linked field!)
   • The various Custom field options update the corresponding areas on the person's profile. Student fields, for example, update Profile > Student > Student Info.
3. Check if the field should be Office Use Only. These fields may only be filled out by someone reviewing form responses; they may be visible to respondents or you can keep them Hidden (see below). For example, you could have an Office Use Only field on a course substitution request form that records whether you approved or denied the request; the respondent can then look at his form to see your decision.
4. Check if the field should be Hidden from respondents—these will be available for your own internal use to staff users when reviewing form responses. For example, you could have a hidden field on a course substitution request form that records why you approved or denied the request.
5. Check if the field should be Required—without a complete response to all required fields, the form cannot be submitted.
6. Check if you wish to hold responses For Review. This lets you approve or reject responses.
   • Choose when to update the linked field on the respondent's profile—when the answer has been accepted or when the answer is accepted and the form response status has been set to Completed.
7. When you're done, click Save.

Fields (non-linked)

Fields let you survey and collect information from respondents. The information from regular fields is not directly imported to respondents' profiles, nor does it trigger changes elsewhere in Populi.

1. Click Add a field or and select Field.
2. Give the field a Name (required) and a Description (optional).
3. Select the field type (see below).
4. Depending on the type you select, you'll see different options (labels, statements, etc.). These options are described below with the question types.
5. Check the options you'd like for Office Use Only, Hidden, Required, and Hold for review.
6. Click Save when you're finished.

Field types

• Short answer and Paragraph: Collect free-form text responses.
• Multiple choice: Respondents choose one answer from several. Type the answer options in the field in the order in which you'd like them presented.
• Checkboxes: Respondents choose one or more answers from several. Type the answer options in the fields and indicate the maximum number of answers respondents can select.
• Dropdown: Respondents choose one answer from several. Type the answer options in the fields in the order you wish them to appear in the drop-down.
• Yes/No: Respondents check Yes or No in response to your statement.
• Likert: Respondents evaluate a number of individual items or statements on a kind of sliding scale. Here's an example. To set up this type of question:
  1. Enter the names of the columns—typically, these would be phrases expressing the respondent's evaluation of the statements (Interested, Not interested, Good, Poor, etc.).
  2. Rows contain the statements or items you'd like respondents to evaluate. Enter as many columns as you like.
• Put in order: Respondents put a jumbled list in order.
• Date: Give your respondents a field with a datepicker calendar.
• Number: Requires a numerical answer; you have options to set a minimum and maximum value.
• File upload: Allow respondents to upload files to the field; you can specify a maximum number of files they can upload (the default is one file).
• Signature: Respondents can type or draw their signature in the field.

Conditional fields (and other form elements)

When a previous field has pre-defined answer options (multiple choice, checkboxes, dropdown, yes/no), you can set up a subsequent field, heading, text box, or page to appear depending on the response to that previous field. These are called conditional fields. For example, you ask about the respondent's academic program (Undergraduate or Graduate); if they answer "Undergraduate", you can then ask about their degree (Bachelors, Associate's, Certificate).

Here's how to add a conditional form element. The instructions here assume that your form already has at least one field with pre-defined options.

1. Add a new field (either kind of field works—linked and not-linked) or other form element.
2. Fill out the element's details and options as you would any other.
3. In the list of options at the bottom (Required, etc.), you'll see Conditional. Check that box.
4. A new part of the dialog will appear: this lets you define the conditions under which this element will appear to the respondent.
   • Choose whether to show this section when any or all of the conditions match.
   • In the dropdowns, pick from the previous fields and their answer options.
   • You can add multiple conditions and additional condition groups. If you have multiple condition groups, the field will appear when each of the condition groups has been checked. In this example, the field will appear only when the respondent answers "Undergraduate" AND either his advisor is "Carmen Othello" OR his major is "Literature".
5. When you're done, click Save.

Here's how to add a conditional page (again, assuming your form already has at least one field with pre-defined options):

1. At the top of your page, click and select Edit Page.
2. Check next to Conditional.
3. Set up your conditions and click Save.

Notifications

After your form is composed, you can then set up notifications that will let you and others know when certain events happen—for example, a new form submission. These are set up in Forms > Notifications.

Important note! In order to email form response requests to respondents, you must create a notification with the following:

• The Event must be Form Response Requested.
• The Notification must be Send an email to a specified address.
• The body of the notification must contain the Respondent URL variable.

You can add as many notifications as you like to each form. To set up a new notification:

1. Click Add a notification.
2. Choose the Event. You can trigger a notification when a form response is submitted or requested or when a note is left on a response.
3. Choose the Notification.
   • You can email one or more specific email addresses.
   • Or you can email specific people or groups of people at their primary email address.
4. When you're done, click Save.

Once you click Save, you can start adding details to your notification. Your options will be a little different depending on what you selected for the Notification type.

• Just about all the fields let you click to add a variable, all of which should be self-explanatory.
  • Your variable options will depend on what you selected for Event and Notification.
  • You can insert variables into other lines of text. For example, you could write "Person's Name has just submitted a response to Form Name. View the response here: Internal URL". Just take care to add spaces before and after each in-text variable you use!
• Enter email addresses and/or select specific recipients who'll receive the notification.
• Use the WYSIWYG editor to compose the notification.

After adding the notification details, you can click to edit it or to delete it. You can also toggle between Active and Paused if you'd like to pause the notification for a period of time.

Once your form is set up to your liking, you can start soliciting responses for it.