A form in Equip is a reusable set of questions your organization builds once and collects answers to many times. Each time someone fills it out, Equip stores a response under the form, and when that response names a participant, it also becomes a PDF document on the participant's profile. Use forms for intake paperwork, consents, incident reports, feedback and any other information you need in a consistent shape. Use Assessments instead when you need scored ratings and trends over time.
Participants are labelled Clients, Students, Residents or Explorers depending on the account type. This article calls them participants.
Who can do this, and where
The form library lives in the Equip web app under Forms in the left navigation. The page is titled Form Library.
Each participant profile also has a Forms area, listing the forms that have been filled out about that person.
Access comes from the Forms module on a team member's role, set under Settings, Permissions, Custom Roles. The levels are None, Viewer, Supporter and Administrator.
Viewer and Supporter can open the Forms library and fill forms. Only Administrator, plus account owners, can create, edit, duplicate or delete a form.
Participants never build forms. They answer them through a link, an invitation, or the Equip mobile app.
The mobile app can list forms and submit responses. Building, editing, approving and denying forms are web-only.
Forms is turned on for your account by the Equip team. If you do not see Forms in the left menu, ask us to enable it.
The two kinds of form
Every row in the Form Library is labelled with its kind.
Kind | What it is | How you get one |
Custom Form | Questions you build inside Equip, in sections you arrange yourself. | Click Create Form, or Import Form to have AI extract the questions from a file or survey link. |
Document Form | A fillable PDF. Answers are typed into the PDF's own fields and the finished PDF is what gets stored. | Click Use Template and copy one that Equip has prepared. You cannot upload your own PDF to make a document form. |
Custom forms support sections, the full question list, attachments and signatures. Document forms support approval, response notifications, external responses and link expiry, and they pre-fill participant and account details into the PDF's fields.
What you can put on a form
Title, Description, Category and Tags, plus a Status of Active or Inactive.
Sections, each with a title and rich text, to group questions and add instructions.
Questions, in eight types: Acceptance, Date or time answer, Likert scale, Long answer, Multiple choice, Number answer, Short answer, Single choice. Each question can be marked Required, can allow a comment, can allow file attachments and can show its description in the PDF export.
Preferences: Require Subject, Require Signature, Require Approval, Allow Attachments, Allow Anonymous Responses, Hide Subject Name, Restrict Access, Assign to Pathway Steps and Link Expiry (Days).
Notification Settings: Response Notifications and, where enabled, Expiration Notifications.
Attachments: up to 5 files that every responder can open, with instructions for using them.
How responses get collected
Fill Form on the form's page, or Start Form on a participant profile, for a team member filling it in directly.
Invite Responder on a participant's Forms area, which emails a personal link.
Copy Link and Download QR Code in the form's menu, for a standing public link. These appear only when the form does not require a subject, allows external responses and is Active.
Request Form on a calendar event, which creates a to-do for the roles you choose after the event.
Assign to Pathway Steps, which puts the form on a pathway step so it can be filled from the step card.
The mobile app, using the same form and the same approval rules.
Limits and what the errors mean
A response moves through Pending, In Progress, Completed, Awaiting Approval and Denied. A Completed response that an approver signed off shows as Approved.
A response only reaches a participant's profile, and only becomes a document, when it has a Subject. Turn on Require Subject to make that choice mandatory.
Awaiting Approval and Approved responses cannot be edited by anyone. A Denied response can only be edited by the person who submitted it.
A form with responses is never deleted outright. Deleting it discards it instead, and the flash reads "Form was successfully discarded." Forms with no responses are deleted for real.
"Questions with submitted answers cannot be deleted." appears if you try to remove a question that already has answers. Leave it in place, or make the change on a duplicate.
The Forms module can be switched off for an account entirely, in which case nothing above is visible.
Import Form and Expiration Notifications are each enabled per account. If you do not see them, they are not turned on for yours.
FAQ
What is the difference between a form and an assessment?
A form collects information and gives you the answers back as written. An assessment scores answers and tracks a participant's results over time. If you want a number to trend, use an assessment; if you want a record of what someone said, use a form.
Can I upload my own PDF and turn it into a fillable form?
Not directly. Document forms are prepared by Equip and reach your account through the Use Template button. You can upload a PDF to Import Form, but that reads the questions out of it and builds a normal custom form rather than keeping the PDF layout.
Why can't my team member create a form?
Creating, editing and duplicating forms need the Forms module set to Administrator on their role. The Viewer and Supporter levels can open the library and fill forms but never see Create Form or Edit Form. Change the level under Settings, Permissions, Custom Roles.
Where do completed forms show up for a participant?
On the participant's profile under Forms, grouped by form, and under Documents as a generated PDF. Both only happen when the response has a subject selected.
Can participants fill out a form themselves?
Yes, through a link you send them, an invitation, or the Equip mobile app. They cannot build or edit forms, and they cannot start a response from the web app the way a team member can.
Do I have to use a category?
No. Category and Tags are both optional and exist to make the library searchable. The search box on the Forms page matches on title and category.
How many questions can a form have?
There is no limit on questions or sections. The only count that is capped is form-level attachments, at 5 files.
Related
Create a form
Copy an existing form
Import an existing form or assessment
Limit who can see a form's responses
Filling a Form
Viewing Form Responses
Choosing Between Forms and Assessments
How do PDF forms pre-fill participant and account information?