Click Forms in the left navigation, click Create Form, give it a title, add your questions with New Question, then click Save Form. Everything else on the page, including the preferences and the notification settings, can be changed later from Edit Form. A new form is Active as soon as you save it.
Participants are labelled Clients, Students, Residents or Explorers depending on the account type. This article calls them participants.
Who can do this, and where
Forms are built in the Equip web app only. The mobile app can fill forms but not create them.
You need the Forms module set to Administrator on your role, or you need to be an account owner. The Viewer and Supporter levels can fill forms but never see Create Form.
If Create Form is missing from the Form Library page, that is the reason. Roles are set under Settings, Permissions, Custom Roles.
Steps
Click Forms in the left navigation. The page is titled Form Library.
Click Create Form. (The Use Template button copies a form Equip has prepared instead, and Import Form builds one from a file or survey link.)
Under General Information, set the Status to Active or Inactive, then fill in Title. Description, Category and Tags are optional.
Open Preferences and set the toggles you need. Each one is described in the next section.
Open Notification Settings to turn on Response Notifications and pick subscribers.
Under Attachments, attach up to 5 files that every responder should be able to open, and use the instructions box to say how and when to use them. Accepted types are .docx, .xlsx, .csv, .pdf, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif, .tif and .webp.
Click New Question to add a question, or New Section to add a heading with instructions above a group of questions.
For each question, fill in Question, an optional Description, and choose a Type. Set Required, Allow Comments, Allow Attachments and Show Description in Export as needed.
Drag questions and sections by their handle to reorder them. The copy icon on a question's header duplicates it; the red delete icon removes it.
Click Save Form. The flash reads "Form was successfully created." and you land on the form's page.
The preferences, and what each one changes
Toggle | What it does |
Require Subject | The responder must choose the participant the response is about. Without a subject, a response never reaches a participant profile and never becomes a document. On by default for a new form. |
Require Signature | A signature panel appears at the bottom of the form and must be filled before Submit Response works. A completed signed response cannot be edited afterwards. |
Require Approval | Submissions land as Awaiting Approval and wait for an approver you name. |
Allow Attachments | Responders can upload files alongside the whole response, 5 MB per file. |
Allow Anonymous Responses | A responder can submit without a name or email. Leave both blank and Equip records no responder. |
Hide Subject Name | Leaves the subject's name off the exported PDF. |
Restrict Access | Limits which roles can view this form's responses and the documents made from them. Not available on umbrella accounts. |
Assign to Pathway Steps | Puts the form on the pathway steps you pick, so it can be filled from the step card. Needs Pathways enabled. |
Link Expiry (Days) | How many days a personal link, invitation or QR code stays usable. 30 by default. Blank means those links never expire. The standing public link is not affected. |
Response Notifications and Expiration Notifications live under Notification Settings, not under Preferences. Response Notifications emails and in-app notifies the subscribers you choose when a response is completed. Expiration Notifications only appears when form expirations are enabled for your account and you are not on an umbrella account.
The question types
The Type dropdown lists these, in this order:
Acceptance — a checkbox the responder must tick to agree or consent. Equip forces it to be required and switches off its comment and attachment options, whatever you set.
Date or time answer — a picker. A second dropdown, Date format, chooses Date only, Date and time, or Time only.
Likert scale — one row of a rating matrix. Give several Likert questions the same Group Label and the same answer options and they are combined into a single matrix when the form is filled.
Long answer — a large text box.
Multiple choice — several answers can be selected. You add the options.
Number answer — a numeric entry.
Short answer — a single-line text box.
Single choice — one answer can be selected. You add the options.
Only Single choice, Multiple choice and Likert scale let you add answer options.
Limits and what the errors mean
Title is the only required field. Saving without one keeps you on the page with the error shown against the field.
Turning on Require Approval without naming anyone fails with "Approver ids must be selected." The approver list only offers account owners and team members on an administrator-type role.
Link Expiry (Days) must be a whole number above zero, or blank. Anything else is rejected rather than quietly treated as "never expires".
Saving an edit that has a problem anywhere on the page shows "Form could not be updated. Please check for errors." and outlines the offending question in red. Creating a new form with a problem simply returns you to the page with the fields marked.
Removing a question that already has submitted answers fails with "Questions with submitted answers cannot be deleted." Duplicate the form and edit the copy instead.
There is no Shared or Personal choice. Every form created from the Forms page belongs to the whole account.
You cannot upload your own PDF here. Fillable PDF document forms come from Use Template.
On an umbrella account the page shows a Share with Accounts section instead of Restrict Access. Sub-accounts you pick can view the form and submit responses but cannot edit or delete it.
Requesting the form for a scheduled meeting
To have a form completed around a meeting or recurring check-in, request it from the calendar event rather than building a routine task.
Save the form first, with Require Subject turned off.
Open Calendar and create the event or recurring event.
Under Data Collection, turn on Request Form.
Choose the Form, pick the Send to Roles that should complete it, and optionally a user to notify.
Add the participants as registrants and save.
The dropdown only lists custom forms that do not require a subject, because an event-level request has no single participant to attach to. Equip creates the request shortly after the event ends, and only if the event had attendees.
FAQ
Where is the Shared or Personal option when I create a form?
There isn't one. Every form you create from the Forms page belongs to the account and is available to anyone who can reach the Forms module. To narrow who sees the answers, use Restrict Access instead.
I can't find Create Form. Where is it?
It only appears for account owners and team members whose role has the Forms module set to Administrator. Viewer and Supporter can fill forms but not build them. Ask an administrator to change the level under Settings, Permissions, Custom Roles.
How do I make a fillable PDF into a form?
You cannot build one yourself. Click Use Template to copy a PDF document form that Equip has prepared for your account. If you only need the questions out of a PDF, use Import Form, which reads them and builds a normal custom form.
Why is Expiration Notifications missing from my form?
Form expirations are enabled per account, and the setting is also hidden on umbrella accounts. If neither applies and you still cannot see it, contact support to have it turned on.
Can I change a form after people have answered it?
Yes, with one exception: a question that already has submitted answers cannot be deleted. You can still edit its wording, add questions, change preferences and change subscribers. Existing responses keep the answers they were given.
How do I add instructions in the middle of a form?
Add a New Section. A section has a title and a rich text body, and everything after it belongs to that section until the next one. Sections can be excluded from the PDF export.
How do I build a rating matrix?
Add one Likert scale question per row, give them all the same Group Label, and give them the same answer options. Equip draws them as a single matrix when the form is filled. Rows that differ in either the label or the options are drawn separately.
Does the form go live as soon as I save it?
Yes. New forms are created Active, which means they can be filled immediately and, if they allow external responses and do not require a subject, shared by public link. Set the Status to Inactive first if you want to build it quietly.
Related
What are Forms, and when should I use them?
Copy an existing form
Import an existing form or assessment
Limit who can see a form's responses
Require approval before a form response is final
Get notified when someone submits a form
Set up form expirations and renewal reminders
Request Forms from Calendar Events