Feature Overview Video
Form View offers users a powerful tool for reaching out to their customers, partners, clients, and more to request information and add it directly to a SmartSuite Table. SmartSuite also provides conditional logic in forms.
Forms serve a specialized function in the Table - collecting data from users - and therefore do not require the sorting, filtering, and spotlight settings that you’ll see on other view types.
Overview & Uses
Form View allows you to create an interface that makes it easy for users - whether they are members of your SmartSuite workspace or not - to add data to a Table.
You select the fields of data that you would like to collect, add them to the form in an order that you specify (optionally making some or all of them required to submit the form), and then have the option to send a link (URL) to the form or cut and paste embed code that can be used to insert the form into an existing website.
We’ve seen forms used for some of these purposes:
Capture customer feedback and comments
Onboard new customers, recording their contact details and other important information
Allow employees to submit anonymous feedback
Support security and compliance data collection from third parties
Rate teammates, their strengths and weaknesses, and provide constructive feedback
Serve as the starting point for hiring processes, logging candidate information, background facts, and resumes
Onboarding new business partners, including the collection of insurance documents and business permits
Mobile users will see familiar date selectors, number inputs, and dropdown selectors.
While this user experience is slightly different from standard SmartSuite inputs, they are designed to provide a consistent, easy-to-use interface that is appropriate for any device used to display it.
Configuring Form View
Configuring a new Form View involves just a few simple steps:
Creating the new Form
Giving it a name, title and optional description
Selecting the fields you want to display
Indicating which fields are required
Adding optional Display Elements to display other information on the form
Sharing the form
Sending the shared form link with users, or embedding the form in an existing Website or other application
Processing the data received from the form
Creating a Form - Step by Step
Forms are created just like any other saved view, from the Saved View name dropdown menu. Follow these steps:
Open the Saved View dropdown menu
Click Create New View
Select Form
Choose between Private (only you can edit and save changes to this view) or Public (members with full access and above can edit and save changes to this view)
As soon as you select the Form option, a new Form Saved View will be created. You’ll notice the name of the form is selected - just start typing to give it a descriptive name.
Create a Header
The header names and describes your new form, giving users context about the information that you’re looking to collect. You can set the Form Title and optionally add a description.
Simply click on the Form title to start editing. Your changes will be saved to the form automatically without the need to click a “save” button.
Add a Description
If you wish to describe your form, click Add Description and start typing to add your custom text, or just skip on to the next step if the form name is enough to tell your users what you’re looking for.
Add a Custom Logo
Personalize your SmartSuite forms by adding a custom brand logo.
If you prefer to use your own branding on the form, just click on the SmartSuite logo at the top of the form to edit it and upload your own.
Simply click on the default SmartSuite logo and a window will open for you to upload your own logo file or drag and drop it.
Removing the SmartSuite logo
You can also remove the "Powered by SmartSuite" logo at the bottom of the form by going into the Form settings under "SmartSuite branding" and unchecking the box.
Select the Form’s Fields
Next, you’ll create the body of the form, selecting fields from the Table to display. Simply click on the field and it will be added to the form (and simultaneously be removed from the list of available fields - each field can display on the form exactly once).
Note: the field order can be changed. Click on the grabber to the left of a field that has been placed on the form and drag and drop it into the position you would like.
If you change your mind or have selected the wrong field, don’t worry. Hover any field on the form and you’ll see a small X on the right side of the field widget - click it and it will be removed from the form and re-appear in the available fields’ list.
Fields Available in Form View
The Basics | Collaboration | Project Essentials | More Advanced |
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Some important fields to include in your forms may include:
Linked Record Field: Include a linked record to detailed information outside the form. For example, in an event planning sign-up form, you could use the linked record to link to the relevant event.
Address Field: Collect accurate addresses through data validation to include in your forms.
Full Name Field: This may be useful to create validated contact lists for your data gathering.
Signature Field: Use the signature field to use forms for order requests, invoices, and more.
Change the Field's Display Options
If you prefer to use different terminology for your clients or want to add help text to a field, just click on the field name once it's on the body of the form and you're able to customize these options.
Specify Required Fields
If there are bits of information that are critical to the process you’re using the form in, you can make individual fields required in order to submit the form. The Submit button will remain inactive until all required fields are filled out by the user.
Be aware that form fields ignore the usual SmartSuite rules for required fields. You can make fields that are usually required be NOT required in a form, and fields that are otherwise not required can be set as “required” in the form - even if a regular user could save the record without that information.
This is meant to empower your workflows, capturing specific data from users and inserting it into a workflow that might require someone in your organization to complete certain information before they can update that new record.
Optionally Create New Fields
If you notice you are missing any needed fields when you are in the form view, you are able to create new fields directly from the form view. These changes will be reflected in your data when you return to Grid View.
Optionally Add Display Elements
If your form needs additional explanation, background information, details of a complex question or other explanatory information, look to the additional form elements. Click on each button to add the elements to the bottom of the form, or you can also drag and drop them to any position.
Note: With all of these display elements, the 'field name' is not displayed on the published forms like SmartSuite other standard fields. This allows for a more seamless design and form experience.
The following elements available are:
Paragraph
The paragraph display element allows for multi-line rich text formatting including select colors and hyperlinking.
Heading
The heading display element (previously named Section) allows you to group fields in a similar way to the record view, add a description, and even set conditionality to show or hide all of the fields within a section at once rather than having to set them individually. To learn more about conditionality in forms, you can check out our Conditions in Forms help article.
Image
With the image display element you can add a custom embedded image and adjust things like alignment, maximum height, and when it should display. To learn more about conditionality in forms, you can check out our Conditions in Forms help article.
Video
The Video display element allows you to embed any supported video (that is allowed to be embedded) and also adjust its maximum height and when it should display. To learn more about conditionality in forms, you can check out our Conditions in Forms help article.
Callout
The Callout display element is similar to the paragraph element where it supports multi-line rich text formatting, but it also includes the ability to select from a number of background colors for the block to make the text stand out in a more meaningful way.
Divider
The Divider display element allows you to add a divider line anywhere in your form. You have the ability to customize the color of the line using HEX, RGB, HSL, or picking from one of SmartSuite's standard colors. You can also optionally add text to the divider, which will always be added as center-aligned text.
Standard Filters for Linked Records
Similar to a Linked Record in any other view type, we now allow you to customize the base filters applied to the record selector on the form view. These selections exist separately from the selections made on any other view because they are specific to your externally shared forms.
To use this, all you need to do is expand any linked record and choose "Modify Record selector". This will provide you with a familiar menu where you are able to customize the fields to display, sort order, and the filters that should be applied for this specific form!
Dynamic Filtering for Linked Record Fields
This feature helps narrow down the options in one field based on what you’ve selected in another, ensuring you see only the most relevant options.
What is Dynamic Filtering?
Dynamic filtering automatically adjusts the choices available in certain fields based on what you’ve already selected. This is particularly useful when you’re working with Linked Record fields, where one choice can influence what options are available in another field.
For example, if you’re choosing a product category in one field, the next field will only show you products that belong to that category. This way, you don’t have to scroll through irrelevant options.
How It Works
Selecting an Option in Linked Record 1:
Start by making a selection in the first Linked Record field (let’s call it Linked Record 1). For instance, if Linked Record 1 is a “Product Category” field, you would choose the category that fits your needs.
Viewing Filtered Options in Linked Record 2:
After you select a category in Linked Record 1, the second Linked Record field (Linked Record 2) will automatically update to show only the options that match your previous selection. For example, if you chose “Electronics” in Linked Record 1, Linked Record 2 might now only show you items like “Smartphone,” “Laptop,” or “Tablet.”
Choosing from the Filtered List:
You can then make your choice from the filtered list in Linked Record 2. This ensures that you’re picking something that’s directly related to your earlier choice, making the process quicker and more accurate.
Sharing Your Form
When you’re done, put your form into action by sharing it. Click on the Share Form button and ensure the form shared toggle is on and you will have two options:
Shareable Link: This allows you to copy a URL that will open the form in the recipient user’s default browser
Embed Code: This option allows you to copy an HTML snippet that can be embedded in an existing Website or external application that supports embeds.
NOTE: if you append a header parameter to the end of the embed URL, you can control whether the shared grid will display a header. This value was originally not included in the generated URLs but any older embed can be updated to use it - simply add ?header=false to the embed Widget URL manually.
Submitting Forms
The data any user inputs and submits through the form will go directly to the Solution's Table you specified.
Note: You can upload up to 25 attachments to a files and images field in Forms.
After Submission
You can also customize a message to display after someone submits a form or redirect them to a specific URL.
As a solution manager, after submitting a form, you can submit another response by selecting the "Click here" link. This link will redirect you to the original form's URL.
Partial Submissions
In the settings for forms, you can also choose to let users resume forms they've already started. This will save any progress they've made on the form automatically.
Note: You need to use the same browser to restore your saved progress.
When filling out the form, a confirmation that the progress is auto-saved will display at the top right corner,
Form Submission Automations
Set up automation that occur when a form is submitted. The "When a form is submitted" automation will run each time a response is received from the SmartSuite form you select.
Learn more here!
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