How to create a Reusable Online Form

If you want to setup an online form that can be reused for multiple registrations or other purposes, it should be setup as a Community Form. Examples of Community Forms your community may use include standard waivers and media releases.

It is strongly recommended that you perform these steps from your PC and not on a mobile device. The Form Builder requires more screen space than is available on mobile devices.

Best Practices for Online Forms

Create single purpose forms

Consider setting up a form for a single, specific purpose. For example, if your organization uses a social media release, a participation agreement, and a liability release, those should probably be setup in three separate Community Forms. Creating separate forms provides two benefits:

• Reuse is easier if, for example, you later create a registration that only needs one of the forms
• Shorter forms make for a better experience when people are using your online registration. The registration is a step-by-step process and it is often easier for people if each step has a single purpose

Do not duplicate Doodlio standard form input

Doodlio registration automatically includes standard forms for collection of certain data and is tied to standard fields in our system:

• Member profile information (name, email address, phone, gender, age, etc.)
• Health information (allergies, special needs, etc.)
• Emergency contacts

Because our system collects this information automatically, there is typically no need for you to collect this same information on your own forms. If you do add similar fields to your form, they will not automatically populate standard fields on the member profile. They will be reportable as part of form submission reports and downloads.

How to Create a Community Form

On the main dashboard, or in the left menu, click Community Forms & Safe Environment.

Click Manage Community Forms.

To edit an existing Community Form, click on the name in the list of forms.

To create a new form, click the New Community Form button at the top of the page. A new screen will appear with settings to apply to your new form. 

Form Settings

Title

The title should be a descriptive name of the purpose of the form, such as "Insurance Waiver". The title only appears for administrators and will be used when selecting forms to add to registrations, when viewing form submissions on member profiles, and when creating reports.

Description

An optional input to provide additional information about the purpose of the form. This field is only visible to administrators.

Status

A status of "visible" makes the form active and available to used on registrations.

Set status to "hidden" when retiring the form from active use. It will no longer be available to add to registrations and will not appear on member profiles or in reports.

Click the Save Settings button to save your changes.

Building Your Online Form

After you click Save Settings a new "Form" tab will appear at the top of the page next to the Settings tab. Click the Form tab to build your online form.

A new screen will appear with two options: Copy and Existing Community Form and Start a Form from Scratch.

Copy an Existing Community Form

If you select this option, a list of existing Community Forms will appear. Simply click on the name of the form you want to copy. The Form Builder will appear and will include all of the content that existed on the form you copied. You can use the builder to add or remove content to the form.

Start a New Form from Scratch

If you select this option, the Form Builder will appear with a single text field on the form. You can use the builder to add new content to the form.

Using the Form Builder

The form builder let's you build online forms by using a click and drag interface to add input fields, text, images, and more to your form. You also have the option to automatically translate your form to other languages.

To create your custom form, simply click and drag elements from the left side toolbar onto your form and then customize your element. Be sure to click Save before leaving the screen!

A few examples are shown below to help you get started. 

Adding text to your form

Add paragraphs and formatted headings to your form:

• Click and drag the Text tool from the toolbar to your form.
• Position the Text tool over the position you would like it to appear and drop it (release the mouse button).
• Type over the placeholder text ("Click here to insert your text") to insert your content.
• Use the toolbar above the input area to format your text. 

Add a Radio Button

Radio buttons can be used to allow users to select from a list of options:

• Click and drag the Radio Button tool from the toolbar to your form.
• Position the Radio Button tool over the position you would like it to appear and drop it (release the mouse button).
• On your form, click the Radio Button you just added. The properties for the radio button will appear in the toolbar on the left side.
• In the toolbar, enter the prompt you would like your users to see under Question Prompt.
• Enter a simple name for this field. This name will appear as the column heading in Excel reports.
• Under Response Options, enter the options you would like your user to select from.
  • Click the X to remove options you don't need
  • Click Add Option if you need to add more options
• If you want this to be a required field, click the Required checkbox.
• Click Update to apply your changes.

When you've completed your form, click the Save button to save your changes. Then click the X in the upper right to close the Community Form screen.

Now your form is ready to used in registrations.