Creating Form Templates

Why Form Templates

Form templates let you collect structured data that fits your compliance workflows—contractor sign-in sheets, equipment inspections, site induction checklists, visitor records—without scattering information across spreadsheets or external tools. Unlike documents that people read, forms capture information from people. Use form templates when you need to gather data that links to locations, assets, people, or work orders, and maintain the full audit trail. The data becomes part of your compliance system rather than sitting in a separate folder.

How to Create a Form Template

1. Go to Forms from the main menu

2. Click Add Form

3. Fill in the form details:

   • Name (required): A clear, descriptive title

   • Description (optional): What the form collects and when to use it

   • Category (optional): To organize the form (e.g. "Health & Safety", "Contractor Management")

   • Tags (optional): For filtering and search

4. Click Create Form

You're taken to the form builder where you can add fields.

How to Add Fields

1. In the form builder, use the Add element panel on the left

2. Click each field type to add it to the form:

   • Text inputs: Short text, long text (textarea), email, phone, URL

   • Selection fields: Checkbox, dropdown, multi-select

   • Numbers: Number input, currency, range slider, rating

   • Dates and times: Date picker, time picker, date and time

   • Files: Image upload, file upload

   • Signature: eSign (e.g. agreement text)

   • Other: Table (rows and columns), QR scan (asset/location), headings, paragraphs, images, separators

3. Click a field to edit its label, validation, and options in the right panel

4. Drag fields to reorder them

Use Add element to add more fields as needed. The form saves automatically as you work.

Block fields

The Block element collects structured record data — such as personnel accreditation — and evidence, and links each response back to the relevant record. When you add your first block field, choose a Block Family: Personnel, Company, Asset, or Location. All block fields on one form must share a single family; the editor shows "All block fields on this form must share one family." The Block Type selector lists the block definitions available for the family you chose. Block fields never expose or prefill existing live-record values to respondents — they gather new data without revealing what is already on file. For the full workflow, see Collect and apply block data with forms.

How to Use Conditional Logic

You can show or hide fields based on answers to other questions.

1. In the form builder, select the field you want to conditionally show

2. In the right panel, expand Conditional or Visibility logic

3. Choose the field and value that controls visibility (e.g. "Show when 'Inspection type' equals 'Yes'")

4. Save the form

Fields that depend on other answers only appear when the conditions are met.

How to Preview a Form Template

The Preview tab in the form builder shows how the form looks and lets you test validation without saving anything. Preview is part of the template editor, not the published form submission page — nothing you do here is stored.

1. In the form builder, click Preview next to Build.

2. Fill in fields to test the form, including any conditional logic.

3. Click Test Submit to check validation. When validation passes, the form shows Validation Passed with the message "Your answers look good. Nothing was sent or stored."

Preview responses are never saved and Test Submit never creates a submission. File and image uploads are blocked in preview: choosing or dropping a file shows "Uploads Unavailable in Preview" and nothing is uploaded. Publish the form to collect real responses.

Before You Start

You need the Manager role for the Forms module. If you can't see Add Form, ask your site administrator to update your permissions in Settings > User Management.

Common Questions

Can I use AI to generate a form? Yes. When creating a new form, you can describe what you need in the AI prompt and CalmCompliance will suggest fields. You can edit or add more fields manually.

Can I change the form after people have submitted? Yes. Edits to the template apply to future submissions. Existing submissions keep the structure they were submitted with.

What's the difference between a form and a checklist? Checklists are built into work orders for operational inspections (e.g. monthly equipment checks). Forms are flexible data collection templates you can attach to locations, assets, people, or work orders, and share via links or QR codes.