Build a form

The Build tab of the form editor is where you shape the questions. It has three parts: the Steps list and Add a field palette on the left, the active step in the middle, and the settings of the selected step or question on the right. Changes are a draft until you Save and Publish (see Save, publish and activate).

Steps#

A form is one or more steps; a visitor sees one step at a time and moves on with Next. A contact form usually has one step, a quote request several.

• Add step adds a step at the end. A form can have up to 20 steps.
• Drag a step by its handle, or use the up and down arrows, to change the order.
• Click a step in the list to show it in the middle. Each step shows how many fields it has, and a branch icon when it is shown only for certain answers.
• Click the step's title above its questions to open the step settings on the right: Step title, Logic (see Show questions only for certain answers) and, under Advanced, the step Key ("Identifies the step in rules and in the API.").
• Delete step removes the step and its questions after you confirm. A form keeps at least one step. Nothing changes on your site until you save and publish.

Add a question#

Click a field type in Add a field to add it to the end of the active step. A form can have up to 150 input fields (Heading and Paragraph do not count); the palette shows how many you have used.

In the middle, click a question to select it and edit it on the right. Drag questions by their handle, or use the arrows, to reorder them within the step. Each question also has Duplicate field and Delete field.

The middle shows each question roughly as the visitor sees it, with a few hints: From URL on questions that can be filled from the page address, "Shown if ..." for questions with a rule, and "No NL text" (for example) when a text is missing in the language you are looking at.

Question settings#

The settings on the right are grouped in sections. With more than one content language, the language tabs at the top let you write every text per language; the default language needs a text.

Content#

• Question: the question text. For a Heading it is the heading, for a Paragraph the Text, for Consent the Consent text, and for Hidden the Name in the inbox.
• Help text and Placeholder for the questions a visitor answers.

A Consent text may contain one link, written as [privacy policy](https://example.com/privacy). The link must start with https://.

Answer#

• Required: the visitor must answer before moving on. For Consent it means "The box must be ticked to send the form." A required question that is hidden by a rule is never required.
• Options for Dropdown and Choice cards (see below).
• Allow several answers for Choice cards, with At least and At most to limit how many the visitor may pick.
• For Address: Country, Look up address and Service area (see Address questions).
• For File upload: Accepted files (Images, PDF or both), Max files (1 to 10) and Max MB per file (1 to 20).
• For Hidden: Value comes from The page URL (filled from ?key= in the address of the page with the form, where key is the question's key) or Your site (your site passes the value when it shows the form).

Logic#

Who sees this question. See Show questions only for certain answers.

Advanced#

• Key: "The answer is stored under this key and rules refer to it." Lowercase letters, digits and underscores, starting with a letter, at most 50 characters, and unique within the form. Renaming a key updates the rules that use it.
• Fill from the page URL: a link with ?key=… fills in this answer, for example ?email=ada@example.com for the question with key email. The visitor can still change it.

Give the visitor's name question the key name: the inbox, the notification email and the {name} placeholder read the name from that key. The email and phone shown in the inbox come from the first Email and the first Phone question.

Options#

Choice cards options each have a label, an optional Description (optional) line, an icon and a Value. The value is what is stored and what rules compare against; the label is what the visitor reads and can differ per language. Add option adds one (up to 30); use the arrows to reorder and the cross to remove. Click the icon square to pick an icon: Search icons, pick one, or No icon.

When you remove an option that a rule uses, the conditions that used it are removed too, and a notice tells you how many. Renaming an option's value updates the rules that compare against it.

Dropdown options are plain texts, the same in every language. Type one in New option to add it (up to 50).

Options from a collection#

Choice cards can take their options from a collection (an object type under Objects) instead of a list you type. Under Options, switch from Manual to From a collection, then choose:

• Collection: Choose a collection (find it with Search collections). Without any collection the form says "You have no collections yet. Create one under Objects."
• Label: the text property shown as the option text (Choose a property). A collection without a text property shows "This collection has no text property to use as the label."
• Description: a text property for the second line, or None.
• Sort by: a number property, lowest first and records without a number last, or Date created.
• Max options: how many options to offer, 1 to 100 (30 by default).

Under the settings you see how many records the collection shows, for example "Shows 12 published records.", or "Save to load the records of this collection." until you have saved. Only published records appear: drafts and scheduled records are left out. The list follows the collection, so you do not publish the form again when a record is added, renamed or unpublished; changes to these settings need a new publish as usual. The middle shows "Options from the collection “{type}”" under the question.

"Each answer is stored as the record’s slug, so rules keep working when a title changes." For a collection whose records have no address the record's id is stored instead. With Allow several answers, At least and At most can go up to Max options. A rule that still compares against a record that no longer exists shows "“{value}” is no longer an option. Choose another answer."

Address questions#

An Address question asks for Postcode, House number, Addition, Street and City in one block, for example for a quote request or a delivery. The postcode, house number, street and city are required when the question is. Under Answer you set:

• Country: Choose a country (find it with Search countries). The postcode format follows the country. New Address questions start with the Netherlands.
• Look up address: "Visitors enter their postcode and house number, the street and city are filled in." The visitor sees "Looking up the address…" and can still change the result. Lookup is available for the Netherlands only ("Address lookup is only available for the Netherlands."), and the switch stays off for other countries. When nothing is found, or the address service is down, the visitor sees "No address found. Fill in the street and city yourself." or "The address could not be looked up. Fill in the street and city yourself." and types them.
• Service area: "Check the distance from a starting point to the address." It shows more settings:
  • Starting point: click Use business address to take the address from Settings → Business ("Add a postcode and house number under Settings > Business first." when it has none), or look up another one under "Or look up another address:" by typing a Postcode and House number and clicking Look up ("No address found for this postcode and house number.").
  • Radius (km): how far from the starting point an address may be.
  • Outside the area: Show a notice ("The visitor sees the message and can still send the form.") or Block submission ("The visitor sees the message and cannot send the form with this address."). Blocking only works with Look up address on ("Blocking needs address lookup, which checks the location."), because only a looked-up address has checked coordinates. An address that cannot be found or checked is never blocked.
  • Message outside the area: the text the visitor sees, per language. It is required.

The distance is a straight line, not a driving distance. In a rule, an Address question can only be tested with is answered or is not answered. In the Inbox the address is shown on one line, with the distance when it is outside the area.

File uploads#

A File upload question lets the visitor attach files, for example photos of a job or a PDF brief. Under Answer, choose:

• Accepted files: Images (JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC, the format of iPhone photos), PDF, or both.
• Max files: how many files the visitor may attach to this question, 1 to 10.
• Max MB per file: 1 to 20.

The middle shows these limits under the question, for example "Images · up to 3 files, 10 MB each". Switch Required on to make at least one file necessary.

Borkol checks every file by its content, not its name: a file that is not really an image or a PDF is refused, and so is a file that is too large. A visitor can upload at most 30 files per form per hour. The files arrive with the submission in your Inbox. In Preview you can pick files, but nothing is uploaded. Your developer finds the upload call on the Use on your site tab. See Spam protection and files for how files are stored and when they are deleted.