Forms

Forms lets any ministry collect what it needs (a sign-up, an interest form, a camp registration) without asking for help. You build the questions, choose who is told about each response, place the form on a website page, and read the answers here.

When to use this

• A ministry needs sign-ups for something that isn't a dated event.
• You want a contact or interest form on a ministry's page.
• An event needs more questions than name, email and phone. (Build the form here, then attach it to the event.)

Start from a template

1. Open Forms and events › Forms and pick a template: Event registration, Volunteer interest, Contact us, Kids camp / VBS, Membership class or a Blank form.
2. Give the form a title and, if it helps, a short introduction.

Templates come with sensible questions already in place. Change or remove anything you don't need.

Questions

On the Questions tab, add a question by choosing its type: short or long text, email, phone, number, date, single or multiple choice, dropdown, a checkbox to agree to a statement, a section heading, or Attendees (how many people, and their names).

Select a question to edit it: the question itself, optional help text, the choices, and whether it's required. Drag a question by its handle (or focus the handle and press ↑ or ↓) to reorder. The preview beside you is exactly what visitors will see.

Show a question only if

Under Show this question, choose Only if and pick an earlier choice or checkbox question and the answer that should reveal it. For example: show "What allergies should we know about?" only if "Does your child have allergies?" is answered Yes.

You can only depend on a choice or checkbox question that comes above the one you're editing.

Private questions

Tick Private (medical, allergy, pick-up) for any question about health, allergies, medication, custody or who may collect a child. Private answers are restricted:

• kept apart from the other answers;
• left out of CSV exports, notification emails and the Website inbox;
• shown only behind Show private answers, to people allowed to see them.

If in doubt, mark it private. It's always safer to restrict an answer than to have it in someone's inbox.

Settings

Owner

The owner is the team told about each new response, such as the Welcome team, the Events team or the Church office. Owners are always roles with a shared mailbox, never one person, so responses aren't missed when someone is on holiday. The alert never includes private answers.

Limit responses

Tick Limit the number of responses and enter the most you can take. The form closes itself when the limit is reached; the count of responses so far is shown beside it. For events, use the event's own capacity and waitlist instead (see Events and registrations).

Close date

The close date is the last day the form takes answers, in Central time. Leave it empty to keep the form open until you close or archive it.

SMS opt-in

Tick Offer an SMS opt-in box to add an unticked "May we text you?" checkbox whenever someone gives a phone number. Ticking it records their consent in the church's consent record, with the exact wording they agreed to. No tick, no texts.

The Button text, Thank-you heading and Thank-you message set what visitors see when they send the form. The thank-you message is also used in the confirmation email.

Publish and place on the website

1. Select Publish. If anything needs fixing first (a question with no wording, a choice with no options), the screen lists it.
2. Open the On the website tab, choose the page where the form belongs, and select Place on this page. You can also place it from the Back-office page editor. The tab lists every page the form is on, with Preview, Editor and Remove for each.

Unpublish takes it off the site without losing any answers.

Read responses

Open a form's Responses to see who sent what and when.

• Export CSV downloads the answers for a spreadsheet, without private answers.
• Show private answers reveals restricted answers on screen, for the people allowed to see them.

Good to know

• Forms in the sandbox are simulated: answers stay in your browser and emails go to the captured outbox.
• Duplicating a form copies its questions and settings, not its responses.
• Archived forms leave the website and the lists, but keep their responses.

Top tips

• Ask only what you'll use. Every extra question costs you sign-ups, and every private question is data the church must protect.
• Test the form yourself on the website preview, then read the confirmation email in the captured outbox before you share the link.
• Use a close date for anything with a deadline: it saves an awkward "sorry, we're full" email later.

Troubleshooting

"Fix these before publishing." The list says what's missing. Usually a question without wording, or a choice question without options.

I can't choose a question under Show this question. Only choice and checkbox questions above this one can control it. Move the controlling question higher.

A private answer isn't in the export. That's by design. Private answers are only ever shown on screen.