PlatoForms User Guide
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  • Form Builder

    Creating an Online Form for an Existing PDF

  • Custom Domain

    With Builder you can build three types of forms: online web forms, online PDF forms, and master forms.

  • Master Form Builder

    you will arrive at the Form Builder. On the form Builder, there are three main sections:

What's new? API Docs

Share and start runs

Tabs

A run starts when somebody submits the start form. There are three ways to put that form in front of people: the workflow’s shared link, embedding it on your site, and invitations. This article also explains how the links the workflow emails to everyone else behave.

Publish first

Only a Published workflow accepts submissions. Work through the checklist and click Publish in the designer; see Build a workflow. To change a live workflow, click Stop, edit, and publish again. Runs already in progress carry on while it is stopped.

Click Share in the designer’s top bar, or Share on the workflow’s card on the Workflows page.

  • Public URL: the link that opens the start form. Anyone with it can start a run. Copy it, open it in a new window, or use your custom domain as the address.
  • Embedded: an embed snippet for your website, as a standard inline form, a modal, a popup or a full page. Enter the address of the page you embed it on: the links in notification emails point back to that page so that later steps open there too.
  • QRCode: a code that opens the start form, with the HTML to place it on a page.
  • Stop Sharing: the same as Stop in the designer. The workflow goes back to Draft, no new run can start, and runs in progress carry on.

Start runs by invitation

Click Invite in the designer, or Invitation on the workflow’s card, to send the start form to named people. An invitation knows who it was sent to, so the workflow knows who started the run even if the start form has no email field, and decisions, send-backs and the completion email reach that person. Pre-filled invitations and everything else under Invitations work for workflows as they do for forms.

Every person after the start step receives a link to their step by email. These links are different from a form’s shared link:

  • The link is the person. A workflow link acts as the address it was emailed to, whichever PlatoForms account is signed in on that computer, or none. Team members never have to sign in to fill in a form or approve. A signature certificate names that address.
  • One step, one link. A form step’s link closes once it has been submitted, and shows “Submitted” with the date. It offers Submit another only when the step’s Rules tab allows it. An approval’s link closes once the decision is made.
  • Shared steps. When a step is emailed to several people, they all get the same link. By default the first to open it claims it and the others see who has it, with Take it over if they need to; a step can instead let anyone with the link complete it. See Rules tab.
  • Expiry. Links stop working after the number of days under Links on the workflow panel. Leave it empty to use the team default, which is never, or 30 days for teams in HIPAA mode. The team default is changed on the team’s security settings. An expired link explains itself and asks the person to request a new one; reassigning the task from the tracker sends a fresh link.
  • Redirects. When a form step has Redirect to the next step after submitting, or when an approver clicks Approve and continue, the person continues without an email. Their email still goes out, in case they close the browser.

Start a run yourself

Open the public URL, or send yourself an invitation. There is no separate test mode; Clone the workflow on the Workflows page if you want to experiment without touching the live one.

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