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

Create and send pre-filled forms

Tabs

Use a pre-filled form when you already know part of a recipient’s information—for example, a name, customer ID, appointment time, or account number. PlatoForms adds that information to selected fields in an invitation before the recipient opens the form. You can make each pre-filled value editable, read-only, or hidden.

Pre-filling does not change the original form or the values shown to other recipients. Each invitation keeps its own data.

Note

Pre-filled forms are created through Invitations. They are different from a public form link, a field’s default Initial value, and Save for later.

Open the Invitations panel

You can reach Manage Form in either of these ways:

From the Dashboard

  1. Find the form you want to pre-fill.
  2. Select the Settings (gear) icon in the top-right corner of its card.
  3. Select Manage Form.

Open Manage Form from the Dashboard gear icon

From the form editor

  1. Open the ••• menu in the top toolbar.
  2. Select Manage Form.

Open Manage Form from the form editor

In Manage Form, select Invitations under Share & access.

Open Invitations from the Manage Form navigation

Before selecting Pre-fill Form, enter an Invitation Name. PlatoForms uses this name to identify the invitation; if it is empty, the message Invitation name can not be empty appears.

Choose a pre-fill method

Pre-fill one invitation

Use this method when you want to add the same set of pre-filled values to one invitation.

  1. In the Invitations panel, configure the invitation you want to send. For details about recipients, email content, and access settings, see Create an invitation.

  2. Select Pre-fill Form.

    Pre-filled form button

  3. Enter the information you already know. Fields containing pre-filled values are highlighted in yellow.

    Pre-filled field status

  4. Use the icons beside a pre-filled field to control what the recipient can do:

    • Editable: The recipient can see and change the value.
    • Read-only: The recipient can see the value but cannot change it.
    • Hidden: The value is included but the recipient cannot see it.

  5. Optional: use the controls at the top to make all pre-filled fields Read-only or Hidden.

    Pre-filled field status

  6. Review the form, then select Save Pre-filled Form.

Tip

To clear all pre-filled values and start again, select the trash icon in the toolbar. This reset cannot be undone.

For a PDF-based form, select Preview PDF to check how the values appear in the resulting document.

Create prefilled invitations from a CSV

Use Bulk Pre-fill when each recipient needs a different set of known values. One CSV upload can create up to 100 invitations.

  1. In the Invitations panel, select Pre-fill Form. Before opening the CSV tool, optionally use the toolbar toggles to make all values imported from the CSV Read-only or Hidden. Then select Bulk Pre-fill.

    Bulk prefill

  2. Select Download CSV Template. Use this generated file so its column headings match the form’s Field IDs, such as fid2 - Contact Reference.

    Download CSV Template

    Note

    If the form has a live test submission, the template can use it as sample data; otherwise, it displays No sample data found.

  3. Add each recipient’s email address and pre-filled values to a separate row. Save the file as a UTF-8 CSV without changing the generated Field ID headings.

  4. Upload the completed file, then select Validate CSV.

    Validate CSV

  5. Review the validation result. If successful, PlatoForms displays CSV is valid! Found [N] invitation(s), each with [N] field(s). Select Create [N] Invitations to continue, or Back to correct the CSV.

  6. After PlatoForms creates the invitations, it displays Success! Created [N] prefilled invitation(s). Select Close to return to the Invitations panel and review the new invitations before sending them.

Caution

If values from a column do not appear, confirm that the target is a fillable field rather than static text. In the form editor, a fillable field has a dashed outline.

Before you send

  • Preview or open a test invitation and verify the recipient-specific values.
  • Include only the recipient data needed for the form. Hidden fields are not a substitute for access control or other protection for sensitive data.
  • Send each personalized invitation only to its intended recipient, and avoid forwarding its link.

Use the Invitations panel to send or schedule the invitation.

Option Description
Initial value Give a Text Input field the same starting value whenever the form loads. It is not recipient-specific invitation data.
Save for later Let a respondent save their own progress and return later. It does not prepare a new personalized invitation.
Create an invitation Configure recipients, email content, access settings, and delivery for the invitation.

Video tutorial

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