Skip to main content
Smart Forms

Customize forms, set post-submission actions, generate multiple docs, and track responses. Use collected data to populate your documents.

Updated over a month ago

Note: This feature is in beta. If you’d like to have it enabled, please reach out to your Account Manager or Customer Success Manager.

Availability: Business* and Enterprise* plans

* 250 responses (generated documents) per year per account are included. You can purchase additional volume at $2 per document.

Warning: No mor than 50 documents in 5 minutes/300 documents in one hour can be generated from one form.

Smart Forms allow you to streamline document workflows. The data you collect with forms can be used to easily populate your documents before recipients sign them.

Watch an overview video:

Enable ‘Smart Forms’ Add-On

Note: Only the account owner can enable features in the Marketplace.

  1. Navigate to Add-ons

  2. Search for the ‘Smart Forms’ app or follow this link and select Workspaces

  3. Check the box next to each workspace name where you’d like to have it enabled

  4. Select Save changes.

That’s all it takes! Refresh the page and you should be able to see the ‘Smart Forms’ app under ‘Documents’ on the left-hand panel.

Create a form

Creating a form can be done in two ways:

  1. From a template: Best for collecting data from recipients to populate documents later.

  2. From scratch: Ideal if you only need to collect responses from a form.

The main purpose of a form is to collect data to populate a document using an existing template. A form and a template are separate entities and are connected using variable mapping. This connection ensures seamless data transfer from the collected form responses to the designated placeholders in the template.

The process is straightforward:

  • Start by creating a form from a template you want to use for document creation.

  • Choose the template role responsible for submitting the form and match variables with form field types.

  • Select the desired action upon form submission: generate a draft document or automatically send a document upon form completion.

  • Finally, share your form with customers, and experience the ease of collecting data while generating and sending documents for signatures automatically.

That's it! Let's delve deeper into each step.

Select a template

First, navigate to the ‘Forms’ app along the left panel;

Then, click the green +Form button near the top-left corner of the screen.

Select Automate how you create documents.

You may now select a template from your existing templates, or choose one from the template gallery.

Alternatively, go to the template list, hover over on the far right to the template name, select vertical ellipses, then select Create form from template from the dropdown.

You can also start a form from within an existing template. Select three vertical ellipses at the top right > Create form from template.

Customizing a form

By default, the newly created form will automatically include contact fields for the roles specified in the selected template, as well as a text field for each custom variable utilized within the template.

You can easily change the field type directly within the form editor without losing any data or disrupting the field's connection to the template variable. To do this, simply click the field type button located in the top right corner of the field.

Note:

  • Only the Contact, Image, and Title field types cannot be switched to another type.

  • If a field (Multiple choice or Dropdown) is configured in one of the actions for conditional document creation/sending, then, its type can be switched only to the one that supports this functionality > Multiple choice or Dropdown types.

You can also add more input or layout blocks. To do that hover above or under a field/block until you see a blue indicator line. Once you do, click the plus icon (+), then select the block you need.

To customize a block or a field, click on it, and then choose the desired options and format in the settings on the right-hand panel.

Set up actions after form submission

Once your form is set up, navigate to the Actions tab to define what happens after form submission. You have two options available:

  1. Create document draft

  2. Send document for signature

By default, each form is pre-configured with the "send document for signature" action for the selected template in the Actions tab. To enable or modify an action, simply select the desired option and toggle it on.

Note: If you opt to create a document draft or automatically send the document for signature, you will be able to view the folder where all documents generated from this form will be stored.

How to generate multiple documents from a single form

You can use a single form to automatically generate multiple documents from different templates.

Navigate to the ‘Actions’ tab at the top of your form. Select + Add at the top right to set up a new action that can generate a different document based on another template.

Note: You can configure a maximum of 50 actions per form.

First, select an action after form submission:

  • Create document draft

  • Send document for signature

Then, click on Select template > Choose another template. A new document will be generated based on the template you select.

Next, you need to match roles and variables between your existing form and the new template.

  • To match the roles, select the contact preset from the drop-down on the left, this is the data already being collected in the form.

  • To match the variables from the new template with fields in the forms map the variable with the form question, and the data captured in this form field will pass to the corresponding variable in the document created from this template.

Select Save.

Once you’ve matched template roles and variables, switch to the toggle for the newly added action before you share the form.

How to generate a document based on the form answers

You can use two types of form fields - multiple-choice and dropdown to generate a document based on these fields’ values in a submitted form.

Tip: Connect different templates based on the form field values to generate different documents.

To set up a conditional document generation, first, add either a dropdown or multiple-choice form field to your form.

Next, navigate to the ‘Actions’ tab and select +Add at the top right.

Note: You can configure a maximum of 50 actions per form.

In the first drop-down next to When hover over the name of your question, and you’ll see a list of answers (set up in the form editor). Click the answer you want to connect to a template.

Next, click Select template and choose a template you want.

After that, you need to match roles and variables between your existing form and the new template.

  • To match the roles, select the contact preset from the drop-down on the left, this is the data already being collected in the form.

  • To match the variables from the new template with fields in the forms map the variable with the form question, and the data captured in this form field will pass to the corresponding variable in the document created from this template.

Select Save.

After that, switch to the toggle at the top right of the action card to activate it.

Get form link

When you create a form it becomes automatically Published. Select the Copy link or select Get embed code option to share your form or add it to your website.

To stop receiving responses select the vertical ellipses menu and select Unpublish form. To publish the form back select the corresponding option in the same menu.

Here is what form recipients see if the form was unshared.

How to edit a form

You can edit the form and its actions regardless of the form status.

To do this:

  1. Open your form

  2. In the ‘Form’ tab, make changes you need to the layout and input blocks, and select Save at the top right

  3. In the 'Actions' tab, make any necessary modifications to the actions. Additionally, in this section, you can update the mapping of template roles and variables. To do this, click on the vertical ellipses on the left of the action card and choose Open variable connection. After applying all the necessary changes, select Save.

    Note: Changes applied in the ‘Actions’ tab are saved automatically.

Warning: If you edit a form while someone is filling it out, they will need to refresh the page to see the new version. Values filled out in the previous version of the form will be lost.

Manage your form

You can view your form by going to the ‘Forms’ app.

There are two statuses your form can be in, Inactive and Active.

  • Inactive: The form has been created but is yet to be published, or the form has been unshared and can no longer be filled out.

  • Active: The form has been created and published. (Note that this doesn’t mean it’s been added to your website — but it can be filled out.)

To copy link, duplicate, rename, unpublish, or delete a form, click on the vertical ellipses to the right of the form name, then select an action from the dropdown menu.

Alternatively, you can duplicate, rename, publish/unpublish or delete a form, by clicking on the vertical ellipses at the top right within the form, and selecting an action from the dropdown menu.

Managing form responses

Once you’ve shared your form, you can track form responses in the ‘Responses’ tab in the form.

Click on the form submission line to quickly preview the form with the client’s answers.

To review documents created from a form, select the Document button on the form response line and click on the document name to open it in a new tab.

Alternatively, open the document folder with all the documents created from this form and review the documents there.

Download a CSV of your form responses

If you need to look at all responses to a form at the same time or keep a record of form responses, you can easily download a CSV file of all form responses and have all this data in one place.

Open your form, select the ‘Responses’ tab and ellipses in the top right corner, and select Download responses (.csv).

If you don’t see the option to download a CSV file, it means this form hasn’t received any responses yet.

Notes and limitations

  • Form sharing: To share forms, users must have a verified email.

  • Form actions after submission: A maximum of 50 actions can be configured per form.

  • Doc generation and sending: The document will not be automatically sent for signing if the selected template for document generation via forms has any of the following conditions:

    • Approval workflow configured

    • Payment not properly configured (payment gateway and/or payer not specified)

    • Unfilled variables

    • Unassigned fields

    • No recipients assigned

    • Required smart content block with pre-selected content is present

  • Trial Limitations: For trial users, a created document that exceeds the limit of 5 recipients is not supported.

  • Role Limitations:

    • Member Role: Cannot edit, publish, and generate docs in other users' forms.

    • Collaborator Role: Does not have access to Forms.

Did this answer your question?