Form Essentials

Owned by Michael Oatley
Last updated: Jun 10, 2024 by Lou Begue
3 min read

If you are creating a simple form that does not require a workflow, you should consider using Microsoft Forms, which is part of Microsoft 365, or another web form.

Getting Started

How to create a form

After Creating a New App, the Form Builder will appear with 3 panels. 

  • The Left Panel contains gadgets which can be used to create a form.

  • The Middle Panel is the design area of the form.

  • The Right Panel is the configuration panel. 

Form layout

Start by adding a Section to the form by selecting the Section gadget from the list of gadgets and drag it into the middle panel. 

In a Kuali Build form, sections act like containers for questions and help you organize your form. Gadgets outside of a section won’t format properly.

Sections are important for:

  • Visual layout

  • ‘Office Use Only’ feature

    • Link to Sample video: 00:08:25 How to do "Office Use Only" sections

  • Page Navigation

Section gadget

 

Best Practices: Managing Space & Length

  • If your form is long, use multiple sections to break up the form

  • Create separate pages for sections by selecting “Form Settings” in the top right, and selecting “Turn top-level sections into pages”

  • Use “Limit Visibility based on other gadgets” to control which questions appear depending on previous answers. See more in Form Rules

  • Instead of having a long column of questions, drag questions next to each other by clicking the question box, selecting the 6 dots on the left side, and dragging to the location highlighted in blue. (Protip: If you are having a hard time getting the highlighted area to line up where you want it, go to the top-right edge of that zone on the form)

Gadget Labels

To add labels to gadgets, click in the Gadget Label/Question box in the configuration panel and type a label. (Although Form Builder Gadgets perform different functions, their initial settings are the same.)

The Form Preview box in the center panel will display the new Gadget Label/Question. Type an answer in the Field Preview to see how an answer renders in this field.

In this screenshot example, "Travel Request Documentation" is entered as the Gadget Label/Question. 

Gadgets / form components

Select a Gadget, and drag it to the desired location in the Section displayed in the Middle Panel.

For Definitions of each field, see Form Builder - Gadget Definitions article.

In this screenshot example, the Read-Only Text gadget has been selected.

Tip: Include a “Read-Only Text” gadget near the top of your page with a description of the form.

Continue to add gadgets by dragging and dropping them into the center panel.

The form saves automatically.

 

Preview

Preview your form by toggling the Design / Preview option located in the middle top of the screen.
Preview mode will display the form as your submitters will see it. Test the form by entering values into fields and making various selections to ensure the desired configurations and gadgets are in place.

Next

Form Settings