Using the Form Designer

Accessing the Form Designer

You can use the Form Designer to create intake forms, pre-appointment screening forms, consent forms, etc to collect information from your client. Below we go over and break down each of the types of fields you can use within your Form as well as how it will be displayed to your receiving client.

• The Form Designer can be accessed under Tools > Form Designer.
• You can also open it from User Menu > Settings > Communication > Form Designer.
• If you cannot see Form Designer in either location, check that your user has the Manage Note and Form Templates permission enabled.
• You can also open it from User Menu > Settings > Communication > Form Designer.
• If you cannot see Form Designer in either location, check that your user has the Manage Note and Form Templates permission enabled.
• From here, you can select and open an existing form template to review or edit.
  • Use the Search by Name field on the Form Designer main page to quickly find templates.
    • How it works: Simply start typing in the search box featuring a magnifying glass icon. The list filters in real-time.
    • Filtering: Matches any part of the template name (substring match) and is case-insensitive.
    • Show Inactive: Works in conjunction with the “Show Inactive” toggle to filter active or all templates accordingly.
• Alternatively, you can click the + New Form Template button. This will open the form template create screen.

• Once you are in an Online Form Template, you can add or remove sections using the buttons on the page.
• Within each section, you can add or remove Fields.
• Each field also has the option to require an answer (except for Information). If not all required answers are filled out, it will not show the Form as completed.
• Most of the fields have an option to set a default answer: this is a pre-filled response that appears automatically in a form field when a form is opened. This helps streamline the form-filling process for your clients.

For example:
Question: Do you have private health insurance? (Yes / No)
Default answer set to: Yes → “Yes” will already be selected when someone opens the form.

❕Remember, clients can always change the default answer if it doesn’t apply to them!

Removing a field from a form

Any field on a form template can be removed, including standard Linked Profile Fields such as Pronouns. To remove one, open the form in Tools > Form Designer, select the field you want to take off, and click Remove (the trash icon on the field).

Removing a field only takes it off this form. It does not delete anything from the client’s profile—the field and any information already saved against it stay on the profile, and the field is still available to add to other forms.

Now we will go over each field you can add within the Form Designer.

Single and Multiple Line Text

These fields will be used when you want your client to respond to the question with a couple of words or a couple of sentence answers.

• Single Line will allow for a couple of words or a sentence of text with limitation of 80 characters per one field.
• If you need more than that you will want to use Multiple. The Multiple Line field input limitation is 1000 characters per one field.

Select Single and Multiple Values

This field is used for Multiple Choice questions.

• With Multiple Value, this would allow you to list out answers and allow clients to select multiple answers. You can set it up as switches, drop-down list or checkboxes option.
• With Single Value, the field allows the user to select only one answer from the list. You can set it up as radio buttons or as a drop-down option

Yes/No Switch

This field can be used for any Yes/No or either/or type Questions. It would appear to you client with the toggle being on for Yes, or off for No.

Draw/Annotation

This area would be used to circle or mark on a diagram or picture of the body or part of the body. You can upload an image into this field depending on what you are needing.

• The Client can use the arrows, text and pen icons at the bottom to draw on the image.
• When making the text annotation, it is necessary to hit the Enter key once the text is typed up, to have it saved on the chart.
• The trash can icon is there so they can remove any accidental annotations they may create.
• Use the ‘hand’ button to untick the annotations made, to be able to move them around or in the trash bin.
• If the image needs to appear in the completed form PDF, use a Draw/Annotation field. The uploaded image and any annotations are included when the form is printed or downloaded as a PDF.

Information

This is just a field where you can input information.

• Use the formatting tools (bold, italics, underline, increase and decrease indent, ordered and unordered lists and undo and redo buttons) to enhance the readability and presentation of the text.

• This is not an area for the client to supply an answer on this so it will appear as plain text to the client.

Using the Hide From Client Option on Form Fields

The Hide from client option lets you include internal notes or guidance on a form that only your team can see when viewing completed forms in the client profile. These fields are hidden from clients when they complete the form and are also excluded from print/PDF copies.

This can be useful for:

• Internal instructions for practitioners (e.g. “Check Medicare card details against photo ID”)
• Context or reminders for your team that you don’t want to share with clients
• Internal commentary that should not appear in exported or printed documents

Where you can use Hide from client

The Hide from client toggle is available on the following field types in the Form Template Designer:

• Information fields
• Multi-line Text fields

The toggle:

• Appears in the field settings when you add or edit one of these fields
• Is off by default

How to enable Hide from client on a field

1. Go to Tools > Form Designer and open a Form Template.
2. Add a new Information or Multi-line Text field, or click an existing one to edit it.
3. In the field settings, locate the Hide from client toggle.
4. Turn the toggle on to hide this field from clients.
5. Save the form template.

The toggle state is saved with the form template and does not affect any other field settings.

What clients see

When Hide from client is enabled on an Information or Multi-line Text field and a client opens the form to complete it:

• The hidden field’s label and content are not shown to the client.
• The field does not take up any space in the layout – the form appears continuous, with no visible gaps.

What your team sees in the client profile

When a user (such as a practitioner or admin) views the completed form in the client profile:

• The hidden field’s label and content are visible.
• The field appears in its original position within the form, so the context is preserved for your team.

This means you can safely add internal-only text while still seeing it in-line with the rest of the responses when reviewing a form in the client’s record.

Printing and PDF exports

If a form includes fields where Hide from client is enabled, and you:

• Print the form, or
• Generate/attach a PDF of the form to any communication

then:

• The hidden field’s label and content are not included in the printed or PDF output.
• The field does not leave a blank space in the document layout.

This ensures internal notes or instructions never appear in client-facing printouts or attachments.

Signature

Use this field when you need your client to sign the document you are creating. The standard Signature field collects a typed full name and displays it in a signature style on the completed form.

Linked Profile Fields

Type: Linked Profile Field

When you send clients a form that has Linked Profile Fields, the information your clients type in there will be auto-populated in the same respective field in their profile. This will give you the option to add:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Email
• Mobile Phone
• Home Phone
• Address
• City
• State
• Postcode
• Country
• Time Zone
• Date of Birth
• How Did You Hear About Us
• Preferred Name
• Gender*
• Sex
• Gender Identity
• Pronouns
• Occupation
• Salutation
• Subscribe to Marketing Communication
• Personal Data Consent
• Insurance Details (this can be used to collect the client’s details for insurers you have set up in User Menu > Account Settings > Payments > Insurers, for both public and private health insurers e.g. Medicare, DVA, NDIS, NHI etc).
  • If you have configured multiple insurers in your Zanda account settings, and want to allow your clients to add multiple insurances with their details, enable the available switch.
  • When clients fill in the form, they will see the option to add another insurer:
  • For any insurance type that is Medicare (AU), DVA, NDIS, or NHI, when the client enters their insurance details on an online form, upon submission the system will update the existing insurance record for that client with the new details provided. This will ensure you can continue setting the insurance as a default for new clients without it resulting in duplicate insurance records when the client submits an online form.
  • When Allow client to add multiple insurances is off, which insurer’s fields appear depends on how the form was built. If an insurer was selected on the Insurance Details field in the Form Designer, the form always shows that insurer’s fields. If the field was left blank, the form uses the client’s own insurer, so a client with DVA sees DVA fields and a client with Medicare sees the Medicare number, IRN, and expiry month and year. To control which fields a client sees, check the Form Designer field first, then the client’s insurer.

• Credit Card (Stripe) - using this field you can collect client credit card details via an online form and have it stored in Stripe securely (you need to have a Stripe integration enabled in your Zanda account to see this linked profile field available.)
• New Contacts - using this field you can collect clients contacts information and it will be automatically added to the Contacts section of the client profile when the form is submitted. Learn more here. It is possible to allow clients to add multiple contacts details witch will be added to their clients profiles automatically - no manual input needed.

*Important Notes:

• If you created your Zanda account after the 12th of July 2023, you will not see the Gender field on the Linked Profile Fields list as it was removed from the system. Accounts that were opened before that date will still have the option to use this field.

• Each Linked Profile Field can only be used once per form template. Once a linked profile field has been added, it no longer appears in the Select the Profile Field list for that form. This is different from standard fields such as signature fields, which can be added as many times as you need.

• Linked Profile Fields update the matching client profile details when a client submits a generated form link. They also update the profile when your team completes a form directly in the client’s profile under Records > Forms or Admin > Admin Forms by saving and completing the form.

• Leaving a Linked Profile Field blank when a client submits the form does not clear or change the existing value already stored on their profile. If no answer is given, that profile field is left exactly as it was.

• Pre-populating existing client data into linked profile fields is a separate setting. To pre-fill online form drafts with existing client data, follow the instructions provided in this article

Type: Custom Profile Field

Custom profile fields are specific to your Zanda account and will be available in your online forms Form Designer only if you’ve already set them up. All Custom Profile Fields are created and managed from User Menu > Account Settings > Clients > Custom Profile Fields.

If custom profile fields have been configured in your account,

1. Choose the field to link

   • Only active fields appear

   • Fields already used on the form won’t be shown

2. The question type and options automatically match the linked field.

How linked fields behave

• Field input matches the Custom Profile Field type

• Select options stay in sync with custom profile fields settings

• Fields can pre-populate from profile data (if enabled)

When the form is submitted:

• Answers write back to the profile

• Leaving a Custom Profile Field blank when the form is submitted removes any value already stored for that field on the client’s profile - it does not leave the existing answer in place. This is different from a Linked Profile Field (see above), which is left unchanged if no answer is given.

This allows structured data collection without manual re-entry.

Client File Upload

To allow your clients to upload files to the form, you can add a Client File Upload section.

• The maximum size per file is 30 MB.

• It can only upload: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .csv, .xls, .xlsx, .zip, .pdf, .docx, .txt, .html, .htm, .heic file types.

• There is a maximum of 10 files allowed per upload field.

• You can have multiple upload fields on a single Online Form.

• Clients can delete a file that has been uploaded before the form has been submitted.

• Clients will not be able to view the file they have uploaded (for privacy purposes), only the name of the uploaded files. The form PDF also lists uploaded file names rather than embedding the uploaded image or file content.

• Any files uploaded by the client will be accessible on the Online Form when viewed in the client profile.

  • These files will also be automatically uploaded in client profiles > Records > Files as clinical files and will be visible to authorised practitioners and users with access. If needed, a user with access can open such a file in Records > Filed and enable the ‘Is Admin File’ switch to move it to Admin > Admin file forlder to grant access to the admoin team.
  • Clients will be able to access such files in their client portal in the My Documents > Your Uploads page to view and download the files they shared with the practice via an online form.

• Users with access to the Online Form will be able to view and delete the files, though they cannot upload them into this section.

• File previews use the browser preview for whatever browser you’re using, eg. a .heic file is an Apple file, which cannot be previewed on a Windows device.

Adding, Copying and Reordering Sections

1. To add a new Section to your Online Form Template,

• Scroll down to the end of the Online Form Template.
• Click on the Add Section button.
• Create the section as needed.

2. Tocopy existing sections in the Online Form Template:

• Click the ‘Copy Sections’ button at the top-right of the section

• A ‘Paste Section’ button will appear at the end of the online form template, on the left-hand side. Click it to paste the copied section to the template.

3. To reorder this new section or any other existing sections in the Online Form Template:

• Click on the Reorder Sections button;
• Grab the six dots in front of the section name to drag and drop the sections as needed;
• Click on the Finish Reordering to get back to the full template view.

Adding, Copying and Reordering Fields

1. To add a new field to a section,

• Scroll down to the end of the section
• Click on the Add Field button
• Select the type of field you want to add

2. Tocopy existing fields in the Online Form Template:

• Click the ‘Copy’ button at the top-right of the question

• A ‘Paste Field’ button will appear at the end of the online form template, on the left-hand side. Click it to paste the copied field to the template.

3. To reorder a field,

   • Grab the six dots in front of the field name
   • Drag and drop the field in the desired position. The field can be reordered within the same section, and also dragged into any other existing section of the form.

Previewing Form Template

At any stage of creating or updating your form templates, you can get a quick preview of what it would look like for your account users and your clients. To help you with that, there is the View dropdown button available at the very top-right corner of each Online Form Template:

• Template Design view is selected by default when you open an existing template or start working on creating a new on in Tools > Form Designer.
• Select Data Entry mode to preview what your clients will see when they open a form that was created for them using this Online Form Template.
• Select Data View mode to preview what an account user will see when viewing data that was entered by a client in a form created from this Online Form Template.

Understanding the Actions Menu

To open the Actions menu, click on the gear icon on the far-right of each template.

From this menu, you will be able to:

1. Edit the online form template;
2. Clone (duplicate) the online form template: clicking here will create an exact copy of this form template in the list of all your templates. It is useful when you need to have a few versions of the same form, each of which slightly differ: you can easily edit the cloned copy to implement those changes.
3. Export the online form template into a .txt file: this is useful if you use Zanda accounts to run separate businesses, but would like to use the same form templates in all your Zanda accounts. Once you have exported the form template from one account, you will be able to import it into another account via the Import From File button at the top-right corner of the Tools > Form Designer page.
4. Deactivate the online form template.

You are also able to activate the deactivated online form template if necessary:

1. Enable the Show Inactive switch;
2. Find the inactive form template you need;
3. Click the ‘Actions’ gear icon;
4. Click ‘Activate.

Frequently Asked Questions

❓Can I use communication merge fields in an online form template?

No. Communication merge fields, such as {BusinessName}, are designed for email, SMS, and letter templates in Tools > Communication > Templates. In Tools > Form Designer, the text you add to Information fields and other form fields is saved as part of the online form template. It is not automatically replaced by communication merge fields when a client opens the form through the client portal.

When you copy a template from the Template Library, review and update any placeholder wording in your saved copy before sending it to clients. For example, if an NDIS service agreement template includes placeholder text for your business details, open the copied template, replace the placeholder wording with the details your practice wants to show, then use View > Data Entry to preview what clients will see.

Linked Profile Fields collect or pre-fill standard client profile information on forms. Custom Profile Fields collect the additional client profile information you configure from User Menu > Account Settings > Clients > Custom Profile Fields. These fields do not store your practice business details.

❓ How do I add a date field or an email field to a form?

The Form Designer does not have a standalone Date or Email field type. You add both through profile fields, which also means the answer is saved to the client’s profile when the form is submitted.

Email address

1. Open your online form template in Tools > Form Designer and click + Add Field.
2. Choose Linked Profile Field, then select Email.
3. The field checks that what the client types is a valid email address, and the answer is written to the client’s profile on submission.

Date of birth

1. Click + Add Field and choose Linked Profile Field.
2. Select Date of Birth. Clients see a date picker, and the date is written to the client’s profile.

Any other date (for example a surgery date, a review date, or a start date)

1. Go to User Menu > Account Settings > Clients > Custom Profile Fields and click Add Custom Profile Field.
2. Enter a Field Name, set Field Type to Date, choose the profile types it applies to, and Save. See Add and Manage Custom Profile Fields.
3. Back in Tools > Form Designer, open your form template, click + Add Field, choose Custom Profile Field, and select the field you just created. It appears on the form with a date picker, and the answer is saved to the client’s profile.

If you only want the date captured as free text and do not want it stored on the profile, use a Single line text field instead — but there is no date picker, so clients type the date themselves.

❗Note: Linked Profile Field, Custom Profile Field and Client File Upload are only available on online (client-entered) form templates. They do not appear on note templates.

❓ Can I hide the created date when printing or downloading a form?

Use Hide from client when you want eligible field content excluded from a client-facing printout or PDF. Printed forms still include the form header and metadata such as Created On, Created By, and Completed On. If the form has not been completed, the Completed On value appears as an em dash.

The Hide from client setting applies to eligible Information and Multi-line Text fields only. It does not hide the form header or standard metadata in printed forms or PDF attachments.

❓ Can I include a photo or image in a form PDF?

Yes. Add a Draw/Annotation field when the image itself needs to appear in the completed form PDF, such as a body diagram, illustration, or photo that clients can mark up.

Use Client File Upload when the client needs to upload separate files, such as referral documents, identification, or photos for the client record. Uploaded files are saved to the client’s Files list as Client Uploads and the form PDF shows the uploaded file names, not the file content.

❓ How do I set up a service agreement document to send to clients?

Create the agreement as an online form template in Tools > Form Designer. Use Information fields for the agreement wording, add Signature fields where the client needs to acknowledge or sign, then send the completed template using an online form link. For the sending steps, see Sending Online Forms to Clients.

❓Can I change a Single line field into a Custom Profile Field?

No. To collect a response that writes back to a client profile, add a new Custom Profile Field field to the form instead. Click Add Field, choose Custom Profile Field, select the active custom profile field you want to link, and remove the old Single line question if you no longer need it.

❓Can I use conditional logic to show or hide form fields based on a client’s answer?

Form templates do not support answer-based conditional logic that shows or hides later fields while a client completes the form. Use Hide from client only for Information or Multi-line Text fields that should always be hidden from clients, and use Scored Forms when you need Zanda to calculate scores from selected answers.

❓ Is it safe to leave linked fields blank for clients who don’t need them?

It depends on the field type. A Linked Profile Field left blank does not change the client’s existing profile value, so it’s safe to leave unanswered. A Custom Profile Field left blank is different: submitting the form removes the client’s existing value for that field entirely.

❓ Can I insert a hyperlink into a form?

Form Designer does not include a dedicated hyperlink button in the text-formatting toolbar, so typing or pasting a plain web address into an Information field does not turn it into a clickable link; it stays as plain text, which clients would need to copy into their browser themselves.

If you want clients to see and use a working link, copy the linked text from somewhere it is already a clickable hyperlink (for example, a webpage or a document) and paste it into the Information field. The hyperlink carries over and stays clickable for clients. Before sending the form, use View > Data Entry to preview how the Information field will appear to clients.

❓ Can clients expand and collapse the sections of an online form?

No. When a client opens an online form through the client portal, every section is displayed inline as one continuous form that they scroll through from top to bottom—there is no per-section expand or collapse control for the client, and this cannot be configured in the Form Designer.

To keep a long form manageable for clients, structure it with clear section labels and use Reorder Sections to group related questions together, so the flow reads logically as the client scrolls. You can preview exactly what the client will see at any time with View > Data Entry.

❓ I opened a form template and got an error message. What should I do?

If you open a form template in the Form Designer and see a banner such as “We’ve encountered an unexpected issue,” it usually means the page didn’t finish loading correctly in your browser rather than a problem with the form template itself.

1. Reload the page (Ctrl + F5 on Windows, Cmd + Shift + R on Mac) and open the form template again.
2. Clear your cache and cookies, sign back in, and try again.
3. Try a different supported browser, or an incognito/private window with browser extensions turned off. Ad blockers, privacy extensions, and strict network filtering can stop parts of the Form Designer from loading.

If the error still appears on every form template after trying the steps above, contact support with a screenshot of the banner and the name of the form template you were opening so the team can investigate further.

❓ Can I collect referrer information the same way I collect contact information on a form?

No. The Linked Profile Fields list does not include a dedicated Referrer or Referral field, so referrer details cannot be written straight onto a Referrer profile from an online form.

A suggested workaround: to collect referrer information through an online form automatically, add a New Contact linked field instead and give it a custom Relationship Type—for example GP —so the referrer’s details are captured as structured contact fields rather than free text. See Add Contacts to Client Profiles Using Online Forms for the full setup.

Once the client submits the form, open the new contact’s profile, go to Admin > Manage, and turn on the Referrer role. The profile becomes a referrer with all its details already filled in, so nothing needs to be re-entered. See Managing Referrers and Referrals for more on referrer profiles.

❓ What causes the “Would you like to restore unsaved data?” prompt?

Form Designer keeps a working copy of your edits in your browser as you type, separate from the copy saved to your account. This prompt appears when Form Designer finds a leftover browser copy for that template still there when you reopen it, which happens whenever you made a change after your last completed save and then left the page without saving again, for example by closing the tab, using your browser’s back button, or navigating away after the unsaved-changes warning described above.

Choose Yes to bring those changes into the editor so you can review and save them, or No to discard the browser copy and keep the template as it was last saved. To avoid seeing this prompt, click Save Template after every change before you leave the page.