Sending Online Forms to Clients

In this article, you will learn how to send forms to your clients. Before you start, make sure you have already created an Online Form Using the Form Designer. 

Send a Form to your Client using an Email/SMS Template

Each form you create inside the Form Designer comes with its unique  merge field. You can place this merge field inside an email/SMS template. Upon sending such an email/SMS generated from a template, two things will happen:

• The form will be automatically created in the client's profile to whom the email/SMS template was sent.
• The merge field inside the email/SMS will be replaced with a link to the form. Clients can click on this link to complete the form and submit the information.

Here's how you can set this up:

1. Go to Tools → Communication → Templates. Open the email/SMS template of your choice or create a new one.
2. Click on the Available Merge Fields link at the bottom-left.
3. Click on the Links To Online Forms button.
4. Copy the merge field code of the online form you need to embed.
   
   

   

5. Paste the form merge field you copied earlier inside the email/SMS template. (The form link will be displayed instead of this when you generate the email/SMS template inside a client profile.)
6. Click Save.

Note:

Do not paste the Online Form merge field directly inside an email/SMS in the client's profile. The link cannot be generated this way.
Instead, paste the merge field in the email/SMS template first in  Tools → Communication → Templates - and then select the email/SMS template in the client's profile. 

7. That's it. Now go to the client's profile and navigate to Communication → New Email. Select the email template that has the merge field of the form you want to send - and then send that email. 

Important

Never copy the generated client email with a form link and paste it into another client's new email. Always use an email template with the form merge field when you send forms to clients.
Each link is unique and is directly connected with the client profile where it was generated. When the form link is sent to the wrong client, the following issues may occur:
- when that client receives and submits a form with linked profile fields (like an Intake Form), their details will overwrite the client details of the profile where the form was generated; 
- if the form has already been submitted by one of the clients who received the same link, the other clients will see an empty page when they click on the form, with a notification that the form cannot be found;
- when the form is submitted, it will be stored in the client profile where it was generated. This means that you may not be able to locate this form in the profile of a client who filled out the form, as the link was generated in a different profile.

Manually Send a Form to a Client

Before you can manually send a form or its link to your client, you will need to generate it in your client's profile. Here's how you can do this:

1. Go to the client's profile to whom you want to send the form.
2. Navigate to Records → Forms or Admin → Forms based on the type of form you want to create. (Clinical forms are generated on the Records page. Admin Forms are generated on the Admin page).
   
3. Click + Create New on the top-left corner and choose a form template from the drop-down list.
4. You will see two new fields: Name and Expiry Date. Use the Name field to change the name of your form. And with the Expiry Date setting, select the date until which your client can access the form. 
5. Scroll down to the end of the form and click Save as Draft. Alternatively, the system will save a note automatically within 5 seconds after it was created. 

Once done, scroll up and click X on the top-right corner of the form to exit Edit mode. That's it. You have successfully generated the form!

There are four ways you can send this generated form:

1. Copy/paste the form link: This will give you a link that you can share with the client with which they can fill the form directly from their computer/mobile phone. 

Important

Do not share the same link with the other clients: each link is unique and is directly connected with the client profile where it was generated. When the form link is sent to the wrong client, the following issues may occur:
- when that client receives and submits a form with linked profile fields (like an Intake Form), their details will overwrite the client details of the profile where the form was generated; 
- if the form has already been submitted by one of the clients who received the same link, the other clients will see an empty page when they click on the form, with a notification that the form cannot be found;
- when the form is submitted, it will be stored in the client profile where it was generated. This means that you may not be able to locate this form in the profile of a client who filled out the form, as the link was generated in a different profile.

2. Go to Portal Form: This will open the form in a new tab. Use this option if you want the client to fill out their forms on the premises using your device
3. Print the form: This will allow you to print out a physical copy of the form or download the form as a PDF.
4. Email the form as a PDF attachment: This will directly email the form PDF to the client.

Automate Sending Forms to all Clients via Client Portal

Having Online Forms you've setup be distributed to either new clients or all appointments is possible via the Portal - here are the necessary steps:

1. Follow the above Steps 1 to 3 to copy the merge field.
2. Next, go to Settings → Client Portal → Notifications and click on Edit Template for the form in question.

3. Paste the whole merge field into the content, add some instructional text for your clients if you'd like, and then click Save Changes.