Create and use forms on desktop

“Fergus makes it easy to create and attach forms to your jobs and job phases, helping you define internal and external processes for both your staff and customers.

Forms set clear expectations, outline procedures for your team to follow in the field and automatically save as PDFs once submitted, ready to be shared. In this video, we’ll cover how to create form templates, use system tags, an introduction to conditional logic, and managing your form templates.

To start, head to the profile icon in the top right corner and click ‘Settings’.

From the left hand menu, select ‘Forms’.

This is where all your forms will be stored.

To create a new form, click ‘New Template’ in the top right corner.

Give your form template a clear and descriptive name so it’s easy to identify when assigning it to jobs.

Pro tip, you can enable sequential numbering for your forms, assigning each form a unique serial number that increments automatically with each job or job phase.

You can also add your company header and footer to the PDF either on the first page or all pages.

Now, let’s start building your form using the elements on the right hand side. Drag and drop elements into your form to customize it. Here’s a quick rundown of the available options.

First, we have instructional elements. These are static and don’t require any input by the end user. They’re used to format your form and provide context. Here’s a quick breakdown.

Heading. Use this to add headers that help organize your form into clear sections.

Sections.

Group related elements together for better organization.

Paragraph.

Add detailed instructions or notes to guide users as they fill out the form.

Dividers.

Break up sections for a cleaner and more visually appealing layout.

Page breaks. Start a new page in the PDF version of your form.

Image.

Include visual instructions or details that might be easier to explain with a picture, like a matrix.

Blank space, add spacing between elements to improve formatting.

Hyperlink, add a link to your form.

Next, we have data entry elements. These are designed to collect input from users, so they require answers. Here’s what you can include.

Multiple choice. Allow users to tick one or more options.

Single choice. Limit users to selecting just one option.

Use a date picker to enter specific dates.

Time Input.

Similar to the Date Input, but for entering times instead.

Number Input. Collect numerical data up to ten digits.

Short Text. Enter smaller amounts of text with a character limit of up to a thousand characters.

Long Text. For more detailed responses with a maximum of five thousand characters.

Photo. Allow users to upload a photo directly into the form.

And finally, signature, collect signatures from staff or customers to confirm approval or completion.

You can reorder elements by hovering over them and dragging the icon in the top left corner of the box.

To delete an element, click it and select delete element in the top right.

You can access element settings in the top right of the form builder.

Here, you can hide the element label, also known as the title or description, mark elements as required and adjust element size and layout splitting the form into up to three columns.

Note, in the Fergus Go app, all elements will appear in a single column view for optimal display.

System tags allow you to pre fill certain fields to save time when on the go. Simply type the hash key in any short or long text field to see a list of tags you can use. It’s that simple. If you selected customer name for example, the customer name would automatically appear when completing the form.

Conditional logic dynamically customizes your form based on user responses. For example, show or hide fields depending on specific answers.

The best part? No coding is required.

Use our visual editor to set conditions and publish your smart forms.

For a detailed walkthrough, check out our guide on conditional logic.

When your form template is complete, click save. This saves the template as a draft. Once ready for use, make sure to click publish and the form will be available to attach to jobs and job phases.

On the forms page, you can search, filter and edit templates, you can archive templates, which are still accessible anytime to unarchive, or permanently delete But note, this action cannot be undone. And that’s it. You’re now a Fergus forms expert. For your next steps, check out our guide on adding forms to jobs to put them to use.”