Form Builder Overview

The Form Builder is where you create, design, and manage your forms. It's designed to be intuitive and powerful, giving you full control over every aspect of your form.

Interface Layout

The Builder interface consists of three main areas:

Left Sidebar (Tabs)

The left sidebar contains four tabs that control different aspects of your form:

• Build: Add and arrange questions/blocks
• Design: Customize theme, colors, and branding
• Analytics: View stats, responses, and insights
• Share: Publish, embed, and distribute your form

Center Canvas (Preview)

The center area shows a live preview of your form. As you make changes in the sidebar, you'll see them reflected here in real-time. This preview mimics how respondents will see your form.

Right Panel (Settings)

When you click a question block on the canvas, its settings panel appears on the right. Here you can configure question-specific options like text, validation, required status, and more.

Build Tab

The Build tab is where you construct your form by adding question blocks.

Question Block Library

Scroll through the available question types:

• Text inputs: Short Text, Long Text, Email, Website
• Choices: Multiple Choice, Yes/No, Dropdown
• Scales: Rating, Opinion Scale, Number
• Date & Time: Date, DateTime
• Special: File Upload (Pro), Consent, Statement

Adding Blocks

• Click to add: Click any block in the library to add it to the end of your form
• Drag to position: Drag a block to place it at a specific position
• Reorder: Drag blocks up/down on the canvas to reorder them
• Delete: Click the trash icon on any block to remove it

Block Settings

Click any block on the canvas to open its settings panel:

• Question text: The main question your respondent sees
• Description: Optional helper text below the question
• Required: Toggle whether this question must be answered
• Validation: Rules for Email, Website, Number fields
• Type-specific options: e.g., min/max for ratings, choices for multiple choice

Design Tab

The Design tab controls your form's visual appearance.

Themes

• Default (Free): Clean, professional theme included with all accounts
• Conversational (Pro): One-question-at-a-time Typeform-style experience
• Minimal (Pro): Ultra-minimal design with maximum whitespace
• Soft (Pro): Rounded, gentle design with soft shadows

Backgrounds

• Colors (Free): Choose from default color palette
• Presets (Pro): Select from curated background images
• Upload (Pro): Upload your own custom background image

Branding

• Remove branding (Pro): Hide "Powered by SmarterForm" footer

Analytics Tab

The Analytics tab shows form performance and response data.

Key Metrics

• Views: How many times your form was loaded
• Starts: How many people started filling it out
• Submissions: How many completed responses you received
• Completion rate: Percentage of starts that became submissions
• Average time: How long it takes to complete your form

Response Explorer

Click "View all responses" to see a list of individual submissions. You can:

• View each response in detail
• Export responses to CSV (up to 500 most recent)
• See when each response was submitted

AI Insights (Pro)

Pro accounts can generate AI-powered insights from open-text responses. The system analyzes patterns, sentiments, and key themes across your submissions.

Share Tab

The Share tab is where you publish your form and get distribution options.

Publish Status

• Draft: Form is not publicly accessible
• Published: Form is live and can accept responses

Share Options

• Direct link: Copy and paste the public URL
• QR Code: Generate a QR code for offline sharing
• Embed code: Get an iframe snippet to embed on your website
• Custom slug: Set a memorable URL like /f/s/my-form

Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up your workflow with these keyboard shortcuts:

• Cmd/Ctrl + S: Save changes (auto-save is always on)
• Cmd/Ctrl + Z: Undo
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z: Redo
• Delete: Delete selected block

Mobile Builder

The Form Builder is fully responsive and works on mobile and tablet devices. On smaller screens:

• The sidebar collapses into a bottom sheet
• Blocks can be added via floating "+" button
• Settings panels open as bottom sheets
• All core functionality remains accessible