You may send a request for information to contributors by sharing an iSheet form via a link or in an email. This form is based on an iSheet and will add a new record to the iSheet when it is submitted.
HighQ offers multiple features for the creation and publication of forms. Choose the feature best suited to your needs:
- Add records directly to an iSheet - Share forms to registered users with permission to add records to an internal iSheet.
- iSheet form sharing (this article) - Share forms to external users, using the standard system iSheet form design.
- HighQ Forms - Create custom, branded forms to share on a website, Microsoft Teams, and your websites.
Options allow records to be created even by users who would not normally have access to your site. This allows users to, for example:
- Self-register to fill an iSheet form for legal intake
- Use a self-service desk to generate a document (e.g an NDA) as an anonymous user
The Add record form is opened from your HighQ instance, in the contributor's browser.
Security options ensure that your data is protected. You can configure a captcha and password to restrict access, and further restrict access to registered users only.
You cannot share a metadata iSheet.
The following column types are not supported in an iSheet form:
- file link
- folder link
- isheet link
- lookup column
You can still share the iSheet; however, fields for these columns will not be displayed to the contributor.
Enable iSheet form sharing
A system admin must follow the steps described here to enable iSheet form sharing. A site admin must also enable form sharing for each iSheet that uses the feature.
iSheet form sharing must be enabled for your instance by HighQ support. It can be enabled for all system admins, internal admins, or restricted to a selection of admins. Please contact HighQ support to discuss and enable iSheet form sharing.
Security considerations
Do not share a form that includes User lookup columns, especially when sharing a form with anonymous users. This can expose usernames for all users in every site on your instance, including sites that the recipient does not have access to.
If you share an iSheet that has iSheet permissions enabled, contributors must have permission to access the iSheet (available in version 5.5.3 onwards).
- Use the Anonymous/Self-registered users system group to set permissions for anonymous and self-registered contributors.
- Permissions can be applied both at the column level and the iSheet level. Contributors only see input fields for columns that they have permission to view.
Sending a form
Open the iSheets module, then open the iSheet that will store the records from contributors.
The following column types are not supported in an iSheet form: File link, folder link, lookup column and isheet link.
You can still share the iSheet; however, these columns will not be displayed to the user.
Attachment columns are supported, but custom folder locations are only available to members of the site with permissions to access the location.
Select More actions, then Share and iSheet form:
The Share window opens; the Email tab is selected by default:
Controlling the contents of a form with Views
As of version 5.6, you can use a View to restrict which fields are seen by recipients of the form and users with add or edit permissions.
To enable this option, open Admin, then iSheets (under Module settings). Click the name of the iSheet and enable Set Add/Edit forms to only display columns from the selected View:
If enabled, Add record, Edit record and shared forms only display and request data for columns defined in the selected View.
View restrictions also apply to iSheet items added in Custom site navigation, and iSheet links created in a blog or wiki.
This also activates the Check mandatory columns option.
Column permissions also apply and hide columns based on user permissions, even if they are included in the View.
Views and mandatory columns
As a view can unintentionally hide a mandatory column, please ensure the view used for a form contains all mandatory columns.
In the Manage views window, a Required column note indicates that a view is missing one or more mandatory columns:
You can check if a view includes all mandatory columns. Open Admin, iSheets, then select Check mandatory columns.
If necessary, select the iSheet to check. A list of views is displayed.
Click Show to see a list of mandatory columns that are missing in the view. Select More actions then Add mandatory columns to automatically add all missing mandatory columns to the view.
Alternatively, select all views you need to update, then select Update selected views in the top-right corner.
Share via an email
The default tab sends the form request as an email.
Select if the Recipients are all Members of this site with permission or if there are any Recipients who are not members of this site.
Additional options are provided if you select Recipients who are not members of this site.
Add user names or email addresses to the second field. In this case, all recipients must be members of the site and have the required permissions.
If necessary change the Subject and add a Message to the recipients.
Click Send to send an email invite to add a record.
Share a link
Select the Link tab to create a link to the form request.
Select if the Recipients are all Members of this site with permission or if there are any Recipients who are not members of this site.
Additional options are provided if you select Recipients who are not members of this site.
If Recipients who are not members of this site is selected click Get link.
Select the Use short URL checkbox to create a shorter link.
Click Select link to highlight the entire link, then manually copy the link (Ctrl-c or Cmd-c) and share as required (e.g. in a message, email, or blog post, or on a webpage or business card). Finally, close the Share screen.
Additional settings for anonymous or self-registered recipients
If any recipient is not a member of the site, further security options are provided in the Share window:
Select an Access level to control who can access the form. If the system admin has pre-defined and locked the access level, then you may not change this option.
If Anyone with the password is selected, you must set a password that the recipients must use to access the form:
For additional security, set a Link expires deadline. Select Notification to receive an alert when a recipient adds a record.
Click Send to send an email invite to the shared form, or Get link to generate a link to the shared form.
A form filled by an anonymous or self-registered user is not saved until it is submitted. If the page is closed, all changes are lost. It is not possible for an anonymous or self-registered user to edit an existing record.
Receiving a request to add a record
The recipient receives a link, either sent by email, or in a message with the link provided in the Share window.
If the recipient is already a registered user, then they can select the link to open the Add record request in the browser.
If the recipient is not already signed in the record is submitted from an 'anonymous' user. To access information that requires permissions they must first sign in to their account; select Login to your HighQ account.
If the user does not have an account, and the access level was Recipients must register, then contributors must create an account as a 'self-registered' user. See Self-registration, below.
The user must click the Add record button to open the shared form:
The recipient can add information in the fields and select Add when they are ready to submit the record.
A window is displayed to confirm the record has been saved.
Tracking responses
Responses are tracked in the iSheet, including the name of the contributor and the time of submission (the columns 'Created by' and 'Created date').
If a form is shared via email to a registered user, then forwarded to an anonymous user, 'Created by' records the original recipient of the shared form, not the anonymous contributor.
Self-registration
When the recipient clicks on the link in an email to add a record, and the user does not have an account and Recipients must register was selected, then the recipient must create an account as a 'self-registered' user.
This is the same process used in Require recipients of shared files to register.
A page will open where the recipient must enter their email address - this must match the email used to send the email request:
The recipient must enter the correct email address and click Verify email address. If it is correct, a confirmation screen is displayed:
The user receives a confirmation email:
They must click on the Confirm your email address link in that email, and are then asked to create their password:
After the user submits their password, the shared form welcome page opens.
