Use this guide when a form already exists and you want a client to fill it in — either as a secure link they open on their own phone, or with you in person or over the phone. It also covers how to track progress, read a response, and export responses.
If you still need to build the form, use Create a form from scratch, or upload one. For a tour of the Forms pages, see Forms: an overview.
Before you start: the form must be Active
Only forms with the Active status can be sent or completed. A Draft or Archived form does not appear in the list when you pick a form, and the Share dialog warns you in amber: "Only active forms can be sent. Set the form to Active first."
If you try anyway, the send is refused with "Only active forms can be sent.", and starting an in-person completion is refused with "Only active forms can be completed."
To fix this, open the form with Edit, set the Status to Active (can be sent to clients) and select Save form.
Send a form from a client's profile
Use this route when you already have the client open, or when you need to choose exactly which email address or phone number to use.
Open the client and go to the Forms tab.
On the Forms card, select Send form.
In Send a form, choose the Form.
Choose Send via — Email, SMS, or WhatsApp where your organisation has WhatsApp switched on.
Choose the address to use under Send to email or Send to number. The client's saved contact details are listed, with the preferred one first.
Select Send. You will see "Form sent" and a new row in the card's history.
If the client has nothing on file for that channel, the dialog says "This client has no email address on file. Add one on the client's details page before sending." (or "no phone number on file"), and Send stays disabled. Add the detail on the client's details page, or choose a different channel.
Complete now and Send form are both disabled when your organisation has no active forms at all, with the message "No active forms yet. Create and activate a form on the Forms page first."
Send a form from the Forms library
Use this route when you are starting from the form rather than the client.
In the sidebar, open Forms.
On the form you want, select Share.
The dialog explains: "Forms are always sent to a specific client. Pick the client, then the message channel; the client gets a secure link to fill the form in on their phone, no login needed."
Type at least two characters of the client's name in Search clients by name… and pick them from the results. The dialog then confirms "Sending to [client name]".
Choose the Channel.
Select Send form. You will see "Form sent".
The difference between the two routes is the contact detail: from the client's Forms tab you choose which address or number to use, while Share lets the system use the client's preferred detail for that channel.
What the client receives
Email arrives with the subject "Please complete this form" and a short message naming the form, containing the link, and signed off with your name and your organisation.
SMS carries the same wording and link.
WhatsApp uses the approved form template, which ends with a Complete form button that opens the link.
When the client opens the link:
there is no login and no app — the form opens straight away in their browser;
they see the form title, your description (or "Please answer the questions below. Your care team will see your responses." when there is none), and the questions, with required questions marked with an asterisk;
questions with conditional rules only appear when their condition is met;
they select Submit, and see "Thank you — Your answers have been sent to your care team."
If they miss a required question, the page returns "Missing answers — Please go back and answer:" followed by the questions still outstanding.
Each link can be submitted once. If it is used again the page says "Thank you — This form has already been completed." A link that has been mistyped or truncated shows "Not found — This link is invalid."
Sending a form again creates a brand-new link and a new row in the history. Earlier links are not cancelled — each one can still be completed once, so avoid sending the same form twice unless you want two responses. If a link ever reports "Link expired — This form link is no longer available.", simply send the form again.
Complete a form in person or over the phone
With the client's record open
Open the client and go to the Forms tab.
Select Complete now.
Complete a form in person explains: "The form opens on this device so you can fill it in together with the client. Nothing is sent to the client."
Choose the Form and select Open form. The form opens in a new tab on your device.
Fill it in with the client and select Submit.
The response is linked to that client automatically. The history shows "Started in person [date]" and, once submitted, "Completed in person [date]".
From the Forms library
Select Complete now on an Active form in the library. The form opens immediately in a new tab, with the message "Form opened for completion — No email, SMS or WhatsApp message was sent. Link the response to a client after it is submitted."
This route deliberately starts without a client, which is useful at a drop-in or group session. You then link the response afterwards, as described in "Link a response that arrived without a client" below.
Either way, the response records who facilitated it: the response header and the PDF show "Completed in person with [staff name]".
Track progress
On the client's Forms tab, each row carries a badge — Sent when the message has gone out, Opened once the client has opened the link, and Completed once they have submitted. The line beneath shows the dates and the channel.
The Stats dialog for a form (Stats in the library) shows totals for Sent, Opened and Completed, and a row per send with the client, channel, date and status. Rows with a response offer View and PDF. Before the form has been used, it says "This form has not been sent to anyone yet."
The Forms Dashboard shows organisation-wide totals and the "Sends & submissions over time" trend, plus a per-form breakdown of Sent, Opened, Filled in and Completion.
Read a response
Open the response from the client's Forms tab (View), from the Responses page (select the row), or from the form's Stats dialog.
The dialog header shows the form title, the client, when it was submitted and how it was completed.
Each question is listed with its answer. A question that was skipped by a conditional rule reads "Not shown (condition not met)", and an unanswered question reads "(no answer)". Signatures are shown as they were given.
Select Download PDF for a copy of the whole response. The same file is available from the PDF button on the client's Forms tab, the Responses table and the Stats dialog.
The Responses page lists every completed response across your forms. You can:
sort by Submitted, Client or Form;
narrow to one form with the All forms filter;
search with "Search by client, case or unlinked status…".
When there is nothing to show it says "No form responses yet.", and when your filter excludes everything it says "No responses match the current filter."
Export responses
On the Responses page:
Export All downloads every response you can see.
Export Filtered appears once a form filter or a search is active, and downloads only the rows currently listed.
Filtering to a single form before exporting gives you one column per question, which is what you want for analysis. A mixed export cannot do that, so all the answers are flattened into a single "Answers" column instead.
The CSV action on a form in the library does the same for that one form.
In every export, a question skipped by a conditional rule reads "Not shown", and a signature reads "[signature provided]".
Link a response that arrived without a client
A response completed from the library route arrives with no client attached. The Responses page shows it in amber as Not linked to a client.
Open the response.
The amber panel explains: "Not linked to a client — Search for the client and choose their case. Linking is permanent."
Search for the client by name and select them.
Choose the correct case. If the client has no cases you can see, the panel says "This client has no visible cases. The response will be linked to the client."
Select Confirm link. You will see "Response linked — The completed form is now available on the client's Forms tab."
Linking cannot be undone, so check the client and the case before confirming. If somebody else linked the same response first, you will see "This response is already linked to a client."
Troubleshooting
The form is not in the list when I try to send it
Only Active forms can be sent. Open the form with Edit, set its status to Active (can be sent to clients) and save.
WhatsApp is not offered as a channel
WhatsApp only appears when your organisation has WhatsApp switched on. Use email or SMS, or ask your administrator about enabling WhatsApp.
The client has no email address or phone number
A form can only be sent to a contact detail on file. Add an email address or mobile number on the client's details page first, or use Complete now and fill the form in with them instead.
The client says the link does not work
If they see "This form has already been completed.", the link has been used — send the form again to create a fresh link. If they see "This link is invalid.", the link was probably truncated by their message app: send it again and ask them to tap the link rather than copy it.
The message could not be sent
You will see "Could not send form" with the reason. Check the contact detail is correct, then try again or use another channel.
The Dashboard says it is being prepared
Dashboard figures are calculated in the background rather than while you wait. Just after a new response arrives you may see "Your dashboard is being prepared — this page will update automatically in a moment." Leave the page open and it will refresh itself.
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