Custom forms allow businesses to design and manage form templates tailored to their operational needs. These forms can include fields specific to your business workflows, ensuring effective data capture.
You'll need at least one Custom form category to create a new custom form.
View settings
➡️ Navigate to your Profile icon > Settings > Forms > Custom forms > View
Use the search bar and filters to quickly find specific forms within your list.
Add a new form
➡️ Add new form
Step 1: Basic details
Template name: Enter a name for the form template (e.g., CP12 Domestic Gas Safety Record).
Description: Provide additional context or instructions for the form.
Category: Select the appropriate category from the dropdown menu.
Step 2: Mobile form design
Build form: Using the form builder, create the fields for mobile users to complete.
Check out the Using the form builder article for an in depth look at pages, input types and additional builder functionality to create your forms.
Step 3: Word document
Select a template: For a quick start, download either the portrait or landscape Word document template.
Customise your document: Edit the Word document to match your form design.
You can find more details on editing your Word document below.
Upload your document: Once your Word document is ready, upload it to Commusoft.
Activate the form
On Step 3, click Save.
Activate form: If your form is ready, type
Activate> Activate.Leave in draft: If your form is not yet complete, you can leave it in draft to return to later.
Once a form is active, mobile users will be able to refresh their forms list to use your new form.
Edit a form
Active forms in use by mobile app users should not be edited to avoid data conflicts. Instead, follow version control protocols, detailed below, before making edits.
➡️ Locate the form in the list > Edit
Click Edit next to the form you want to update.
Adjust the form name, sections, or fields as needed.
Rearrange fields or add/remove fields as necessary.
Check out the Using the form builder article to help you make decisions on fields and input choices.
Navigate to the final step and click Save to apply the changes.
Maintaining forms
Version control
Clone the original: Click Clone to make a copy of the existing form.
Change form names:
Edit the original form name to display the current version (e.g., v1) .
Edit the new form and amend the name to enter next version (e.g., v2).
Make form changes: Make required changes to Step 2: Mobile form design of your new form version.
Consider your Word doc: If adding/deleting/replacing field to the form, you will also need to edit the Word document. Make your required changes and re-upload it to Commusoft.
Activate new version: Save and activate your new form once all the changes have been made and the form is ready for use on site.
Download old version: In the Actions column, click Download on the previous version to store a hard copy.
Delete old version: To keep your list of custom forms clean and tidy, consider deleting the old versions.
Mobile users will be able to see and use all active forms.
Delete a form
Active forms in use by mobile app users will be removed from use upon deletion. Instead, consider following version control protocols, detailed above, and clone the form before deleting it.
➡️ Locate the form in the list > Delete > Type Delete > Delete
Organising your forms
Use the folder structure to organise your forms.
Create sub-folders: Each folder can contain up to 5 sub-folders.
Drag & drop: Rearrange forms/folders by dragging and dropping them into folders.
Bulk move: Check the boxes next to multiple forms/folders to move them together.
Add a folder
➡️ Click Add new folder > Type name > Save
Edit a Folder
➡️ Edit > Amend name > Save
Delete a Folder
➡️ Delete > Type "Delete" > Delete
MS Word integration
Integrating Microsoft Word with Commusoft’s form creation allows users to design customised form and certificate layouts in Word for use in Commusof, facilitating a professional and tailored document presentation.
Requirements
Microsoft Word version: Word 2016 or later
File size: Word documents must be under 32MB to upload.
Mobile login: The user creating the Word document will need to have access to the mobile app for the Add-in to function.
Enable mobile access on the user profile.
Office 365 online limitation: Tags in headers or footers will not populate if using Office 365 Online; use Word Desktop 2016 or newer for this feature.
Sub-asset details: Currently, sub-asset details cannot be added to custom forms.
Installing the Add-in
In Microsoft Word, go into the Add-in marketplace to install the Commusoft Add-in
Go to the Home ribbon menu and select Add-ins.
To expand the marketplace, click More Add-ins for more visibility when searching and installing.
The My Add-ins section will display all you currently have installed and the Store section will allow you to find new extensions.
Search for Commusoft and click Add.
A new button will be added to the Home ribbon menu to open/close the extension.
Log in to the Add-in using your regular Commusoft credentials.
Creating/Customising the document layout
Choose the form: Select the form you wish to use from the drop-down menu.
All pages and fields you created in the Commusoft form builder will be available for positioning within Word.
Design the form:
Use Word’s features to add styling, structure, and details, ensuring each field is positioned appropriately for ease of use.
Add fields: Place fields within the document as needed by selecting them from the dropdown menu.
This works similarly to tagging in Commusoft, letting you position each field exactly where required.
The below videos can help you understand how to create your Word document.
Uploading the form into Commusoft
Upload: Once the form design is complete in Word, click Upload to Commusoft.
Verify: Navigate back to Commusoft to verify that the document uploaded successfully.
The Word document column in the custom forms setting will now show as Available with an option to download.
Step 3 of the custom form builder will show that the step is now complete.
You are now ready to activate your form.