Organising forms with sections and pages

When to use structural fields

Once you've added the input fields that capture the actual data, structural fields are how you make the form easy to read and easy to fill in. They don't capture data themselves — they group fields together, repeat sections, break the form into pages, and add headings and spacing.

Use them when:

• You want to capture an unknown number of items in a list — like snags or attendees
• A whole group of fields should appear or disappear together based on an answer
• The form is long and would be friendlier as several pages
• You need section headings or instructions to break up dense content

You'll find them in the field palette of the Form Builder under "Structural".

The five structural fields

Repeating section

A Repeating section lets users add multiple instances of the same set of fields. Use it any time you don't know in advance how many items you'll need to capture.

When to use it

• Snag list — capture as many snags as the user finds, each with a description, location and photo
• People on site — record everyone present at an inspection, each with a name, role and signature
• Materials used — list every material with its quantity and cost
• Defects — log each defect with type, severity and a photo
• Plant on site — list each piece of equipment with its operator and inspection status

If you've ever found yourself adding "Item 1", "Item 2", "Item 3" as separate fields, that's the moment to use a Repeating section instead.

How to set one up

1. 1

   Drag a Repeating section field onto the canvas.

2. 2

   Drag the fields that should repeat inside the section. For a snag list, that might be a Single-line text field for the description, a Single-line text for the location, a Dropdown for severity, and a Photo.

3. 3

   In the right-hand settings panel, set the Add button label (e.g. "+ Add another snag"), and optionally a minimum or maximum number of rows.

When the user fills in the form, they see one set of the inner fields with an Add another button below to create more rows.

Conditional section

A Conditional section is a group of fields that appears or disappears together based on an answer earlier in the form. Unlike a Repeating section, it doesn't repeat — it just groups.

When to use it

• "If issue found" section — containing a description, location, photo and recommended action — shown only when an "Issue found?" checkbox is ticked
• "Subcontractor details" section — containing the subcontractor name, RAMS reference and supervisor — shown only if the work is being done by a subcontractor
• "Other reason" section — shown only when the user picks "Other" from a Dropdown

The point of a Conditional section is that you only have to set the show/hide condition once on the group instead of repeating it on every field inside.

How to set one up

1. 1

   Drag a Conditional section field onto the canvas.

2. 2

   Drag the fields you want to group inside the section.

3. 3

   Open the section's settings and set the show/hide condition — typically something like "Show only when Issue found? is ticked".

When the condition is met, the whole section appears and is treated as part of the form. When it isn't, the whole section is hidden and skipped — none of the fields inside count as missing.

Page break

A Page break splits the form into multiple pages. Everything before the page break goes on page 1, everything after goes on page 2 (and so on with more page breaks).

When to use it

• Long forms that would be tedious to scroll through in one go
• Forms with logical sections — for example "Pre-start", "During work", "Post-work"
• Mobile users who'd prefer shorter pages over endless scrolling
• Anywhere you'd like immediate feedback when the user moves between sections

How to use it

Drag a Page break to the position where you want the split. Everything above stays on the current page; everything below starts a new one. You can label the page break (visible only in the builder) so you can keep track of which page is which while editing.

See Splitting a form into pages for the page navigation and how each page is checked before the user moves on.

Heading

A Heading is a display-only piece of text you can drop into the form to act as a section title or an instruction. It captures no data — it's purely there to make the form readable.

When to use it

• Section titles — "Pre-start checks", "Hazards identified", "Sign-off"
• Instructions — "Take a photo of each defect before adding it to the list"
• Legal text — "By signing below you confirm that..."

Settings

• Text — the heading content
• Style — pick a heading level or a plain paragraph

Spacer

A Spacer adds vertical space between fields. Use it sparingly when a dense form needs a bit of breathing room to separate logical sections visually.

• Height — how much space to add

Like Heading, Spacer doesn't capture any data.

Combining structural fields

Structural fields work together for richer layouts:

• A Repeating section inside a Conditional section — a list of items that only appears when a condition is met (e.g. "Add the snags found" — only if "Were any snags found?" is ticked)
• A Conditional section that spans page breaks — a section that appears or disappears across multiple pages
• Heading and Spacer scattered through a long form to create clear section boundaries

Real-world example: snagging form

A typical snagging form might be built like this:

1. 1

   A Heading at the top — "Snagging Sheet".

2. 2

   A few basic fields — inspector name, project, date.

3. 3

   A Heading — "Snags found".

4. 4

   A Repeating section containing a description, a location text field, a severity Dropdown and a Photo field.

5. 5

   A Page break.

6. 6

   A second page with a sign-off Signature field and an Acknowledgement.

Next steps

• Showing fields only when needed — for the show/hide conditions that drive Conditional sections.
• Splitting a form into pages — for how Page breaks affect the user experience.
• Filling in and submitting a form — for what users see when filling in these structures.