Active, Draft, and Archived Forms
About
TrueContext offers three form states: Active, Draft
A draft form is a partially filled-out form saved on a device, or a preliminary version of a form that's been saved but not deployed in the Form Builder., and Archived. The state of a form version indicates whether it is a complete version ready for production, is a test version in development, or if it is a form version no longer in use.
Form states are also a useful tool in allowing administrators more control over how forms are assigned. With permissions properly configured, a form can exist in both an Active and Draft state in the same FormSpace FormSpaces are where forms are stored and organized in the TrueContext Web Portal. A TrueContext Team may have multiple FormSpaces, depending on their needs. Admins can set FormSpace permissions to control which users have access to the forms in that FormSpace., with one form state hidden from some or all users. This is particularly useful when testing new forms or form changes.
Active
Active forms are deployed forms. The Active state is intended for completed, fully tested forms ready to be used in production. In order to deploy a form, select Save and Deploy at the bottom of the Form Builder The Form Builder is the tool that form designers use to create forms. In the Form Builder, accessed from the TrueContext Web Portal, form designers can add and edit pages, sections, and questions, as well as attach data destinations and configure the form's settings.. Alternatively, select the form through the Manage Forms dropdown, and then select Deploy Form from the form details dropdown next to the form name.
- Users in groups with default permissions (Can Submit) will see Active forms on their devices.
- Each time forms/form changes are deployed/made active, a version of that form is created. This version is saved indefinitely and can be accessed through the "Version History" interface.
- Once a set of major changes has been tested, it should be deployed. This allows administrators to revert back to this version in the future if required.
Draft
Draft forms are forms or form versions not ready to be used in production. This state is intended for unfinished or untested forms/form changes. A draft version of a form can be created in the Form Builder by selecting Save as Draft at the top right of the Form Builder.
- Users in groups with Can Test permissions will see Draft forms on their devices.
- When a Draft form version is deployed/made active, the Draft version is deleted.
- Draft forms are useful in avoiding excess form versions when making changes to a form; only deployed versions and the most recent un-deployed Draft version are retained. Each time a Draft form is edited, the changes simply overwrite the previous draft version.
- To delete a draft, follow the instructions listed here.
Archived
Each time changes are made to a form and it is deployed, it is saved as a new form version and old versions are Archived.
- Archived forms are retained indefinitely, but will not be accessible from a mobile device, no matter what permissions are configured. Data cannot be submitted against them. See the article on Working with Form Versions and Archiving for more information.
- Forms can also be manually archived, with no new Active version created. This is the recommended practice if a form is no longer in use, rather than deleting the form; the form and submitted data records will be stored in the TrueContext system for future use, but it will not appear on mobile devices.