As the foundation of the Apricot software, forms play a crucial role in how your organization collects and manages data. But what exactly are Apricot forms, and how do they work?
At the most basic level, an Apricot form is the template used to capture information in your database. When you fill out one of these forms, you're creating a "record" - a row of data that gets saved for future reference and reporting.
There are two main types of forms in Apricot:
Tier 1 forms: These are the primary, parent-level forms, such as client intake or organization profiles. Users can find these in the "My Apricot" tab listed under the "Search Records" category.
Tier 2 forms: These are the secondary, child-level forms that live underneath a Tier 1 form, like service records or event attendance. You can access Tier 2 forms by opening the Document Folder for the related Tier 1 record.
Continue reading below to learn what information is available to users within a form and what users can expect when interacting with a form or record.
Selecting a Form
Administrators can click the Administrator tab and select "Standard Forms" in the Form Designer category of the navigation bar to view their list of Tier 1 forms. Clicking the black arrow next to a Tier 1 form lists any Tier 2 forms associated with the Tier 1 form, and the "Last Modified by:" field displays the date and time the form was last published and the user who published it.
Editing a Form
Selecting "Edit" from the Actions menu next to a form name on the Standard Forms page directs Administrators to the Form Designer. The below can be found when editing a form:
The name of the form is found at the top of the page.
Each blue bar indicates a form section. Most forms have more than one section to complete.
Each gray box within a form section is a field. The Field Choices palette contains a list of available fields that can be added to the form.
The Requirements palette shows which requirements must still be met before the form can be published for users to complete. Tier 1 forms must include at least one "Duplicate Check" field, one "Searchable" field, and one field that is both "Quick View" and "Required."
The Form Actions palette allows you to do the following:
Save Form: Save the current version of your form; this doesn't push any changes to users or to the data entry side of Apricot.
Publish Form: Save the current version of your form and make all changes available to users.
Previous Version: Revert to the last published version of the form.
Deactivate Form: Remove the form from the list of available forms. The form and its data are not deleted, but they are unavailable to users for data entry and reporting.
Form Permissions: Adjust which users can access this form.
Tier 1 Form Properties
Click the top-most gear icon to open the form's properties. These settings govern the entire form.
You can change the form name and add a description to accurately reflect the type of data being collected. This information will appear on the list of available forms in the Form Designer.
Available settings include:
Hide from Navigation Menu: The form will be placed into a "Hidden Records" category in the navigation bar on the "My Apricot" tab. Users must click the form name under Hidden Records to view records of the form.
Allow Search by Linked Forms: When searching for records of associated forms, the searchable fields in the current form will be available to select in the "Add Search Field" dropdown.
Allow Copies: Users can make copies of the form's records. "Clear on Copy" will become an available field property.
Enable in Apricot Results Reporting: The form will become available for use in Apricot Results Reporting for sites that have ARR enabled.
Enable Form Logic: Conditional rules can be added to the form to change the appearance or behavior of form fields based on the data entered in a record by a user. Read more about form logic here.
The Program Assignment Type setting allows Administrators to set the default behavior for assigning records to programs:
User Selects Program Assignment: Users will be prompted to select which programs to assign the record to each time they save a new record.
Assign Records to Form's Associated Programs: Each new record will be assigned to any program that has access to at least view and search records of this form.
Assign Records to User's Active Programs: Each new record will be assigned to every program the user creating the record has linked permissions for.
Click "Apply" to save your form settings.
Note: Before publishing a form, you must choose a Record Name within the Form Properties. Read more about the Record Name field here.
Note: The History section above "Apply" shows additional form information. The "First published by:" field states the name of the user who initially published the form, and the "Last published by:" field states the name of the user who published the form last.
Tier 2 Form Properties
Click the top-most gear icon to open the form's properties. These settings govern the entire form.
You can change the form name and add a description to accurately reflect the type of data being collected. This information will appear on the list of available forms in the Form Designer.
Available settings include:
Allow Batch Record Creation: Users can create Tier 2 records for more than one Tier 1 record at once. Read more about Batch Records here.
Allow Copies: Users can make copies of the form's records. "Clear on Copy" will become an available field property.
Record Limit: Set a maximum number of records that can exist for the form within a Document Folder.
Hide from Document Folder: The form will not be visible in the Document Folder's list of Tier 2 forms.
Enable in Apricot Results Reporting: The form will become available for use in Apricot Results Reporting for sites that have ARR enabled.
Enable Form Logic: Conditional rules can be added to the form to change the appearance or behavior of form fields based on the data entered in a record by a user. Read more about form logic here.Adjust settings:
The Program Assignment Type setting allows Administrators to set the default behavior for assigning records to programs:
User Selects Program Assignment: Users will be prompted to select which programs to assign the record to each time they save a new record.
Assign Records to Form's Associated Programs: Each new record will be assigned to any program that has access to at least view and search records of this form.
Assign Records to User's Active Programs: Each new record will be assigned to every program the user creating the record has linked permissions for.
Click "Apply" to save your form settings.
Note: Before publishing a form, you must choose a Record Name within the Form Properties. Read more about the Record Name field here.
Section Properties
Click the gear icon to the right of the section name to open the section's properties. These settings govern the selected section.
Edit the name of the section.
Section display options include:
Collapsed: The section will be collapsed when the form opens. Clicking the section will expand it and display its information.
Hidden: The section will not appear when the form opens. This is useful if you have calculation fields or other fields you don't need to be visible to users during data entry.
Tab Order governs which direction ("Row by Row" or "Column by Column") your users can tab through as they fill out the form.
Click "Apply" to save your section settings.
Field Properties
Click the gear icon at the top-right corner of the field box to open the field's properties. These settings govern the individual field.
The title displays the field type being used next to the field name.
You can edit the displayed field name.
The Standard Properties determine how users interact with the field:
Required: The field must be filled out before a record can be saved.
Quick View: The field will appear on the Search Records page as a column to identify a record.
Restricted: The field will be essentially locked and its properties cannot be edited except by the Support team.
Duplicate Check: Apricot will automatically check the information recorded in the field against other existing records to ensure users do not create duplicate records.
Searchable: The field will be available to select in the "Add Search Field" dropdown on the Search Records page.
Clear on Copy: This option is only available if "Allow Copies" is selected in the form properties. When a record is copied, the information entered in the field will not be transferred to the copied version. Note: Duplicate Check fields are automatically marked as Clear On Copy; this cannot be changed.
Locked: Users will not be able to add or edit data in this field.
Hidden: This field will not appear for users to fill out. This can be useful for calculation fields or other fields that operate "behind the scenes."
Text entered in the Tooltip field will appear when users fill out a record and hover over the "?" icon next to the field name.
Some fields have a display style that can be customized. For example, the Name field can be displayed in two different orders: "First Last" and "Last First".
Click "Apply" to save your field settings.
Filling Out a Record
On the "My Apricot" tab, the Search Records category of the navigation bar will list the available Tier 1 forms that users can complete a record for. Clicking the name of the form and selecting "+ New [Form Name]" in the Search Actions palette directs the user to a blank record of the form to fill out. The following information can be found within the record:
The name of the form is found at the top of the page.
Each blue bar indicates a form section. Most forms have more than one section to complete.
Each item underneath a section is a field for entering data into.
The double-square icon next to a field name indicates the field has been marked as a Duplicate Check field. Apricot will automatically check the information recorded in the field against other existing records to ensure users do not create duplicate records.
Field names marked with an asterisk (*) are required, meaning the record cannot be saved until the required fields contain data.
The Record Save Checklist palette lists all required form fields that still need to be filled out before the record can be saved.
The Assigned Programs palette allows users to assign the record to a program; records assigned to a program can only be accessed by users with the appropriate program access.
System Fields
At the bottom of every record in Apricot is the System Fields section. The fields in this section are automatically generated by Apricot when a user saves a record:
Record ID: Every record created in Apricot is assigned a unique ID number and cannot be altered by a user.
Created By: This is the name of the user who saved the new record for the first time.
Creation Date: This shows the date and time the record was first created.
Modified By: This displays the name of the user who most recently modified and saved the record.
Modification Date: This is the most recent date and time the record was modified and saved.
Assigned Programs: Any program the record is assigned to will display here.