FluidForms

    Understanding Forms

    Learn about form structure, sections, and navigation

    FluidForms structures forms as a series of sections that users progress through one at a time. This guide covers how to organize and configure your forms effectively.

    Form Settings

    Beyond the visual structure, you can configure global settings for your form.

    General

    • Title: The internal name of your form.
    • Slug: The URL path for your form (e.g., app.fluidforms.ai/f/my-form-slug).

    Webhooks

    Connect your form to external services (like Zapier, Make, n8n, Slack, or your own API) by configuring webhooks. FluidForms will send a JSON payload to your endpoint whenever a form is submitted.

    Common Use Cases:

    • Send data to your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive)
    • Post notifications to Slack or Microsoft Teams
    • Sync submissions to Google Sheets or Airtable
    • Trigger custom workflows in your applications
    • Connect to thousands of apps via Zapier, Make, or n8n

    Setup:

    1. Go to your form's Settings > Webhook Automations
    2. Enter a name for your webhook (e.g., "Zapier Integration" or "Slack Notifications")
    3. Enter the webhook URL from your target service
    4. Click Add Webhook

    See the Integrations guide for detailed examples and step-by-step instructions for popular services.

    Email Notifications

    Get instant email alerts when forms are submitted. Perfect for keeping your team notified without additional tools.

    Setup:

    1. Go to your form's Settings > Email Notifications
    2. Enter email addresses (separate multiple with commas)
    3. Optionally customize the subject and message
    4. Click Save

    For more integration options, see our complete Integrations guide.

    Access Control

    (Coming Soon) Control who can view and submit your form.

    Form Structure

    Every FluidForms document consists of:

    • Form Document: The root container.
      • Sections: The pages of your form.
        • Blocks: The content and fields within a section.

    This hierarchical structure allows for flexible organization and powerful logic. You can move blocks between sections, duplicate sections, and apply logic at the section level.

    • Standard/Interview/Autofill sections: "Next"
    • Thank You section: "Submit"

    Examples: "Continue to Payment", "Complete Application", "Finish"

    Go To Section

    Redirect users to a different section automatically, creating conditional paths or skips.

    Example: If a user selects "No" to "Do you have pets?", redirect them past pet-related questions.

    Form Modes Explained

    Standard Mode

    Best for:

    • Contact information
    • Structured data entry
    • Basic questionnaires
    • Required legal information

    Users see all fields at once and fill them out manually. This mode provides the fastest completion for straightforward information.

    Interview Mode

    Interview Mode Example

    Best for:

    • Open-ended requirements gathering
    • Exploratory questions
    • Complex scenarios requiring clarification
    • Sales qualification

    AI engages users in conversation, asking thoughtful follow-up questions based on their responses. This mode captures nuanced, complete information that static forms miss.

    Autofill Mode

    Best for:

    • Document parsing
    • Data extraction from text
    • Summary generation
    • Structured output from unstructured input

    AI reads user inputs and automatically populates multiple fields with extracted information. Users provide raw data, and AI structures it according to your schema.

    Thank You Mode

    Required final section that confirms successful submission. Include:

    • Confirmation message
    • Next steps
    • Contact information
    • Expected response timeline

    Navigation & Flow

    Linear Navigation

    By default, users progress through sections sequentially: Section 1 → Section 2 → Section 3 → Thank You.

    Conditional Navigation

    Use the "Go To Section" property to create dynamic paths based on user responses.

    Example workflow:

    1. Section: "Account Type"
      • If Business → Go to "Business Details"
      • If Personal → Go to "Personal Details"
    2. Both paths eventually lead to "Thank You"

    Skip Logic

    Set "Go To Section" on a section to skip it entirely, forwarding users directly to another section without showing the current one.

    AI Instruction Blocks

    Instruction blocks provide background information to the AI (in Interview/Autofill modes) without being visible to end users.

    When to Use Instructions

    Add AI instructions when you want the AI to:

    • Understand your organization and offerings
    • Know evaluation criteria for submissions
    • Ask relevant follow-up questions
    • Extract specific information formats

    What to Include

    A comprehensive instruction block should cover:

    Form Purpose

    Who created the form? What information are you collecting and why?

    Example: "This is a customer support intake form for our SaaS product. We need to quickly triage issues and route them to the appropriate team."

    Background Information

    Relevant details about your organization, products, or services that help the AI understand the AI instructions.

    Example: Product features, pricing tiers, service areas, company values, etc.

    Evaluation Criteria

    How will you judge the quality of submissions? What makes a good vs. poor response?

    Example: "High-quality submissions clearly describe the issue, include steps to reproduce, and indicate business impact."

    Implicit Questions

    What are you really trying to learn beyond the explicit questions?

    Example: "Is this customer likely to churn? How urgent is their need? Are they a good fit for our enterprise tier?"

    Follow-up Questions

    If you could speak with the user after submission, what would you ask?

    Example: "Have you tried our documentation? What's your timeline for resolving this? Would you like a call with our team?"

    Best Practices

    Section Design

    1. One Topic Per Section: Keep sections focused on a single topic or goal
    2. Appropriate Mode: Choose the mode that best fits the information you're gathering
    3. Instructions When Needed: Add instruction blocks to Interview and Autofill sections
    4. Clear Progression: Use logical ordering that makes sense to users

    Form Length

    • Short Forms: 1-2 sections plus Thank You
    • Medium Forms: 3-5 sections plus Thank You
    • Long Forms: 5+ sections, consider multiple Interview sections to maintain engagement

    Mode Mixing

    Combine modes strategically:

    • Start with Standard mode for basic info (fast)
    • Use Interview mode for exploratory questions (thorough)
    • Use Autofill mode for complex data extraction (efficient)
    • End with Thank You mode (required)

    Examples

    Sales Qualification Form

    Section 1: Contact (Standard)

    • Name, Email, Company

    Section 2: Requirements (Interview)

    • What challenges are you facing?
    • AI probes for budget, timeline, decision makers

    Section 3: Thank You

    • Confirmation and next steps

    Medical Intake Form

    Section 1: Patient Info (Standard)

    • Name, DOB, Insurance

    Section 2: Symptoms (Interview)

    • Describe your symptoms
    • AI asks about duration, severity, related issues

    Section 3: Medical History (Autofill)

    • Paste your medical records
    • AI extracts conditions, medications, allergies

    Section 4: Thank You

    • Appointment confirmation

    Next Steps