Publishing & Sharing Forms
Before a form can be used in observations, it must be published and shared with at least one school. This article covers the publishing workflow, school access, and how to safely edit published forms.
Publishing a Form
Open the form in the form builder.
Click the Publish button in the header area.
Confirm in the dialog that appears. The message explains: "Once you publish this form, it will be visible and available for observations. You won't be able to make further edits unless you unpublish it."
Once published:
- The status badge changes from "Draft" to "Published" (green).
- The form appears in the Start Observation menu for observers.
- The form name becomes non-editable.
Sharing with Schools
A published form must be shared with specific schools to appear in observers' form lists. Configure school access in the Schools section of the right panel in the form builder.
Open the form in the form builder.
In the right panel, find the Schools section.
Use the dropdown to select schools. Check or uncheck schools to grant or remove access.
When you remove a school's access, a confirmation dialog appears to prevent accidental changes.
Editing a Published Form
When you open a published form that has existing observations, a warning dialog appears with details about how many observations are linked to this form. You have four options:
Go Back — Return to the forms list without making changes.
Preview — View the form in read-only preview mode.
Duplicate Form — Create a copy of the form that you can edit freely. This is the recommended approach — it preserves existing observation data while letting you iterate on the form design.
Unpublish & Edit — Revert the form to draft status, allowing full editing. The form will no longer be available for new observations until republished.
Unpublishing a Form
Click the Unpublish button to revert a published form to draft status. After unpublishing:
- The form status returns to "Draft."
- The form is no longer available in the Start Observation menu.
- All editing controls are re-enabled.
- Existing observations using this form are not affected.
Duplicating a Form
Duplicate a form to create an exact copy, including all sections and elements. This is useful for:
- Creating a new version of a published form without affecting existing data.
- Using an existing form as a starting template.
- Sharing a form structure across multiple creators.
To duplicate: Click the duplicate icon on the forms table, or use the "Duplicate Form" option in the published form warning dialog. The duplicate process shows a progress bar and redirects you to the new form when complete.