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Create and publish a form

Build a Zorcha form, add your questions, preview it and publish it to get a short link you can share.

You need a few answers before you can help someone: a workshop application, a consultation request, a wholesale enquiry. A Zorcha form asks those questions on one page and gives you a short link to share anywhere.

Start a new form

  1. Go to Forms and click New Form. If you don't have any forms yet, click Create your first form.

  2. Click Add title and name your form, for example Latte Art Workshop, October batch. People see this at the top of the form, and it's the name in your Forms list.

  3. Click Add short description and say what you're asking for and what happens next. The description is optional.

Until you publish, your form is saved only in this browser and doesn't appear in your Forms list, so finish it on the same device. Clicking New Form again before you publish reopens the same draft.

Forms page showing "No forms yet", "Create your first form to start collecting leads." and the Create your first form button, with New Form at the top right

Add your questions

  1. Click Add a field and choose a type in Select a field: for example Email for an email address, Dropdown for a choice from a list, or Upload for a photo or document. See Choose the right field type.

  2. The field's settings open on the right. Type the question in Field Title, for example Which city are you in? Every field needs a title.

  3. Switch on Is required? for answers you can't do without. At least one field on the form must be required.

  4. To add the next question, click Add a Field below your last one. Drag a field by its handle to change the order.

Each field has a Form field slug, the name its answer is saved under. It's the column heading in your export and the name you use in automations. For the first field of each type it follows the title (Which city are you in? becomes which_city_are_you_in). A second field of the same type gets a slug like text_2 that doesn't follow its title, so rename it to something you'll recognise, such as city. See Required answers, validation and field slugs.

Form builder with a title, description and four fields on the canvas, and the settings panel open on an Email field showing Is required? switched on, Field Title "Your email" and Form field slug "your_email"

Preview it

Click Preview to open your form in a new tab as people will see it. You can fill it in to check the questions, but submitting there only shows "Form submission is not allowed in preview mode".

Publish and copy your link

  1. Click Publish. If something needs fixing, a message tells you what: - Form title is required: add a title. - Form needs fields: add at least one field. - Required field validation: switch on Is required? for at least one field. - Form validation failed: the line underneath names the problem, such as "Field label is required" or "Dropdown options are required".

  2. When it goes through, you'll see Form published successfully! and your form opens on its Editor tab. It now shows as Live in your Forms list.

  3. Click the Summary tab, then Copy next to your zorcha.com/f/… link. For where to put it, see Share your form link.

Form builder after clicking Publish with no required fields: red "Required field validation" message at the top, "At least one field must be marked as required to ensure data collection"

Open the link on your phone and send one test answer, then check it on the Submissions tab. A published form can't be unpublished or deleted yet, and neither can its submissions, so give your test an obvious name like Test.

Edit a live form

  1. Go to Forms and click your form. It opens on the Editor tab.

  2. Make your changes. The Published button changes to Update.

  3. Click Update to put your changes live on the same link. You'll see Form updated successfully!

Your edits wait in this browser until you click Update. When the button reads Published and is greyed out, everything is live.

If people have already answered, check each Form field slug before you click Update: changing a title also changes a slug that's still following it, and earlier answers keep the old name.

Editor tab of a live form with the Summary, Editor, Submissions and Settings tabs, and the green Update button next to Preview after a field title was edited

Next steps

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