---
title: Creating a web form
description: Build an online form, such as an excursion permission form, then share it and collect the responses.
url: "https://schoolzine.com/docs/creating-a-web-form/"
updated: "2026-10-21"
category: Forms and Surveys
tags:
  - permission forms
  - surveys
  - web forms
---

# Creating a web form

Web forms replace paper for permission slips, absentee notes, tour bookings and anything else families need to fill in. You build the form once, share it on your website, in a newsletter or in SZ App, and the responses come straight back to you.

## Find your web forms

In the Control Centre, select **Content → Web Forms**. The list shows each form's **Name**, the **Title** families see, and whether it's **Active**.

![The Web Forms list](https://schoolzine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/10/forms-list.png)

> **Tip:** To make a form like one you already have, open the existing form and click **Clone**. Then change what you need.

## Create a form

Click **New Web Form**. There are six steps: **Details**, **Builder**, **Settings**, **Confirmations**, **Notifications** and **Preview**. Click **Save & Continue** to move to the next one.

### 1. Details

- **Web Form Name**: what your team sees in the list.
- **Web Form Page Heading**: the heading families see on the form.
- **Save form to Contact**: tick to link each response to the family's contact record.
- **Subscribe Contact**: tick to subscribe the person who fills it in.
- **Description**: an introduction shown above the form, for example "Please complete one form for each excursion your child attends."

![The Details step](https://schoolzine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/10/forms-details.png)

### 2. Builder

Add your questions here. Your form appears on the left. The fields you can add are on the right.

![The form builder](https://schoolzine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/10/forms-builder.png)

- Click a field type under **Input Fields** to add it. There are fields for **Text**, **Email**, **Telephone**, **Date**, **Single Select**, **Checkbox**, **File** uploads and more.
- The **General** tab adds layout and special fields: **Heading**, **Message**, **Picture**, **Digital Signature**, **Recaptcha** (to stop spam) and **Stripe Product** (to take a payment).
- Click a field's pencil to edit its label and make it required. Click the red minus to remove it. Drag the arrows to reorder fields.
- Click **Add Page** to split a long form into pages.

![The General field types](https://schoolzine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/10/forms-general-fields.png)

### 3. Settings

Settings control how the form behaves. Some of the most useful are:

- **Status**: untick **Published** to hide the form while you work on it.
- **Maximum completion limit**: stop accepting responses after a set number, which is handy for limited places.
- **Allow Multiple Response**: let the same person submit more than once.
- **Add contact to groups**: add everyone who responds to a group, so you can message them later.
- **Approval Required?**: send responses to staff to approve.
- **Save as you go**: let families save their progress and come back to it.

### 4. Confirmations

Choose what families see after they submit. **System Message** shows a thank you message. **URL Redirect** takes them to a page of your choice.

### 5. Notifications

Set the **Notification Email** addresses that get an email each time someone submits the form.

### 6. Preview

Check the form looks right, then you're done.

## Share your form

Open the form from the Web Forms list. From here you can:

- **Preview** the form as families see it.
- **Embed** it, to get the code for putting the form on another page.
- Add it to a newsletter with the **Form/Survey** element in the newsletter builder, or to an event as an **Optional Web Form**.

## View and export responses

The form's page lists its **Web Form Records**, newest first. Filter them by date or search for a name, then click **Export Records** to download them as a spreadsheet.

![A web form's page with Reminders and Web Form Records](https://schoolzine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/10/forms-form-page.png)

Use **New Reminder** to schedule a reminder message to a group on a date and time you choose. Tick **Exclude users who have submitted this form already** so only the families who still need to respond hear from you.

## Surveys

Surveys work the same way as web forms. Find them under **Content → Surveys** and click **New Survey** to start one.

## Related articles

- [Creating a poll](https://schoolzine.com/docs/creating-a-poll/)
- [Adding content to an article](https://schoolzine.com/docs/adding-content-to-an-article/)
- [Adding an event to your calendar](https://schoolzine.com/docs/adding-an-event-to-your-calendar/)

## Need a hand?

Our Customer Success Team is here to help. Call **1300 795 503**, email **support@schoolzine.com** or start a live chat in your Schoolzine account.