How to allow a user to input free text in the response form

About this article

This article will explain how to allow the user to input free text in the response form so it can be utilized to populate the smart template. 

• How to allow for free text input in the response form? 
• Text question examples

Prerequisites

How to allow for free text input in the response form? 

When building the response form, the Text question can be utilized to allow for free text input. Creating a Text question can be achieved by following these steps: 

1. In the Template Designer, navigate to the Form tab
2. Click Add question 
3. Select Text in the Type dropdown
4. Enter the Question title
   This will be displayed to end-user and will guide them to provide the relevant answer
5. Optionally, set additional settings to the question
   • Required: Enable this option if the user should be prevented from finalizing the generation of the template if the input is missing. An asterisk will be displayed in the response form to indicate that the question is mandatory. 
   • Hint text: Prepopulate the question to guide the user when filling in the response form of the expected answer. The hint text will be deleted when the user selects the question.
   • Reference name: Will be prepopulated based on the question title. The reference name will be displayed when utilizing the form responses smart field and is also the Name utilized in the binding syntax.  
   • Prefill text: Prepopulate the question with a default value to guide the user when filling in the response form of the expected answer. The prefill text can be edited and will remain when the user selects the question. It can utilize simple text or the binding syntax to achieve more complex use cases.
     
     

     To show multiple lines of text as prefill text, create a data source with a text field and tick 'Multiple lines'. Enter multiple lines of text. Use the DataSources[] function in the Prefill text field to retrieve the value from the data source, for example {{DataSources.Products["Menu"].Value}}.

     
     
     
   • Textbox height: Set the height of the textbox in lines of text. The default height of a text question is set to 1 line.
   • Spacing before: Edit the space between the question and the elements above it in the response form (none, medium, or large).
   • Space after: Edit the space between the question and the elements below it in the response form (none, medium, or large).
   • Helptext prefix: Add additional help text above the question to guide the user when filling in the response form of the expected answer.
   • Helptext postfix: Add additional help text below the question to guide the user when filling in the response form of the expected answer.
   • Max lenght: Restrict the number of characters that can be entered by the user when answering the question.
   • Share value: Enable this option if the same question will be utilized in the response form of dynamic text elements or slides that would be inserted when generating a document or a presentation. The answer to this question will be reused to avoid prompting the user with redundant questions.
6. Click Add to form
   
   • The Text question will be added to the response form 
   • The question will be displayed in the form responses smart field using its Reference name 
   • Reference name of the question can be utilized in binding syntax to achieve more complex use cases using the Custom text binding smart field or to set template settings and properties.

Text question examples

Required subject question for a letter

Create a Text question using " Subject:" as the Question title and the Required option. 

Larger text question to input the address of the recipient for a letter

Create a Text question using " Address of the recipient:" as the Question title, editing the Textbox height, and adding Helptext prefix.

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