Create and share an external form
Learn how to create and share external forms to collect responses from anyone at any time.
In this article
About external forms
External forms give you a flexible way to collect information from anyone, whether they’re an existing client or someone new to your business. You can share them anywhere using a link or QR code, making it easy to collect responses whenever you need them.
You can add both external forms and client forms directly to appointments or client profiles. For forms you need clients to complete regularly, you can set up client forms to be sent automatically based on specific services and appointments.
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From the main menu on the left of your screen, go to Settings.
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Under Workspace settings, click on Forms to open your list of forms.
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Click on the Create form button to begin.
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Select External form from the options.
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Choose how you want to create a new form to continue:
- Create a blank form: Click Create new build your own pages and questions from scratch.
- Use a template: Pick from ready-made templates, including forms you previously created. Click Preview to see how a template looks and Use template customize it.
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Enter a Name that clients see when they’re asked to complete the form. Add an optional Description and Category to help your team find and use the right form.
- You can choose from categories that you have previously created or create one by selecting Create new category.
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In the Build tab, select the page to open the Edit Page panel to add a Title and an optional Description for your form.
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To build out your form, choose components from the panel on the left. Click a component to add it, or drag it onto the page where you want it:
- Custom: Select the types of fields you want to add to your form, including different questions, text boxes, and signatures.
- Client details: Add fields for specific information you want about your clients on the form. These are automatically filled from the client’s profile, and any changes they enter updates on their profile when the form is completed.
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In the Edit component panel, type the question you want to ask and fill in the component’s other options, such as answer choices.
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Tick the boxes to choose when clients need to answer the question:
- Require this field: Clients must answer this question before they can complete the form.
- Conditional logic: Show a question based on a client's previous answer. Under Show question if, select the earlier question, then choose which answer triggers this question to appear.
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In the Settings tab, choose how clients fill out the form by enabling the following options:
- Pre-fill answers from previous submissions: Let returning clients start with the answers they gave last time.
- Allow multiple submissions: Let the same person submit the form more than once.
- Redirect to URL: Send people to a web page after they submit the form, such as your website or booking page. Enter the page’s URL.
- Display custom message on success screen: Show your own message after someone submits the form, such as a thank-you note or what happens next.
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Click on the Create form button in the top right to save it.
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Your external form has been created and is ready to share. Click Done to return to your client forms list.
Your form has now been created and is labelled External in your forms list. You can share it as a link, a QR code, or add it to an appointment or client profile at any time.
You can type directly into your form at any point, drag and drop components and pages to rearrange them, and use the icons next to each to duplicate or delete them.
Share an external form
You can share an external form you have created at any time from your Client forms homepage.
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Next to the form you want to share, click Actions (three dots) and select from the following options:
- Copy link: The link copies, allowing you to paste it wherever you want to share it, for example on social media or on your website.
- Copy QR code: In the pop-up, select whether your code is black or white. Then click Copy or Download to choose how to share it. You can print it on business cards, flyers, or your salon window.
FAQs
Anyone with the form link or QR code can open and complete it in their browser, without needing to log in or create a Fresha account.
External form submissions are automatically saved to an existing client’s profile if their email address and phone number both match the details on their profile, or if they’re logged into their Fresha account when submitting the form.
You can also manually link an external form submission to a client’s profile.
You can view responses to your external form by opening the form from the Forms page and selecting the Submissions tab.
You can edit an external form at any time. Anyone completing the form after your changes sees the updated version, while previous submissions remain saved with the original responses.
To stop accepting new submissions, click Actions (three dots) next to the form and select Archive. This prevents further submissions while keeping previous responses available to view at any time.