Access Codes for Smart Forms
Did you know you can customise how recipients access the smart forms you send to them from WriteUpp?
In Settings -> General under Smart Form completion, site administrators can choose whether or not an access code is required to open smart forms and if so, how you wish for that code to be received. There are three options under this setting: None, Email and SMS, with SMS being the default setting.
Whatever you choose here will be applied by default to all smart forms sent by all users throughout WriteUpp.
Any linked forms sent in emails from WriteUpp will always use the access code setting within Settings -> General.
If you are sending a smart form from Create -> Assessment, you have the option to change the access code setting for that specific form before sending it:
This may come in handy if, for example, you have ‘SMS’ selected in your general settings but you realise that the person you are sending the smart form to doesn’t have a mobile phone. You can simply change the access code setting for that form only to email or none to allow them to access and complete the form.
The access code requirement on a form will be set at the time it is sent. If you have the access code dropdown set to SMS and then change it to none, any forms sent before the change will still require the SMS code. Any forms sent after the change was made will use the new requirement and therefore not need a code.
If you have ‘None’ selected under the Smart form completion setting, then no access code will be sent to the recipient of the smart form when they click on the link. The recipient can simply follow the link they receive and head straight to the form.
If you send a smart form from Create -> Assessment by clicking on the smart form icon, the email received will contain the link to access the form:
If you send a form as a linked form embedded in an email from WriteUpp, the link will be presented in the body of your email and no further instructions should be required.
Important information! ⬇️
If a smart form is sent without an access code, autosave will not be present when the recipient is completing the form. This means that their progress will not be saved as they go, and information will not be retained between sessions to allow them to return to a form before submitting it. If they lose their internet signal, they will lose the information entered and have to start again. You also will not see the status of "autosaved" against a form on the Forms/Assessments tab of the client summary once they have started completing it.
This is because although the link is intended to only be accessed by the recipient (and the page address is structured in with this in mind), without the code, it is a public URL and we cannot allow potentially identifiable information to be retained on the page by the autosave.
Furthermore, after 55 minutes of filling out the form, the client will recieve a warning that their session is about to expire. If they do not choose to extend their session, then at 60 minutes they will lose all their work, as autosave will not have been running.
For that reason, we strongly recommend that either SMS or email access codes are used when sending forms. None should only be used if absolutely necessary to avoid any issues related to what is stated above.
Email
Choosing ‘Email’ means the recipient will receive an access code to their email address. This access code will follow shortly after the client clicks on the link to the smart form.
If you send a smart form from Create -> Assessment by clicking on the smart form icon, the email received will advise the recipient of this:
If you send a form as a linked form embedded in an email from WriteUpp, you might want to add information regarding how to expect the code to be delivered to the body of your email.
Entering the six digit access code will allow the recipient access to the smart form. From there they can complete the details and submit the form back to you.
'SMS' is the default setting and is what we generally recommend as it provides a true two-factor-authentication on the form. With SMS selected, the recipient of the smart form will receive a text message to their mobile phone shortly after following the link to the smart form.
If you send a smart form from Create -> Assessment by clicking on the smart form icon, the email received will advise the recipient of this:
If you send a form as a linked form embedded in an email from WriteUpp, again you might want to add information regarding how to expect the code to be delivered to the body of your email.
They can then use this code to access the smart form, complete it and send it back.
In Settings -> General under Smart Form completion, site administrators can choose whether or not an access code is required to open smart forms and if so, how you wish for that code to be received. There are three options under this setting: None, Email and SMS, with SMS being the default setting.
Whatever you choose here will be applied by default to all smart forms sent by all users throughout WriteUpp.
Any linked forms sent in emails from WriteUpp will always use the access code setting within Settings -> General.
If you are sending a smart form from Create -> Assessment, you have the option to change the access code setting for that specific form before sending it:
This may come in handy if, for example, you have ‘SMS’ selected in your general settings but you realise that the person you are sending the smart form to doesn’t have a mobile phone. You can simply change the access code setting for that form only to email or none to allow them to access and complete the form.
The access code requirement on a form will be set at the time it is sent. If you have the access code dropdown set to SMS and then change it to none, any forms sent before the change will still require the SMS code. Any forms sent after the change was made will use the new requirement and therefore not need a code.
None
If you have ‘None’ selected under the Smart form completion setting, then no access code will be sent to the recipient of the smart form when they click on the link. The recipient can simply follow the link they receive and head straight to the form.
If you send a smart form from Create -> Assessment by clicking on the smart form icon, the email received will contain the link to access the form:
If you send a form as a linked form embedded in an email from WriteUpp, the link will be presented in the body of your email and no further instructions should be required.
Important information! ⬇️
If a smart form is sent without an access code, autosave will not be present when the recipient is completing the form. This means that their progress will not be saved as they go, and information will not be retained between sessions to allow them to return to a form before submitting it. If they lose their internet signal, they will lose the information entered and have to start again. You also will not see the status of "autosaved" against a form on the Forms/Assessments tab of the client summary once they have started completing it.
This is because although the link is intended to only be accessed by the recipient (and the page address is structured in with this in mind), without the code, it is a public URL and we cannot allow potentially identifiable information to be retained on the page by the autosave.
Furthermore, after 55 minutes of filling out the form, the client will recieve a warning that their session is about to expire. If they do not choose to extend their session, then at 60 minutes they will lose all their work, as autosave will not have been running.
For that reason, we strongly recommend that either SMS or email access codes are used when sending forms. None should only be used if absolutely necessary to avoid any issues related to what is stated above.
Choosing ‘Email’ means the recipient will receive an access code to their email address. This access code will follow shortly after the client clicks on the link to the smart form.
If you send a smart form from Create -> Assessment by clicking on the smart form icon, the email received will advise the recipient of this:
If you send a form as a linked form embedded in an email from WriteUpp, you might want to add information regarding how to expect the code to be delivered to the body of your email.
Entering the six digit access code will allow the recipient access to the smart form. From there they can complete the details and submit the form back to you.
SMS
'SMS' is the default setting and is what we generally recommend as it provides a true two-factor-authentication on the form. With SMS selected, the recipient of the smart form will receive a text message to their mobile phone shortly after following the link to the smart form.
If you send a smart form from Create -> Assessment by clicking on the smart form icon, the email received will advise the recipient of this:
If you send a form as a linked form embedded in an email from WriteUpp, again you might want to add information regarding how to expect the code to be delivered to the body of your email.
They can then use this code to access the smart form, complete it and send it back.
Updated on: 17/05/2023
Thank you!