Asking for something to be added to a record

A phone number came in wrong, a document is missing. An amendment form changes an existing record instead of creating a second one. The visitor arrives through a link from an email, and without that link the form accepts nothing.

The purpose is chosen when you create the form

Next to the name, creating a form asks what it is for. Amendment means it changes a record that already exists. After that it cannot be switched, because a form with three hundred submissions that changes its purpose overnight explains none of them. For the same reason an amendment form has no stage and no distribution: both belong to a record that is coming into existence.

The link is written in the template

On the right of the builder is the key this form goes by in a template. In a mail you write your own address and append the key as a parameter, for example behind fall=. The variable list of the mail action shows every amendment form of the entity. The key is made from the name and never changes afterwards, even if you rename the form: otherwise every mail already sent would lose its link.

What the link opens is written into the link

The link carries a signed token. It says which record is meant, which fields may be written and for how long. The fields are the ones the form had at the moment it was sent: a field you add later does not widen an old link. A token for form A does not open the fields of form B, not even in the same account. After sixty days it has expired, and the visitor is told so in those words.

An empty field deletes nothing

The form starts empty, and only what somebody fills in gets written. A three field form where only the phone number is entered leaves the other two values standing. That is the difference from ordinary editing, and it is necessary: otherwise a skipped field would clear the record out. For the same reason no field in an amendment form is required, not even one the entity marks as required.

And it shows nothing that is already stored

The fields are empty, not prefilled. A forwarded link therefore hands on the right to write a few fields and does not reveal a single stored answer. Without a link the form shows nothing at all and says the link is incomplete. Above all it does not create a second record, which is exactly the mistake that otherwise surfaces only when somebody hunts for duplicates.

Sending a file afterwards

A file field takes up to four megabytes per file. The browser shrinks photos to 2200 pixels on the long edge beforehand, turning a six megabyte phone photo into around four hundred kilobytes. The file then hangs on the field of the record and sits there like any other document. Anything uploaded but never submitted is cleared away after a day.

Step by step

1. Create a new form and pick Amendment as the purpose.
2. Drag in the fields you want to ask for later, and save.
3. Switch the form live.
4. Read the name on the right under Key for templates.
5. Set up a mail in an automation and write the link to your own page, with the key as a parameter behind it.
6. Send the mail to yourself once and open the link.

The visitor only sees that the link is incomplete.

Then the parameter from the template is missing or got cut off on the way. An amendment form without a token deliberately shows no form, rather than rejecting at the end.

Why are the existing answers not shown in the form?

Because a link can be forwarded. It grants the right to write, not the right to read.

How long is a link valid?

Sixty days. After that the visitor gets a message of its own, so they contact you instead of trying three more times.

I added a field to the form. Can old links write to it now?

No. The scope is in the token and was fixed when the mail was sent. New mails carry the new scope.

Can I embed an amendment form on my website?

Technically yes, sensibly no. Without a link in the address it only shows the notice. It belongs in a mail.

Does an amendment count as a new lead?

No. No record is created, and no stage and no distribution start. The three actions confirmation, notification and other system still work.