How do I use Forms in Onside?

The Onside Forms feature is one of our latest improvements and it goes far beyond the name. With this feature you have full creative freedom to create customized documents, checklists, forms, and questionnaires. You are in control of how you collect important information for your business.

Below are just a few examples of how you could use Onside Forms. We're excited to see all the creative uses for Forms our users come up with.

Vehicle pre-start checklist
Contractor prequalification form (Coming soon)
Asset use questionnaire

Create a form

1. Click on 'Documents' in the sidemenu, then the green 'Add' button on the right
2. On the pop-up that appears, select 'New Document' then 'Create form'
3. Give your form a name, optionally a description too
4. If your document/form is going to relate or connect to an asset, tick the 'Asset selection is required' box. You can also make selecting a property mandatory.
5. Your document/form can have multiple pages, and how you lay these out will be important for readability for the person accessing it. In some cases, you could use each page as a way to create sections. Each page will also need a title.
6. Now for the details. Start with a heading, paragraph, or attachment, then follow up with a question. The question options shown below are for how the user can respond.
   
   'Location' for example will allow me to ask a question and the response from the user will be a location pinpoint, whereas with 'Image/document request' I can ask for a specific document, and the user will be able to upload it. You can also choose to make their response required.
   
   
   Keeping adding questions until you're finished with the page or section. Choose 'Page' to start working on your next page.
   
   
7. Once you're happy with what you've created, click 'Preview' to see how users would interact with the form. At any time you can save the form as a draft and come back to it later.
8. Once you've done your final checks and are ready for the form to be used, simply click 'Publish'.
   
   

For added peace of mind, at the end of every form there is also an acknowledgement disclaimer that needs to be agreed to by the person completing the form. Like the one shown right.

Forms links

Link forms and documents to assets

Linking forms and documents to assets can quickly be done from the 'Documents' tab of an asset. If you haven't created your form or uploaded the document yet, click 'Link' then click 'New document' and choose to upload your document or 'Create form' to enter the form builder.

Once a form has been connected to your asset, it can be accessed and completed from the Onside app (see right) by scanning your asset's QR code, from 'Company assets' in the 'More' tab for your company members, or from the property page for team members. Documents can be found in the 'More' tab of the asset in the app.

You'll be able to see the last time you completed the form, as well as your colleagues. Saving on double work, such as daily pre-start checks.

Take a look at our Assets guide for more information on adding and managing your assets.

Link forms with properties

By linking your forms and documents to specific properties, staff in that property's team can access them whenever they need, right from the Onside app. To start linking, follow the steps below

Link a property to forms

From the web portal, navigate to the property you want to link to documents and forms. Click the 'Documents' tab and then 'Link' to choose what to make available to your property team's staff.

Link forms to properties

From the web portal, click on the 'Documents' option in the sidemenu and select the document or form you'd like to link. Click the 'Properties' tab to then link to your managed properties.

For both methods, once linked, your staff will be able to access the forms from 'Documents' on the property's home page in the Onside app, via the 'My properties' list or by checking in to it.

Share forms with contractors - COMING SOON

Offline functionality

Like many things in Onside, forms can be accessed and completed offline. For this to work however, the user needs to have previously accessed the form when in mobile reception. From there, it is stored within the app for them to use as they need. Form submissions, like risk and incident reports, will be sent to our servers once the app has signal again.

If you have any questions or need any help, you can reach us on 0800 ONSIDE (NZ), 1800 112334 (AU), or email Support@onside.co

If you have an idea for an improvement to Onside, you can add it directly to our product board.