Overview
With the introduction of Forms, Fergus lets you create and attach sets of Form inputs to your Jobs and Job Phases. This provides your staff with predefined actions for them to meet the outcomes of your business and your customer.
Creating and saving Forms Templates allows you to attach these Forms to as many Jobs and Job Phases as you like, allowing you to create different Forms for different types of jobs.
In this article we'll cover:
Creating Forms Templates
Using System Tags
Managing Forms Templates
Setting User Permissions for Forms
When to use it
One of the biggest benefits of using Forms is the ability to define internal or external processes for your staff and customers. This sets expectations and provides a clear procedure for them to follow when in the field.
Additionally, Forms help you maintain accountability by assigning staff members to a Form (and set reminders). This helps ensure that your business maintains a high-quality service on every Job.
With Forms you can rest assured that your staff is following the company procedures and customers are clear on the outcomes of the Jobs done. This feature is ideal for situations in which you want to offer customers a warranty for the work completed, so creating a Template to fill with each Job is a breeze.
How to use it
1. Creating Forms Templates
Creating your custom Form Templates and then publishing them allows you to attach the same Template to multiple Jobs or Job Phases.
To create a Form Template, go to Settings > Forms
Note: only users with the right permissions can create Form Templates. See the Permissions section in this article for more details.
Click the New Template button at the top of the page. This will open the Form builder page.
In the Form builder, give your Form Template a name by clicking the heading.
By default, this new Form is empty and ready to have elements added to it. On the right-hand side, you can see all the various types of elements that can be used to build your Template. Just simply click on one element and drag it to the middle workspace.
We have put at your disposal many different types of elements that can make up your Form Templates.
Instructional elements are elements that are used internally to help you format or provide context to the staff filling the Form.
Heading Add a header to your Form to break it up into sections for better formatting.
Section Try to click and drag elements into a section to help organise information.
Paragraph Give your Form more context by adding a paragraph for things like instructions or details. Remember these are just instructional text on a Form and the user can't overwrite it.
Divider Add a divider to your Form to break it up for better formatting.
Page Break Add a page break to your Form to start a new page. This only appears in the print PDF version of the Form.
Image Give your Form more context by adding an image for things like visual instructions or details. Remember these are just instructional and the user can't overwrite it.
Blank Space Add a blank space to your Form to break it up for better formatting.
Data Entry Elements are elements that are added to the Form and used to collect the data when filling up the Form.
Multiple Choice Your staff can tick or leave to show completion/non-completion of a task.
Single Choice Your staff can tick one option to show completion/non-completion of a task.
Date Input Your staff can enter a date using the date picker.
Time Input Your staff can enter time using the time picker.
Number Input Your staff can enter numbers.
Short Text Your staff can enter short amounts of text.
Long Text Your staff can enter long amounts of text.
Photo Your staff can upload a photo.
Signature - this field allows you to collect signatures from the customer of the staff filling the Form, based on the needs of the Template built.
To re-order your Form items, hover on the Form item, then click and drag using the drag icon to the left side of each box.
To delete an item, click on the item, and click Delete element on the right.
2. Using System Tags
In the Form builder
Part of Forms is the ability to use system tags, these enable you to rapidly fill out Forms without having to manually fill in the information every time. Try it out by by typing the "#" key in any short-text or long-text field to see the suggested results.
We have put at your disposal many different types of system tags that can automatically populate your Forms.
Job Details These are system tags used to pull details from the current Job where the assigned Form is.
Job Number Current Job number where the Form is assigned to e.g. FERGUS-164
Job Type The type of Job created e.g. Quote
Job Title The name of the Job e.g. New kitchen
Job Description Current description from the Job
Job Phase Details These are system tags used to pull details from the current Job Phase where the Form has been assigned to.
Job Phase Name The name of the Job Phase where the Form is assigned to
Job Phase Description Description of the Job Phase
Site Default Contact First Name The site's default contact's first name
Site Default Contact Last Name The site's default contact's last name
Site Default Contact Phone The site's default contact's phone number
Site Default Contact Email The site's default contact's email address
Site Billing Contact First Name The billing contact's first name
Site Billing Contact Last Name The site's billing contact's last name
Site Billing Contact Phone The site's billing contact's phone number
Site Billing Contact Mobile The site's billing contact's mobile number
Site Billing Contact Email The site's billing contact's email address
Site Physical Address The site's physical address
Site Postal Address The site's postal address
Customer Details These are system tags used to pull details from the current customer where the Form has been assigned to.
Customer Order Number Customer reference tag from the Job details summary on a Job
Customer Main Contact Phone Phone number of the main contact where the Form has been assigned to
Customer Billing Contact Phone The customers billing contact phone number
Customer Full Name Customers full name (first and last names)
Customer Physical Address Customers physical address
Customer Postal Address Customers postal address
Customer Main Contact First Name The Customers main contact first name
Customer Main Contact Last Name The Customers main contact last name
Customer Main Contact Email Customers main contact email address
Customer Main Contact Phone Customers main contact phone number
Customer Billing Contact First Name Customers billing contact first name
Customer Billing Contact Last Name Customers billing contact last name
Customer Billing Contact Email Customers billing contact email address
Customer Billing Contact Phone Customers billing contact phone number
Customer Company Name The customers company name
Business Details These are system tags used to pull details from the organisation from the user who is currently logged in.
Business Name Employees business name
Business Address Employees business address
Business Logo Employees business logo
GST Number GST number from business account settings
Payment Terms Payment terms from the Job e.g. 7 days
Bank Account Bank account number from business account settings
Employee Details These are system tags used to pull details from the current user who is logged in.
Employee Name The name of the signed in user filling in the Form
Employee Email Email address of the signed user filling in the Form
Employee Signature Signature of the signed in user filling in the Form
Employee License Number License number used for certification (Valid only for customers that have the Certificate Add-on)
Form Settings
When working with your Forms you can number your Form. This allows you to have a sequential serial number for every Form generated.
Element Settings
When selecting an element on your Template, you can access it's settings so you can customise its behaviour. You can hide the element's label (title), you can hide its description (if the element has one), or mark it as required. This means that this element will have to have a value when the Form is being completed or you won't be able to publish otherwise.
Another great feature is the element resizing. This allows you to split the Form into up to three columns and drag elements in these three columns for optimal formatting. By default, we add all elements one after another in one single column. Depending on each element some may have additional settings like Alignment or Font size.
When you are happy with your Form Template, click "Save". Your Form is now ready to be published. Go ahead and click Publish. Your Form is now ready to be added to your Jobs and Job Phases.
3. Managing Form Templates
The Forms page displays all your saved and archived Form Templates. Here, you can search, filter, edit, archive and delete your Form Templates.
Note: Archived Templates will always be accessible from the Form page and can be unarchived at any time. Deleting a Form Template will permanently remove the Template from your Fergus system and cannot be undone.
4. Setting User Permissions
Setting User Permissions allows you to control who can:
Create and edit Form Templates
Add Forms and assign staff to Jobs and Job Phases
Complete Forms and Forms items
To set User Permissions for Forms go to Settings > Users > and click the Permissions tab for each user.
Note: It is important to know that by default any user can tick/untick items that are left unassigned. Make sure you enable your staff with the right permissions to perform all the required steps.
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