What this is, and who it is for
How a form is laid out for the person entering data: grouping fields into sections, adding headings, descriptions, instructions and separators, and choosing how wide a field is and how its choices are arranged. A good layout keeps a long form readable and tells the person what to do; it never changes what is stored.
Where to find it
Drag Section, Heading, Description, Instruction or Separator from the toolbox. Layout settings are on the Style tab of the selected field (Field properties).
What you can do
- Put fields inside a section by dropping them onto it (an empty section says Drop fields here), or with the section's Add field inside section button. Drag a field out to move it back to the form.
- Collapse a section on the canvas with its chevron (Collapse section / Expand section) while you work. This is for the builder only; the person entering data sees the section open.
- Duplicate a section (the copy carries all its fields, each with a new variable name:
AGEbecomesAGE_1) or delete it. - Show or hide a whole section with a visibility condition (Conditional logic): everything inside follows.
Every option
What each layout piece looks like to the person entering data
| Piece | Appears as |
|---|---|
| Section | A rule across the page, its label as a heading, its description below, then its fields |
| Heading | A heading line; sub-text below it in smaller type |
| Description | A paragraph of text |
| Instruction | A blue call-out box (text, and smaller text below) for the person entering data |
| Separator | A thin horizontal line |
A section's variable name is the group key in exported design information; a section captures no value of its own. Headings, descriptions, instructions and separators have no variable and are never exported.
Style tab
| Setting | Offered for | What it does at data entry |
|---|---|---|
| Bold, Italic, Underline | Section and static content | A Heading honours italic and underline; a Description honours bold and italic; an Instruction and a Section heading ignore them. Settings that a piece does not honour do nothing |
| Field width | Every data field | Full width, Half (1/2), Third (1/3), Quarter (1/4) of the row, side by side on a wide screen and stacked on a narrow one. This is how to put two or three short fields on one line |
| Options layout | Radio and Multi-Select | Vertical (one under another), Horizontal (in a row, wrapping), Grid (two columns) |
| Checkbox position | Checkbox | The box left or right of its label |
| Highlighted | Every field with the Style tab | A faint tint behind the field |
| Columns (1 to 4) | Section | Stored with the design, but not used: fields in a section are laid out by their own widths. Use field widths instead |
| Bordered | Every field with the Style tab | Stored, but not used |
The form also has a name, a code, a version label and a description; they are the form's details, not layout, and are edited on the Forms list (Versions, reopening and publishing).
Numbering
Data fields are numbered 1, 2, 3 … down the form in the order they appear, hidden ones skipped; headings, descriptions, instructions and separators are not numbered.
What the system records
Layout is part of the form's design revision and its snapshot. Because layout can be changed in an amendment without touching any variable, the amendment's change summary classifies a pure layout change as Low.
What you cannot do, and why
- Make a field span a number of columns freely. Only the four widths are offered.
- Collapse a section for the person entering data. The form is always shown in full so nothing is overlooked.
- Add a page break. A form is one long page; split a long form into several forms bound to the same visit instead.
Compliance Q&A
No Q&A applies: layout does not touch records, checks, signatures or access.
Related
Field properties · Field types · Conditional logic · Preview and testing