General forms let you collect information without someone booking a course. For example, you can collect training enquiries, applications or interest in a future workshop.
You share the form with a link or put it on your website. When someone sends their answers, Cademy saves them as a response. You can read and manage those responses from the form.
This guide is for course providers and their teams. A General form does not create a booking or give someone a course place. For questions asked during a booking, see Forms: Checkout. For an overview of the different types, see Forms.
Before you start
Sign in to your Cademy dashboard and open Forms.
You need the Course Owner or System Admin role to manage forms. If Forms is missing, ask the person who manages your team’s Cademy access.
Every General form asks for an email address. This field is required and cannot be removed. People do not need to sign in to submit the form.
Your plan controls how many General forms you can have published at the same time:
Plan | Published General forms |
Free | 1 |
Starter | 3 |
Pro | 10 |
Teams | 50 |
Custom | Depends on the limit configured for your account. Contact Cademy if you need this checked. |
Unpublished forms do not count towards this limit. Unpublishing a form frees a place for another one.
Create your form
Open your Cademy dashboard and select Forms.
Click New Form and choose General.
Enter a Name your team will recognise, such as “Training Enquiries”, then click Create Form.
In Form Editor, enter the Form Title people should see and add a short description explaining what the form is for.
Your form starts as a draft. You will publish it after adding your questions and checking the settings. You cannot change its type later.
Set the Form Title before sharing. If you leave it blank, the public page uses the form’s internal name.
Add questions
A field is a question or a space for information, such as a name or telephone number. In Form Editor, click Add Field. You can add a contact field or a question just for this form.
Contact fields: details you want to keep about a person
Use a contact field for information such as a telephone number. The answer can be saved on the person’s contact record and used again later.
Choose an existing field under Contact Fields. To make a new one, choose New Contact Field…, choose its type, enter its details and click Create Field.
Custom fields: questions just for this form
Use a custom field for something such as “Which workshop interests you?”. Its answer stays on this response and does not change the person’s contact details.
Choose New Custom Field…, then follow the steps below. General forms do not offer Registration Fields or an Organisation Section.
Create a custom question
Click Add Field, then New Custom Field….
Choose the type of answer you want.
Enter your question under Label.
For a choice question, enter each answer choice on a separate line under Options.
If Show on the Public Form is available, keep it on so people can answer the question. File Upload and Statement fields always appear on the public form.
Click Add Field. The question appears in your form.
Question types
Field type | Use it for |
Text | A short answer. |
Text Area | A longer answer. |
Date | A calendar date. |
Number | A number, with optional minimum and maximum values. |
True/False (Boolean) | A yes or no answer. |
Telephone | A telephone number. |
An email address. | |
Website | A website address. |
File Upload | Documents or other attachments. |
Address | Street, city, postcode and country. |
Multiple Choice Checkboxes | Choosing one or more options. |
Single Choice Options | Choosing one option from a visible list. |
Dropdown | Choosing one option from a list. |
Statement | Instructions or information that do not need an answer. |
Set up a file upload
Choose File Upload and set Maximum Files, Maximum File Size (MB) and, if needed, Accepted File Types, such as .pdf.
The default is one file up to 10 MB. You can allow 1 to 10 files, up to 50 MB each. Maximum Files multiplied by Maximum File Size must be 100 MB or less. Leave Accepted File Types blank to allow any file type.
Click Save at the top after adding your questions.
Change a contact field used on several forms
Open Settings > Fields > Contacts, select the field, make your changes and click Save Field. Course Owners and System Admins can access these settings.
Changing a contact field’s name or answer choices changes it on other forms using that field, including copies of a form. Use a custom question when it should belong only to this General form.
Arrange and check your form
Move your pointer over a question to show its controls. Use Drag to Reorder to move it, or Insert Field Here to add another question above it.
Click a custom question to edit its wording or answer choices. Use Field Options to set Required and Field Width, where available.
For Number and Date fields, use Minimum and Maximum if an answer must fall within a range. Some text-based fields also offer Pattern Validation for a specific answer format; leave this blank unless you need it.
Use Remove Field to take a question off the form. Locked fields cannot be removed, including the required Email field on a General form.
Click Save in any options dialog, then Save at the top of the form to keep your changes.
If you see Unsaved changes, your latest edits have not been saved. Removing a public question keeps the answers already collected for it.
Choose how the form looks
Above the form title, use Cover to add an image. Icon helps your team recognise the form in Cademy; it is not displayed on the public form page.
Click the Submit button at the bottom of the editor to change its Button Label and Alignment. For example, use “Send Enquiry”. The default is a full-width button labelled “Submit”. Save your changes.
To rename the form for your team, open Settings, change Internal Name and click Save. The Form Title in Form Editor controls the public heading.
Form settings
Open the form’s Settings tab to choose what happens when someone sends their answers. Click Save at the top after changing these settings.
After Submission
Choose what the person sees after sending the form. Under What Happens After Someone Responds, choose:
Show A Message: enter your thank-you message under Confirmation Message. For example, “Thank you for your enquiry. Our team will be in touch.”
Redirect To A URL: enter the page you want them to see under Redirect URL. Use the full address, starting with https:// or http://.
This controls what appears on the page. Confirmation emails are set separately below.
Admin / Owner Email Notifications
Turn this on under Emails if your team should receive an email whenever someone sends a response.
Under Owners, select the team members or groups who should receive these notifications. If no owners are selected, Cademy uses your account’s notification recipients, or your System Admins if none are set.
Contact Confirmation Email
This is the email sent to the person who filled in the form.
Default Confirmation: send Cademy’s standard thank-you email. This is enabled on new General forms.
Your own template: select an email template you have created.
Turn Off: send no confirmation email.
Add Responses To Inbox
Turn this on if you want each new response to start a conversation in your Cademy Inbox. Your team can use it to follow up.
Replies to the owner notification and Default Confirmation emails join that conversation. If you use your own confirmation template, its reply-to address may send replies somewhere else.
When this setting is off, answers are still saved under Responses. An Inbox conversation can still start later if someone replies to an email using Cademy’s response reply address.
Update Existing Contacts
Cademy uses the submitted email address to find the person’s contact record. If there is no matching contact, it creates one.
For an existing contact, this setting controls whether answers from contact fields can replace saved details:
Off: fill in empty details, but keep existing ones. For example, an existing telephone number stays the same.
On: allow the new answers to replace existing details, such as a new telephone number.
The response keeps the answers the person sent either way. Custom fields only save answers on the response; they do not change the contact record.
Publish and share
Click Save to keep your latest questions and settings.
At the top of the form, open Draft and choose Publish. The form is now accepting responses.
Open Share. Under Public Link, click Open to check the public page.
Click Copy to copy the link. You can then use it in an email, on your website or in a social post.
Anyone with the published link can view and submit the form. The page shows your branding, form title, description and cover image, if one is set.
Saving changes to a published form updates the live form. Use Unpublish first if you want to stop accepting responses while you make changes.
Add the form to your website
An embed displays the form inside a page of your own website. The following setup requires a System Admin in Cademy and access to edit your website. If you are a Course Owner, ask a System Admin to set this up for you.
If Embeds has not been installed, open Apps > Embeds and click Install.
Open your published General form, then Share > Embed on Your Website.
In Embeds, check that A Form and the correct form are selected. Only published General forms are available.
Check the preview, then click Get Code.
Under Your Platform, choose General, WordPress, Wix or Squarespace.
Follow the Steps shown. Copy the Embed Code into your website, or use the Embed Address for Wix.
Add Helper Script - Once Per Site in the location shown. It helps the form resize to fit its contents. Add it once per website.
Save or publish the website page and check that the form appears.
The embedded version shows the questions and submit button. Add a heading and introduction on your website page if needed, because the form’s title, description, logo and cover are not shown in the embed.
Responses from your website and the shared link appear together in Cademy. If you use a redirect after submission, Cademy tries to open the chosen address in the visitor’s whole page. If the browser blocks that, the address opens inside the embedded form instead.
View and manage responses
Go to Forms, open the form and select Responses.
Search by contact name or email. Use the date control, initially All Time, to choose a date range. Use Source to show Public Link or Embed responses.
Open Columns and select questions under Form Questions to show their answers in the table.
Click a response to open its details and answers. Open uploaded attachments from the response.
You can correct editable answers in the response. These changes save to that response only; they do not change the contact record. The submitted Email answer cannot be edited.
System Admins can also open the contact profile and view the response’s Emails section. These controls are not shown to Course Owners.
Keep notes and track progress privately
In Responses, open Columns > New Column…, or click Add Column. Choose Status, Internal Notes, Follow-up Date or another available type. Enter or check the Label and any Options, then click Add Column.
Keep Show on the Public Form off for information that only your team should see. Click a response and enter these values under Internal. Changes save as you edit. A Follow-up Date records when you plan to return to it; it does not set an automatic reminder.
To change a column’s name or options, open the menu in its table heading and choose Edit Column…, make your changes and click Save. To remove it, choose Delete Column… and confirm with Delete Column.
Deleting an internal column also deletes its saved values from responses. Turning Show on the Public Form on makes it a question people can see and answer.
View tracking information
If you add campaign tracking details to a form link, open Columns > UTM to show the available tracking columns. These help show which email, advert or other campaign brought someone to your form. They may be blank when no tracking information was supplied.
Export responses
Open the form’s Responses tab.
Apply the date range and Source filters you need.
Click Export. When the export is ready, click Download CSV.
Form response exports do not offer scheduling or a choice of export columns. The CSV includes the submission date, contact name and email, source, supported question answers and tracking information. Address answers use separate columns. Earlier answers to questions removed from the public form are kept in the export.
The export uses the date and source filters, but not the search text. File Upload and Statement fields are excluded from the CSV. Open uploaded files from the responses instead.
Analytics: views and responses
Open Analytics and choose Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days or Last 90 Days.
Views: how many times the form was viewed.
Responses: how many responses were submitted.
Conversion Rate: responses divided by views, shown as a percentage. For example, 5 responses from 100 views is 5%.
The charts show changes over time. Shared-link and embedded activity contribute to the same form’s analytics. Views are not a count of unique people. If there are no views, conversion shows a dash.
Unpublish, copy or remove a form
Pause responses: open the form, click Published and select Unpublish. The link stays the same and shows that the form is no longer accepting responses. Publish it again to reopen it.
Rename: return to Forms, open the three-dot menu beside the form and choose Rename….
Make a copy: choose Duplicate… from the same menu. A copy keeps the same type and settings, but does not copy responses. It starts as a draft. Check its title and settings before publishing.
Remove the form: choose Delete… and read the confirmation. A form with responses is archived: it disappears from the list, but its response history is preserved. A form without responses is deleted.
Use Unpublish when you only want to pause. Export the responses you need before removing a form from the list.
Delete one response
Open the response, use the three-dot menu beside Response, select Delete Response… and confirm with Delete.
Deleting a response permanently removes it.
Frequently asked questions
Why can I not publish another form?
You may have reached your plan’s limit. Unpublish a form you no longer need, or ask your account administrator about upgrading. For a Custom plan, contact Cademy to check your limit.
Why does my link say the form is no longer accepting responses?
The form has been unpublished or archived. If it is still in your Forms list, publish it again when you want to reopen it. Someone completing a form should contact the organisation that shared it.
Why is my form missing from the website embed picker?
Only published General forms appear there. Check the form type and publish it first.
Can the same person fill in the form more than once?
Yes. Each submission creates a separate response. Cademy uses the email address to find or create the contact.
Why has a contact’s telephone number not changed?
Check Update Existing Contacts in the form’s Settings. When it is off, existing details are kept. Also check that the question is a contact field: a custom field keeps its answer on the response only.
Why can I not see a question’s answers in the table?
Open Responses > Columns and select it under Form Questions. You can also open a response to read its answers.
Why can I not see the Emails section?
That section requires the System Admin role. Ask your account’s System Admin to check the email activity.
Can I use this form as a course booking form?
No. Course booking form selectors accept Checkout forms. Follow Forms: Checkout to collect details during booking.
Where can I get help?
Use the chat in your Cademy dashboard or email support@cademy.io.