Create a form
Build a form in RandomCoffee from a template or from scratch, with questions, pages, conditional logic and your own look, then use its answers in your categories and programs.
Forms let you collect structured information and feedback from your people, directly in RandomCoffee: run a poll, ask for feedback after an event, or gather the data you need for your matching. You build the form, share it with the right people, then analyze the answers in real time, all in one place.
How forms work
A form goes through three stages:
- Build it: start from a template or from scratch, then add questions, pages and conditional logic. This article covers this stage.
- Share it: publish the form, choose who can answer it, then send its link. See Share a form.
- Act on the answers: read the results question by question, export them, and turn the answers into member data. See Form responses.
You find your forms in the “Content” menu, under “Forms”.
Create a form
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Open your forms.
In the menu, go to “Content” > “Forms”.
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Start a new form.
Click “New Form” (or “Create your first form” if you have none yet). Enter its “Name”, then click “Create”. The name is for you: it identifies the form in your list.
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Build your form.
The form editor opens. Add your questions as explained below, and click “Save” as you go.
Start from a template
Rather than starting from a blank page, you can start from a ready-made form:
- In “Content” > “Forms”, click “Browse Library”.
- In the “Forms Library”, search by name or question, or filter the templates by category (feedback, onboarding, engagement, events…).
- Click “Preview” to see a template, then “Use” (or “Use this template” from the preview).
RandomCoffee creates a new draft form from the template and opens it in the editor. Customize it as you like: the template itself does not change.
Build your form
At the top of the form, write a clear title and a description that tell people why you collect this data. Below, your form is made of blocks, organized in pages.
Add blocks
A block is a piece of your form: a question, a text, an image… Click “Add a block” under the last block of the page.
A window opens with all the blocks, in three groups: “Questions”, “Layout blocks” and “Embed blocks”. Search with “Search blocks…”, or click a block to see its description and an example, then click “Insert”.
Questions
| Block | What respondents do |
|---|---|
| “Single Choice” | Select one option from a short list. |
| “Checkboxes” | Select one or more options from a list. |
| “Dropdown” | Select from a long list of options. |
| “Ranking” | Rank options by dragging them into their preferred order. |
| “Short Answer” | Write a short text, such as a name, a title or a brief comment. |
| “Long Answer” | Write a detailed answer. |
| “Matrix” | Answer several rows with the same set of options, like a table. |
| “Score Scale” | Choose a score on a fixed scale, for example from 0 to 10. |
| “Star Rating” | Rate something with stars. |
| “Number” | Enter a number. Any other input is rejected. |
| “Yes / No” | Answer yes or no. |
| “Date” and “Date & Time” | Pick a date, or a date and a time. |
| “Email” and “Url” | Enter an email address or a website link. Badly formatted answers are rejected. |
| “Image upload” | Upload an image (JPEG, PNG, GIF or WebP, up to 5 MB). |
| “Email verification” | Confirm their email address with a one-time code before they can submit the form. |
| “Hidden field” | Nothing: the block records data passed in the form link, as URL query parameters (for example ?source=newsletter). |
| “Respondent’s country” | Nothing: the country is detected from the respondent’s IP address. |
Layout blocks
- “Paragraph”: formatted text, such as instructions or context.
- “Page break”: splits your form into several pages.
- “‘Thank you’ page”: the page respondents see after they submit the form.
- “Divider”: a line that separates two parts of the same page.
Embed blocks
- “Image”, “Video” and “Audio”: add a picture, a short introduction video or a podcast clip.
- “Embed”: display external content, such as a dashboard or a web app.
Write your questions
Once a block is added, write your question in its first field. Below it, you can add help text in “Add optional help text…”.
For questions with options, write each option, then use the minus and plus buttons to remove an option or add one below. Click the handle in front of an option to open its settings:
- “Category label”: groups the options under a heading, which is useful for long lists;
- “Description”: adds an information icon next to the option, with your text in a tooltip.
Save as you build: click “Save” at the top right of the editor regularly.
Block settings and actions
Hover a block to show three icons on its left: the bin deletes the block, the plus adds a block, and the handle lets you drag the block to move it, or click it to open its menu.
The menu first shows the settings of the block:
- “Required”: respondents must answer the question;
- “Hidden”: the question is hidden from respondents, for example until a conditional logic rule shows it;
- depending on the type of question: “Multiple” (several answers in a “Dropdown”), “Min selections” and “Max selections” (“Checkboxes”), “Min value” and “Max value”, or “Rate count” (number of stars or points of the scale).
Below, the actions:
- “Delete”: removes the block.
- “Duplicate as separate question”: creates an independent copy, with new options. Use it when the copy will be edited and analyzed separately.
- “Duplicate with linked options”: for questions with options only. Creates a new question that reuses the same options, for example mentor skills and mentee skills. See Use the answers in your categories.
- “Turn into”: changes the type of the question, for example from “Single Choice” to “Dropdown”.
- “Move to page”: moves the block to another page of the form.
Pages
Your form starts with one page. To add one, click the plus next to the page tabs and choose “Simple Page” or “Thank You Page” (one per form; it only accepts layout and embed blocks). Each page tab has its own menu to rename, duplicate or remove the page.
A progress bar at the top of the form shows respondents how far they are, which is especially useful when your form has several pages.
You can turn this progress bar off in the settings of the form. See Share a form.
Conditional logic
Conditional logic shows or hides questions based on previous answers, so that each respondent only sees what concerns them.
- At the top right of the editor, click the “Conditional logic” icon.
- Click “Add rule”.
- Under “When”, set the condition: a question, a comparison (“Is”, “Is not”, “Contains”, “Greater than”…) and a value. Add more conditions and combine them with “And” or “Or”.
- Under “Then”, choose what happens: “Jump to page”, “Show field”, “Hide field”, “Require answer” or “Make answer optional”, and the page or question concerned.
- Click “Save”.
Brand your form
- Title and description: they appear at the top of the form. Explain why you collect this data and how you will use it.
- Cover image: RandomCoffee adds a cover image when you create a form. Hover it to “Change cover” (from your uploads, your assets, a link or Unsplash), “Reposition” it or “Remove cover”. Without a cover, click “Add a cover image”.
- Colors: click the “Customize colors” icon at the top right of the editor to set the theme, font, colors, page width, and the style of inputs and buttons. These settings only apply to the page your respondents see.
Preview your form
Click the “Preview” icon (the eye) at the top right of the editor to see your form as respondents will. You can answer the questions to test them: your answers are not recorded.
Restore a previous version
Every time you save, RandomCoffee keeps a version of your form. Click the “Version history” icon at the top right of the editor: select a version in the list to preview it, with who saved it and when, then click “Restore” to go back to it.
Use the answers in your categories
The answers of a form can become member data. Each question can be mapped to a category, new or existing, and each answer becomes the value of that category on the member’s profile. You can then use these categories in your audiences and matching rules. See Form responses.
For skill-based matching, a “Category overlap” rule compares two categories that share the same options, such as the skills mentors offer and the skills mentees seek. Two categories created separately do not share their options, even with the same values. To get them from a form:
- Add a “Checkboxes” question with the list of skills, for example “Which skills can you share?”.
- In its menu, click “Duplicate with linked options”, then rephrase the copy, for example “Which skills do you want to develop?”.
- In the form responses, map each question to a new category.
Both categories then share the same options, and the “Category overlap” rule can compare them. See Skill-based matching.
Attach a form to a program
In the settings of a mentoring program, the “Program forms” section attaches forms at three stages: “Registration” (when participants register, with open enrollment), “Opt-in” (when they are asked to take part) and “Post-match” (after they are matched). Attach a published form: participants cannot submit a draft form.
Program forms come with mentoring programs, part of the mentoring add-on on the Pro and Enterprise plans. See Program forms.
Manage your forms
“Content” > “Forms” lists all your forms. Filter them with “All”, “Draft” or “Published”, and sort them by last update, creation date, name or status. A draft form shows “Keep editing”; a published form shows its number of submissions and a button to copy its link.
The three dots at the end of each line give you:
- “Details”: opens the form (its results if it is published, the editor if it is a draft);
- “Duplicate”: creates a draft copy of the form, named “(Copy)” followed by the original name;
- “Delete”: removes the form, after confirmation.
To rename a form, open it and click the three dots next to its name.