Creating a Form

Setting up a new intake process usually means coordinating with IT, building a form in a separate tool, and then manually transferring the collected data into your contracts. With Pactly forms, you build the questionnaire and connect it directly to your contract templates, all in one place.

Creating a form gives you a reusable intake questionnaire that collects exactly the information your templates need, routes submissions to the right people, and can generate contracts automatically.

The form builder is accessed from Manage Forms in the left sidebar. It has three tabs:

• Fields - Add, edit, reorder, and organize form fields into sections
• Actions - Configure what happens when the form is submitted (contract generation, redirect, etc.)
• Settings - Form-level configuration: naming patterns, email settings, access controls

The Fields and Actions tabs are covered below. Actions and Settings have their own dedicated articles for deeper coverage.

Step-through All steps

Step 1 of 6

1

Open Manage Forms

Click **Manage Forms** in the left sidebar to see your form library.

2

Click Add Form

Click the **Add form** button in the top right. A dialog opens where you configure the new form.

3

Fill in the form details

Enter a **Form title** (3-256 characters) and a **Form description** (3-1024 characters, supports rich text) that explains the purpose of the form to requesters. Optionally enable **Currency** to add a currency selector, or assign a **Group** to restrict visibility.

4

Start adding fields

Click **Create**. The form builder opens with the Fields tab active and an empty field list. Click **Add Field** to create your first field.

5

Configure each field

For each field, select a **type** from the dropdown (text, number, date, list, party, file, etc.), enter the **question** text, set whether it is **required**, and optionally add **help text**. The editor panel on the right shows type-specific options.

6

Review the Actions and Settings tabs

Switch to the **Actions** tab to configure what happens on submission (contract generation, import, redirect). Then check the **Settings** tab for naming patterns, email preferences, and entry management. See [Form Actions](/help/forms/06-form-actions) and [Field Mappings and Naming](/help/forms/07-field-mappings-and-naming) for details.

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Each field type has additional options. For example, list fields have options to configure, date fields have format settings, and party fields have role and attribute configuration. These are covered in the Field Types Reference.

Sections break your form into logical groups. By default, all fields are in a single section. To add sections:

1. Click Add Section at the top of the Fields tab
2. Enter a section name (3-64 characters) and position number
3. Optionally enable “Group can be submitted” to allow section-by-section submission

Fields can be assigned to sections from the field editor dropdown, or by dragging fields between sections.

Fields within a section can be reordered by dragging them. Grab a field from its drag handle and drop it in the desired position. The position numbers update automatically.

You can also drag fields between sections. Drag a field from one section and drop it into another. An empty section shows the message “No fields in section. You can add fields by dragging them here.”

Each section header displays:

• Field count - How many fields are in this section
• Condition count - How many conditional fields are in this section
• Submittable badge - Shows if the section can be submitted independently

Sections can be edited (rename, reposition) or deleted. System sections cannot be deleted.

Click Preview in the form header to see how the form looks to requesters. The preview opens in a new tab and shows the full form with all sections and fields rendered.

In preview mode:

• Fields can be filled to test behavior
• Conditional logic is active (fields show/hide based on answers)
• File uploads and form submission are disabled
• A warning banner reminds you that this is preview mode

Click Edit in the form header to update the form title, description, currency setting, or group assignment. The same dialog from creation appears with the current values pre-filled.

Forms have a lock toggle in the header to prevent accidental changes. When locked, a lock icon appears and field editing is disabled. Click the lock icon to unlock before making changes. This is particularly useful for production forms that should not be modified without deliberate intent.

To duplicate a form with all its fields, actions, and configuration, use the clone function. This is useful when:

• Creating a similar form for a different contract type
• Setting up a test copy to experiment with changes
• Building a form for a different team based on an existing template

Cloning copies all fields (with their conditions and mappings), all form actions, and all sections. The cloned form gets a new name and can be modified independently.

Click Delete in the form header. Deleting a form also deactivates all access keys associated with it, so anyone with an existing link will see a “form not available” message.

Deletion is a soft delete. Submitted entries from the deleted form remain accessible in the entries list.

The Manage Forms page shows all forms in a sortable table with:

Click any form row to open the form builder. Click the edit icon to update the form’s basic properties (title, description, position).

• Field Types Reference
• Conditional Logic
• Form Actions
• Field Mappings and Naming
• Sharing and Access