​

Creating Custom Forms

​

Accessing the Forms Section

1. Navigate to Settings -> Forms from the the top right dropdown under your nursery
2. This page displays all existing forms and their details

​

Creating a New Form

1. Click the “Add Form” button in the top-right corner
2. You’ll be taken to the form builder interface

---

​

Using the Form Builder

The form builder is a single working area. You build your form section by section, and can open a full preview at any time using the Preview Form button in the sticky header at the top of the page.

​

Form Information Section

Basic Settings:

• Form Name: Enter a descriptive name for your form (required)
• Description: Add an optional description explaining the form’s purpose
• Assignment Type: Choose whether this form is for a Child or a Staff member. This determines who the form can be assigned to (and, for child forms, unlocks the Parent Editable option on each field)
• Auto Assign: Toggle to automatically assign this form to new staff members or children
• Allow Public Access: Make this form publicly accessible via a shareable URL (see Public Forms below)
• Auto-reply email: For public forms only. Emails a message of your choice to whoever submits the public link. See Auto-reply email below.
• Staff access: For Child forms only. Controls what staff can do with this form from the register. See Staff access below.
• Answers update the child profile: For Child forms only. When on, completed submissions of this form are flagged on the Form Submissions list until someone has applied them to the child’s profile. Turn it on for forms whose answers belong on the profile (permissions, medical, dietary details); leave it off for reference-only forms so they never nag. See Child Entry Lifecycle.
• Writing rules: Optional plain-language rules that staff’s written answers are checked against before the form is sent. See Writing rules below.

​

Staff access

The Staff access dropdown sets how staff can use a child form from the register, on the web and in the mobile app. Whatever it’s set to, managers can still assign and send the form from Form Submissions. Use Create – manager approves before sending for forms a manager should check first, such as accident and incident records.

​

Writing rules

Writing rules are plain-language house rules for what staff write on this form, for example:

Always capitalise children’s and staff names. Use UK spelling and correct grammar. Describe what happened factually — don’t guess at causes or assign blame. Don’t name other children; say “another child”.

When staff click Save & Send, Save & Submit for Approval or Approve & Send, the AI checks every text answer on the form against the rules first. This works the same way on the web and in the mobile app. If an answer breaks a rule:

• A short reason appears under that question, and a suggested rewrite appears under the answer with a Fix button.
• Fix replaces the answer with the rewrite. Undo fix puts back what was there before, until the form is sent or closed.
• Fix all fixes every flagged answer at once. Proceed anyway sends the form as it is. Nothing is ever blocked, because the rules are reminders, not a gate.

Forms in the staff guides shows exactly what staff see. The check only runs on what staff write. It never runs on answers parents give, and it never runs when a form is only saved as a draft. Each form has its own rules, so an accident form can ask for factual wording while a consent form has none.

​

Testing your rules

Click Test these rules under the box to try them before saving. The test shows your form’s own text questions. Fill some in as a member of staff might, click Check it, and you’ll see exactly what staff would be shown, including the Fix and Undo fix buttons. Nothing is saved. If a rule is flagging things you didn’t mean it to, reword it and click Check it again. The dialog always uses the rules as they’re typed, so you can tune them before saving.

​

Building Form Sections

Forms are organized into sections, which contain fields. Each form starts with one section by default.

​

Adding Sections

1. Click “Add Section” to create a new section
2. Enter an optional Section Title (e.g., “Child Information”, “Medical Details”)
3. Add an optional Section Description for additional context

​

Section Management

• Reorder: Use the up/down arrows to move sections up or down
• Delete Sections: Click the trash icon (you can’t delete if only one section exists)

​

Adding Form Fields

Within each section, you can add various types of fields:

​

Field Types Available

​

Adding Fields

1. Click “Add Field” within a section
2. Configure the field properties:
   • Field Name: The label users will see (required)
   • Field Type: Select from the dropdown menu
   • Required: Toggle to make the field mandatory. On a form that needs a manager’s approval, this is a dropdown for staff fields instead. See Required fields on forms that need approval below.
   • Parent Editable: Determines if a parent can edit the field, or needs a staff member to edit it (e.g. a staff signature). This only appears on forms with an Assignment Type of Child.
   • Help Text: Additional guidance for users that appears underneath the field

​

Required fields on forms that need approval

When Staff access is Create – manager approves before sending, each staff field has a Required dropdown with three choices: Parent fields don’t have these choices. They’re filled in after approval, so they never hold up submitting or approving. See Approving Forms.

​

Field Management

• Reorder: Use the up/down arrows to move fields up or down
• Delete Fields: Click the trash icon to remove unwanted fields
• Field Options: For dropdown and multi-select fields, add/remove/reorder options

​

Dropdown and Multi-Select Options

For dropdown and multi-select fields:

1. Click “Add Option” to create new choices
2. Enter the option text
3. Delete unwanted options with the trash icon
4. Minimum 2 options are required

---

​

Form Preview

Click the Preview Form button in the sticky header at the top of the form builder to check how your form will appear to parents/guardians. This opens a full-width slide-out panel showing the form exactly as recipients will see it. Note: The preview is for visual reference only - you cannot submit data through it. Close the panel to return to the builder.

​

Saving Your Form

1. Click “Save Form” when you’re satisfied with your design
2. You’ll receive a success confirmation
3. The form will be available for assignment to children or staff

---

​

Public Forms

Public forms allow anyone with the link to submit a form without needing an account or being registered in Pigeonhole. This is useful for enquiry forms, feedback forms, or any scenario where you want to collect information from the general public.

​

Enabling Public Access

1. In the form builder, toggle “Allow Public Access” on
2. Save the form
3. A globe icon will appear next to the form name in the forms list, indicating it is publicly accessible

​

Sharing a Public Form

1. Go to Settings -> Forms
2. Find the form with the globe icon
3. Click the More Actions (…) menu -> “Copy URL”
4. Share the copied URL via email, your website, social media, or any other channel

The URL format is friendly and readable, for example: https://pigeonholeapp.co.uk/forms/little-stars-nursery/{siteId}/{formId}

​

How Public Forms Work

• Anyone with the URL can access and submit the form — no login required
• Submitters must provide their name and email address
• reCAPTCHA is used to protect against spam and bot submissions
• Each submission creates a new form entry visible on the Form Submissions page
• The same person can submit the form multiple times
• Public form submissions appear in the submissions list with the submitter’s name and email displayed

​

Auto-reply email

You can send everyone who submits a public form an automatic email, for example to thank them and say what happens next.

1. In the form builder, turn on Allow Public Access. The Auto-reply email switch appears below it.
2. Turn on Auto-reply email. A default message is filled in for you: “Thank you, we have received your submission.”
3. Edit the message. You can use formatting such as bold, lists and links, up to 4,000 characters.
4. Save the form.

How the auto-reply works:

• It goes to the email address the person entered on the form, with the subject Thanks for your submission: followed by the form name.
• It comes from your setting, and replies go to your setting’s contact email.
• Every auto-reply ends with “If you didn’t submit this form, please contact us at” followed by your setting’s email address.
• The confirmation page tells the person “We’ve sent a confirmation to” their email address.
• Only submissions through the public link get an auto-reply. Forms you assign or send to parents and staff don’t.

The auto-reply needs an Email address on your Site Profile. Without one, you can’t switch auto-reply on. If the email is removed later, auto-replies pause until you add one again. If you switch auto-reply off, your message is kept, so you can switch it back on later without rewriting it. You can’t save the form with auto-reply on and an empty message.