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Creating Forms

Creating Forms: Step-by-Step Guide

This guide walks you through creating, configuring, and publishing a form in BuoyForms.

Creating a New Form

  1. 1

    Open the Forms page

    Go to Forms in the sidebar and click + New Form in the top-right corner.

    Forms list — click + New Form to create a form
    The Forms page with the + New Form button highlighted

  2. 2

    Choose a starting point

    Pick how you want to start:

    Start from scratch with a blank canvas. Best when you have a specific layout in mind.

::step{title="Name your form"} Enter a title for your form (e.g., "Customer Feedback Survey") and click Create. You'll land in the form builder ready to edit.

The Form Builder

The form builder — field palette on the left, canvas in the center, properties on the right
The BuoyForms builder: field palette (left), canvas (center), properties panel (right)

The builder has four main areas:

Area Location Purpose
Field Palette Left Drag fields onto your form — 29 field types organized by category
Form Canvas Center Preview and arrange your fields in real-time
Field Properties Right Configure the selected field's label, options, validation, and logic
Top Bar Top Pages, Settings, Translations, Preview, and Publish

Adding Fields

  1. 1

    Find the field type

    Browse or search the field palette on the left. Fields are organized into categories: Basic, Selection, Rating, Advanced, Date/Time, File, and Layout.

  2. 2

    Add it to the canvas

    Click a field type to add it at the end, or drag it to a specific position on the canvas.

  3. 3

    Configure the field

    The field appears on the canvas and its properties panel opens on the right. Set the label, placeholder, description, and validation rules.

Configuring Fields

Click any field on the canvas to select it. The Field Properties panel shows:

Basic Settings

  • Label — the question text respondents see
  • Placeholder — hint text inside the input
  • Description — help text below the field
  • Required — whether the field must be filled out

Type-Specific Settings

  • Options (for radio, checkbox, select)
  • Scale range and labels (for NPS, CSAT, CES, scale)
  • File limits (for file upload)
  • Layout options (vertical, horizontal, card grid)
Advanced: Conditional logic and pre-fill

Each field also supports advanced configuration:

  • Conditional Logic — show or hide this field based on answers to other fields. See the Conditional Logic guide.
  • Pre-fill Parameter — auto-fill the field's value from a URL query parameter. Useful for personalized links (e.g., ?email=user@example.com).

Reordering, Duplicating, and Deleting

  • Drag and drop fields on the canvas to reorder them
  • Hover over a field to see Duplicate and Delete buttons
  • Duplicate creates a copy with the same configuration

Multi-Page Forms

Break long forms into manageable steps with pages. Multi-page forms show a progress indicator and Next / Back buttons.

  1. 1

    Open the settings bar

    Click the Pages, Settings & Translations bar at the top of the builder.

  2. 2

    Add a page

    Click + Add Page. Name the page by clicking the edit icon next to the page title.

  3. 3

    Assign fields to pages

    Drag fields between pages, or add new fields directly to the active page. Click any page tab to switch between them.

Page Settings

Each page has:

  • Page Title — the heading respondents see at the top of the page
  • Conditional Logic — show or hide the entire page based on previous answers (e.g., skip a page if a certain option was selected)

Form Settings

Expand the Pages, Settings & Translations bar to access these settings:

Flow Mode

Traditional form layout with all fields visible on each page. Respondents scroll through fields and submit at the end. Best for short forms and data collection.

Button Labels

Customize the text on navigation buttons:

  • Next Button Label — default: "Next"
  • Submit Button Label — default: "Submit"

Thank-You Pages

Configure what respondents see after submitting:

  • Custom message — a thank-you message with optional description
  • Redirect — send respondents to a URL after submission
  • Multiple exit pages — route respondents to different thank-you pages based on their answers (e.g., different messages for promoters vs. detractors in an NPS survey)

Translations

BuoyForms supports multi-language forms for international audiences.

  1. 1

    Add a language

    In the Translations panel, click Add Language and select the language from the dropdown.

  2. 2

    Translate content

    Translate field labels, descriptions, placeholder text, and button labels for each language.

  3. 3

    Publish

    Respondents see a language selector when filling out the form. The form automatically displays in their selected language.

Advanced: Import/Export translations

For large forms or professional translation services:

  • Export — download all translatable strings as JSON
  • Import — upload translated JSON to apply translations in bulk

This is useful when working with external translators who prefer to work in their own tools.

Saving and Publishing

Auto-Save

The builder auto-saves your changes as you work. You'll see "Saved just now" in the header — no need to manually save.

Publishing

  1. 1

    Preview first

    Click Preview to see your form exactly as respondents will see it — without making it public.

  2. 2

    Publish

    Click Publish in the top-right corner. Your form is now live and accepting submissions.

  3. 3

    Share

    Click Share to get your form's direct link, embed code, or QR code. See Distributing Forms for all sharing options.