Question Types
This page lists every kind of question you can put on a form, and the settings each one offers.
The Score and Evaluation settings that appear on several question types below are covered in full in Scoring and Pass/Fail.
Settings every question has
Section titled “Settings every question has”- Title: The question itself, as your team will read it. You can use bold, italics and other formatting.
- Description: Optional extra wording shown under the question. Use it for the detail that would otherwise make the question too long.
- Description Hidden: Hides the description until the person taps to show it. Good for a long explanation most people will not need.
- Required: The form cannot be submitted until this question is answered.
- Attached Files: Attach a reference file — a photo of what “clean” looks like, a temperature chart — for people to consult while filling the form in.
- Visibility: Show or hide the question depending on the location’s
attributes, so one form can cover locations that differ slightly.
- Show: the question appears only at locations with at least one of the attributes you pick.
- Hide: the question appears everywhere except locations with at least one of the attributes you pick.
Note: The two types that collect no answer are the exceptions. Section and Instruction have only their own text and Visibility.
For written answers. Choose the kind:
- Short Answer: a few words, like a name.
- Paragraph: longer notes.
- Email: checks that what is typed looks like an email address.
- Send submission to email: emails a copy of the finished form to whatever address is entered here.
- Phone Number: checks the answer looks like a US phone number.
Settings: Minimum Length and Maximum Length set how short or long the answer may be.
Number
Section titled “Number”For numeric answers.
Settings:
- Minimum Value and Maximum Value: the range that may be entered.
- Precision: how many decimal places are required.
- Score: points based on the value entered. See Scoring.
- Evaluation: mark the answer Pass, Fail or Neutral based on the value.
- Formatting: display the number as Currency, Percentage or Temperature.
Checkbox
Section titled “Checkbox”A list of options to pick from.
Types: Single Select (one option) or Multiple Select (any number).
Settings:
- Multiple Selection: allow more than one option to be chosen.
- Bulk options: paste or type one option per line to add them all at once. A preview appears below as you type.
- Values: the options themselves.
- Remove one with the X beside it.
- Reorder one by tapping its move button, then tapping the Move Here box where you want it.
- Score: points for each option. See Scoring.
- Evaluation: mark each option Pass, Fail or Neutral.
Note: With more than 5 options, the question becomes a dropdown instead of a list of checkboxes.
File Upload
Section titled “File Upload”For photos, documents and other files. Up to 10 files, each up to 12 MB.
Types: Picture, Video, PDF, Audio, or Any.
Settings:
- File Type: which of the above to accept.
- Camera Only: for Picture, requires a photo taken then and there rather than one chosen from the camera roll. Use it when the photo is evidence.
- Attach in emails: include the uploaded files in notification emails.
Note: For Picture, people can crop, rotate, draw on and flip the image before uploading it.
For a Date, a Time, or Date & Time together.
Settings: Formatting chooses which of the three this question collects. It decides what the person is asked for, so a delivery date, a temperature check time, and a full timestamp are all the same question type set three ways.
Note: In the question palette this type is called Calendar.
Signature
Section titled “Signature”Collects a signature, for forms that need someone to sign off in person. The person signs on the screen with a finger, a stylus or a mouse, and can clear it and sign again. The finished signature is stored as an image on the submission.
It has no settings of its own, only the ones every question has.
Lets people pick from a list you maintain in one place and reuse across forms — suppliers, equipment, product lines. See Lists.
Settings: List Source picks which of your lists the question draws from. Add an entry to that list later and every form using it offers the new entry, so nothing has to be edited question by question.
Note: The list has to exist first. With no lists in the organization the editor says so instead of showing the dropdown, and Save stays disabled.
Location
Section titled “Location”Lets people pick one of your organization’s locations.
Settings: Select User’s Location fills in the person’s own location automatically.
Confirm
Section titled “Confirm”A single button someone presses to confirm something was done.
Settings: Score gives one points value for Confirmed and another for Unconfirmed, and Bonus Question lets those points raise the score without raising the maximum. See Scoring. Confirm is the one scored question type that cannot also be evaluated Pass or Fail.
Instruction
Section titled “Instruction”Text only — guidance for whoever is filling the form in. It collects no answer.
The Instructions text is the whole question, and it is required. You can make it bold, italic or underlined, and put a link in it. Because there is no answer to collect, an Instruction has no Required setting, no Description and no Attached Files — only Visibility.
Formula
Section titled “Formula”Calculates a number from other answers on the form. See Formulas for the formula builder and everything it can do.
A formula can use these question types:
| Question type | What it contributes |
|---|---|
| Number | The number entered |
| Formula | That formula’s result |
| Checkbox | The score of the selected option(s) |
| Confirm | The confirmed or unconfirmed score |
| Section | The total of every question inside it |
| Stopwatch | The time, in seconds |
| Sensor | The sensor reading |
Section
Section titled “Section”A heading that groups the questions beneath it. It collects no answer.
Sections can be collapsed, and stick to the top of the screen as your team scrolls, so people always know which part of the checklist they are in.
To use one:
- Add a Section anywhere in the form.
- Add questions after it.
- Everything after the section belongs to it, until the next section starts.
Settings: Show collapsed by default? starts the section closed, so a long form opens as a short list of headings that people expand as they work through it.
Stopwatch
Section titled “Stopwatch”Times how long something takes.
Settings: Score and Evaluation, both based on the time recorded. See Scoring.
Sensor
Section titled “Sensor”Reads a temperature from a supported Bluetooth thermometer.
Settings:
- Score and Evaluation: based on the reading. See Scoring.
- Precision: how many decimal places are required.
- Temperature Unit: Celsius or Fahrenheit.
- Override Sensor: lets someone type a reading by hand instead of using the thermometer — useful when a device fails.
Supported thermometers
Section titled “Supported thermometers”- Thermoworks Thermapen One Blue
- Cooper Atkins Blue2