After a form has been published, you may need to update it. Your edits apply to new form instances started after the edited version goes live — they do not retroactively change any forms your users have already started.

This article walks through making those edits, along with the things to keep in mind while you work.

Note: The details on the form record itself — the name, description, notes, programs, and tags — can be updated at any time without creating a new version. Only changes made inside the Form Builder require a new form view.

Watch the walkthrough

How to edit a form

1. Go to Program Setup | Customization and find the form you'd like to edit.
2. Open the form and click Open Form Builder.
   • Because the form is published, you won't be able to click into any nodes or text fields. That's expected.
3. Click Edit form. A prompt explains what's about to happen: a copy of the current version is made, you make changes to the copy, and once you publish it, the copy becomes the version used going forward.
4. Click Edit form again to continue. You're now working on a copy, so there's no risk of breaking the version your program is currently using.
5. Check the Form View Name in the upper left. It's the previous view's name plus the date you began editing — that's how you tell your versions apart.
6. Make your changes. You can add nodes, edit existing ones, or remove them from the view.
7. To compare against the original at any point, click the form view name in the upper left and select the previous view from the dropdown. Switch back to your edited view to keep working.
8. Preview the form to check your changes, then click Publish changes. Nothing goes live until you do.

Removing nodes

You can remove a node from your new form view, but it stays in the form's Data Library. That's intentional — it preserves the data users entered on earlier instances of the form.

Caution: If the node is required, uncheck Required in Data Properties before you remove it from the view. Otherwise your users will get an error telling them they haven't completed a required field — one they can't see anywhere on the form.

Changing list options

Users with the Program Setup role cannot delete options from a list field on a live form. As with removing nodes, this prevents data loss from existing form instances. Attempting it returns the message below.

To change the options on a list field, remove the original field from the form's view — unchecking Required first — and add a new list field with the options you want.

When your edits go live

Publishing does not make your changes visible immediately.

Note: Right after publishing, clicking Preview form still shows the old form view. This is expected, not a failed publish.

Option 1: automatically at midnight

Your new form view replaces the old one at midnight on the night after you publish. Instances created before your edits stay undisturbed, and anything started afterward uses the new view.

Option 2: manually, right away

If you don't want to wait until midnight, you can activate the new view yourself.

1. Select the previous form view from the dropdown menu.
2. Click the gear icon on the right side.
3. Set the Ineffective date to a past date, such as yesterday.
4. Select the new form view from the dropdown menu.
5. Set the Effective date to the date you want the changes live, such as today.
6. Exit the Form Builder and click Preview form. Your edits will now show.

Related articles

• Building Your First Form
• Form Builder: Node Types
• Getting Started with Form Builder
• Form Builder: Menus