Saving Progress in Public E-forms
We have all been there. We get half-way through filling out a form and realize we don’t have time to finish. Normally we have to make a choice. Do we (A) close the form and start over later or (B) stay and finish the form even though that makes us late for our meeting?
Nobody likes to be in that position. To help solve this dilemma, DocMgt has added the ability to save progress in public E-forms. Users can click the “Save for Later” button and come back to complete their form when they have time. They can use this option over and over if they need to. Each time they use it, their progress is saved for the next time they come back.
How it Works
When the user clicks the “Save for Later” button in an E-form, the system saves the entire form, along with its data. When the user comes back to the form (i.e. they navigate back to the same URL) the system will see they have a form already in progress and will re-load their form automatically. Once the user clicks the “Save” button to submit the form, the “in progress” version is removed so they will start anew the next time they come to fill out another version of the form. Likewise, if the user clicks the “Cancel” or “Reset” button, the system will remove the “in progress” version.
How to Setup the E-form
Administrators can configure the E-forms to take advantage of this new feature. Here are the required settings:
- Set the E-form to show as a Public E-form
- Add some text into the “Later button” text field to display the button to save their progress. Use whatever text makes sense in your case. A couple examples are “Save my Progress” and “Save for Later”.
- Turn OFF the “Allow Save for Later” option for all fields that hold sensitive data like SSN, etc. The form data is saved in the browser’s cache so any data that is sensitive needs to be excluded. Use this setting on a field-by-field basis.
Here are some optional yet recommended settings:
- Set the “Public Later Redirct URL” to the URL of a screen or E-form that lets the user know their progress is saved and to come back to the same place to complete it.
- Set the “Public Cancel Redirect URL” to a URL of a screen or E-form so the user does not sit on a blank “thank you” page when they cancel the E-form.
Best Practices
Keep these best practices in mind when deciding to use this feature.
- The data is saved in the browser’s local cache. Turn OFF the “Allow Save for Later” for any field that holds sensitive data like SSN, etc.
- Do not use this feature if you are not sure of the legal ramifications in your particular instance.
- Make sure to use the Redirect URL settings to move users out of the form when the save their progress. This makes for a much better user experience.
Limitations
There are some limitations to be aware of when using this feature.
- This is available for forms built in version 4.08 and higher (release date Jan 7, 2023)
- The user needs to come back to the same URL (E-form) they were when they saved their progress, or the system cannot load the saved data.
- The user needs to use the same device and same browser they were they saved their progress, or the system cannot load the saved data.
- File Upload fields will not remember the file that was selected and will be blank when the E-form is re-loaded.
- No data validation takes place during the save and re-load process. This will happen upon the final SAVE.