Accessing and Managing Form Templates

Enabling Penneo Forms subscription

Penneo Forms is a paid feature that requires a separate subscription plan. If the Forms feature is not enabled in your Penneo company account, it is likely that your business subscription plan does not currently include it. To enable Forms for your account, contact the Penneo sales team at sales@penneo.com.

Once the Forms feature is added to your subscription plan, the Penneo Support Team will activate the function for the specific users in your company who need access. You can request activation for these users by contacting sales@penneo.com.

User access and account setup

Penneo recommends creating a dedicated general user account (for example, infomail@yourcompanyname.com) to create and manage all company form templates. This approach is beneficial because the creator or owner of a form template is the primary recipient of notifications every time a form is completed.

All users who have been granted access to Penneo Forms can use form templates created by any user.

Form template ownership and rights

Every user with access to Forms has the authority to create new form templates, which are then visible and available for use by all other authorized users. These users may also edit any existing form template, regardless of its original creator or current owner. It is important to note that editing a template owned by another person does not transfer ownership; the original owner remains unchanged, as only an administrator has the permission to reassign ownership. While all users can utilize any template available in the system, specific administrative privileges are reserved solely for the template's creator or owner. Specifically, only the owner will receive notifications when a form is completed, and they alone maintain the exclusive right to select or modify the storage folder where the submitted form data is saved.

Step-by-step form template creation

To begin creating a form template, log in to app.penneo.com and click on Forms in the left side menu. Detailed instructions for the form template creation wizard follow:

1. Click Create New Template in the top right corner.
2. Name the Template: Choose a unique, descriptive name to ensure easy recognition for reuse.
3. Select the language: Choose the language for the form recipient. This selection affects buttons (e.g., “Save and continue”) but does not translate the content of your uploaded PDF template.
4. Select a storage folder: Choose the folder where filled-in forms and their attachments will be saved as case files.
5. Add a PDF: Click Select a PDF File to upload the PDF that will serve as the body of your template. Only PDF files are supported.
6. Configure Form Template Fields: Define the fields for the recipient. Recipient Name and Recipient Email are mandatory. You can add more via the "Add form field button".
7. Show Advanced options: Enable specialized settings as described in the guide for "Advanced options for Form Templates".
8. Save and continue: Proceed to view the uploaded PDF for field placement.
9. Insert fields in PDF: Drag and drop your fields onto the PDF document. You can use Show grid lines and Show field order for precision. Learn more about how to insert template fields in your PDF.
10. Finalize: Click Done to save the setup and prepare for publishing.
11. Make public: Locate the template in your list and click Make public. A unique URL/link will appear on the right, which represents your active form.

Using and distributing public form links

Penneo forms work via unique, public URLs. You can copy this link for your website or send it to recipients via email. When a recipient completes the form, the result is automatically saved as a casefile in the selected folder. The recipient will also receive a copy via email.

Managing storage and sharing for completed forms

Every completed form is stored as a case file in the folder chosen during template creation. This case file includes the filled-in form and any attachments provided by the recipient. You can locate these by going to Manage in the left menu and selecting Case Files. Note that it is no longer required to use the “Masseudsendelse” folder; you may select any folder in your archive.

By default, only the Template Owner can access the storage folder. To allow colleagues to view completed forms, you must share the folder:

1. Locate the storage folder in your Penneo archive.
2. Click the Share folder button.
3. Type the name or email of the colleague.
4. Select the access level (View, Edit, or Manage) and click Grant Access.

Editing and updating form templates

Any user with access to Forms can edit templates by clicking the cogwheel next to a template and selecting Edit. Changes take effect immediately; you do not need to revoke public access while editing. However, be aware that revoking and then reapplying public access will generate a new unique URL for the form.

If you need to update the form fields, you must first update the body PDF on your computer and then upload it using the Select a PDF File button in the editor. You can then add, delete (using the cross icon), or rearrange (using the six squares icon) the fields. 

Note that while any user with access can edit field names or types, only the Template Owner can see or change the Select a folder setting. If you need to change the storage folder but do not own the template, an administrator must first update the ownership.

Changing form template ownership

Administrators can transfer template ownership to allow different users to receive notifications or manage storage folders. To change ownership:

1. Click the cogwheel next to the form template and select Edit.
2. Locate the Template Owner field.
3. Type the name of the new owner and click on the specific user suggested by the system. Manual entries without selecting a suggestion will not take effect.
4. Click Save and continue.

Penneo does not automatically notify users of ownership changes. Administrators should manually inform the new owner so they can manage folder sharing or storage settings as required. For more context, see the anchor regarding Template Ownership and how to change the Template Owner.