Building Your Application Form

Applly's form builder lets you create rich, multi-step application forms without writing any code. You can add a variety of field types, organize them into steps, and reorder them with drag-and-drop.

Accessing the Form Builder

From your program's detail page, click Edit Form. You'll see the form builder interface with a panel of available field types on the left and your current form structure on the right.

Available Field Types

Applly supports 12 field types to cover any application scenario:

• Text — Short single-line answers (names, titles, URLs)
• Textarea — Multi-line text responses for longer answers
• Email — Email address with format validation
• Number — Numeric input (ages, quantities, dollar amounts)
• Date — Date picker for deadlines, birth dates, event dates
• Select — Single-choice dropdown menu
• Radio — Single-choice radio buttons (good for a small number of options)
• Checkbox — Yes/no toggle
• Multi-select — Multiple-choice checkboxes
• File upload — Allows applicants to attach files (PDFs, images, Word docs)
• Rich text — Formatted text editor for project descriptions and statements
• Budget table — Structured budget entry with line items and totals

Organizing into Steps

Long forms benefit from being broken into logical steps. Click Add Step to create a new step, then drag fields into the appropriate step. Applicants will navigate through steps sequentially, and Applly will save their progress automatically so they can return and complete the form later.

Required vs. Optional Fields

Each field has a Required toggle. Required fields must be filled in before an applicant can advance to the next step or submit their application. Use required sparingly — only mark fields as required when the information is truly essential for review.

Reordering Fields

Drag fields up or down using the handle on the left side of each field card. You can also drag fields between steps. Changes are saved automatically as you build.

Previewing the Form

Click Preview at any time to see exactly what applicants will experience. The preview opens in a modal and is fully interactive — you can fill it out to test the form flow.