Get Expert Help

Quick Base Junkie Blog

Short videos and posts to skyrocket your Quickbase skills!

Get tips in your inbox

Join the Quick Base Junkie Community email list!

The 7 Must Know Form Properties
Save Time & Frustration

beginner forms how to time saving tips Sep 05, 2018

Subscribe on YouTube

Create greater efficiency for you and your users by unleashing the form properties! Not to mention the additional form formatting options.

There are seven different settings in the form properties that can change the way your forms look and behave.

Jump to Form Property:

  1. Change the form name
  2. Show or hide the horizontal rules between sections
  3. Show or hide the built-in (date & user) fields on the bottom of the form
  4. Allow field labels to wrap (or don't)
  5. Add or remove the Save & Cancel buttons to the bottom of the form
  6. Add or remove the option to Save and Keep Working
  7. Select what to do when new fields are added
 

Let's take a close look at each one.

1. Change the form name 

You likely won't need this one too often, so it's easy to forget where to change the name of your form.

When you copy a form, have multiple forms, or have repurposed a table, you may need to utilize this setting in the form properties to reflect the purpose of the form.

To make a change follow these steps:

  • Open a record that uses the form you wish to modify (alternatively open the form from the table settings)
  • Click on Customize this form in the upper right-hand corner
  • Click on the Properties tab
  • Update the name in the Form Name field

2. Show or hide the horizontal rules between sections 

Sections are a great way to organize your forms. However, those blue horizontal rules may not be so attractive.

To remove them, follow these steps, but remember it's all or nothing. You can't remove it from some sections and not others.

Also, if the horizontal rules have disappeared from your form, you'll know how to go to get them back.

To make a change follow these steps:

  • Open a record that uses the form you wish to modify (alternatively open the form from the table settings)
  • Click on Customize this form in the upper right-hand corner
  • Click on the Properties tab
  • Uncheck the box next to Show horizontal rules between sections

3. Show or hide the 'built-in' fields on the bottom of the form 

Sometimes, it's just nobody's business. Quickbase automatically puts the date the record was created, the date and user who last modified the record, and who the record owner is on the bottom of every form.

You can't pick and choose which built-in fields to show at the bottom of the form with this setting. You may, however, choose to add the built-in fields to your forms independently using the Elements section as you would other fields. 

To make a change follow these steps:

  • Open a record that uses the form you wish to modify (alternatively open the form from the table settings)
  • Click on Customize this form in the upper right-hand corner
  • Click on the Properties tab
  • Uncheck the box next to Show built-in fields

 

If you found this information useful be sure to subscribe to receive more tips like these!

 

4. Allow field labels to wrap (or don't) 

Occasionally when the text on a field label wraps it can throw off the spacing of the whole form.

Fear no more, you can prevent field labels from wrapping with this form property. This change will apply to the entire form.

If you want to change the way labels appear you can also use the settings for each Section (found in the Elements tab), which allow for labels to be placed above or to the left of the field.

To make a change follow these steps:

  • Open a record that uses the form you wish to modify (alternatively open the form from the table settings)
  • Click on Customize this form in the upper right-hand corner
  • Click on the Properties tab
  • Uncheck the box to Allow field labels to wrap

5. Add or remove the Save & Cancel buttons from the bottom of the form 

By default, the Save & Close and Cancel buttons are displayed at the end of the form. This allows users to utilize the buttons without returning to the top of the form. This is especially useful for longer forms.

If you do not want to have these buttons appear at the bottom of the form, you'll need to uncheck the box. However, if your form is missing these buttons you can also add them by checking this option in the form properties.

To make a change follow these steps:

  • Open a record that uses the form you wish to modify (alternatively open the form from the table settings)
  • Click on Customize this form in the upper right-hand corner
  • Click on the Properties tab
  • Check the box to Show Save & Close and Cancel buttons at the end of this form

6. Add or remove the option to Save and Keep Working 

Have you ever been working away on a long record and wanted to save, but still be able to continue editing the record. Here is how you do it.

This change will apply to the Save buttons at the top and bottom of your form. This new option will appear as a drop-down on the Save & Close (or Save & Next) button.

To make a change follow these steps:

  • Open a record that uses the form you wish to modify (alternatively open the form from the table settings)
  • Click on Customize this form in the upper right-hand corner
  • Click on the Properties tab
  • Check the box for the Show save & keep working choice

 

If you found this information useful be sure to subscribe to receive more tips like these!

 

7. Select what to do when new fields are added 

When creating new fields, Quickbase automatically adds them to the bottom of all your forms.

This can be annoying if that's not where you want them or if you aren't quite ready to add them to your forms yet.

Being able to control this functionality is such a key feature in the form properties, that I created a tutorial just for it! Check out Stop Auto Adding New Fields to Forms.  


So there you have it, 7 Must Know Form Properties. Having an understanding of these seven properties will undoubtedly help you save some time and frustration.

 

 

 

Feeling like a Junkie?  Subscribe Now!