> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.dingtalk.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Form basics

> AI Table forms work like online questionnaires — share a link or QR code and every submission flows straight into your data table, ready for filtering, grouping, and dashboard analysis.

## What is a form?

You've probably filled out signup forms, registration forms, surveys. In AI Table, a **form** is exactly that — an online questionnaire that captures structured info and data efficiently. Design the input flow once, share a **link** or **QR code**, and respondents fill it in and submit.

Every submission flows back into AI Table, where it plugs straight into filters, groups, dashboards — for collection, cleanup, and analysis in one place.

## **Examples**

* **Event signup**: collect attendee info — name, contact, time slot. Auto-rolled-up data, plus filters to find matches fast.
* **Feedback collection**: run a customer-satisfaction survey. Use AI Table's group and stats features to segment and quantify.
* **Inventory management**: retail and manufacturing — record receiving and shipping. Combine with filters and dashboards to generate inventory status reports.
* **Store inspections**: store managers log inspection state — shelving, hygiene, out-of-stock. Group by store and dashboard the result so regional managers get a quick read.
* **Employee leave**: internal leave applications — type, dates, duration. HR reviews and totals everything from the table.
* **Student information**: schools collect signups, parent contacts, after-school course choices. Teachers group and filter for class-level views, with charts on top.

These show how forms simplify collection and speed up downstream cleanup and analysis — useful anywhere you need to enter and process information at any frequency.

## Create a form

### Start from a new form

1. Click **Forms** in the AI Table top nav to open the forms section.

2. Click **New form**.

3. In the **Table** dropdown, choose **+ Use a new table**.

4. Fill in the **Table name** and **Form name**.

5. Click **Create form**.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i2/O1CN01skmV1B1K5nxuYHEt5_!!6000000001113-2-tps-864-162.png)

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01VC543z1l0IphZDYJ5_!!6000000004756-2-tps-2566-1392.png)

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01KueesT1GST6JoQcvV_!!6000000000621-2-tps-1500-1128.png)

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN013gIG6S1x8LAmDuFyr_!!6000000006398-2-tps-1396-1018.png)

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01sokgeD2ABd1N0QiRz_!!6000000008165-2-tps-1384-1036.png)

## Editing a form

The editor has three areas:

**❶ Toolbar**

Switch to **Fill out**, view stats, pick a theme, change settings, publish, share.

**❷ Question picker**

* Available questions: existing fields / columns in the table.
* New questions: question types you can add (each maps to a field type in the table).

**❸ Form canvas**

Reorder, duplicate, hide, set defaults, mark required.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01uxOtJU1jNXhMLpx8c_!!6000000004536-2-tps-2230-1286.png)

### Form title and description

Click the form title or description to edit.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01uKbgk11Y7Y5txlMuI_!!6000000003012-2-tps-2300-1238.png)

The description is a blurb that explains what the form is for or what to watch out for. You can change text alignment to highlight key info.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i4/O1CN01IzEa8u1M0QXvZyEAO_!!6000000001372-2-tps-1532-494.png)

### Configure questions (fields)

A table's fields / columns and the form's questions are linked. **Each form question maps to one field / column in the table.** Edit or delete a question and the field / column updates accordingly; same the other way.

#### Add a question

Add via **Available questions** or **New questions**.

**Available questions**: fields that already exist in the table but aren't yet on the form — listed at the top-left of the canvas. Click the **+** next to a field, or drag it onto the canvas, to add it as a question. Use **Add all** or **Hide all** for bulk operations.

**New questions**: every question type the form supports, listed on the left. Each maps 1:1 to a field type. Click to append at the bottom, or drag to drop at a specific position.

#### Question description

Below each question, you can add a line of help text — explain what to fill in or what to watch for. It helps respondents answer accurately.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i2/O1CN01g55Vrh1Teus1xyLFh_!!6000000002408-2-tps-960-420.png)

Note: question description shows only on the form, for respondents. Field description in the table is for table readers — different audiences, different purposes.

#### Change question (field) type

Click a question — the field type shows at the top-left of the question card (e.g. Single select). Click the field type and the configuration popup opens. See **Working with fields** for details.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i4/O1CN01lwPImN1l6FyvbvimU_!!6000000004769-2-tps-694-412.png)

#### Reorder questions

Drag the question card to reorder.

Note: reordering on the form does not change field order in the table.

#### Hide / delete / duplicate (questions / fields)

Click a question — at the top-right, hide or duplicate it; in the **⋯** menu, delete it.

* **Hide**: form-only — the question disappears from the form (back to **Available questions**), but the field stays in the table.
* **Delete**: removes the field from the table — the data goes with it.
* **Duplicate**: copies the question, plus copies the field and its values in the table.

Note: the primary field (column 1 of the table) can't be deleted, but it can be hidden.

#### Mark required

Click a question — toggle **Required** at the top-right of the card.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i2/O1CN01Wpbeb21gzblkJPRjP_!!6000000004213-2-tps-1608-402.png)

#### Set a default value

Sometimes you want a question pre-filled when a user opens the form. For example: in an expense form, default **Need invoice?** to **No**.

Click a question — set the default at the top-right of the card.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01CxjkY91OovRnU2MVt_!!6000000001753-2-tps-1594-446.png)

#### Option display style

For questions with options, pick a display style:

* **Inline**: every option laid out flat — respondents see them all at a glance. Best when there are only a handful and you want speed.
* **Dropdown**: options collapsed into a menu — click to choose. Best when there are many options and you want to keep the page compact.

Path: click the question, find **Option display** in the right panel, pick **Inline** or **Dropdown**.

#### Conditional visibility

Sometimes a question should only show under certain conditions. For example: in a leave-request form, when an employee picks **Sick leave**, then show **Hospital** and **Sick leave certificate upload**.

Path: click the question, in the **⋯** menu pick **Conditional visibility**, and add the conditions.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01NmxCMy1b72V70XlSZ_!!6000000003417-2-tps-1676-250.png)

## Form settings

Click **Settings** in the top toolbar to change form-level options.

**Data source**: read-only — only shown when editing a form on the form-collection page.

***

**Share form**: turn publishing on or off. Off = collection stops; even people with the link can't fill it in.

***

**Anonymous**: when on, respondent identity is not collected.

**Who can fill out**: Anyone in the org / Anyone / Only specified people. Add **Required respondents** — people, groups, or departments. With required respondents set, you can use **Remind** (DING / work notification / chat).

**No-login fill**: when on, anyone with the link can fill out the form (e.g. directly in WeChat). Submitter identity isn't collected.

***

**Limit per user**: limit each user to one submission, or one per day.

**Cap total submissions**: set a max — once hit, the form stops accepting submissions.

**Effective time**: respondents can only submit between the start and end times you set.

**Recurring reminder**: respondents get periodic reminders. For daily reports / weekly reports / sales updates / other recurring use cases.

***

**Allow respondents to edit submissions**: when on, respondents can edit their previous submission and re-submit; the new version overwrites.

**After submit**: redirect to an end page (with a custom message), or to a specified URL.

***

**Set defaults via share link**: see [Pre-fill form defaults](/aitable/forms/form-prefill).

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN0175RzYM1pEjmKm9gWG_!!6000000005329-2-tps-548-1260.png)

## Form style

Click **Theme** in the top toolbar to change the cover image, layout, and theme.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i4/O1CN01XnxFTZ1gasNj0cdlN_!!6000000004159-2-tps-1068-1020.png)

## Publish and share

Once configured, you must publish before anyone can fill it in.

Click **Publish & share** in the top toolbar to publish. Then send the link or QR code to respondents.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i3/O1CN01OK9ArR1cpIO7NyjEo_!!6000000003649-2-tps-554-700.png)

### Set the audience

In the popup: choose who can fill out (anyone in the org / anyone / only specified people), add required respondents, etc. With required respondents set, you can use **Remind** (DING / work notification / chat).

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i4/O1CN013rntQM1gdcl3izmd5_!!6000000004165-2-tps-948-698.png)

## View stats

Click **Stats** in the top toolbar to see fill-out stats.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i2/O1CN01ZlHuNp1juWDP73VXE_!!6000000004608-2-tps-658-696.png)

You'll see total submissions, expected, completed, outstanding.

![](https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i1/O1CN01DjcWqN25ItDoR0Ghr_!!6000000007504-2-tps-912-468.png)

Click **Export as** to download the data as Excel, or download attachments in bulk.

Click **Remind** to nudge people who still owe a submission.

## More

### Add to a workbench

Click the **⋯** icon at the far right of the toolbar and choose **Add to workbench** to surface the form under a workbench category.

### Add to a group's quick bar

Click the **⋯** icon and choose **Add to group quick bar**, pick the group and a plugin name. The form appears in the group chat for fast access.

Note: you must publish first before adding to a group quick bar.

## FAQ

#### Q: What's the relationship between a form and a table?

A: A form is the entry point for collection. Each question maps to a field / column in the table. Submissions auto-flow into the table.

#### Q: Who can edit a form?

A: With Advanced Permissions off — anyone with **Edit** or above. With Advanced Permissions on — only users with **Manage** on the form's table, plus Owner / Admin.

#### Q: **Do respondents have to log into DingTalk to fill out the form?**

A: No, not always. Turn on **No-login fill** in form settings — anyone can open the link in WeChat etc. and submit. The form collector can't see submitter identity in this case — they show up as **Anonymous**.

#### Q: Can I edit a form after publishing?

A: Yes. Edits to questions / options sync to table fields. Be careful with deletes — they erase data.

#### Q: How do I pause / stop collection?

A: Toggle the share switch off — collection stops; people opening the link see "collection ended." Toggle back on to resume; the link doesn't change.

#### Q: How do I see who submitted?

A: Add a **Created by** field to the response table. Add **Created at** for submission time too. These don't show on the form to respondents. With no-login fill or anonymous on, they show as **Anonymous**.

#### Q: Is the data secure?

A: All form-collected data is stored securely in AI Table. Only users with the right permissions can view or manage it.

#### Q: Is there a cap on submissions?

A: Yes — if the form admin set **Cap total submissions**, once hit the form stops accepting. And since submissions sync to the table, the table's row cap also applies.

#### Q: **Can people outside the org fill out the form?**

A: Yes. On the share page, set the audience to **Anyone**. You can invite external users. If you've added member / group / department questions, the audience can't be set to **Anyone** — that's a data-safety guard.

#### Q: **For per-period limits, what timezone does the period use?**

A: The doc's timezone.