The builder is where you put a form together. You build it on the form itself: what you see in the middle is the real form, in its style, as people will see it. This article explains how the screen is laid out, the form-wide settings, and how saving works. The sections themselves are covered in the articles that follow.
The builder at a glance
| Area | What's there |
|---|---|
| Toolbar (top) | ← All forms, the form's name (with its web address beside the label), pages and type, then the checklist button (Ready, Ready – 2 to check or 3 to fix), the form's status, Form settings, Preview, Test and Save (or Create form) |
| Add section (left) | The building blocks you can add to the form. At the bottom: where your changes are (All changes saved, Not saved yet…) and Undo / Redo |
| Canvas (middle) | The form itself, in its style. Switch between Form (the real form) and Outline (a card per section, with a summary of what it holds) at the top of the canvas. In Form, Desktop and Mobile show it as on a computer or at a phone's width, in its phone layout |
| Settings (right) | The settings for the section you've selected, or Form settings for the whole form. Click the settings icon at the top of the canvas to show or hide it |
You can make the settings panel wider or narrower by dragging the grip on its left edge (or with the arrow keys). Double-click the edge to reset it.
Click a section on the canvas to select it and open its settings. Click empty space on the canvas to deselect it.
Form-wide settings
In the toolbar
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Form name | How the form is identified. It appears as the form's source on every submission in Vega, and it becomes part of the form's web address, shown beside the label (as last saved; click it to open the form). If you rename the form, links using the old name keep working. It's required, and batch, finance and failure can't be used because Vega reserves them |
| Pages | Single page, or Multi page to split the form into steps |
| Type | What kind of form this is. It can't be changed once the form is saved (the field is greyed out), so to use a different type, create a new form |
In Form settings
Click Form settings in the toolbar. It has four tabs:
| Tab | What's there |
|---|---|
| Settings | Form status (active or inactive), the Buttons wording, After submitting, Sharing (the embed code), Analytics and Security (public-facing, Make a copy, Delete form) |
| Style | The form's look. See Styles and branding |
| All emails | Every email the form sends, and the emails for the whole form. See Acknowledgements and thank-you pages |
| Checklist | What stops the form saving, and what's worth checking before it goes live. See The checklist below |
The buttons
Under Form settings → Settings → Buttons:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Submit button | The wording on the submit button. New forms start with a verb for their type, such as Donate, Join or Register. On a form that takes payment, type #TotalAmount# to show the total, e.g. Donate #TotalAmount# shows Donate $25.00. For a regular gift or membership it also says how often, e.g. Donate $25.00 a month or Join $95.00 a year. On an RSVP form, the default shows as Yes, I'll attend |
| Next button | Multi-page forms only: the wording on the button that moves to the next page. Next → if left blank |
You can also click the button on the canvas and type straight onto it. Press Enter or click away to keep the change, or Esc to cancel.
Form types
| Type | Starts with | Button | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration | Contact details, Consent | Register | Sign-ups that may or may not involve a payment |
| Membership | Contact details, Membership, Payment, Consent | Join | Joining or renewing a membership |
| Donation | Contact details, Donation amount, Frequency, Payment, Consent | Donate #TotalAmount# | One-off and regular giving |
| Event / RSVP | Contact details, Tickets, Payment, Consent | Book now | Ticketed events, RSVPs and raffles, one event or several to choose from. For a free RSVP, remove the Payment section |
| Petition | Contact details, Consent | Sign the petition | Collecting signatures |
| Survey | Contact details, Survey questions, Consent | Send my answers | Asking questions |
| Contact | Contact details, a "Contact us" comments section, Consent | Send message | General enquiries |
| Unsubscribe | Contact details, Unsubscribe, Consent | Unsubscribe | Letting people leave your mailing lists |
Adding and arranging sections
To add a section, click it in the Add section list, or drag it onto the canvas where you want it.
The list only offers sections that make sense for the type of form. Some can only be added once. Others need another section first and say so, for example Needs a Payment section or Needs Tickets or a Membership.
| Section | Covered in |
|---|---|
| Contact details, Comments, Custom attributes, Consent / T&Cs, Text | Collecting contact information and answers |
| Donation amount, Frequency, Payment, Designation, Gift options, Discount codes, Progress | Donations and payments |
| Membership | Memberships on forms |
| Tickets | Events, RSVPs and raffles |
| Unsubscribe | Contact, unsubscribe, petition and survey forms |
On the canvas, a selected section shows its tools above it:
⠿: drag it to move the section
↑ ↓: move it up or down
⤒: join it to the section above, so the two share one box on the form. Click again to separate them
Bin: remove it
A section's settings
A section's settings are split into tabs. A tab only appears when the section has something on it:
| Tab | What's there |
|---|---|
| Content | What people see on the form: questions, wording, choices |
| Vega setup | How it's recorded in Vega: campaigns, GL codes, payment gateway, pathway rules |
| Emails | The emails this part of the form sends. The sender and staff notifications are in Form settings → All emails |
Multi-page forms
Choose Multi page under Pages to split the form into steps. Donors see a progress bar ("Step 2 of 3") with Back and Next buttons.
Click + Add page to add a page, and × on a page to remove it (along with its sections).
Use ⇈ and ⇊ on a section to move it to the previous or next page, or drag it there.
Switching between single and multi page moves every section back to page 1, so nothing gets lost.
Saving
How your changes are saved depends on whether the form is live:
| The form is... | Your changes | The main button |
|---|---|---|
| New (not created yet) | Kept as a draft on this computer | Create form |
| Inactive | Saved automatically a moment after you stop editing. Nothing public changes | Save (saves now, or says what stops it) |
| Active (live) | Kept as a draft on this computer. The live form only changes when you click Save, so people never see a half-made form | Save |
Below the Add section list you'll see where your changes are: All changes saved, Saving…, Not saved yet, Draft on this computer or Not saved: see the checklist.
Drafts
If you leave a live form without saving (or a new form without creating it), your changes are kept as a draft in this browser. Next time you open the form you're asked whether to restore them or discard them. A new form that was started and not created is offered back the next time you start a new form. Drafts older than 30 days are dropped.
Closing the tab with changes that aren't saved asks you first.
Undo and redo
Use Undo and Redo at the bottom of the Add section list, or press Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z (or Ctrl+Y). Everything can be undone: adding, moving and removing sections, settings, style and pages. In a text box, Ctrl+Z undoes your typing as usual.
The checklist
The checklist button in the toolbar opens Form settings → Checklist. It says 3 to fix when something stops the form saving, Ready – 2 to check when only things worth checking are left, and Ready when there's nothing in either list. The list has two parts:
To fix before saving (red): these stop the form saving, or being created. Each says where it is, with a Go to… button.
Worth checking before it goes live (amber): these don't stop it saving, but matter once the public uses the form:
the form isn't public-facing, so only people with a Vega login can open it
a form that takes payment sends no acknowledgement or receipt (none chosen on an Emails tab, under All emails, or by a pathway rule)
the event campaign has ended (its Available To date has passed, or it's inactive in Vega), so the form says the event is no longer available
the event campaign's bookings haven't opened yet (its Available From date is still to come)
the event is full, or its campaign has no capacity set in Vega (which counts as full)
Add to calendar is on, but the event campaign has no Event Start Date in Vega, so the thank-you page won't offer it
a custom question is set to apply to each attendee, but the Tickets section doesn't collect attendee details, so it isn't asked
a Progress section has no campaign to measure, or counts signatures with no number wanted
nothing is set for after submitting, so a plain "Thank you" shows
Notify staff is on with no addresses
a Text section is empty, or an image has no description
an image or picture on the Donation amounts has no description, or an amount is outside the minimum and maximum for people's own amounts
bank debit is offered and your organisation has no AU BECS Debit or NZ BECS Debit pay type, or it doesn't have the BECS Debit subtype
the form is inactive
The event campaign's state is checked against Vega when you open the form and whenever you change the campaign.
After going to an item, the checklist button brings you back to the list. The most common things to fix:
| Message says... | What to do |
|---|---|
| Give the form a name | Fill in Form name |
| Add a Contact details section | Every form needs one, so Vega knows who submitted it |
| Tick the gender options to offer | Gender is shown in Contact details. Tick the gender options to offer, or hide Gender |
| Choose the payment gateway on the Payment section | Every Payment section needs its gateway, and so does a Tickets section selling priced tickets |
| Add a Payment section | The form takes money (a donation amount, a paid membership, priced tickets or an RSVP with a price), so add a Payment section and choose its gateway |
| The payment section needs an amount source | Add a Donation amount, Tickets or Membership section |
| Nothing on this form has a cost | The form has a Payment section but nothing to pay for (a free RSVP, say). Remove the Payment section, or add a Donation amount, Membership or Tickets |
| Choose the default campaign and GL code in the Payment section | Needed when the form takes a donation, sells an RSVP with a price whose campaign has no GL code, or offers the processing fee without its own fee campaign and GL code. See Donations and payments |
| Choose the default campaign and GL code in the Membership section | Always needed on a Membership section. See Memberships on forms |
| Remove the Frequency section | On a membership form, the membership's own settings decide how often it's paid |
| The Frequency section sets how often the payment repeats, and this form takes no payment | Add a Donation amount section, or remove the Frequency section |
| Regular gifts on this form start later than sign-up, and … can't yet save a card without charging it | The gateway is Flo2Cash or Paystation. Set Recurring start date to the sign-up date, or use a Stripe, Windcave, PayWay or BPOINT gateway. See Donations and payments |
| The recurring start date calendar is restricted to specific days, but none are chosen | No date could be picked, so no regular gift could be given. Tick the days of the month to offer, or untick Restrict calendar to specific days of the month |
| A Designation section splits the donation, and this form takes no donation | Add a Donation amount section, or remove the Designation |
| The Donation amount section offers no amounts, and people can't enter their own | Add an amount, or tick Let people enter their own amount |
| The Donation amount's maximum is below its minimum | Raise the maximum, or lower the minimum |
| The Discount codes section needs a Tickets or Membership section | Codes come off tickets and memberships. Add one, or remove the Discount codes section |
| Choose the event campaign on the Tickets section | Pick the campaign the tickets belong to, for each event on the form |
| An attribute is recorded twice | The same attribute is used in two places on the form. Remove one |
| A hidden field adds one attribute – choose it | A custom field set to Hidden – always added needs its one attribute chosen |
| The Custom attributes section has no fields | Add a field, or remove the section |
| An image on a Text section (or an image or picture on a Donation amount) needs a full https:// web address | Use the image's full web address, starting https:// |
A form's discount codes save separately from the form, with the Save codes button in the Discount codes section.
Sharing, analytics and security
These are under Form settings → Settings.
Sharing: the code to put the form on your website, with Copy. Click All options for more ways. See Putting a form on your website.
Analytics: your organisation's Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager keys from the Vega dashboard are used on every form automatically. Only fill these in to use different keys for this one form. If your organisation's key starts with UA-, it's an old Google Analytics ID that Google no longer collects; enter a newer G- ID instead.
Security: Public-facing form is ticked for most forms. It means anyone can fill the form in, with automatic spam and abuse protection. Untick it for forms meant only for your staff: they'll need to sign in with a Vega account to open it. Don't put a non-public form on your public website.
Copying a form
Make a copy (in Security, or in the ⋯ menu on the Forms page) creates a new form with everything this one has: its sections, emails, style and rules. The copy is called Copy of … and starts inactive, so it can't take submissions until you've checked it and switched it on. Submissions and discount codes stay with the original.
Preview and Test
Both appear once the form has been saved, and both need the form to be active.
Preview opens the real form in a new tab, exactly as the public will see it.
Test opens the form in test mode. You can submit it without paying. The submission is recorded as a test and no money is taken. See Testing a form and troubleshooting.
On a small screen or zoomed in
The builder rearranges itself when the window is narrow, or when you zoom in:
The top menu moves onto its own row. Hide menus folds the top rows away to give the form more room; Show menus brings them back.
Add section becomes a drawer: open it with + Add section in the toolbar.
A section's settings and Form settings slide over the canvas. Drag their edge to make them wider.
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