Description: What each of the 15 form builder components does, and which one to reach for when building an inspection form.
Overview
The form builder gives you 15 components to build an inspection form from. Some collect an answer, and some lay the page out.
This article is the reference for picking the right one. It doesn't cover building a form end to end — that's a bigger job with its own article to come.
Where the Components Live
Open a form in the builder. The right-hand column is titled Form Components, with the instruction Click to add or drag and drop.
Either works: click a component to append it, or drag it to a specific position. An empty form shows Add or drag form components here.
The builder has three tabs across the top — Settings, Form and Preview. Form is the one you build on; Preview shows the form as an inspector will see it.
Components That Collect an Answer
Component | Use it when | Notes |
Checkbox | Several options, one or more of which can apply | Starts with three options for you to rename. Allow multiple Selections is off by default — switch it on to let an inspector pick more than one. Can be displayed as checkboxes or as switches. |
Radio | Several options and exactly one applies | Exactly one option can be selected. All options stay visible. |
Dropdown | One choice from a longer list | Same single-choice behavior as Radio, but the options are collapsed into a list until opened. |
Toggle Buttons | Options tapped rather than picked from a list | Takes as many options as you add, and allows multiple selections by default. Can be displayed as toggle buttons or as a button group. |
Text Input | A short single-line answer | A name, a reading, a reference number. |
Textarea | A longer free-text answer | Comments, observations, descriptions. |
Number Input | A numeric answer | Stores the answer as a number rather than text. |
Image | A photo is part of the answer | Not available on action item forms. |
Inline Text | A sentence with a blank in the middle | Comes as text, an input, then more text — a fill-in-the-blank. Good for "Sediment measured ___ inches at the outfall." |
💡 Radio and Dropdown both collect a single choice. They differ only in how the options are shown — Radio keeps every option visible, Dropdown collapses them into a list until opened. Toggle Buttons and Checkbox both offer an Allow multiple Selections switch, and their defaults are opposite — it is on for Toggle Buttons and off for Checkbox. Check it on the component rather than assuming.
Components That Structure the Form
Component | What it does |
Title | A section heading, in Large, Medium or Small. Can carry a bottom border. |
Text | A block of static text — instructions, a regulatory reference, a reminder. Collects no answer. |
Divider | A horizontal rule to separate sections. Purely visual. |
List Items | A list of static items, numbered or bulleted. For reference content, not answers. |
Guide Items | Guidance text shown to the inspector alongside a question, separate from the question's own label. |
Table
Table builds a grid: rows you define, columns the inspector fills in. It's the component for anything repeated across several things — readings at each outfall, a check per piece of equipment.
A new table arrives with a Row Labels column holding three labels, plus one Text Input column. Rename the labels to your rows, then add the columns you need.
📝 Row Labels isn't in the palette. It only makes sense inside a table, so you can't add one on its own. The table you add already contains one.
Formats Inside a Component
Several things that look like separate components are display options inside one of the 15. You set them in the component's own editor, along the bottom.
Component | The formats it offers |
Checkbox | Checkboxes or Switches |
Toggle Buttons | Toggle Buttons or Button Group |
Title | Large, Medium or Small |
List Items | Numbered or Bullets |
So a form showing switches, a button group, a smaller heading or a bulleted list is using one of the 15 with a different format selected — not a component you can no longer add.
Every Component Starts with Placeholder Content
Anything you add arrives filled in — Option 1, Option 2, Option 3 on a Checkbox, Button #1 to Button #3 on Toggle Buttons, List Item #1 to List Item #3 on a list, and Title Here on a Title.
⚠️ That placeholder text ships to inspectors if it isn't replaced. Nothing flags it before you save, so a form can go into the field asking people to choose between "Option 2" and "Option 3" — and the inspections run on it carry that wording. Preview shows the form as an inspector will see it.
What Happens Next
Your changes apply to the form, not to inspections already under way.
An inspection that's already started keeps the version of the form it started with. Adding a question won't make it appear mid-inspection.
Inspections started after you save get the new version.
See Editing an Inspection Form.
FAQ
Q: Image isn't in the palette.
A: You're building an action item form, which doesn't take image components. Photos attach to the action item itself instead.
Q: Row Labels isn't in the palette.
A: It only exists inside a table, so it can't be added on its own. Add a Table — it arrives with one.
Q: A form shows switches, but Switch isn't in the palette.
A: Switches are a display format of Checkbox, set at the bottom of the checkbox's own editor. The same goes for a button group (a Toggle Buttons format), a smaller heading (a Title size) and a bulleted list (a List Items format).
Q: Inspectors are seeing "Option 1" on our form.
A: The placeholder content was never replaced. Edit the component's options, save, and check the result in Preview.
Q: A question I added didn't appear on an in-progress inspection.
A: The form version locks when an inspection starts. Your change appears on inspections started after you saved.
Q: Radio or Dropdown — which should I use?
A: They collect the same thing — one choice. Radio keeps every option visible on the page; Dropdown collapses them into a list until it's opened. If you want more than one answer, use Toggle Buttons or Checkbox and check their Allow multiple Selections setting — it is on for Toggle Buttons and off for Checkbox.
Related articles
Editing an Inspection Form
Completing an Inspection
Creating an Action Item