What are Digital Forms and how do they work?
Digital Forms allow teachers, school admins, and district admins to create permission slips, waivers, surveys, and other forms that are sent directly to families and if the document requires, can be returned with a digital signature — all within TalkingPoints. Families receive the form in English and they will also see the form text translated to their preferred language. They will type their name to sign and the completed form comes back as a PDF. Staff can track responses, identify pending submissions, and download completed forms from the Forms dashboard.
Main Forms page with list of existing forms with tracking:
What types of forms can be created?
Common use cases include field trip permission slips, photo and media release forms, emergency contact updates, allergy and dietary restriction disclosures, volunteer sign-ups, back-to-school night RSVPs, and reading logs.
How are forms sent?
Forms are sent as an attachment to a TalkingPoints message. When composing a message, teachers, staff or school/district leaders attach a form in the compose modal. The message can include context for the family, and the form shows up as an attachment. Families can complete and return it directly from their phone.
Compose mode with form attached:
Who has access to Digital Forms? Which roles can create, send, and view forms?
Teacher view: anyone with access (not permissioned)
School product: default for School Admin; permission can be added via custom role
District product: default for District Admin; permission can be added via custom role
How does a teacher or admin view and manage completed forms?
The Forms dashboard lists all forms with status (Draft, Sent), response count, and pending responses. Clicking into an individual submission shows all completed forms and its responses. Forms and their responses can be downloaded as a PDF or exported as a CSV, which can then be easily imported into a spreadsheet.
Teacher view of a completed form:
Can staff send reminders to families who haven't completed a form?
Yes. When creating a form, staff have two options for follow-up. They can set a due date after which the form no longer accepts responses, and separately set an automated reminder that is sent to families of students who haven't yet completed the form. Staff can also resend the form manually at any time.
Are there templates for forms? Can a user reuse a previously created form?
Users can create their own templates as well as being able to easily modify and reuse an existing form.