Key Terms
Key Terms
Required to know for this article specifically:
Business = Business/Law Firm who invested in Hona
Hona (Business) Org = Hona Account owned by the Business
Business User = An individual account within a Hona Business Org
Just like there are many employees at 1 Business, there are many Users in 1 Hona Org. Which Hona features and settings are accessible to each User is determined by their User Role.
Client = Client of the Business
End-user of Hona Client and its features
Hona Client = Hona Client Portal interface where Clients can interact with Hona features
Business Users build Hona Client features in their Hona Business Org
Important to know in general:
"Project" is used interchangeably with "case" and "matter"
CMS = Case Management Software (often used interchangeably with CRM)
Messages = 2-way messages sent through Hona's 2-Way Messaging feature (typically sent via text)
Notifications = messages sent to the Client to notify them of Hona features you have configured (Project Type case updates, Forms, E-Signature requests, Review requests, etc). These are sent based on the Client's Notification Preferences.
Goal
After reading this article, you will know how to configure a Form in your Hona Business Org. Forms are one of the most powerful tools a Business can use in Hona to collect consistent, accurate information from Clients. By creating and customizing Forms, Businesses streamline intake, reduce manual follow-ups, and ensure that key details are captured at the right stage of a Client’s case.
Overview of Steps
1. Access Hona Forms
From the side-bar in your Hona Business Org, select Collect → Forms
2. Create New Form
To create a new Form, select the (+) button on the top right hand side of your screen.
Your Form will be Untitled when it is first created, so the first thing you should do is give your Form a new Form Title. You can refresh your page to see the Form Title at the top of the page update to its new name (visual below).
3. Add Question
Select the (+) button at the bottom of your Form to create a new question. This will open a menu for you to select what type of question you would like to create.
What question type should I choose?
What question type should I choose?
It depends on what information you are collecting from your Clients! Some question types are better for collecting different kinds of information than others. Read more to understand each question type.
If you are collecting open-response text information from your Clients:
1. Plain Text
2. Integer
3. Decimal
4. Email
5. Phone
6. Address
7. Date
8. Date and Time
If you are collecting closed-response text information from your Clients:
9. Single Select
10. Multi Select
If you are collecting files from your Clients:
11. File Upload
If you are collecting a mix of these (open-response/close-response text and/or files) from your Client but for only one question:
12. List
If you need to add a side-note for your Clients to read (not a question):
13. Note
4. Configure Question Content + Logic
After you've chosen what type of question you want to create, you will then configure the details of that question using the fields below.
What should I put in ___ field?
What should I put in ___ field?
Question/Prompt
This is where you will type out what information you are asking your Client for.
Question type
Use this drop-down to change the type of question you are creating
Required
If toggled on, your Clients will not be able to submit their Form without answering the question first.
Archive Field
This essentially “deletes” the question from the Form. You can always find it later in “Archived Fields” if you would like to restore it.
Add Supporting Text
Can be used to add a supporting explanation for any terms or questions your Clients may not understand.
Display Conditionally
You can use this to "hide" questions, and only display the question if the Client responds a specific way to a previous question. See FAQs below for an example.
5. Configure Form Settings
These settings determine what your Client's notifications for Form requests look like and how those requests/notifications are sent.
To edit these settings, click on the Settings tab at the top of the Form and configure:
What should I put in ___ field?
What should I put in ___ field?
Each section of your Form settings configures something different for that Form. Open the section you want to learn more about below.
Notification Messages
Notification Messages
When your Client is assigned a Form, they are alerted of this through a notification. There is a "default" wording for what this notification says, but you can edit it here if you would like. Just make sure that {{form_url}} (the piped Form URL) is included so that your Client receives a link in their notification to access their Form.
Notification Message = The notification sent to the Client when the Form is assigned. Must include piped Form URL.
Reminder Message = The reminder notification sent if reminders are enabled. Must include piped Form URL.
Reminders
Reminders
Enabling these will make it so Hona sends notifications to your Clients to remind them to fill out their Form, but only if their Form has not been submitted. If a Client submits their Form as soon as they receive it, they will not receive any reminders, even if these settings are configured. For this reason, we encourage all Business's to enable Form reminders to increase response from Clients.
3. To enable Form reminders:
Decide how many business days you would like between reminders. This is also the number of days before the first reminder will be sent after it is assigned to the Client initially.
Set a maximum number of reminders that should be sent to Clients assigned that Form if they do not complete it.
Auto Send Form from Phase Change
Auto Send Form from Phase Change
This setting manipulates when your Form sends, and you can use it to configure a Form to send automatically to your Client. You can configure the same Form to automatically send for multiple Project Types and Phases.
4. To create a Form automation:
Select (+)
Decide whether you want the Form to send when your Client enters or leaves their phase.
Select the Phase you want to configure the automation for.
Because your Client will receive a Phase Change notification as well, you will need to set at least a 1 hour delay so that the Form notification sends following this one and your Clients don't miss it. You are welcome to increase that delay here. We do not recommend setting this to 0, as we've seen this cause a decrease in Form response.
Recurring Form Assignment
Recurring Form Assignment
This setting is for if you need a Form to send to your Clients on a recurring interval (For example: a "Treatment Update Form" because you need treatment updates from your Clients every 45 days). Keep in mind: the initial Form assignment must be done manually and cannot be automated if you want the Form to recur.
5. To configure a Form to recur:
Decide the number of days you want between Form assignments. This number determines the interval your Form assignments are sent.
Decide the number of times you want the Form to send. Remember that the interval does not respect Phase, so it will continue to run even after a Client is progressed out of the Phase they are in when you assigned the Form originally.
Once a recurring Form has been assigned manually to a Client, all of the future assignments will schedule all at once, and will appear in the Client's "Forms" tab of their Project. This allows you to see the exact date of when each recurring Form assignment will send. If you need to cancel future Form assignments for Clients on a recurring Form interval, you can do so by opening the Client's Project in Hona, opening their "Forms" tab, and cancelling the Form you no longer want to send to the Client.
Why can I not use both "Auto Send Form from Phase Change" AND "Recurring Form Assignment"?
Why can I not use both "Auto Send Form from Phase Change" AND "Recurring Form Assignment"?
FAQs
Can I see an example of how to use Conditional Logic in my Form questions?
Can I see an example of how to use Conditional Logic in my Form questions?
Question 1: Do you have any dependents?
If the client answers no, skip the following question.
If the client answers yes, I want to ask:
Question 2. Please list their full names and date of births:
You would configure the Conditional Logic on Question 2 (since that is the question whose display is conditional). Look over the screenshot below to see how those configuration settings would appear:
Why can I not use both "Auto Send Form from Phase Change" AND "Recurring Form Assignment"?
Why can I not use both "Auto Send Form from Phase Change" AND "Recurring Form Assignment"?
This is because the interval your Form is recurring on is dependent on "number of days" and not "Phase." You cannot automate the Form to send based on "Phase," and then have that automation recur on a non-Phase-dependent interval (like "number of days").
If you would like to see an option for having a Form only recur while a Client is in a specific Phase, please submit your feedback to [email protected] with an explanation of why this functionality would impact your Business positively, and we will happily submit a feature request for you.
Conclusion
Using Hona Forms ensures your Business gathers the right information at the right time, while keeping Clients engaged and informed. Done well, Forms reduce friction for both your team and your Clients when gathering necessary information for the case. For any questions or concerns, please chat with our support team or email [email protected].