Bend your forms the right way, with field rules

We've all had to fill out those long, dreary forms asking us loads of unnecessary questions. As we learned in Forms 101, the first rule of form building is asking your respondent only what is absolutely necessary. The more relevant and intuitive the form, the more likely it is to get filled out. With conditional rules, Zoho Forms does just that. You can control the overall flow of the form by configuring rules to display the next field to be filled in, based on the response in the previous field.

Using the Field Rules, you can choose to show or hide certain form fields to your respondents or set certain fields as mandatory to fill in based on their previous responses on the form. This way, you can let your respondents see only the fields that are relevant to them by minimizing the questions that are irrelevant to them, or get input for the mandatory fields, and personalize and streamline the form filling experience for each respondent.
For example, if someone selects "Yes" to a question about dietary restrictions, you can display additional fields asking for specific details. If they select "No," those additional fields remain hidden.

Before creating a rule, decide what you want to achieve. Do you want to show a specific field only if a user selects a particular option? Do you need to hide sections if they don’t apply to certain respondents? Having a clear objective will help you set up the rule effectively.

Show or hide relevant fields

Let's walk through an example of how field rules can enhance a Room Reservation Form to make it more personalized and efficient. Imagine you’re setting up a form where certain fields should only appear if customers request additional services. This avoids cluttering the form with unnecessary questions for users who don’t need these extra services. You have a field called Additional Charges Applied that lists any extra costs for these services. However, you only want this field to show up if the customer selects any of the additional services.
 

Example of Field Rules

Combine Multiple Conditions
You can create complex rules by combining multiple conditions. For example, show a field only if the user selects “Yes” for two different questions, like opting for both a meal preference and a specific event track.

Configure Field Rules with Grouped Choices

You can configure field rules to work with grouped choices of a dropdown field, which is useful for dynamically displaying grouped options based on the user’s input, which makes the form more responsive and user-friendly.

Using Grouped Choices in Field Rules

Use Rules to Enhance Mandatory Fields
Field rules let you dynamically set fields as mandatory. For example, if a user selects “Yes” to a question about travel expenses, make the “Travel Cost” field mandatory.

These are some of the ways in which you can use rules to manipulate the flow of your forms, making it more intuitive and easy to fill. With Zoho Forms’ easy-to-use interface, you don’t need any technical skills to set up field rules. Just a few clicks, and you’re ready to provide a customized journey for each respondent.
Found any other creative ways to use rules? Let us know in the comments below.

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