Element Properties

From the Start Page, choose System Management, Forms, and Manage Forms to select and open a form in the Form Editor, then select a form element to configure its properties.

Property	Element	Description
Element ID	All	The element's ID number.
Title	All	The Title text appears as a bold font label above the element.
Description	All	The Description text appears in a lighter font just below the Title.
Custom Class (CSS)	All, except for School Preference.	If you created a CSS class and placed it in the form properties’ Custom Styling (CSS) field, you can apply the class to this element by entering the name here.
(Options) Required	All, except for Cloud Document Attachment	Requires the user to enter a value for this element or the form cannot be submitted. Selecting this option will place a red asterisk at the end of the element’s title.
(Options) PowerSchool Field	All, except for Race, Contacts, Collection Table, Fees, and School Preference.	Links the element to a core, custom, or extended PowerSchool field. This is limited to fields within the Student table and one-to-one extensions of the Student table when the form is of the type Collaborative – Student or Individual Response – Student. Similarly, it is limited to fields within the Teacher table and one-to-one extensions of the Teacher table when the form is of the type Collaborative – Teacher or Individual Response – Teacher. Elements cannot be linked to PowerSchool fields on a General Survey form.
(Options) Workflow Mapping	All, except for Contacts.	Allows you to create rules that decide when an element appears on the form. PowerSchool tags cannot be mapped. Refer to Map Workflows for details.
Element Permission	All, except for Hidden Text and School Preference.	Allows you to set the level of access users of each portal have to the element. Click each group name to cycle through and select a permission option for that group: Global Access : Access to the element matches the access given to the portal for the entire form. This is the default setting. No Access : The element does not appear on the form on this portal. View Access : The element is available for viewing but is not editable. Full Access : Users on this portal can edit the element. Required fields will only be enforced if the user has permission to edit the field.
Allow Text Entry (Other)	Multiple Choice Dropdown	Select this to add an option named “Other.” When this option is selected, a text box appears that allows the user to type in a value that was not among the original options.
Placeholder	Single Line Text Paragraph Text Dropdown Multi-Choice Dropdown PIN/Password Race	Text entered in this box will appear in the element’s entry field when there is no value entered in the field. If the form is submitted without entering a value, the Placeholder text is not saved with the response. For example, you can use placeholder text to instruct the user how to enter a date (mm-dd-yyyy) or phone number ((###) ###-####).
Choices	Multiple Choice Checkboxes Dropdown Multi-Choice Dropdown	Allows you to set a discrete list of choices. Selecting a choice makes that choice the default selection. Specify the Choice value in the box. To include a value that is stored in the database different from the text that the user sees, enter the visible text, a vertical pipe, and then the database value (for example, Ninety-Nine\|99). Click the + icon to add a choice and the – icon to remove a choice. Click Import Choices to import a list of line-separated choices.
Predefined Value	Single Line Text Checkboxes Paragraph Text	Values entered in this box will appear in the element’s entry field as long as there is no other value saved in the field. Unlike the Placeholder property, this value is saved with the response on submittal if the user does not change it. Predefined Value is meant to be used when there is a particular value that the majority of responses will have in order to save users time. This property should not be used in conjunction with the PowerSchool Field property as the two properties conflict and will cause slower load times.
Layout	Multiple Choice Checkboxes	Used to arrange choice options on the screen into One Column, Two Columns, Three Columns, or Side by Side.
Field Size	Single Line Text Checkboxes Paragraph Text Dropdown Multi-Choice Dropdown PIN/Password	Used to set the width of the element to control how many characters are visible at one time. This does not affect the number of characters that can be stored in the field. Options include Small, Medium, and Large. The field size is only applied to the desktop browser. On a mobile device, elements appear in full width.
Auto-Complete Data Sets	Single Line Text	This property can be used to offer the user options from a pre-determined list. For example, a country list. When the user starts to type the name of a country, the element will list all country names from the list that match what the user has typed. Selecting a data set displays the option Restrict Response to List. When selected, it forces the user to select one of the choices from the data set and removes the ability to type any value they want.
Custom Data Validation	Single Line Text	Click the blue arrow icon to configure data validation rules for the element. There are three types of data that can be set: Text: The user must enter alphanumeric values. Additional options can set Min and Max Length of the text value, or set a Text Mask, which means that the value must match a certain pattern. Text masks are defined on PowerSchool’s Text Mask Administration page. Additionally, you can select to Apply a Validation Function to finetune valid responses beyond what the Text Mask Administration allows. Number: The user must enter numeric values. You can assign a Min and Max Number. Date: Offers the user a date picker and requires the value to be a valid date. You can set a Max or Min Date that can be entered by the user.
Open Text Block Editor	Text Block	Opens the Description text in a more friendly editor that includes formatting tools.
One-to-Many Table Extension	Collection Table Enhanced Collection Table	Contains all one-to-many extensions of the Students table (for student forms) or Teachers table (for teacher forms) in your database. Select the extension that contains your data.
Table Name	Collection Table Enhanced Collection Table	When an extension is selected, this list contains the tables in that extension. A collection table can only contain fields from a single database table.
Columns	Collection Table Response List	Allows you to label each column in the collection table and assign it a field from the selected database table. Note that you must still add an element to each column so users can edit those field values. The only element types allowed in the Collection Table are Single Line Text, Multiple Choice, and Dropdown. Create the new element, configure it as required, and drag it to a column.
Filter By Response (Optional)	Collection Table Enhanced Collection Table	Select the field within the database table that will hold the Response ID. Use in conjunction with the Clear Form on Submission form property to not display previously submitted additions to the collection table. Only those rows added to the collection table during a given response will be associated with that response.
PIN Type	PIN/Password	Indicates whether the password is stored in a student field or generic to the form.
Generic Password	PIN/Password	The password for the form is the same for each user. Use if you choose not to map the password to a PowerSchool field value.
Forced Value	Hidden Text	Place the value you wish to store here.
Dynamic Forced Values	Hidden Text	Click the blue arrow icon to access information on dynamic forced values.
Restrict to Single Sign-Up	Event Calendar	Only allows a user to sign up for a single event on the given calendar.
Calendar Type	Event Calendar	Event Sign-up is the only option available at the moment.
Provided By	Event Calendar	Select the Teacher or Staff calendar provider. The calendar is linked to this person, so they have special access to the calendar via the Teacher Portal. If Any Teacher/Staff is selected, all staff has access to this calendar.
Availability	Event Calendar	Lists the events that will be made available to the users. Click the EVENT link to open the details of the event. Properties include Title, Start Date/Time, End Date/Time, and Options.
Category	SIS Document Attachment	Lists available SIS Document Attachment permission categories.
Make PA SI Compliant	SIS Document Attachment	Use this option to specify the Document Language, allowed PA SI Document Type, Document Date, Document Expiry Date, and whether the attached Document was scanned from hardcopy by School Year.
Resize Images Over x MB	SIS Document Attachment	Automatically resizes images uploaded by parents so that they are not bigger than the maximum allowed size defined in the Document Attachments settings. The supported formats are PNG, JPG, and GIF.
Options	Contacts	Additional options for the Contacts element: Calculate Contact Type Show Contact Type Enable Custody Enable School Pick Up Enable Receives Mail Conditional Update of Non-Custodial Contacts
Required Fields	Contacts	Option to make fields required for the Contacts element: First Name Last Name Gender Relationship to Student Phone Number Address Email
Choose Schools	School Preference	Select the schools that parents can choose to enroll their students in.
Available Schools	School Preference	Displays the schools you selected in Choose Schools.
Max Selections Allowed	School Preference	Set the maximum number of preferred schools a parent can select.
Min Selections Allowed	School Preference	Set the minimum number of preferred schools a parent must select. Available values depend on the Max Selections Allowed value.
Entry Years	Entry Year	Used to set accepted entry years. The years are pulled from the Years and Terms you configured in PowerSchool. For the years to appear, you first need to configure them at the district office level, not at an individual school level. Entry years displayed here are for terms that have not already ended.
Open Language options	Various elements	Option to add translations for the property. Available languages are defined in the Configure Form Languages settings.