When creating forms in brightwheel, you have powerful tools to gather information efficiently. You can use pre-made questions that automatically update student profiles and add contacts, or create your own custom questions for specific needs.

This guide will show you all your options for building forms that work best for you.

Types of questions

When you create a form, you have two options for questions:

Preset questions (linked to profiles)	Questions already set up in your account linked to existing (E.g. Name, contacts, allergies) fields or any custom profile fields you created. Answers automatically update the student's profile when you approve the form.
Custom questions (not linked to profiles)	You can create your own questions. Responses don't automatically update student profiles but remain accessible through the form submission.

Determine how families respond in a field

For each question or field you add, you can choose how families will answer. Here are the different ways they can respond:

Text: For short written answers
Yes/No
Number: For numerical responses
Date: Select a specific date
Paragraph: For longer written answers
Single or Multi-select Dropdown: Choose one or multiple options from a list
Checkboxes: (Only for Fillable Documents) Select multiple items from a list
Signature: Sign with a drawn or typed signature
State & Country: Choose a location from a pre-defined list

Fields linked to student profiles

Certain preset fields on a form are designed to update student profiles directly. When you approve and sync a submitted form, you can choose which preset fields will automatically update the child's profile.

Child information	Name, birthday, allergies, doctor's name & phone, gender, ethnicity, medications, notes,
Custom student profile fields	Link to any Custom fields on student profiles on a form to collect information for that field from families.
Parent/Guardian information	Name, relationship to child, email, phone number 💡When a "Guardian Information" section is added there is no need to create multiple sections for each guardian as the Parents will be able to add more guardians by selecting the + Add parent/guardian button that is only visible to the person filling out the form.
Emergency contact information	Name, relationship to child, phone number
Enrollment information	Desired start date, ask if a sibling is attending & sibling name
Family mailing address

Add linked profile fields in a form

To add sections and fields that link to student profiles, click + Add section on a form to choose the field(s).

To include questions that link to any Custom fields on student profiles you created, you must first add the Child information preset section to the form.

In that section, click Add field to select the custom field from student profiles.

Note: To connect any custom student profile fields you created, you'll need to create the field on student profiles first.

FAQs

How do I list the same field multiple times?

Each field must have a unique name. If you need multiple fields for the same type of information, such as parent names, use distinct labels like 'Parent Name 1' and 'Parent Name 2' to prevent duplicates.

How can I tell which fields are linked to a student's profile?

Fields that update a student's profile are clearly labeled Linked to profile on the form, so you can easily tell which information will populate directly onto the child's profile.