Set up form templates
Create professional forms for new clients, existing clients, and other practice workflows.
Overview
Form templates let you create reusable digital forms for existing clients and public intake workflows, such as intake forms, consent forms, screening tools, questionnaires, and referral forms.
Templates can include text fields, choice fields, signatures, images, and client fields such as name, email, phone, and date of birth.
Caspen supports two types of form templates:
Client form Used by clients who already exist in Caspen. Client forms are sent from a client profile or completed in person during a session.
Examples: consent forms, clinical questionnaires, pre-session check-ins, intake forms.
Intake form Intake forms are public-facing forms used for people who are not yet clients in your Caspen account. When submitted, Caspen automatically creates a new client record using the information provided.
Intake forms can be shared externally via link, QR code, email, SMS, or embedded on your website.
Examples: referral forms, prospective client enquiries, pre-screening questionnaires.
Important Form types cannot be changed after creation. Decide which form type you need (Client form or Intake form) before continuing.
Add a form template
Go to Settings → Form templates.
Click Add form template.
Choose Client form or Intake form, then click Create.
Add the basics
Give your form a structure by adding a title and organizing content into sections.
4.1 Add a title
Name your form so clients understand what it is for (e.g. Initial consultation intake, Consent to treatment).
4.2 Add sections (optional)
Create logical groupings of related questions, each with its own heading and optional description, such as:
Personal Information
Consent,
Medical History
Use Add section to create each group before adding questions to it.
4.3 Add questions
Inside each section, click Add question to add fields that collect or display information (e.g. Statement, Image).
You can mark a question as Required if it must be completed before the form can be submitted.
Tip: Use the arrow icons to reorder questions, and use the bin icon to delete any you no longer need.
Note: Some question types (called Client fields) can update the client record automatically, depending on your form template settings.
5. Click Create.
Your form template now appears in Form templates.
Client forms can be sent directly from a client profile.
Intake forms can be shared via a link or embedded on your website.
Configure form template settings
To access and customize the settings for a specific form template:
From the Form templates list, click Actions next to the template and select Settings, or
View the form template and click Settings in the top right.
The settings panel includes Design, Completion messages, Actions, and Notifications. Click Save (top-right) to apply changes.
Design
🗂️ Category (optional)
Assign a category to help organize your templates. If you do not choose one, the template stays Uncategorized.
Related article: Manage form template categories
🎨 Theme color
Choose a theme color. This becomes the primary accent in your form, including the submit button and other interactive elements.
🖼️ Header image
Set the header image shown at the top of the form.
Default: your account logo
Custom: upload your own image
Completion message
Set the message shown to after the form is submitted. Example: “Thank you, your form has been received. We will review it shortly.”
Actions
🏷️Client tags
Add tags that will automatically be applied to the client after the form is submitted (e.g., New client, Prospective client, Review).
No tags yet? See Set up tags
👤Client fields (Client forms only)
These settings control how submitted form data interacts with existing client information.
Prefill
On: Client fields appear prefilled using existing client details.
Off: Fields stay blank for the client to complete.
Override
On: Submitted values replace existing data in the client record.
Important note: Client name is never overwritten.
Off: Only empty fields are updated. Existing data remains unchanged.
If Override is off, changes to existing client details will not update the client record automatically. You can review the submission and update the client profile manually if needed.
These settings act as defaults for the template. You can change them each time you create an actual form for a client.
Intake forms do not show Client fields settings because they always create a new client record on submission.
Notifications
Choose who, if anyone, should receive a copy of the completed form.
Client: Enable this option to automatically email clients a PDF copy of their completed form. Important note: Ensure you include a required email field in your form to ensure delivery.
Users in your practice: Select specific internal users to notify, and optionally attach a PDF of the completed form.
Form reminders (Client forms only)
Automatically send reminder emails to your clients for incomplete Client forms using customizable reminder schedules.
Manage form templates
From the Form templates list, you can manage, update, or archive templates as needed using the Actions menu.
Screenshot example: Form template Actions menu
Available actions for active templates
View
Preview the form as clients will see it.
Edit
Update the form name or template structure (sections and questions). Note: Editing a template does not modify forms already submitted.
Duplicate
Make a copy of an existing template to use as a starting point.
Settings Open the template settings. See Configure form template settings above for more details.
Share (Intake forms only) Copy the public form link, QR code, or embed code to share the form externally or place it on your website.
Archive
Move the template out of active use. Archived templates cannot be submitted.
For archived templates
Restore Go to the Archived tab and select Actions → Restore to reactivate the template.
Next steps
Once your template is created:
Send Client forms directly from a client profile
Share Intake forms publicly via link, QR code, or website embed
Related articles:
Send a client form - Learn how to send Client forms from a client profile.
Share an intake form - Turn on public access, copy a link, or embed an intake form on your website.
Frequently asked questions
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