An application form is what volunteers must fill out when applying for an opportunity that requires admin approval (this is set at the Opportunity Type level). Application forms allow you to "screen" applicants, and are perfect for cultivating volunteers best suited for certain opportunities. The best part is you can create as many forms as you want, giving you the flexibility to build a variety of applications to suit your different Opportunity Types.
To manage your forms:
- Access the Admin interface.
- Navigate to Programs > Volunteer > Application Forms.
Create Application Forms
To begin, click Create.
At the top of the next page, you can control whether the application is active or inactive, and whether it's the default application moving forward.
In the Application section below is where you create your form using the various Content Elements on the right, which are grouped in the Form Controls, Demographics, and System Data tabs. Simply drag-and-drop these elements into the Application box on the left. Before dropping, you can order an element by hovering it above or below another element.
After dropping an element, you can configure its settings. The available options vary slightly depending on the element. Most elements can be made a Required field, forcing applicants to fill them out, and you can add Help Text to them if you want to provide instructions or explain a field's purpose in more detail. Other pertinent examples include dropdowns, checkboxes, and radio buttons, as these require you to also provide the associated options.
When finished creating your form, be sure to click Save at the bottom of the page.
TIP: To remove a field from your application, drag-and-drop it out of the Application box.
TIP: Your site's custom user profile Demographics (created on the Admin > Users > Demographics page) are available as elements on the Demographics tab.
Associate an Application to an Opportunity Type
Application forms can only be used for Opportunity Types with a Submission Type set to Require Approval. If so, an Application Form menu appears below where you can select an application form. All of the custom application forms you've created will be listed in this menu.
NOTE: If you don't want to use a specific application form, you can select the Create a new application form with form builder option to have admins create an application when creating opportunities.
When creating opportunities of this type, on the Application Builder step, the chosen application is shown for review but no changes can be made.