For: Admins
Plan notice: this feature is available on our "With contractors" plans. Contact support if you'd like access to this feature.
Use this feature to send a form to a supplier, contractor, or client so they can complete it without needing a Site App Pro account.
Setting up a form for external access
Before sending a form externally, you need to enable External Form Access on the form template.
Go to Forms in the Admin Console
Click Add Form to create a new form, or open an existing template to edit it
Enter a Form Name and select a Form Category
Toggle on External Form Access
Add your questions and any info panels
Click Save
Note: Enabling External Form Access limits the available answer types to those supported by the External Approval Portal.
Available answer types
When External Form Access is enabled, you can use the following answer types:
Short Text — prompts the recipient to type a short response
Yes / No — a simple yes or no selection
Yes / No / N/A — adds a not applicable option
Multi Choice — allows the recipient to select from up to 100 options
Signature Capture — prompts the recipient to draw their signature
Selected Resource — displays a document or folder from your Resource Library for the recipient to view
You can also add an Info Panel to provide instructions or context. Info panels can be set to yellow or grey.
Sending the form
Go to Forms in the Admin Console
Find the form template you want to send
Click the three dots next to the form
Select External Approval Portal
Enter one or more recipient email addresses — type each address and press Enter to add it to the list
Toggle on Notify me of updates via email if you want to be notified when the form is completed
Add any instructions in the Instructions field (up to 500 characters)
Select how long the link should remain active using the Link Expires After field — options are 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, or 14 days
Click Send
Each recipient receives a separate email containing a unique link to the form.
Note: The form must be configured for External Form Access to be sent. If it's not configured, you will not see this option.
What the recipient sees
The recipient receives an email containing the form name, your instructions, who sent the request, the link expiry date, and an Open Document button.
When they click Open Document, they are taken to the External Approval Portal where they can complete the form and submit it.
Finding completed external forms
Completed external forms appear in the Activity Stream like any other form.
Note: External forms are not automatically assigned to a site. To assign one manually, open the form, click the three dots in the top right corner, and select Add Site.
You might find adding a question to your form like "What job/site does this relate to?"
How are external people stored?
If an external person has completed a form, this creates a record for them in Teams & Users.
Go to Teams & Users
Click More Filters
Choose Access Level, then External Person
Click Apply
This displays anyone who has used the External Approval Portal. Click on their profile and select Completed Forms to view any they have completed.