LAINNOV Forms Guide
LAINNOV Forms is the complete form system: build registration forms, surveys, applications and order forms, share them with a link or on your website, collect answers and payments, and work with the results.
This guide tours the whole system in the order you will meet it: the home page and its menus, starting a form, the builder with all its question types, the four workspace tabs, every settings screen, sharing, what respondents see, responses, and managing your forms. Each chapter says what the screen is for, what you see, and how to do each task step by step. Screenshots use a made-up demo form, Greenfield Youth Camp Registration, so the questions and answers are examples only.
Words in bold are the exact labels you will see on screen.
Your first form
Do these in order. Each item links to the chapter that explains it.
- Start a form — blank, or from a ready-made template. Starting a new form
- Add your questions from the question list. Adding questions
- Mark the must-answer questions as required. Question settings
- Share it — send the link, put it on your website, or print the QR code. Sharing your form
- Read the answers and download them when you need them elsewhere. Reading responses
Opening Forms
- From the LAINNOV menu, open LAINNOV Forms. You land on the Workspace, the home page with all your forms.
- If the page cannot load, check your internet connection and select Retry.
1Finding your way around
The Workspace is the Forms home page: every form you made or were invited to, in one place.

- Top buttons. Search hub, Templates, Import Data, From Code (AI) and + New Form.
- Find a form. Type in the search box, or filter by All Status and Last Updated. Switch between List and Gallery views.
- Tabs. My Forms shows your own forms; Shared shows forms others shared with you.
- Folders. Keep forms tidy with folders — Everything, Unfiled, New files, or make your own with New folder and Organise.
- Each form card shows the name, an Active badge, when it was last changed and how many answers it has (for example "Updated 2 days ago · 34 responses"). The Enabled switch turns the form on or off without deleting it.
- The ⋮ menu. Every form card has a three-dot menu with everything you can do to that form: Move to folder, Edit form, View responses, Disable form, Mark as database, Connect to LAINNOV Scan, Copy link, Duplicate, Copy as code, Share, Transfer and Delete. More on these in Managing your forms.

2Starting a new form
Select + New Form and a blank form is created straight away — no pop-up, no questions to answer first. It opens in the builder, ready for your questions.
Starting from a template

Select Templates on the home page to browse the gallery: 24 ready-made forms in categories like Business, Research, Events, Education, HR & Recruitment, Healthcare, Non-Profit, Support and Sales — for example Contact Form, Event Registration, Job Application and Donation Form. Pick the closest one, then change the questions to fit. Everything in a template can be edited or deleted.
3The form workspace
Open any form and you get four tabs across the top. This is where all the work happens.

- Builder — add and arrange questions, change settings, make it look right.
- Preview — see the form exactly as respondents will see it.
- Responses — read the answers, see the numbers, download them.
- Integrations — send answers to other apps (more in Sending answers to other apps).
The top bar also shows a Public link live switch, Copy link, Preview and Save. Save often — your changes are kept only when you save.
4Adding questions
Questions come from the Add Question list in the builder. Click a type to add it, or drag it where you want it. Click any question on the form to select it; drag it up or down to move it.

The question types
There are 29 types, grouped so you can find things fast:
| Group | What you get |
|---|---|
| Text & contact | Short text (one line), Long text (a paragraph), Email, Number, Phone, Country, Address. |
| Choice | Dropdown (pick one from a list), Multiple choice (pick one), Checkboxes (pick as many as apply), Legal Checkbox (a tick box for terms). |
| Date | Date (a date picker with smart options — see Smart date questions), Date Range (a start and an end date). |
| Rating & scales | Rating (stars), Likert Scale (agree/disagree), Matrix (a table of questions answered the same way), Ranking (drag items into order), Slider (pick a number on a sliding bar). |
| Files & signature | File upload (photos or documents), Signature (sign with a finger or mouse). |
| Display | Image display (show a picture on the form), YouTube video (show a video), Description (write instructions or a heading on the form) — none of these ask anything. |
| Smart | Church unit and GNAAS unit (pick from the church or GNAAS directory), Calculated (a number worked out from other answers), Repeater (ask the same set of questions more than once), Hidden (a field people never see, for your own notes). |
These two only appear on Adventist accounts. They let people pick their union, zone or fellowship straight from the directory instead of typing it.
Change or remove a question
Click a question, then use the small buttons on it: the pencil edits it, the copy button duplicates it (the copy lands right below the original), the bin deletes it. Deleting a question also deletes its answers, so be careful on a form people have already filled in.
5Question settings
Click a question, then look at the settings panel. What you see depends on the question type.

Required questions
Turn on Required and the person must answer before they can submit. Use it for the questions you truly need — every required question is one more reason someone gives up halfway.
Answer options
For dropdowns, multiple choice and checkboxes, type each option on its own line in Options. You can reorder them by dragging, and add an Other option that lets people type their own answer.
Saved option sets
If you reuse the same options on many forms (for example a list of regions, or Yes / No / Maybe), save them once as a preset. Next time, pick the preset from the list instead of typing everything again. Change the preset and every question using it gets the new options.
Placeholder and description
- Placeholder: grey hint text inside an empty answer box, for example "e.g. Ama Serwaa". It disappears when the person starts typing.
- Description: a line of help under the question, for example "Use the name on your ID card."
6Smart date questions
Date questions are smarter than a plain calendar. Select the date question, open Date options, and choose what to ask.

- Full date: day, month and year — the usual choice.
- Month and day only: for birthdays, when people do not want to share their birth year. The year box goes away — you still get the birthday for greetings, without the age.
- Year: for questions like "Year you joined" — people scroll through years instead of a full calendar.
- Earliest date and Latest date: nobody can pick outside this range. Useful for "date of birth" (no future dates) or camp dates.
- Block the current year: stops people picking this year — handy for birth years.
- Start on today's date: the box starts filled with today.
7Organising with sections
A section is a titled group of questions, for example "Personal details" or "Camp choices". Sections break a long form into readable chunks. Add one from the question list, then drag questions into it. The Form outline sidebar in the builder shows your sections at a glance and jumps to each one when you click it.
Turn on Pages and each section becomes its own page, with Back and Next buttons. One screen at a time feels light on a phone. People can go back and change earlier answers before they submit.
8Showing questions based on answers

Show this question when…
On any question, open Show this question when and pick an earlier answer it depends on. For example: only show "Please give details" when the person answered "Yes" to "Does the camper have any medical conditions or allergies we should know about?". People never see questions that do not apply to them, so the form feels shorter.
Show/hide rules are powerful, but a form with too many of them is hard to test. After you add rules, fill in the form yourself once as each "type" of person and check the right questions appear.
Conditional actions: require, thank-you, redirect, email

Show/hide decides what a person sees. A conditional action decides what happens when their answers match a rule. In the builder, open Form Settings, then the Conditional actions group, and select Add rule. Every rule has two halves:
- When. Pick the answers that must hold, using the same condition editor as show/hide: a question, a comparison and a value. Add more conditions and choose whether all of them or any of them must be true.
- Then. Choose one action:
- Make questions required: tick the questions. They become required on the page the moment the condition is true, and the form will not submit without them.
- Show a different thank-you message: people who match see this message instead of the usual confirmation.
- Send to a different page: people who match go to this web address after submitting.
- Email someone: the addresses you list receive the answers, with a link to the responses.
Rules are checked in order. The first thank-you message and the first redirect that match are used; every matching email rule sends. Switch a rule off with its On toggle to keep it without using it.
"When Role is equal to Pastor, make Church name required." "When District is equal to Accra West, email accrawest@yourunion.org." "When Score (percent) is less than 50, show the thank-you message: Thank you for trying. Would you like a follow-up call?"

Only the conditions and which questions a rule requires travel with the public form, so the page can react as people answer. Your messages, redirect links and email addresses stay on the server.
Quoting an earlier answer

Any later question, section title, thank-you message, redirect link, welcome email or SMS can repeat something the person already typed. Beside each question label in the builder, Quote an answer lists the earlier questions; pick one and a token such as {{field:…}} is inserted where your cursor is. Under the confirmation message the same picker copies the token for you to paste. On the live form the token is replaced by that person's answer: "Hi {{field:…}}, which district is {{field:…}} in?" becomes "Hi Ama, which district is Osu Church in?".
A blank answer prints nothing. A token that names a question that no longer exists is left as typed so you notice it. With scoring on, {{score}}, {{score_max}}, {{score_percent}} and {{score_outcome}} work the same way.
9Previewing

Open the Preview tab any time while you build. It shows the live form exactly as respondents will see it — the same questions, the same look, the same order. Use Open in new tab to see it full-screen, and try filling it in yourself before you share it.
10Making it look right
In the builder, open Form Settings and choose the Appearance tab. Pick one of 9 styles — Modern, Admission, Classic, Minimalist, Dark Mode, Neumorphic, Step-by-Step, Conversational or AI Chat — then make it yours:
- Theme color (or pick from the ready-made presets) and Typography for the text.
- Add a cover/banner image at the top and your logo.
- Set the page colors and a page background image behind the form.
Check the Preview tab after each change — what looks good on your laptop may feel crowded on a phone.
11Form settings
In the builder, Form Settings holds everything about how the form behaves. It has three tabs: General, Appearance and Integrations.

Form details
The title and description people see at the top of your form.
After submission
- Confirmation message: what people see right after they submit. Write something warm and useful, for example: "Thank you! We have your registration. Watch your WhatsApp for camp details." The thank-you screen is centred. To put it on the left or right, select all the text in the message and use the align buttons in its toolbar: the whole screen, buttons included, follows.
- Redirect URL: send people to a web address instead of showing the message.
- Response limit: the form closes itself after this many answers. Handy when camp beds are limited.
- Progress bar: show people how far through the form they are.
- Registration code: give every respondent their own code, in random or sequential order — useful for check-in at the gate.
Scoring

Scoring turns a form into a points quiz or an assessment, without answer keys: each answer is worth points, every response gets a total, and the total can fall into an outcome band such as "Pass" or "Needs a follow-up". It suits self-assessments, readiness checks, eligibility screens and light-hearted quizzes. For graded exams with hidden answer keys and attempts, use Quiz mode instead.
- In Form Settings, open the Scoring group and switch on Score responses.
- Go back to your questions. Every option of a choice question now has a small pts box: type the points that option earns (negative numbers are allowed). Number, rating and slider questions get Points per unit under Advanced: a rating of 4 with 2 points per unit scores 8.
- Choose whether Outcome bands compare points or percent of the maximum, then Add outcome for each band: a name, a lowest and highest score (leave the highest empty for "and above") and an optional message. The first band the score falls in wins.
- Switch on Show the score on the thank-you screen if people should see their result: the points, the maximum, the percent and the band's message.


The total is saved with every response. In Responses each row shows "Score: 7 / 10", and the CSV exports gain a Score column. Once scoring is on, Score (points) and Score (percent) appear as choices in show/hide rules and in conditional actions, so a high scorer can see an extra section or trigger an email. Band messages, thank-you messages, emails and SMS can quote the result with {{score}}, {{score_max}}, {{score_percent}} and {{score_outcome}}.
For a single-choice question it is the highest-scoring option; for tick-boxes, the sum of the positive options; for a rating or slider, the top of its scale times the points per unit. A number question needs a "highest value counted" so the percent can be worked out; without one, people see points but no percent.
The points per option travel with the public form so the page can react as people answer. Anyone technical could read them, so keep scoring for assessments and quizzes where that does not matter.
Visibility & category
Choose who can open the form: Public (anyone can find it), Unlisted (only people with the link), or Private (only people you allow). You can also file the form under a category.
Form scheduling
Set when the form opens and closes for answers, in your timezone. Turn on the countdown timer and respondents see how long is left — good for registration deadlines.
Spam & bot protection
Keep junk answers out. Honeypot quietly catches automated spam; the bot check asks real people to prove they are human before submitting.
The moment a form closes — by hand, by date, by answer limit, or with the Enabled switch — nobody new can submit. People halfway through will see "This form is closed" when they try to send.
12Extra tools
The Integrations tab inside Form Settings holds tools that connect your form to the rest of LAINNOV:
- Donation Drive: add a donate button to the form, linked to one of your LAINNOV Pay payment links.
- SMS Notifications: text yourself (or your team) when someone answers.
- Welcome Email: send each respondent an email after they submit.
- Respondent portal: let people view or update their own answers later through a secure link.
- Voucher gate: only people with a valid voucher code can open the form.
- LAINNOV Save Integration: automatically register respondents as savings members in LAINNOV Save.
- Data Bundle/Airtime: sell data and airtime through the form, over USSD and Telegram.
- Student fees mapping: link form answers to student fee records.
- USSD Registration: let people register by dialling a code like *711*2203# on any phone — no internet needed.
13Sharing your form
A form only takes answers while it is switched on — use the Public link live switch in the builder, or the Enabled toggle on the home page.

The public link
Every form has its own web address. Select Copy Link and send it by WhatsApp, SMS, email or social media. Anyone with the link can fill in the form — they do not need an LAINNOV account.
Telegram bot link
The Telegram Bot Link opens the form inside Telegram, so people can fill it in without leaving the app.
QR codes
Select QR Codes to get a printable code. Stick it on a poster or a church notice board — people point their phone camera at it and the form opens.
Kiosk mode: one device, many people in turn

At a registration desk, a gate or an exhibition stand, one tablet or laptop takes everyone's answers one after another. Kiosk mode makes the form clear itself for the next person. In the Share dialog, open the Kiosk mode block, choose the two timings and select Copy kiosk link. Open that link on the kiosk device; nothing changes for people using your normal link.
- Reset after: how long the thank-you screen stays before the form clears for the next person (15 seconds unless you change it). A Start the next response now button skips the wait.
- Idle: how long a half-filled form may sit untouched before it clears itself, so one person's half-typed answers never greet the next (2 minutes unless you change it; set it to 0 to switch the idle timer off). The countdown only starts once someone has begun answering.
The kiosk page offers a fullscreen button so the browser's address bar and tabs are out of reach. Registration codes, payments and everything else work as usual; each person's submission is a normal response in your list.

Open the kiosk link, go fullscreen, and test it yourself: submit, wait for the reset, then start a form and walk away to see the idle timer clear it. On a shared device, do not sign in to LAINNOV in that browser.
Putting the form on your website
Open the Embed dialog and pick how the form sits on your site:
- iFrame — the option for most websites: copy the ready-made snippet and paste it where you want the form.
- JavaScript — for sites where you manage the code yourself.
- Link — just the plain web address.
- Popup — the form opens in a small window over your page.
You can set the width and height, pick a theme, hide the header or footer, and turn on auto resize so the form grows with its content. The Direct URL (for Google Sites & other platforms) is a plain link that works where snippets are not allowed.
14What the person filling sees
Respondents get a clean page with your title, description and questions — nothing of the builder, no LAINNOV menus. It works in any browser, and they need no account.


A PDF copy of every submission
Everyone who submits can keep a copy of what they sent. The thank-you screen offers Download a PDF copy: a tidy document with your form's title, your organisation's name, the date and time, their registration code, every question with their answer, and the payment details when they paid. If you send a welcome email, the same PDF is attached to it. In the Responses page, every single response has a Download PDF button that produces the same document for your own records or for someone who lost theirs.

Nothing needs switching on; the copy is there for every form. Hidden questions and questions the person never saw are left out, so the PDF reads the way their form did.
15Collecting payments

Add a payment question and set the amount — for example a camp fee of 150 GHS. When someone submits the form, they pay there and then: by mobile money or manual payout, collected as part of the submission. The answer is only counted once the payment goes through.
- Each payment shows in the response, so you can see who has paid and who has not.
- Money lands in the organisation's account; payouts work like the rest of LAINNOV.
If a payment fails, the person is told to try again. Their answers are kept so they do not have to retype everything.
16Reading responses
Open the Responses tab — also called FormFlow — Response Intelligence — to see all answers in one place. Each row is one person's submitted form.

- Stat cards. Total Responses, Completion Rate and Form Revenue (from payment questions) at a glance.
- Member directory. One card per person, built from the name, phone and other details they gave. Search by name, open a card to see everything that person submitted, and edit or delete a member if you need to.
- Share menu. Copy dashboard, a public share link for the results, or invite by email so a teammate can view them.
- Responses report. Pick a date range to see how answers came in over time.
- Use Search to find a name or an answer, and the filters to narrow by date or by answer to a question. Embed puts the results view on your website.
Private columns
Add your own columns to the responses: the fee each person is to pay, an ID you issue, a scholarship decision, a note. Only you and the people you share the form with can see and fill them in. They are never part of the public form, and the people who filled it in never see them: not on the form, in their emails, their PDF copy or the applicant portal.
- On the Responses page, select Private columns.
- Under Add a column, give it a name and choose its kind: Text, Number, Date, Choice list, Email or Notes. Add as many as you need.
- The column appears at the end of the table, marked with a lock. Select a cell to fill it in; press Enter to save or Esc to cancel. A Number column only takes numbers, a Date column a date.
- To give many people the same value, tick them and use Set private column in the bar above the table.



Private columns are included in your exports, can be used in letters as merge fields, and a Number column can be each person's amount in Billing. In the builder they appear in a Private columns section with a Private tag; any question can be made private with its Private column switch. Removing a column hides it everywhere; the values already entered are kept with each response.
17A single response

Click a row to open that person's full answers, in the order of your questions, with the date and time they submitted. If the form collects files or signatures, you open and download them here. Download PDF gives you the same PDF copy the person could take on the thank-you screen.
18Approvals and applications
Some forms are not finished when the answer arrives: a leave request needs a yes or no, a scholarship application moves through stages, a vendor sign-up has to be checked by the right desk. The Applications tab in the Responses page turns any form into that kind of workflow. Every submission becomes an application with a reference number, a stage, a reviewer and a history, and the person who applied can follow it from the applicant portal.
Setting up approvals

- Open the form's Responses page and select the Applications tab, then Workflow settings.
- Select Use approvals. That switches on application mode with three stages, Pending review, Approved and Rejected, wires the Approve and Reject buttons to the last two, turns on status emails and tells reviewers when something is assigned to them. Anything you already set, such as the reference prefix, is kept.
- Check the Applicant fields. They are optional: without a name question the reference is shown instead, and without an email question the first email the person gave is used for their status emails.
- Save. Submissions from now on appear in the tab. If people already applied before you switched it on, the tab offers to Bring in those earlier responses too, without emailing anyone.
Need more than approve or reject? The Stages tab lets you build your own pipeline, for example Received, Shortlisted, Interview, Offer. Then choose which two stages Approve and Reject move to under Decision stages. Stages named Approved or Accepted and Rejected are picked up automatically.
Reviewing and deciding
Select an application to open its review. You see every answer, the history so far, and the decision block:

- Approve moves it to the approved stage. Add a comment if you like.
- Reject asks for a reason; it is kept on the record.
- Share this comment with the respondent decides whether the person reads your comment in their status email and on the applicant portal. It is on by default for a rejection and off for an approval.

Once an application is decided, the block says so: Approved (or Rejected), who decided and when. Approving it again is not offered; Reject instead (or Approve instead) changes the decision, which tells the person again.
Below the decision, the review form still lets you move the application to any stage, assign a reviewer, add labels and leave a private note. Every change is written to the history with who did it and when.
If you have set up Letters, an approval or rejection sends the letter that matches the new stage, as a PDF, in place of the plain status email.
Routing applications to the right reviewer
The Routing tab of Workflow settings assigns new applications automatically. Each rule has conditions on the answers, built with the same editor as show/hide, and a reviewer. Rules are tried in order and the first match wins. The reviewer gets an email, and a Telegram notice when they have linked it, with a link that opens that application directly. Reviewers must already have edit or applications access to the form: give it from Manage access on the Responses page, where a Applications grant lets a colleague or an invited guest review without being able to change the form.

In the list, Assigned to me shows a reviewer only their own queue. To go further, switch on Reviewers see only the applications assigned to them in the General tab: anyone who does not manage or edit the form then sees, opens and exports only their own applications.
Adding reviewers, and more than one on an application
The reviewer list holds the people who can review this form's applications. To add someone, select Add a reviewer under the reviewer list in any review and enter their email. Someone who already has an account can review straight away and appears in the list; anyone else is emailed an invitation and appears once they accept it. They can see and review the applications, not change the form. Only the form's owner can add reviewers.
The Reviewer on an application is its lead: routing, reminders and Assigned to me follow them. To have others review it too, choose them under Also reviewing in the review. They are emailed when added (when reviewer emails are on), can open and score the application, and it appears in their own list, including when reviewers see only the applications assigned to them. Remove someone with the cross on their name. For many applications at once, tick them and use Add reviewer in the bar above the list. The export has an Other reviewers column.
Working with many applications
The stage tabs above the list show how many applications sit in each stage, and they follow your search and the Assigned to me filter. The sort menu puts the newest or the oldest first, or, with scorecards on, the highest review score first.

Tick applications to change them together. A bar appears above the list:

- Move to stage, Assign to and Label apply the same change to every ticked application.
- Approve and Reject ask for one comment for all of them; a rejection still needs a reason.
- Letters, status emails and SMS go out to each person exactly as they would one by one. If one application cannot be changed, the others still are and you are told which one failed.
Export at the top downloads the applications that match your current filters as a spreadsheet: reference, applicant, stage, reviewer, labels, scores, interview time, dates and every answer.
Your own email for each stage
With Email applicants when their stage changes on, people get a standard status email. To write your own, open Workflow settings, then Stages, and select Email next to a stage.

Use {applicant_name}, {reference}, {stage}, {form_title} and {status_url} (the link to the applicant portal); they are filled in for each person. Use the arrows to put the stages in order: new applications always start in the first one. A stage that still has applications in it cannot be removed until you move them.
Automations
Automations do the routine work for you. Each one says when it runs, if anything must be true, and then what happens. Set them up in Workflow settings → Automations; a form can have up to 30.

| When | Runs |
|---|---|
| A new application arrives | as soon as someone submits |
| An application reaches a stage | when it is moved there, by anyone or by another automation |
| A label is added | when a reviewer or an automation adds that label |
| An application waits in a stage with no activity | after the number of days you choose, and again every that many days while nobody touches it (checked every half hour) |
| A reviewer submits a scorecard | each time a scorecard comes in |
| All requested documents are in | when the last required document is uploaded |
| An interview is booked | when the applicant or a reviewer books an interview |
| A bill is paid in full | when a bill for the application is fully paid (within half an hour) |
If is optional: the stage, an answer and a label work as in letters, and you can add the submission score, the review average or the number of scorecards. Then can do up to eight steps: move to a stage, assign a reviewer, share among several reviewers (the one with the fewest open applications first), add or remove a label, email or SMS the applicant, send a letter, or tell the team.
Everything an automation does is written to the application's activity as Automation: its name. A change it makes can start another automation, up to three in a row, and one automation never runs twice for the same change.
Scorecards
When several people review the same applications, scorecards let each of them score every application the same way. In Workflow settings → Scorecard, add your criteria and what each is scored out of.

- Each reviewer fills in a score for every criterion and recommends Yes, Maybe or No, with an optional comment. They can change or remove their own scorecard later.
- The application's review score is the average of its scorecards, as a percentage, with the count of yes, maybe and no.
- Blind scoring, on by default, hides other reviewers' scores until you submit your own, so nobody is swayed by the first opinion. You, as the form's owner, always see them.
- Scorecards each application should get shows progress, such as 2 of 3, and automations can wait for it.


Document checklist
Ask applicants for documents such as a passport photo, a transcript or a reference letter, and collect them in one place. In Workflow settings → Documents, add each document, say whether it is required, add guidance if it helps, and choose when to ask for it: from the start, or once an application reaches a stage.

- When an application reaches a stage that asks for documents, the applicant is emailed the list. An application that skips past that stage is asked too.
- The applicant uploads each document in the applicant portal: PDF, Word, JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB each.
- In the review, each document shows its state. Download it, then Accept it, or Return it with a reason: the applicant is emailed the reason and can upload a new copy. Upload lets you add a copy someone sent you another way.
- When every required document is in, the assigned reviewer (or you) is told, and the All requested documents are in automation runs.

Uploads close when an application is withdrawn or rejected, and a document cannot be replaced once you have accepted it.
Interviews
Let applicants choose their own interview time. In Workflow settings → Interviews, choose the stage where they book, the time zone your times are in, how many hours before an interview booking and changes close, and any instructions.

- Select Interviews at the top of the Applications tab and add your times: a date, when the first one starts, how long each lasts, how many back to back, a break between them, how many people each time takes, where it is (or the meeting link) and who interviews.
- Nothing is sent when an application reaches the interview stage. Open the review and choose Invite to book an interview: the applicant is emailed to choose a time in the applicant portal, and sees only the times that still have room. Or choose Book a time for them.
- The booking email carries a calendar file, and the interviewer is told. A reminder goes to the applicant the day before.
- In the review you can book a time for someone, move or cancel their booking, and afterwards mark Attended or Did not attend.


Cancelling a time from the Interviews sheet frees its bookings and emails those applicants to choose another.
Fees at a stage
Charge applicants at a point in the process, such as an acceptance fee once they reach Offer, through LAINNOV Billing. The applicant pays from their applicant portal, and you see what each one has paid on their review.
- In Billing, create a schedule (or edit one) and link it to this form.
- Under Bill only applications in these stages, tick the stage or stages to charge at. Leave them all unticked to bill every response, as before.
- For the payer's ID, choose Application reference: it is what the applicant already has, so their payment link just works.
- For the amount, use the schedule's amount for everyone, or Amount from a form field with a private column such as Fee to pay, so each person is charged what you set for them.

An applicant is billed as soon as they reach a ticked stage. If they are moved out of it before paying, the unpaid bill comes off; a bill with any money on it stays. Their bill shows in the review, with a link you can copy and send, and in their applicant portal with a Pay now button.


To act when someone pays, add an automation that runs when A bill is paid in full, for example to move them to Accepted. It runs within half an hour of the payment, or straight away when the application is opened.
To bill next year's cohort on a new application form, open last year's schedule in Billing and choose Start next billing period. Leave Copy this period's payers off (it is off for a schedule linked to a form), then link the new schedule to the new form. If you do link a schedule to a different form, payers from the old form who have not paid come off it; anyone who has paid stays.
Bringing accepted applicants into a course
When the people you accept go on to study with you in LAINNOV LMS, the application form can fill the cohort's group for you.
- In the LMS, open Students, choose the cohort's group, and select Connect a form.
- Choose this form and match the name and email questions.
- Under Only bring in applications at these stages, tick the stage that means accepted, such as Enrolled, and select Save and bring them in.
Everyone already at that stage joins the group now. After that, an applicant joins the moment you move them to the stage, and not before. Leave every stage unticked to bring in each response as it arrives.
To make payment the key to the course, link the cohort's billing schedule to the same group under Billing access control on the Students page, and choose the group under Applies to. Members can then sign in once their bill on that schedule is paid, part-paid, waived or pre-approved. A bill for another cohort does not count, so last year's students cannot open this year's group without paying for it. The class card on Years shows how many have signed in and how many are waiting to pay.
What the applicant sees
After submitting, the person gets their application reference on the thank-you screen and in their welcome email. At any time they can open the applicant portal at services.lainnov.com/applications/status, enter the reference and the email they applied with, and sign in with the code that is emailed to them. They see the current stage, the history of stage changes, any decision with the comment you chose to share, and any letters you shared. They can also withdraw an application that is still open.
When there is something for them to do, the overview says so under What we need from you, and two more tabs appear:

- Checklist lists the documents asked for so far, with any reason a document was returned, and lets them upload or replace each one.
- Interview shows their booking, or the open times to choose from, and lets them change or cancel it until the cut-off.
- Payments, on the overview, lists their bills with what is paid and a button to pay the rest.


Reviewers' notes, scores, labels and names are never shown to the applicant.
With status emails on, the person is emailed whenever their stage changes, from your organisation's email identity. Switch on SMS the respondent when a decision is made in the General tab to add a text message, sent through the form's submission-SMS phone question and sender, charged to your SMS wallet.
19Downloading the answers

Select Export data to download all answers as a spreadsheet (CSV or Excel). Each question becomes a column, each person a row. Export again any time — it always includes the latest answers.
Export whenever you like and keep your own copies. Deleting a form deletes its answers too, so export first if you ever plan to remove a form.
20Sending answers to other apps

Open the Integrations tab to connect the form to other tools. Right now you will see Google Sheets and Notion Databases, both marked COMING SOON: when they are ready, every new answer will appear in your spreadsheet or Notion database by itself, with no copying and pasting.
21Managing your forms
Everything about a form's life happens from the ⋮ menu on its card (see Finding your way around):
- Duplicate: make a copy to reuse the same questions next term or next event. Move to folder keeps the list tidy.
- Disable form (or the Enabled switch): stop new answers without deleting anything. Turn it back on any time.
- Mark as database: treat the form's answers as a people list — this powers the member directory views.
- Connect to LAINNOV Scan: link the form to attendance scanning.
- Copy as code: get a code version of the form for the From Code (AI) flow.
- Transfer: hand the form to someone else. Delete: remove the form and all its answers for good — export first (see Downloading the answers).
Messages and fixes
The messages you are most likely to meet, and what to do.
| You see | Why, and what to do |
|---|---|
| "This form is closed." | The close date passed, the answer limit was reached, or the owner switched it off. Ask the form owner to reopen it (see Sharing your form). |
| "You have already responded." | One answer per person is on. If it was a mistake, the form owner can delete your old answer so you can try again. |
| "Rule 2 refers to a question that is no longer on the form." | A conditional action or routing rule points at a deleted question. Open Conditional actions, fix or remove that rule, then save again. |
| A respondent sees "Field … is required." for a question that is not marked required. | A conditional action makes it required for people who match a rule. Check the rule in Form Settings; the question shows a Required mark on the page as soon as the rule applies. |
| "Give the reason when rejecting; it is kept on the record." | Rejections need a comment. Write the reason, then choose whether to share it with the respondent. |
| "Routing can only assign people who already have edit or applications access to this form." | Give the reviewer access first from Manage access on the Responses page, then save the routing rule again. |
| An applicant cannot sign in to the applicant portal. | The reference and the email must match the application exactly. Open the application in the Applications tab to see both; the email is the one in the applicant email question, or the first email they gave. |
| The kiosk form cleared while someone was still filling it in. | The idle timer ran out. Make a new kiosk link with a longer Idle time, or set it to 0 to switch the timer off (see Kiosk mode). |
| The welcome email arrived without the PDF. | The PDF is attached only when the welcome email is on and the form could be rendered. Check the welcome email settings; the person can still take the copy from the thank-you screen, and you can download it from their response. |
| The thank-you screen shows points but no percent. | No maximum could be worked out, usually a number question without a "highest value counted". Add one under that question's Advanced settings (see Scoring). |
| "Please answer the required questions." | Questions marked Required are empty. Fill them in — they are marked with a star. |
| "The file is too large." | The upload is bigger than the form allows. Use a smaller photo or file and try again. |
| "Payment failed. Please try again." | The payment did not go through. Check the mobile money balance, then retry — the typed answers are kept. |
| "Form not found." | The link is wrong or the form was deleted. Check the link with whoever sent it. |
| "You do not have permission to view responses." | Your role cannot read answers. Ask the form owner. |
| A question you expected does not appear | It may only show for certain answers (see Show this question when…). Fill in the form as the person would and check. |
Glossary
- Workspace
- The Forms home page with all your forms.
- Form
- The whole thing: your questions, shared with one link.
- Question
- One thing you ask, for example "Full name".
- Response
- One person's filled-in form.
- Section
- A titled group of questions inside the form.
- Page
- One screen of a multi-page form.
- Template
- A ready-made form you can start from.
- Conditional action
- A rule: when answers match, require questions, change the thank-you or redirect, or email someone.
- Token
- A placeholder such as
{{field:…}}or{{score}}that is replaced by the person's own answer or result. - Outcome band
- A range of scores with a name and a message, for example "Pass, 50 and above".
- Application
- A submission that is being reviewed: it has a reference, a stage, a reviewer and a history.
- Stage
- Where an application is in your pipeline, for example Pending review, Approved, Rejected.
- Routing rule
- A rule that assigns a new application to a reviewer based on the answers.
- Kiosk mode
- A link that makes the form clear itself for the next person, for one shared device at a desk or gate.
- Required
- A question that must be answered before submitting.
- Options
- The preset answers for a choice question.
- Preset
- A saved set of options you can reuse on many questions.
- Public link
- The web address anyone can use to fill in the form.
- QR code
- A printable square code; a phone camera turns it into the form link.
- Confirmation message
- What people see right after they submit.
- Response limit
- The maximum number of answers before the form closes itself.
- Registration code
- A unique code given to each respondent, for check-in.
- Member directory
- The searchable people list built from the answers.
- Payment question
- A question that collects money when the form is submitted.
- Voucher gate
- Requiring a voucher code before the form will open.
- USSD
- Registering by dialling a code on any phone, no internet needed.
