Public vs Internal Forms
Understand the difference between public and internal forms. Internal forms are for testing, while public forms are for your users.
What's the Difference?
Public Forms
Public forms can be accessed by anyone with the form URL. No authentication required.
Internal Forms (Testing)
Internal forms are for testing and previewing your forms before making them public. They require authentication to access.
When to Use Public Forms
- Customer-Facing Forms: Contact forms, support requests, feedback surveys, and customer applications
- Public Events: Event registrations, RSVPs, and public sign-ups
- Marketing Campaigns: Lead generation forms, newsletter signups, and promotional forms
- Embedded Forms: Forms embedded on public websites or shared via social media
Public Forms Still Secure
Even though public forms don't require authentication, they still securely write to your Quickbase tables. Reference fields can query parent tables (read-only) to populate dropdowns, but submissions require proper Quickbase permissions.
When to Use Internal Forms (Testing)
- Testing Before Launch: Test your form functionality, validation, and styling before making it public
- Preview & Review: Share with team members for review and feedback before going live
- Quality Assurance: Verify all fields work correctly, test submissions, and ensure data writes to Quickbase properly
- Development: Use during form building and iteration before publishing to users
Important: Internal Forms Are For Testing Only
Internal forms currently require a SyncForms account to access. This is intended for testing purposes only. When you're ready for others to use your form, change it to Public. Future versions will support company-specific authentication for true internal forms, but for now, use Public for all production forms.
How to Change Form Type
- 1Open your form in the form builder
- 2Go to Form Settings in the left sidebar
- 3Find the Form Status dropdown
- 4Select Public or Internal
- 5Click Save Form to apply changes
Important Note
Changing a form from public to internal (or vice versa) will change who can access it. Make sure to notify users if you're changing an existing form's access level.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Public | Internal |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication Required | No | Yes (SyncForms account) |
| Quickbase Queries | Read-only (reference fields) | Full access |
| Best For | External users, customers, production | Testing, preview, QA |
| Use Case | Live forms for end users | Testing before launch |