Form element in custom emails

Use the form element to add forms to custom emails. After you add the element, select the specific form. 

Remove form title from emails

Clear the Include title checkbox to remove the title of the form from the email.

Form appearance in emails

Forms in custom emails show field values that have changed in red. Forms retain:

• Section names and section order. These are stacked in order from left to right.

• Tab name, order, and color. These are stacked in order from left to right.

• Column names and colors.

• Column order and width ratios.

• Form rules* (some exceptions, see list of restrictions)

• Field values (some may display differently, based on the email client)

• Embedded reports and filtering* (some exceptions, see list of restrictions). Chart reports are included as images.

For example, a form in an email could look like this:

Form limitations in emails

Functionality limitations

Web browsers and email clients render emails differently. Quickbase optimizes for most common web browsers and email clients. Part of this optimization means not supporting some functionality in forms. For example, forms in custom emails do not:

• Respect custom field widths or grouped fields.

• Wrap columns responsively.

• Respect column sizing exactly as it appears in Quickbase. Email recipients may have to scroll horizontally to see the entire form.

• Display a map for address fields. These fields are rendered as text instead.

• Include attachments. Instead, they include a link to the attachment.

• Render for deleted records. Instead, email recipients receive an error message stating the record was deleted.

• Allow email recipients to scroll on embedded tables or summary reports.

• Support form rules for:

  • Display toast message

  • Display modal

  • Require/un-require

  • Change field value

Possible schema and data shifts

Schema or data shifts occur when there are differences between your app at the time the email is rendered and the time the email is sent. This can result in email recipients receiving the same email but seeing different data, or seeing information in an email that does not match app schema.

This section covers the type of shifts you can expect, when they might occur, and how you can avoid them.

Schema shifts

It takes a few minutes for changes made to a report or form to update in the email.

For example, you have a custom email set up that includes a form titled Main Intake Form. At 12:00pm you add a field to the form. The email triggers at 12:01pm. The form in the email may not include the new field you added to the form. Allow a few minutes for the form to update in the email.

Data shifts

Forms in custom emails gather data at the point in time the email renders, not at the point in time the data is updated. This means that while unlikely, recipients may receive data in the email that is different than data in the app.

At 12:00:01 change to Record 8 trigger an email that includes a form. The email goes to 1,000 individual recipients, and you set up the email to check the permissions of each recipient. It takes 10 minutes to process all these emails.

At 12:00:01, the Project Manager field on Record 8 shows the name Dewey Haley. At 12:05:01, you update the Project Manager field to Halle Sydnie. 

Assuming each email takes the same amount of time to send, the first 500 email recipients see the name Dewey Haley. The next 500 see Halle Sydnie.

How to avoid data shifts

Use the record change element or build your own repeating content using the repeat element to avoid data shifts. For these elements, Quickbase uses the data at the time the record was edited.