Fillable PDFs are a type of Paperwork that allow you to upload any PDF to Playground and have parents fill out forms. Fillable PDFs are a great way to collect important information and forms from guardians. This article will walk you through creating, editing, and sending fillable PDFs.
Edit an Existing Fillable PDF
From the Admin Dashboard, click on the Paperwork tab on the left-hand side.
Select the Fillable PDFs tab at the top of your screen and find the fillable PDF you would like to edit. On the far right, click the three dots and then click Edit.
You will be brought to the fillable PDF editor page. Make the changes you would like and then click Continue through all pages to save your changes.
Create a New Fillable PDF
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On the Administrator Dashboard, navigate to the Paperwork tab on the left sidebar and click the Fillable PDF tab. You'll see all of the documents you've uploaded so far.
Click the blue Create drop-down menu and click New Fillable PDF in the upper right corner of the page. You will have two options on this screen:
Add new fillable PDF: Create a new fillable PDF from scratch
Use a pre-made template (typically used for state licensing documents)
If you select Add new fillable PDF, your computer's finder will open. You must select a file to upload in PDF format. Select the document you want to upload, and then click the blue Open button at the bottom right.
Name your document and select continue. You will be brought to a screen where you can view your document and add fields. See below for detailed instructions on setting up your fillable PDF.
Add and Edit Fields to a Fillable PDF
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On the left-hand side of the edit fillable PDF page, you'll see a preview of your document's pages; if your document has multiple pages, you can click on these previews to toggle between them.
Add Fields
You'll see the Add Fields editor on the right-hand side of the page. The fields you can add to your document are:
Signature: Use this field to collect an e-signature
Initials
Date: Use this field to collect a specific date like a DOB
Text: Use this field to collect a custom text answer
Checkbox: Use this field to give the option to check a box
Dropdown: Use this field to collect one answer from a predetermined list of options
Phone: Use this field to collect a phone number
Label: Use this field to add a label to the document that will remain the same for every student, like the name of your center on a licensing form
Click on one of these field options to add it to your document. Use your mouse to click and drag the field to the appropriate spot on your document; click and drag the white dot on the lower right corner to resize the field.
You can also place your cursor where you'd like to enter a field and tap the letter near the field type you'd like to add. For example, if you'd like to add a signature field, press "S" on your keyboard.
Edit Fields
When a field is selected, it will be highlighted green, and the field settings will appear on the right-hand side of the screen. See below for descriptions of each settings option. Depending on the type of field selected, different settings will appear.
Field label: Add a label to the field. The label will be used as a header for the answer column when you download the responses to the form.
Required: Turn this setting on to make the field mandatory. Guardians cannot submit forms unless all required fields are complete.
Staff only: Turn this setting on if the field should be completed by a staff member.
Delete: Select the trash icon if you need to delete the field.
Duplicate: This button will duplicate the field. Once duplicated, drag the field to the correct place on the form.
Lock to date signed: This setting applies to date fields. Toggle this on to auto-fill the field with the date the document is signed.
Wet signature: This setting applies to signature fields. Toggle this on to require that the form filler draw their signature.
Add new item: This setting applies to dropdown fields. Here, you can add dropdown selections.
Click on the gray "Add new field" text and start typing, then hit "enter" or click on the blue plus sign to the right of the item to save. If you want to delete an item, click the X to the right of the item.
Connect a form field: This setting connects a field to existing data in a student or guardian's profile. This will auto-fill information from the student or guardian's profile. See the section below for detailed instructions to set this up.
Connect a Form Field
Click Connect a form field in the Settings section on the right-hand side. Click the drop-down menu under "Select where the information is coming from," then select where you'd like your information connected. You can choose from:
Student: Information will connect from a student's profile.
Guardian: Information will connect from the guardian's profile.
Forms: Information will connect with an existing form, like an enrollment form.
In the Connect a form field drop-down menu, select the specific piece of information that you'd like to auto-fill. Click the blue "Connect field" button.
The field now has a link icon indicating it's a connected form field. When parents complete this information, the connected fields will auto-populate with the linked information.
Fillable PDF Settings
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At the top of your screen, select Settings.
Name the form
Here you can add the form name and description. This will be visible to the guardians filling out the form.
Adjust guardian and teacher settings
There are two levels of access and permission to choose from:
Visible: can view and complete the Fillable PDF
Not visible: can complete Fillable PDFs, but cannot view the completed form.
Other settings
Expiration date: Add an expiration date to track when the form will expire and when it must be completed again.
Requires review by administrator: Turn this setting on if you would like administrators to review responses after they are submitted.
Receive email notifications for each new submission: Select edit and type the email that you would like to be notified when the fillable PDF is submitted.
Optional: Turn this setting on if the fillable PDF is optional.
Select the blue save changes button before leaving this screen.
Preview a Fillable PDF
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Select Preview at the top of the Edit Fillable PDF screen to see what a guardian will see when filling out this form. The one difference between the preview and the guardian's experience is that you can skip required fields as an administrator, while guardians will not.
Red fields indicate a required field, and white fields indicate an optional field. The top of this screen will let parents know how many required fields remain. Parents cannot continue to the next page until all required fields are filled out.
Save a Fillable PDF
If you're happy with your fields/settings and do not need to send the fillable PDF to guardians now, click the blue Save and Exit button in the top left of the screen.
Send a Fillable PDF to Guardians
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Click the blue share button in the top right corner of the screen.
Documents can either be filled out by Everyone, meaning all guardians in your dashboard, or by Specific groups of guardians. If you select Specific groups in the drop-down menu, you'll be prompted to select the groups of guardians who can complete the fillable PDF. The specific groups are categorized by:
Classrooms
Programs
Listings
💡 If you would like to select guardians from a listing as document recipients, you will need to add this document to the Required document section of the listing itself. You cannot include individual guardians as document recipients; they must be in one of the categories.
If you would like to send the guardians an email reminder, select the checkbox that says Send Email Reminder and then click Next. On this screen, you will have the option to type a message. If you want to send without a message, select Send Without Message.
💡 If you recall from the Create Fillable PDF Settings above, you can adjust the shared guardian permissions to visible or not visible. Here is an overview of how the visibility and share settings work together.
Resend a Fillable PDF to Guardians
If a guardian has not completed a fillable PDF, you can resend the link to them. From the Paperwork screen, click on the fillable PDF that you would like to resend.
If you'd like to resend the fillable PDF to one student, find the student in the list, click the three dots to the right of their name, and then click Send. The fillable PDF will be resent to the primary guardians.
If you'd like to resend the fillable PDF to a group of students, select the checkbox to the left of each student's name. Once the students are selected, click the Send button in the top gray header field. You can also filter by status and send it to all students who have not started.
Complete a Fillable PDF on Behalf of a Guardian
You can complete a fillable PDF on behalf of a guardian. This may be helpful if a guardian does not have internet access or cannot complete the document for another reason.
On your Student Paperwork tab, navigate to Fillable PDFs, and then select the fillable PDF that you need to complete.
To the right of the student's name select Fill out.
Fill out the document on behalf of the guardian.