To enable data sharing across documents, your form must be configured correctly. This includes applying section and field aliases, assigning roles, and following consistent naming conventions.
Instructions
1. Apply a section alias to every section
- Section aliases are required and are automatically applied when you create a section.
- To review or edit a section alias, click into the Section Alias field when editing the section.
2. Apply field aliases to reusable fields
- Field aliases are optional but essential for data sharing. Only apply aliases to fields where the answers need to be reused in future documents.
- In the field editor, type your alias into the Field Alias field.
- As you type, a dynamic search will show existing aliases to help avoid duplicates.
Use specific and descriptive names, such as address_postal or purchase_price.
3. Assign roles to group related data
- Roles define who the data belongs to (e.g. Purchaser, Vendor) and help categorise fields for sharing.
- In the section editor, go to the Role Mapping tab
- Click + Assign Role
- Select an existing role or type a new one, then click Create role
4. Leave general or changing fields untagged
- Don’t apply aliases or roles to fields that:
- Are too broad (e.g. amount)
- Are likely to change across documents (e.g. next court date)
NOTE: Leaving these fields untagged avoids incorrect or misleading data reuse.
5. Apply contact/user mapping where needed
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If your form references contacts (e.g. applicants, lawyers), ensure contact mapping is in place so that these entries can be reused in other documents.
6. Follow your naming conventions
- Be consistent. Field aliases and roles must match exactly across forms for data to carry through. Variations like Child vs Children or phone_mobile vs mobile_phone will break the link.
7. Use the data sharing checklist before publishing
- Make sure:
- All sections have a section alias
- Reusable fields have field aliases
- Relevant fields have assigned roles
- General or non-reusable fields are left untagged
- Contact/user mapping is in place
- All naming follows internal conventions
Common Issues & Solutions
- Issue: Data isn’t appearing in future documents
- Solution: Check that the field alias and role used in each form are identical and not duplicated under different names.
- Issue: Duplicate aliases or roles in the system
- Solution: Go to Settings > Field Aliases or Settings > Form Roles to review, replace, or delete duplicates.