You can change a form that is already published. Supporters keep filling in the published version while you work, and your edits only reach them when you publish them.
Make and save your changes
- Open the form from the Engage forms list. Its status shows as live.
- Make your changes in any pane, just as you would on a new form (see Build and publish a form).
- Click Save draft to keep your changes without publishing them.
Saved changes stay with the form. When you, or a colleague, reopen the builder later, it opens on your unpublished changes rather than on the published version. You can save as many times as you like before publishing.
See what has changed
When question wording, membership of the question list, or order differs from the live form, the builder shows:
- a badge next to the status, for example 2 unpublished changes
- a panel listing each change to the questions compared with the version supporters are filling in:
| Change | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Added | A question the published form doesn’t ask yet |
| Reworded | A question whose wording has changed, shown as old wording → new wording |
| Removed | A question you have taken out. Answers already collected stay on the submissions you have |
| Reordered | The order supporters see has changed |
The list covers added, removed, reworded, and reordered questions only; it is not a complete audit of every question property. Changes you make in Money, Permission, Style or After submission are also saved as unpublished changes and go live at the same time, but they aren’t listed.
Publish your changes
- Click Publish changes.
- The same checks run as for a new form. Anything that would stop the form working must be fixed first.
- Click Publish changes in the dialog.
Your changes go live straight away. The form keeps its web address and embed code, so there is nothing to update on your website.
If the builder says Could not save, the changes were not saved and no new version was published. Stay on the page and retry. If it says Could not publish, your changes are saved but not yet live: click Publish changes again. Opening the checks dialog alone does not save.
Things to know
- Renaming is immediate. The form’s name is saved separately. It changes the public heading immediately unless an older form has a separate title, which takes precedence. The existing web address is unchanged.
- Removing a question doesn’t remove answers. Submissions already received keep every answer they were sent with.
- Supporters with the form open keep the old version. Anyone already filling it in when you publish sees the old version until they reload the page, and their submission is still accepted.
- Archived forms can’t be edited. To change an archived form, create a new one.