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  3. Active Forms

Configuring Active Forms

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Please note: This content is intended for Practifi System Administrators and is technical in nature. The steps described in this article may not be able to be completed without System Administrator permissions.

Overview

Every workflow step your team completes is an opportunity to capture the information that keeps your firm running. Active Forms bring data collection directly into the workflow step, so team members can enter and confirm information without leaving the task. For wealth management firms, this means advisors and operations staff can document decisions, update client records, and trigger downstream actions all within a single interaction — reducing the back-and-forth that slows down onboarding, service delivery, and reviews.

Once data is entered through an Active Form, it flows to its destination within your organization via the configured actions of the workflow step. The result is a more consistent data capture experience across your team, with less room for things to be missed or entered in the wrong place.

Active Forms are configured alongside other workflow step elements, such as Outcomes and Actions. They can be tailored with display criteria, prefill logic, validation rules, and pinned fields to fit a wide range of use cases.

Before configuring Active Forms, we recommend reviewing Active Form Best Practices for strategic recommendations on designing effective forms and avoiding common configuration pitfalls. This article outlines how to add Active Forms to your organization and provides technical considerations. This information is technical in nature and intended for Practifi System Administrators. 

Adding Active Forms to Workflow Steps 

Active Forms are configured alongside other workflow step elements from the Process Task record page within the Settings app. The sections below walk through our recommended approach to setting up an Active Form, following a logical sequence: first, create the Outcomes that define how a step can be completed; then, the Actions those Outcomes trigger; and finally, the form itself.

To access the Process Task record page, click the App Launcher in the upper left-hand corner and select Settings from the drop-down menu. Once in the Settings app, click the caret icon beside the Navigation menu to open the drop-down list of pages. From this list, select Process Tasks, then click the hyperlinked Process Task Number for the process task you would like to associate with an Active Form. If necessary, click the New button on the Process Tasks page to create a process task.

Please consult our Creating Processes article for additional information on creating process tasks.

You can also consult the following articles to learn more about configuration options for Active Forms:

Step One: Create Outcomes

  1. After clicking the Process Task Number from the list of process tasks, you will view the Process Task Overview page. On this page, click the Task Outcomes heading.

  2. Click the New button on the right-hand side to create a task outcome. 

    Please note: You can also access the creation of new Process Outcomes using the caret next to the hyperlinked Process Outcome heading. This article guides users through the list view process, which offers a better overview of all the process outcomes built.

     

  3. Enter the name of the outcome in the Name field.
  4. Enter a whole number into the Code field. This defines the position in which the task outcome appears in the list of available task outcomes.

  5. Click Save to finalize the creation of the task outcome. To create multiple task outcomes for this process task, click the Save & New button to save this outcome and open a new task outcome creation page. It is best practice to create all task outcomes before creating task actions. 

Step Two: Create Actions

Actions define what happens in your organization when a workflow step is completed with a specific outcome. An Action can create a new record, update an existing one, send a notification, or advance a process to the next stage. Each Action is linked to the outcome that should trigger it.

  1. Click the Actions heading, located beneath the Task Outcomes heading, on the Process Task overview page.

  2. Click the New button located on the right-hand side. 

    Please note: You can also access the creation of new Process Actions using the caret button next to the hyperlinked Process Action heading. This article guides users through the list view process, as it offers a better view of all the process actions built.

  3. Enter the name of the Action in the Name field.
  4. From the From Outcome field, select the outcome that should trigger this Action when selected upon task completion.
  5. From the Action Type drop-down menu, select the action to occur when the task is completed, and the specified outcome is achieved.
  6. Once the Action has been specified, select the appropriate task, process, service, or client stage within the rendered fields to direct the Action to the specific value.

  7. Click Save to finalize the creation of the Action. 

Step Three: Create Active Form Sections

Active Form Sections organize your form fields into logical groups, making it easier for users to understand which pieces of information belong together. Sections are optional for simple forms, but become especially useful when you want to present related fields under a shared heading or display them across a multi-column layout. You can skip this step if your form requirements are straightforward and a single unlabeled field group suffices.

  1. On the Process Task Overview page, click the Active Form tab.


     
  2. Scroll to the Active Form Sections related list and click the New button.


     
  3. Complete the Label, Order, and Type fields. These are required.
  4. In the Help Text field, you can include helpful text to guide your users.
  5. Once all information is completed, click Save. 

During the creation process, it is automatically populated 

Step Four: Create Form Fields

Form fields are the fields users actually fill out when they encounter the Active Form at a workflow step. Each field captures a specific piece of information, such as a date, a text value, a dollar amount, or a lookup to an existing record. Fields can be organized into sections, marked as required, configured with help text, and conditionally displayed.

  1. On the Process Task Overview page, scroll down to the Active Form Fields related list and click the New button in the Active Form tab.


     

  2. Complete the Label, Order, Type, and Display As fields. These are required.

    Please note: In the Display As field, you can select Hidden if the field value will be prepopulated and you do not want it visible to users of the Active Form.

  3. In the Section field, search for the Active Form Section where you want the field to appear.
  4. In the Size field, you can select Fit to Column or Full Width. This applies only to form fields in a section with a two-column layout.
  5. In the Help Text field, you can include helpful text to guide your users.
  6. Consult the bullet points below, then click Save (alternatively, click Save & New if you have additional fields to create).
    • If a field is included in a field section, relate it to the relevant section using the Section lookup field.
    • If you want a field to be required, check the Required checkbox. This will only be enforced if the actions mapped to the field are executed upon the step’s completion. For example, if the actions are outcome-specific and that outcome isn’t selected when completing the step, the required field will be ignored.
    • If the field type is Lookup, the Lookup Object field appears and must be completed. Use this field to specify the API Name of the object the lookup field will reference. You can also use the Additional Fields for Suggested Records field to specify a comma-separated set of API Names of fields to provide more information about the records being looked up.  
    • After saving a Lookup field, you can click the Available Values tab to create a rule limiting which records are available for lookup. If you encounter an error when selecting a field, double-check that the API Name specified in the Lookup Object field is correct. To learn more about building rules, please see our Understanding and Using the Rule Builder article.

    • If the field type is Picklist, then the Picklist Values field appears and must be completed. Use this field to specify the options you want to appear in the field as comma-separated values.

Step Five: Link Form Fields to Actions

Form fields store captured data on the Task record page. To send that data elsewhere within your organization, you must link your form fields to the Actions created in Step Two. Each link between a form field and an Action is called an Active Form Field Assignment.

  1. In the Active Form tab, scroll down to the Active Form Field Assignments related list and click the New button. 

    Please note: Creating them from this page lets you freely choose which form field is linked to which Action, but you can also access the New button from either the Active Form Field or Action record page if you’re linking that specific record.


    Screen_Shot_2022-03-31_at_4.27.02_PM.png
     

  2. Complete the Form Field and Action fields, then click Save (alternatively, click Save & New if you have additional fields to map).
    • Use the Map to Action Field field to specify the API Name of the field to which you’re mapping this form field in the assigned action. The Supported Form Fields by Action Type section below provides more detailed guidance on using this field.

       
    • If you’re mapping a form field to a Save to Related Record action, then the Map to Action Field field can be used to update the records related to the one you’re updating with the action. Use standard Salesforce relationship name syntax to do this. For example, if your action is configured to update the related Entity for the process, you can specify practifi__Primary_Member__r.Email to update the email address of the Entity’s primary member from the same form.
    • After saving the Active Form Field Assignment, you can optionally click the Execution Rules tab. Here you will find a Rule Builder component where you can specify criteria that should be met for the value to be assigned to the field.



      For more information on building rules, please see Understanding and Using the Rule Builder.

Step Six: Run a Validation Check

Because Active Forms can involve many interconnected configurations, Practifi includes a built-in validation process to help you confirm that your workflow step will behave as intended. The validation check runs through 14 scenarios and surfaces guidance and error messages if anything is misconfigured.

To run a validation check, navigate to the Process Task Overview page and click the Run button in the Validation Check section.

Screen_Shot_2022-03-31_at_4.39.45_PM.png
 

Please consult the Understanding the Validation Check article for additional information on validation check scenarios and the error messages returned. 

Step Seven: Add Validation Rules

In addition to running the Validation Check, you can add your own validation rules to ensure users enter valid information and alert them when their entry is incorrect. To do this, you can add a validation rule on the Active Form record page. To learn more about building rules, please see our Understanding and Using the Rule Builder article.

To add a validation rule for an Active Form Field:

  1. In the Active Form tab, scroll down to the Active Form Validation Rules related list and click the New button. A new tab opens.
  2. In the Error Message field, enter the text you want displayed to the user if they enter invalid information.
  3. In the Name field, enter a name for the rule.
  4. In the Field field, search for the Active Form Field you want to validate. This is a required field.

  5. Click Save.

  6. On the Active Form Validation Rule record, the Rule Builder opens. Click the Resource field, then click Active Form Field.
  7. Click the name of the field you are validating.
  8. Select the value you want to validate, then click Insert.

  9. Choose an operator, Value Type, and Value, then click Save.

Supported Field Types

Active Forms support all the common field types provided by Salesforce, making it straightforward to capture data in the format you need. Practifi provides like-for-like equivalents of existing Salesforce field types, simplifying the mapping between Active Form fields and Salesforce objects.

In cases where an Active Form field type has more validation than a Salesforce field type, those fields can still be mapped. For example, any Currency value can be safely stored in a Text field. Some light data transformation also allows scenarios such as mapping a Rich Text field in the Active Form to either a rich-text or a plain-text Salesforce field.
 

Active Form Field Type Compatible with these Salesforce field types
Checkbox Checkbox
Currency

Currency

Number - with formatting removed

Text

Text (Encrypted)

Text Area

Text Area (Long)

Text Area (Rich
Date Date
Date/Time

Date - with Time removed

Date/Time
Email 

Email 

Text

Text (Encrypted)

Text Area

Text Area (Long)

Text Area (Rich)
File upload Not based on the field type. Files are uploaded using Salesforce Files and then linked to the target record.
Lookup (single record) Lookup Relationship
Lookup (multiple records)

Not based on the field type. Supported by specific fields:

  • Attendees (Event)
  • Name (Event and Task)
Number

Number

Text

Text (Encrypted)

Text Area

Text Area (Long)

Text Area (Rich)
Percent

Percent

Text

Text (Encrypted)

Text Area

Text Area (Long)
Phone

Number

Phone

Text

Text (Encrypted)

Text Area

Text Area (Long)

Text Area (Rich)
Picklist

Picklist

Picklist (Multi-select)

Text

Text (Encrypted)

Text Area

Text Area (Long)

Text Area (Rich)
Picklist (multi-select) Picklist (Multi-select)
Text

Text

Text (Encrypted)

Text Area

Text Area (Long)

Text Area (Rich)
Text Area

Text - with truncation if the character limit is exceeded

Text (Encrypted) - with truncation if character limit is exceeded

Text Area - with truncation if the character limit is exceeded

Text Area (Long)

Text Area (Rich)
Text Area (Rich)

Text - with formatting removed and truncation if the character limit is exceeded

Text (Encrypted) - with formatting removed and truncation if character limit is exceeded

Text Area - with formatting removed and truncation if the character limit is exceeded

Text Area (Long) - with formatting removed

Text Area (Rich)
Time Time
Address Address

Unsupported Field Types

Mapping an Active Form field to an incompatible Salesforce field will result in the form field not being included in the action when executed. It will also appear as an error in the Validation Check component. Unsupported Active Form field types include the following:

  • Auto Number
  • External Lookup Relationship
  • Formula
  • Geolocation
  • Hierarchical Relationship
  • Indirect Lookup Relationship
  • Master-Detail Relationship
  • Roll-Up Summary
  • URL

Supported Form Fields by Action Type

Form fields can be assigned to specific action types based on their field type. The cross-type compatibility between these objects is summarized in the table below. Incompatible type combinations result in fields not being applied by the task action. 
 

Action Type Supported Form Field Types Guidance for Map to Action Field (Active Form Field Assignment)
Create a Deal All field types

If the Field Type is File upload, no mapping is necessary. The file will be linked to the record using Salesforce Files.

Other Field Types must specify their target field using the Map to Action Field.

If the Field Type is Lookup (multiple records), then it must be mapped to one of the lookup fields that specifically supports this option:

  • Attendees (Event)
  • Name (Event and Task)

If the field you’re mapping to is a Text Area (Long) or Text Area (Rich) field, then it supports multiple field mappings. See the Mapping Multiple Form Fields to a Single Target section below for more information.
Create a new Service.
Create an Event
Create New Task in this Process
Save to Related Record
Start a new Process
Post to Noticeboard

Date - Archive Date only

Date/Time - Archive Date only

Picklist - Alert Level only

Text - Noticeboard Post only

Text Area - Noticeboard Post only

Text Area (Rich) - Noticeboard Post only

Because each Field Type only maps to one Action Field, no mapping is required except for Text fields assigned to Send a Notification actions. If a mapping has been specified correctly, then it will still work.

Noticeboard Post and Body options support multiple field mappings. See the Mapping Multiple Form Fields to a Single Target section below for more information.

 

 
Send a Notification

Lookup (single record) - Recipients only

Lookup (multiple records) - Recipients only

Text - Subject or Body only

Text Area - Body only

Text Area (Rich) - Body only
Create a new Service and a new Process.

 

Not supported

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Send an Email
Set Process Stage for this Process
Set Service Stage for related Service
Set Client Stage for the related Client

Mapping Multiple Form Fields to a Single Target

Most Salesforce fields have restrictive character limits. However, certain field types and content blocks can store tens of thousands of characters. These include the following:

  • Text Area (Long) & Text Area (Rich) fields
  • The body of Notifications
  • The body of a Noticeboard post, as this is technically a Text Area (Rich) field

If you have mapped to a particular field multiple times using actions and form fields, the system can still include every mapped field in the resulting Text Area field, as there is room for the characters. This allows certain fields to combine several input types. For example, a notification like the one below could have all of its information stored in a field with the field type above:
 

Appointment confirmed for Dirk & Anya Feldman

Scheduled for 01/24/2026, 2:00 PM.

Booking Notes: Tim is pretty sure he’ll be in Chicago on this day.
Booking a meeting room for this meeting.


Handling logic

The logic of mapping multiple form fields to a single target is handled in the following ways:

  • Predefined content from the action always appears at the top.
  • Form field mappings come afterward, each appearing with its label as a prefix before the value.
  • Form fields appear in alphabetical order.
  • When updating records using Send to Related Record, new content is appended to the end of any existing content.
  • If the character limit is exceeded, truncate text as needed.

Repeating Form Field Sections

Some workflows require users to repeat the same set of fields multiple times. For example, a process that creates multiple Client Entities or People within a single step would need to collect the same fields for each individual created. Repeating Form Field Sections allows administrators to make this work dynamically, without having to build separate sections for each possible repetition.

In this scenario, administrators can create a Number field that asks users, “How many people do you want to create?” The number entered in that field determines how many additional field sections are displayed. This allows the form to grow based on what is actually needed, rather than requiring a fixed number of sections to be built in advance.

Repeating Form Field Section Considerations

The Repeat Using field appears on the record page for the Active Form Section. Use it to specify a Number field within the same Active Form that determines how many times the section appears on-screen.

The field specified in the Repeat Using field must be located in a different field section that does not itself repeat. This avoids circular logic that the workflow engine cannot handle.

Please note: Repeating Active Form Sections are not compatible with pinned Active Form Fields. Repeating sections do not support updating multiple records with different values. For example, using repeating sections to update multiple Asset records with unique RMD amounts is not supported at this time.

To continue with the example above, imagine a form used to create People with a field called How many people do you want to create? that determines how many times to repeat a section called Person Details. Person Details contains all the fields required to create a Person record, such as name, birthdate, and contact details.

If the user answers 3, then the Person Details section will appear three times, each with a numerical prefix to help identify it (for example, 1. Person Details). Each section is handled independently, meaning that when the user completes the task, three separate Person records are created.

If a field is mapped to the same action but is not part of the repeating section, it will be used as an input for every action that runs. In the example above, if address fields were placed outside the repeating section because all household members share the same address, then the address captured there would appear on every Person created by the repeating section.

Setting Display Criteria for Form Fields

Not every workflow step captures the same information every time. A step might require uploading a reference document in some cases but not in others, or require collecting different details depending on a prior selection. Display criteria let administrators define when a field or field section should appear, so users only see what is relevant to their current situation. This keeps forms focused and easy to complete, particularly in complex processes where information requirements vary.

On the Active Form Field and Section record pages, the Display this field/field section if field lets you specify how your display criteria work: either Any criteria are met, or All criteria are met.

Once you select an option, the Active Form Display Criteria list appears in the left sidebar, allowing you to create records containing criteria used to control whether the field or field section appears.

Please note: Display criteria do not support complex logic in this release, e.g., 1 AND 2 OR 3. 

Either all or any of the specified criteria must be true for a field or field section to display.

Display Criteria options

Like Salesforce’s visibility rules in Lightning App Builder, display criteria combine a Field, Operator, and Value to produce a value that the workflow engine can evaluate for inclusion in the form. The table below describes the fields available when creating display criteria.
 

Field Name Type Notes
Field Name

Picklist

  • Active Form Field
  • Accessed via Active Form Lookup Field
  • Task Record

 

To define display criteria for this form field, the field’s location must be specified.

Lookups can be either named in the Active Form itself or captured on the Task in which the form appears.
Active Form Field

Lookup (Active Form Field)

 

Which lookup field in the Active Form will be used either as the criteria field or to reach the field via lookup?

When selecting a lookup field, only single-record lookups are supported, not multi-record lookups.
Field Path Text (255)

Specify the path taken from either the record captured in the Active Form Lookup Field or the Task Record to get to the field used for this display criteria. The chosen field must have a field type compatible with this one.

Use Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Sp use__r.Email if starting from the Task record, or Email if referencing a Form Field that captures the Spouse itself.
Operator

Picklist

  • Equals
  • Does Not Equal
  • Contains
  • Greater Than
  • Less Than
  • Greater Than or Equal To
  • Less Than or Equal To
 Text fields only support Equals, Does Not Equal, and Contains. Number and Currency fields support all operators except Contains.
Value Text (255)  


When previewing the Active Form in the Settings app, you can click a toggle switch in the top-right corner to show all criteria-based fields and field sections within the preview.

If an action has required fields that aren’t visible due to display criteria, the Validation Check component flags this issue; however, this may be intentional. For example, fields required by the Create a Person action can only be seen if a field called Is the beneficiary a new or existing person? has the New option selected. If the user selects Existing instead, it means they do not want to create a Person, and the required fields should remain hidden.

Whenever display logic hides required fields, the actions that require them are skipped instead. This means they won’t be displayed as error messages in the Mark as Complete action.

Using Prefill Logic for Form Fields

Sometimes the information you want to capture already exists in Practifi and needs to be confirmed or updated. For example, you might want to display a client’s contact information so a team member can verify it is current before completing an annual review step. Prefill logic lets administrators specify lookup values for form fields and enable prepopulation when data already exists, saving time and reducing the risk of data entry errors.

The following fields are available in the Field Details section of the Active Form Field’s record page for configuring prefill logic:
 

Field Name Type Notes
Prefill this field

Picklist

  • With a value from a related record
  • With a value from another Active Form Field in this workflow
  • With a static value
  • With the ID of another record created by this task (Lookup fields only)
  • With a formula

With a value from a related record:
A Lookup Location, Form Field, and/or Field Path are specified to complete the setup.

With a value from another Active Form Field in this workflow:
Use the Prefill Form Field to locate the Active Form Field you wish to prefill from. The field types must be compatible, and the workflow step you’re prefilling from must have been completed before this step is created.

With a static value:
Use the Prefill Static Value field to define the field’s value. The value specified here must be compatible with this field’s Type.

With the ID of another record created by this task (Lookup fields only):

The Action lookup field will appear, allowing you to select the workflow action that is creating the record in question.

Use the Order field to ensure that the Action referenced here is executed before the ones you map to this field. If the order isn’t set in this way, then when creating a record that uses this form field’s prefill value, no value will exist yet.

With a formula:

Enter a Salesforce formula in the Prefill Formula text area to calculate the prefilled value. The formula executes when the form loads and dynamically recalculates when users change the values of dependent fields. This option is available for all Active Form field types and actions.
Prefill Lookup Location

Picklist

  • Active Form
  • Task Record

 

 To prefill this form field with a value from another record, the lookup field used to locate that record must first be specified. Lookups can be either named in the Active Form itself or captured on the Task in which the form appears.

Prefill Form Field

Lookup (Active Form Field)

Which lookup field in the Active Form will capture the prefill record? Single-record lookups are supported, but not multi-record.

Prefill Field Path

Text (255)

Specify the path taken from either the record captured in the Active Form Field or the Task Record to get to the field used for prefilling. The chosen field must have a field type compatible with this one.

Use Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Spouse__r.Email if starting from the Task record, or Email if referencing a Form Field that captures the Spouse itself.
Prefill Formula Text Area (Long) Enter a Salesforce formula that calculates the prefilled value. The formula can reference fields from the Prefill Lookup Location (such as Task Record or related entities) using standard Salesforce formula syntax. This field appears when With a formula is selected in the Prefill this field picklist.


When the task is first created, prefill logic populates all fields, provided that their source fields contain data. If the source field is edited while the task is open, the prefilled field will update accordingly.

Once the user modifies the prefilled field, the link between it and the source field is broken; updates to the source field will no longer flow through to the prefilled field, since it’s assumed the user wants to keep their modifications.

To re-establish the link between fields, click the ↩ button in the top-right corner of the field to revert its contents to the original prefilled value.

If Active Form is selected as the Prefill Lookup Location, the prefill value comes from a record named in one of the form’s lookup fields; until that lookup field has a value, the prefill logic can’t be run. As a result, these fields remain hidden until the lookup value is provided.

When using a form field in a workflow action that creates a record, provided the referenced Action runs first (as per the specified order), its record ID will appear in the fields mapped to the action. Typically, you’d keep this form field hidden, as before task completion, it will be blank, and users will find that confusing.

Common Prefilling Scenarios

Example 1: Default Start Time to Next Hour
When creating events, you can automatically set the start time to the next full hour:
DATETIMEVALUE(
  TEXT(YEAR(NOW())) & "-" &
  TEXT(MONTH(NOW())) & "-" &
  TEXT(DAY(NOW())) & " " &
  TEXT(IF(MINUTE(NOW()) > 0 || SECOND(NOW()) > 0, HOUR(NOW()) + 1, HOUR(NOW()))) & ":00:00"
)

To configure this:

  1. In the Active Form field configuration, select With a formula from the Prefill this field picklist.
  2. Enter the formula above in the Prefill Formula text area that appears.
  3. The formula will execute when the form loads and prefill the field with the next full hour.
Example 2: Calculate End Time from Start Time
To automatically set an event end time to 60 minutes after the start time, use the following formula:
$ActiveForm.Meeting_Details_Event_start_time_0022.value + (60/1440)
Replace Meeting_Details_Event_start_time_0022 with the Name value from your Active Form field record. 

Please note: In Salesforce formulas, adding 1 to a datetime adds 1 day, so divide minutes by 1440 to convert to days. When a user manually changes the start time after the form loads, the formula-prefilled end time automatically recalculates.

Key Behaviors:

  • Formulas calculate when the form loads and dynamically recalculate when users change the values of dependent fields.
  • The formula can reference fields from the Prefill Lookup Location (such as Task Record or related entities).
  • This option is available for all Active Form field types and actions.
     

Multi-Select Picklist Prefilling Methods

Multi-select picklist fields can be prefilled using either method below, depending on your needs:

Method 1: Field Path Prefill (Single Value Only)

Use With a value from a related record to prefill from a single field.

Syntax:

practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Primary_Member__c

How it works: This prefills the multi-select picklist with the value from the specified field.

Limitation: The field path method only supports one field path. You cannot use multiple field paths separated by semicolons (for example, field1__c;field2__c is not supported).

Method 2: Formula-Based Prefill (Single or Multiple Values)

Use With a formula to prefill one or more values into a multi-select picklist. For multiple values, concatenate them with semicolons in quotation marks ';'.

Syntax for multiple values:

NULLVALUE($Record.practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Primary_Member__c, '') & IF(ISNULL($Record.practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Spouse__c), '', ';' & $Record.practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Spouse__c)

How it works: The formula uses text concatenation to combine multiple values, with semicolons wrapped in quotation marks ';' to separate each value. The system interprets these semicolon-separated values as multiple selections in the multi-select picklist. Both Primary Member and Spouse will be prefilled as selected values when the form loads.

Key Behaviors:

  • Formulas calculate when the form loads and dynamically recalculate when the values of dependent fields change.
  • Formulas can reference fields from the Prefill Lookup Location (such as Task Record or related entities).
  • Formula-based prefilling is available for all Active Form field types and actions.

To configure formula-based prefilling:

  1. Open the Active Form field configuration.
  2. From the Prefill this field picklist, select With a formula.
  3. Enter your Salesforce formula in the Prefill Formula text area that appears.
  4. Test the formula by launching the Active Form to verify the prefilled value.

Summary:

  • To prefill a single value → Use either field path or formula method

  • To prefill multiple values → Must use formula method with semicolons in quotation marks ';'

Event Duration Configuration

When configuring Active Forms that create events, the system provides flexibility in how event duration is specified:

Backend Event Creation Options:

  • End Date and Time (EndDateTime): An explicit end time for the event
  • Duration in Minutes (DurationInMinutes): A duration value that the system uses to calculate EndDateTime

Key Behaviors:

  • At least one must be provided (EndDateTime or DurationInMinutes). If both are missing, event creation will fail with a validation error.
  • When StartDateTime and DurationInMinutes are provided without EndDateTime, the system automatically calculates EndDateTime as: StartDateTime + DurationInMinutes.
  • When both EndDateTime and DurationInMinutes are supplied, the system uses the explicit EndDateTime value.
  • When a user manually changes StartDateTime after the form loads, a formula-prefilled EndDateTime automatically recalculates.

Configuration Tip: When using a Number field for duration in minutes, set the Decimal Places field to 0 when configuring the Active Form field. Otherwise, the system will default to 2 decimal places.

Please note: DurationInMinutes is a backend Salesforce Event field and is not directly visible or editable in Active Form layouts. Users continue to interact with the StartDateTime and EndDateTime fields. The primary benefit of this enhancement is that it enables formula-based prefilling, where EndDateTime can be calculated from StartDateTime plus a duration (as shown in the Common Prefilling Scenarios section above).

Benefits:

  • Enables formula-based duration calculations for event end times
  • Provides backend flexibility for event creation workflows
  • Reduces the need for users to calculate end times manually

Read-Only Form Fields

Sometimes, there is relevant information in the system that a team member needs to see while completing a workflow step, but should not be able to modify. For example, you might want to surface a client’s risk profile or a key contact detail for reference during a workflow, while keeping that data protected from accidental edits. In these situations, you can check the Read-Only Field checkbox in the Field Settings section of the Active Form Field record page, making the field visible but not editable within the workflow.

Please note: To ensure users can always complete the form’s requirements within the form itself, read-only fields cannot be required.

Active Form Pinned Fields

For multi-step processes such as onboarding, annual reviews, or service requests, it can be valuable for the whole team to see the same contextual information regardless of the task they are working on. Pinned fields solve this by carrying key information forward from one process task to the next. Rather than building the same fields into every task individually, administrators create a set of pinned fields for the process as a whole. Each task within the process then displays those pinned fields at the top of its Active Form under a separate heading.
 


Practifi Administrators can create pinned fields on the Process Type record page, in the Pinned Active Form Fields tab. This tab is where the Active Form Field Section, containing the pinned fields, is created. Optionally, you can fine-tune which tasks contain which pinned fields, as well as other display settings.

To create pinned fields for an Active Form:

  1. From the Settings app, navigate to the Process Types page.
  2. Open the Process Type record where you want to add the pinned fields.
  3. On the Process Task record page, click the Pinned Active Form Fields tab.


     
  4. In the Active Form Sections area, click the New button. A new tab opens.


     
  5. On the New Active Form Section tab, complete the Label and Order fields, then click Save.


     
  6. On the Active Form Section screen, click the caret in the Active Form Fields section and click New to add a field to the section.


     
  7. On the New Active Form Field tab, enter the following information:
    • Label - The name of the field
    • Order - The order in which the field appears in the section.
    • Type - Select a type, i.e., Date, Number, Text, etc.
    • Display As - You can choose Editable, Read-Only, or Hidden.
    • Prefill This Field - Optionally, you can have the field pre-filled with a static value or data from a record related to the process by selecting With a value from a related record. You will need to specify the path for the field using Salesforce formula syntax. For more information, see Using Prefill Logic for Form Fields above.
    • Help Text - Enter instructional text to assist end users in viewing the Active Form.
  8. Click Save to add the field or Save & New to save your work and add another field.

 

Adding an Active Form Prompt

As of the Pinot Meunier release, Active Form pinned fields support prompts. To learn more about how prompts work, please see our article on Understanding and Using Active Form Prompts.

Active Form prompts must be added to a pinned Active Form section. To add a prompt:

  1. From the Pinned Active Form Fields tab, scroll down to the Active Form Sections area and click the hyperlinked name of the section where you want to add the prompt.


     
  2. On the Active Form Section record, click the caret in the Active Form Prompts area and select New.


     
  3. On the New Active Form Prompt screen, enter the following information:
    • Type - Choose a type for the prompt:
      • General
      • Informational (Light)
      • Informational (Dark)
      • Success
      • Warning
      • Error
    • Size -  Select Fit to Column or Full Width.
    • Order - If you’re adding multiple prompts to the same Form Field Section, this is the order in which the prompts will appear. If you’re only adding one prompt, enter a 1.
    • Display To - This determines which users see the prompt. The options are:
      • Internal Users
      • Portal Users
      • Internal and Portal Users
    • Body - This is the instructional text displayed to users in the Active Form Field Section.
    • Form Section - This field auto-populates with the name of the Active Form Section you opened to create the prompt.
    • Process Type - This field auto-populates with the Process Type where the pinned Active Form section was created.
  4. Click Save.

Active Form Pinned Fields Considerations

When using Active Form pinned fields, please consider the following:

  • Pined and unpinned fields cannot appear within the same Active Form section.
  • Each copy of a pinned field reads from the same underlying database. This means that if a user updates the field’s value, the updated value appears in every instance of the pinned field, not just on the updated task. This also means that if two users update the same field simultaneously in different tasks, one value will override the other, depending on which is saved most recently. Field values are saved when the user exits the form field.
  • When specifying a prefill field path for a pinned field, if the field is located via the Active Form’s lookup fields, then the lookup must also be a pinned field.
  • When specifying a prefill field for an unpinned field, if the field is located via the Active Form’s lookup fields, then the lookup must also be an unpinned field.
  • When using a Rule Builder to specify criteria referencing Active Form Fields, pinned fields cannot reference values found in unpinned fields, and vice versa.
  • Pinned fields appear on every screen of a multi-screen form.
  • The Active Form Display Criteria object is not compatible with pinned fields, as the Visibility Rules tab has replaced it as of the Petit Verdot release.
  • Repeating field sections are not compatible with pinned fields.
  • Pinned fields are not visible in portals.
  • Pinned fields have identical settings as other form fields for controlling behavior, such as whether it’s read-only or editable, its position within an Active Form section, and visibility rules that determine whether it appears in a particular process.
  • If you want a pinned field’s settings to be different on a task-by-task basis, such as having a field be editable the first time it appears but read-only for every other appearance, you can use the Task Availability & Settings related list on the Pinned Field record page to control these settings in a task-specific way.
  • To report on pinned fields, you will need to set up Active Form field assignments for all Active Form pinned fields. First, add a Save to Related Record action to save the data entered in the pinned field to a related record. For example, you can save the data to a field on the related process or entity. Go to the process task and create the new action. From the Action record, click the caret in the Active Form Field Assignment area and select New to create an Active Form field assignment.

Active Form Considerations

The Active Form record is not updated if the related form fields and field sections are changed after the task is created. The actions executed are based on what is present during task completion. This means it is possible for an Active Form to fail to correctly reflect the inputs required for a task action upon completion, which may cause an error.

 

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