Text Input Field: Capture Freeform Responses with Powerful Formatting Options
📄 Text Input Field: Capture Freeform Responses with Powerful Formatting Options
The Text Input field in Ontraccr is your go-to for collecting open-ended responses. From job descriptions to reference links, this field is versatile—and comes with some smart controls like character limits, number-only input, and hyperlink formatting.
✍️ What is a Text Input Field?
A Text Input field allows form users to type in freeform answers—letters, numbers, symbols, or even URLs. It’s ideal for collecting information that isn’t stored in a database.
🛠 How to Add a Text Input Field
- Go to Step 2: Fields
- Click ➕ Add Field under any section
- Choose Text Input from the Field Type dropdown
- Enter a question or label in the Title field
⚙️ Configuration Options
✅ Optional Field
- Default: Required
- Enable this checkbox to make the field optional
🔠 Character Limit
- Toggle:
Add Character Limit - Input the maximum number of characters
- Users see a live character counter as they type
🧠 Use Cases:
- Limit field length to prevent PDF layout issues
- Prevent errors when sending to systems with field size restrictions (e.g. Zapier, Docusign)
🔢 Numerical Input Only
- Toggle:
Is Numerical Input - Restricts input to numbers only
- User can:
- Type numbers
- Use up/down arrows to increment values
- Field size shrinks to match number format
🧠 Use Cases:
- Entering counts, costs, or reference IDs
- Any field requiring numeric-only values
🔗 Hyperlink Mode
- Toggle:
Is Hyperlink - Converts pasted URLs into clickable links in the form
- Works on web and mobile
- Opens the link in a new tab or mobile app
Without this setting, links are plain text (not clickable)
🧠 Use Cases:
- Add links to shared folders (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive)
- Reference specs or documents stored elsewhere
🧠 Use Case Examples
| Scenario | Setup |
|---|---|
| Enter a custom issue description | Basic Text Input |
| Add a link to a shared file | Enable Hyperlink |
| Input a permit ID number | Enable Numeric Only |
| Capture a message with a 200-character limit | Enable Character Limit = 200 |
🧾 Tip: Combine with Conditional Logic
Just like other field types, Text Input fields can be shown conditionally using prior responses. This keeps your forms lean and targeted.
📌 Edge Cases & Gotchas
- ⚠️ Character limits are recommended if you use custom PDFs to avoid layout breaks
- ⚠️ Make sure hyperlink mode is enabled for any link fields—otherwise users can’t click them