Getting started in 3 steps
Invite your users — add team members or external stakeholders to your Organisation.
Create your groups — organise users into teams, departments, or roles.
Set group access — control who can see and do what on each form.
1. Key Concepts
Before diving in, here are a few terms used throughout this article:
Term | What it means |
User | Anyone with login access to your IndyForms Organisation — internal team members or external stakeholders. |
Group | A collection of users. Used to manage access permissions and distribute forms to multiple people at once. |
Form | The template — the set of questions and fields used to gather information in a repeatable format. |
Form Record | A single instance of a form assigned to a specific respondent. A new record is created each time a form is shared with someone. |
Organisation | Your IndyForms workspace, with its own dashboard, forms, users, and data. Created automatically when you sign up. |
Contributor | Any user linked to a specific form record — either they created it or it was shared with them. |
Internal Form | A form accessible only to users in your Organisation — not publicly available. Group access settings apply to internal forms only. |
Understanding Users in IndyForms
There are two distinct types of users in IndyForms. User types determine what the user can see and do in their unique IndyForms account.
User Types
There are two primary user types:
Admin Users have full access to the IndyForms platform, including the ability to create and manage forms, view all data, and configure settings.
General Users have restricted access, limited to viewing and completing forms assigned to them, and accessing their own data.
Note
Every Organisation has two fixed default groups — Administrators (for Admin Users) and General Users (for General Users). These cannot be deleted, but you can create additional custom groups on top of them.
Inviting Users
Follow these steps to invite users to your IndyForms Organisation:
Go to Users in the side menu.
Click Invite User.
Fill in the user’s details. All fields are mandatory. Assign them to their relevant Groups at this stage.
Optionally, add a custom invitation message to personalise the invite email.
Click Invite User to send the invitation.
Once the user accepts their invitation and creates their account, their status will change from Pending to Active.
What can Pending users do?
Pending users cannot log in or access any forms until they accept their invitation and activate their account. Form assignments made during this time will become accessible once they’re active.
Inviting someone who already has an IndyForms account?
If the email address you enter is already linked to an existing IndyForms account, they’ll be added to your Organisation using that account — no new account is created. They’ll receive an email notifying them they’ve been added.
Removing or Deactivating Users
When a team member leaves or no longer needs access, you can remove them from your Organisation entirely.
Go to Users in the side menu.
Find the user you want to remove and click the options menu (or delete icon) next to their name.
Confirm the removal.
What happens to their data?
Their account access is revoked immediately. However, all form records they contributed to are retained and remain accessible to Admins. Their submitted data is not deleted.
Managing Groups
Creating a Custom Group
The default Administrators and General Users groups may be enough to start, but as your team grows you’ll likely want custom groups that reflect your structure — such as Sales, HR, Compliance, or Field Operations.
Go to Groups in the side menu.
Click + Create New.
Enter a Group Name.
Select the users to add to the group. If a user isn’t visible, check they’ve been invited first via the Users section.
Click Save.
Tip
Mirror your org chart with your group structure — groups like “Sales”, “HR”, and “Compliance” make it easy to assign forms by job function and restrict access to sensitive data within the right business units.
Setting a Default Group for New Users
By default, every new user is automatically added to the General Users group (or Administrators if invited as an Admin). You can also nominate any number of additional groups as defaults, so new users are automatically added to all the right groups on invite — no manual setup required. Access stays consistent as your team grows.
Go to Groups in the side menu.
Click the Edit icon next to the group.
Tick Default for new users.
Click Update Item to save.
Repeat for any other groups you want new users added to automatically. To remove a group from the defaults, untick the checkbox and save.
Note
Default group settings only apply to users invited after the change. Existing users are not affected.
Adding & Removing Users from Groups
Add or edit a single user’s groups
Go to Users in the side menu.
Click the Groups icon next to the user.
Select a group from the dropdown to add them, or click the x next to a group name to remove them.
Click Save.
Add multiple users to an existing group
Go to Groups in the side menu.
Click the Edit icon next to the group.
Search for and select the users you want to add.
Click Save.
Remove users from a group
You can remove users via either the Groups or Users section:
Via Groups: Go to Groups → Edit icon → click the x next to the user → Save.
Via Users: Go to Users → Groups icon next to the user → click the x on the group → Save.
What happens when you remove a user from a group?
They immediately lose access to any forms restricted to that group. However, their data is retained and they will still be able to see any form records they personally contributed to.
Managing Group Access to Forms
You can control group access to forms in two places: Form Settings and Form Section Settings. This applies to Internal forms only.
Form Settings — overall form access
In the Form Builder, go to the Settings tab and find the Access section. Here you’ll see a table with the following permission columns:
Permission | What it allows |
View | The group can open and read form records. |
Edit | The group can make changes to form records. |
Create | The group can create new form records. |
Delete | The group can delete form records. |
To add a group: click the (+) on the column header, select your group, then tick the relevant permission checkboxes. To remove a group’s custom permissions, click the (x) above the group column.
Note
The Administrators and Contributors columns are fixed and cannot be removed. Admins always have full access. Contributors (users linked to a record) always have access to records they’re associated with, regardless of group settings.
Form Section Settings — hide sections from specific groups
In addition to controlling form-level access, you can hide or lock specific sections of a form from certain groups. This is useful for sections like “Office Use Only” that should be invisible to respondents.
In the Form Builder, hover over the section you want to restrict. A tooltip appears in the top right corner — click the cog icon.
Untick Can View and/or Can Edit for the relevant groups.
Save your changes.
Important
A group must first have access to the form via Form Settings before you can configure section-level restrictions for them.
Form Section Submissions
Section Submissions break your form into stages, requiring contributors to submit each section before the next part can be completed — perfect for workflows where multiple people are responsible for different parts of the same form.
How to Enable Section Submission
Step 1 — Open Submission Settings
Go to Forms → Form Builder.
Select the section you want to enable submissions for.
Click the Submission Settings icon on the section toolbar. This opens the Submission Settings window.
Click Save when done.
Step 2 — Configure Submission Settings
Inside the Submission Settings window, configure the following:
Require Section Submissions: Enable this to require contributors to submit this section (and any preceding sections) before they can continue.
Notify Users When the Section Is Submitted (optional): Choose who should be notified when this section is submitted — select individual users or an entire group. Selected users will receive an email notification.
Add a Submission Message (optional): Add a custom message shown to contributors after they submit the section, for example: “Thank you — a manager will now review this section.”
Step 3 — Submit Section button appears
Once Submission Settings are saved:
A Submit Section button automatically appears at the bottom of that section for contributors.
When clicked, the section above the button becomes locked for editing unless permissions allow it to be unlocked.
The next user or group you selected will be notified to complete their section.
Example Workflow
Here’s how a three-stage approval workflow might look using Section Submissions:
• Section 1: Staff Member A completes and submits → HR is notified.
• Section 2: HR completes and submits → Manager is notified.
• Section 3: Manager reviews and finalises the record.
Every step is controlled through Submission Settings and Section Permissions.
Understanding Contributors
A contributor is any user linked to a specific form record — either they created it, or it was shared with them. Every form record has at least one contributor, and Admins always have access.
Contributors have some default restrictions compared to group members:
They can only complete form records shared with them — they cannot create their own records.
They cannot share forms with others.
They cannot view or edit all records in a form — only their own.
Groups vs. sharing directly — when to use which?
Sharing directly (making someone a contributor) is fine for one-off or small-scale sharing. But as your team grows, Groups are far more scalable — they let you share a form with many users at once, apply consistent access rules, and reduce admin overhead. We recommend setting up Groups from the start, even for small teams.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can a user be both an Admin and part of a custom group?
A. Yes. Admins can be assigned to any custom group just like General Users. Group membership is independent of user type and is used to manage access, notifications, and assignments.
Q: Can I rename or delete a default group?
A. The Administrators and General Users default groups cannot be deleted or renamed — they’re fixed to the two user types. You can, however, create and fully manage any number of custom groups on top of these.
Q: Is there a limit to how many users I can invite?
A. User limits depend on your IndyForms plan. Check your subscription details or contact via our support chat button if you’re unsure of your current limits.
Q: Can I bulk-invite users?
A. Currently, users are invited one at a time via the Invite User flow. For bulk onboarding needs, contact our support chat or email us at [email protected] and our team can assist.
Q: What access does a General User have by default?
A. General Users can only see and complete form records that have been explicitly shared with them. They cannot view other users’ records, create form records themselves, or access form settings.
Q: What happens if I remove a user from a group?
A. They immediately lose access to any forms restricted to that group. Their data is retained and they can still see form records they personally contributed to.
💡 IndyTips for Managing Users & Groups
Mirror your org chart: Create groups that reflect your business structure — “Sales”, “HR”, “Compliance”, “Field Operations”. This makes form distribution and access control much easier to manage as you scale.
Use a New Starters group: Create a dedicated onboarding group and assign all relevant forms to it — welcome packets, HR checklists, IT setup documents. New hires get everything they need on day one.
Set default groups before your next invite: Configure your default groups once, then every new user automatically lands in the right place — no manual setup required each time.
Review group access quarterly: Set a recurring reminder to audit user access and group assignments, especially when your team changes frequently.
Start with Groups from day one: Even for small teams, setting up groups early means you won’t have to retroactively reassign permissions as you grow.