Statuses: Track the Status of Each Response

🏷️ Statuses

Statuses is a FormNX feature that adds a Status column to your form's responses, so you can mark each response as Received, Reviewing, Delivered, or any stage you name yourself. Each status has its own color. When you change a response's status, FormNX can also send an email to the person (respondent) who filled out the form, so they know what's happening.

Pro plan feature

Statuses is available on the Pro plan. It is not included in the free plan. See FormNX pricing to compare plans.

How Statuses works

Say a bakery takes cake orders through a FormNX form. When an order comes in, the bakery marks it Received and the customer gets an email confirming it. Once baking starts, the order becomes Preparing. When the cake is boxed up, the bakery switches it to Ready, and the customer gets a second email saying it's ready to collect. After pickup, it's marked Delivered.

The bakery sees the whole day's orders in one list, colored by stage, and never types a "your order is ready" email by hand.

You set statuses up once, then update them as work moves forward. This guide follows that order:

1. Turn on Statuses and pick a preset.
2. Customize your statuses so they match how you work.
3. Set up status emails for the steps respondents should hear about (optional).
4. Update the status of your responses day to day. FormNX sends the emails for you.
5. Turn statuses off if you stop needing them.

Before you start

You need two things in place:

• A Pro plan. Statuses is part of the Pro plan.
• An Email field in your form, but only if you want to send status emails. FormNX sends each email to the address the respondent typed into that field. If you just want to track statuses for yourself, you can skip this.

To check your form for an Email field:

1. Go to your forms list and click Edit on the form.
2. Look for an Email field. If there isn't one, add it from the field list.
3. Save and publish the form.

info

Responses submitted before you added the Email field won't have an email address, so they can't receive status emails. You can still give them a status.

Step 1: Turn on Statuses

1. Open your form's responses

In your forms list, click the three dots next to your form and choose View Responses. This opens the Responses / Submissions page. Stay on the All responses tab, which lists every submission your form has received.

2. Click the "Statuses" button

In the All responses tab, click Statuses. The Response statuses window opens.

3. Switch on "Track the status of each response"

Turn on Track the status of each response. This is what adds the Status column to your responses.

4. Start from a preset

FormNX now asks you to pick a starting list of statuses. Choose the one closest to what your form is for:

Preset	Good for	Statuses you get
Orders	Product orders, food orders, deliveries	Received, Preparing, Ready, Delivered, Cancelled
Applications	Job applications, admissions, memberships	New, Reviewing, Approved, Rejected
Custom	Anything else	None yet. You create your own

Here's what each preset status usually means:

Orders preset	Typically means
Received	The order has come in
Preparing	You're working on it
Ready	It's ready to collect or ship
Delivered	The customer has it
Cancelled	The order was cancelled

Applications preset	Typically means
New	The application has just come in
Reviewing	Someone is looking at it
Approved	The applicant has been accepted
Rejected	The applicant hasn't been accepted this time

tip

A preset is a starting point, not a fixed list. You can rename, recolor, add, or delete any status. Step 2 shows how.

5. Save

Click Save. FormNX confirms that the Status column has been added to your responses.

From now on, the Statuses button in the All responses tab is renamed Set status. You'll use it for everything else in this guide:

Option under Set status	What it does
Your statuses (Received, Ready, and so on)	Applies that status to the responses you've selected
Clear status	Removes the status from the responses you've selected
Manage statuses	Reopens the Response statuses window to add, edit, or delete statuses, or to turn the feature off

Step 2: Customize your statuses

You can adjust your list while you're setting it up in Step 1, or come back later: click Set status → Manage statuses in the All responses tab.

Add a status

1. Click Add.
2. Give it a name, such as Collected or Interview scheduled.
3. Choose a color that's easy to tell apart from your other statuses.
4. If respondents should get an email when their response reaches this status, turn on Email customer. Step 3 covers the email settings.
5. Click Save.

Edit a status

1. In the Response statuses window, click the status you want to change. Its settings open.
2. Change what you need:
   • the name
   • the color
   • the email settings (who it goes to, the subject, and the message)
3. Click Save to apply your changes.

Delete a status

1. Open the Response statuses window.
2. Click the delete icon next to the status you want to remove.
3. Click Save.

caution

Any responses that already had this status will show No status as soon as you delete it. If you still need to track those responses, give them a different status first.

Spot which statuses send emails

In the list of statuses, an email icon appears next to every status that sends an email. If there's no icon, moving a response to that status won't email anyone.

Step 3: Set up status emails (optional)

You write the email once per status. After that, FormNX sends it every time you move a response to that status. You'll usually only want emails on the steps respondents care about, such as Ready or Approved.

Add an email to a status

1. Open the Response statuses window. If you're still setting up, you're already there. Otherwise, click Set status → Manage statuses.
2. Click the status you want to add an email to (or click Add to create a new one).
3. Turn on Email customer. The email settings appear.
4. Send to: choose your form's Email field. FormNX sends to whatever address the respondent entered there.
5. CC (optional): add anyone else who should get a copy, like the teammate who handles orders. Separate several addresses with commas.
6. Subject: for example, Your order is ready.
7. Body: write your message. You can add dynamic tags to pull in answers from the form, such as the respondent's name (see the example below).
8. Click Save. The email icon now appears next to that status.

Here's an example. Each word in __double_underscores__ is a dynamic tag that FormNX swaps for real details when it sends the email:

Subject: Your order is now __response_status__

Hi,

Your order with __form_name__ is now __response_status__.

__order_summary__

When a customer's order is marked Ready, they'd get "Your order is now Ready", followed by the name of your form and a summary of what they ordered.

About dynamic tags

• You don't need to type tags. Under the Subject and Body boxes there's a Click to add the tags row. Click a tag and FormNX adds it where your cursor is.
• Response Status inserts the name of the new status. All Form Fields inserts every answer from the response.
• The other tags match the fields in your form, such as Name, Email, Address, or Order summary, so the list will look different on each form.
• The body is plain text. Line breaks you type are kept in the email.

tip

Tell people what changed and what they need to do next, if anything. "Your order is ready. Pick it up from the front counter before 6 pm" beats a paragraph of thanks.

Choose which address sends the emails

FormNX sends status emails through its own built-in email service by default, so there's nothing extra to set up.

If you'd rather send from your own address or domain, add your own SMTP settings (the outgoing mail details from your email provider, such as Gmail or Outlook) in the form's email settings, then publish the form. Status emails for that form will go out through your SMTP. The Email SMTP Settings guide walks through it.

Step 4: Update the status of your responses

With your statuses saved, the Status column appears in the All responses tab. This is the part you'll do day to day.

Update one response

1. Find the response you want to update in the All responses tab.
2. In its Status column, click Set status. If the response already has a status, click that status instead.
3. Choose a status from the list.

note

Statuses with the email icon will email the respondent.

Update several responses at once

1. Tick the checkboxes next to the responses you want to change.
2. Click Set status.
3. Choose a status. Every selected response updates together.

caution

If the status you pick sends an email, every selected respondent gets that email. Check your selection before you choose.

Undo a status email within 10 seconds

When you pick a status that sends an email, FormNX shows a message such as "Marked Received · emails in 10 seconds". The email waits 10 seconds before it goes out. Click Undo during that time and it won't be sent.

After those 10 seconds the email is sent, and you can't take it back.

Clear a status

1. Tick the checkboxes next to the responses you want to clear.
2. Click Set status.
3. Choose Clear status. Those responses go back to having no status.

Filter responses by status

Once statuses are on, a Status filter appears in the Filters & Search area.

1. Open the Status filter.
2. Choose a status to see only the responses that have it, for example every order that's still Preparing.
3. Choose All to see every response again.

Step 5: Turn statuses off (if you need to)

Click Set status → Manage statuses, then switch off Track the status of each response and save. The Status column disappears from your responses.

You can switch it back on at any time from the same window.

What can you use Statuses for?

Any form where a submission goes through stages after someone sends it.

Orders and deliveries. Start from the Orders preset and email customers at the steps they care about, usually Ready and Delivered. Our order form templates give you a form to start from.

Job and admission applications. Start from the Applications preset. Move each applicant from New to Reviewing, then to Approved or Rejected, and email them when a decision is made.

Bookings and appointments. Create Custom statuses such as Requested, Confirmed, Completed, and No-show, and email clients once their booking is confirmed.

Support requests. Track tickets with New, In progress, Waiting on customer, and Resolved, so nothing sits unanswered.

Event registrations. Use Registered, Payment pending, Confirmed, and Attended to manage your guest list.

Tips for setting up statuses

• Keep the list short. Four to six statuses cover most workflows and are quicker to pick from than ten.
• Give colors a meaning. Green for done, yellow for in progress, red for cancelled or rejected. You'll read the list faster.
• Email only at the steps people care about. A customer wants to hear "Ready". They don't need an email for every internal step.
• Test it on yourself first. Submit the form with your own email address, change the status, and read the email you get before real customers do.

Troubleshooting: a respondent didn't get their status email

Check these in order:

1. Does the status have the email icon? If not, open Set status → Manage statuses, click the status, and turn on Email customer.
2. Did the respondent fill in the Email field? If they left it blank or mistyped their address, FormNX has nowhere to send the email.
3. Did someone click Undo? An email cancelled within the 10 seconds is never sent.
4. Is it in their spam folder? Ask them to check spam or junk, especially if you use your own SMTP settings.

FAQs

Which plan includes Statuses?

The Pro plan. Statuses isn't available on the free plan.

Do I need an Email field to use statuses?

No. You can track statuses on any form. You only need an Email field to send status emails.

Can I create my own statuses?

Yes. Choose Custom to build your list from scratch, or pick the Orders or Applications preset and add your own statuses to it. Every status gets its own name and color.

Does every status send an email?

No. Emails are switched on per status. Only statuses with Email customer turned on send one, and they show an email icon.

What happens to responses if I delete a status?

Any response that had the deleted status shows No status straight away.

What happens when I turn statuses off?

The Status column is no longer shown in your responses. Turn Track the status of each response back on whenever you need it again.

I picked the wrong status. Can I stop the email?

Yes, if you're quick. Click Undo within 10 seconds and the email won't be sent.

Can my team get a copy of status emails?

Yes. Add their addresses in the CC field when you set up the status email.

Can status emails come from my own email address?

Yes. Add your own SMTP settings in the form's email settings and publish the form. Without them, FormNX uses its built-in email service. See Email SMTP Settings.

How is this different from Email to Responder?

Email to Responder sends one email right after someone submits your form. Status emails go out later, each time you update the status of their response, so people hear from you at every stage.

Related guides

• List Submissions: search, filter, tag, and export your responses
• Email to Responder: send an email the moment a form is submitted
• Email SMTP Settings: send emails from your own address
• Response Report: see your responses as charts