# Create a Form - Starting from Scratch

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/forms/manage-forms/create-forms

> Create a form from scratch, setting the correct usage type before you start.

Astalty Premium - This feature is part of the Astalty Premium plan. See What Premium includes.

> **Form Usage Type**
>
> Check the **Usage** before creating the form. It cannot be changed after creation, except that a General form can be [converted to a register](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/registers/overview#converting-an-existing-form). [Duplicating a form](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/forms/manage-forms/form-builder#duplicating-a-form) keeps the original's Usage too - for a different Usage, create a new form instead.

## Overview

Open [Manage Forms](https://app.astalty.com.au/forms/manage), click **Create Form**, then select **Start from Scratch**.

![The Manage Forms page with the Create Form button highlighted above a table of forms with Status, Name and Type columns, each name showing the form's description beneath it.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/create-form.png)

## Form Details

![The dialog asking how you would like to create your form, with Create from Scratch highlighted under Start from Scratch.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/scratch.png)

Enter:

- **Name**
- **Description**
- **Usage**
- **Type**

![The Add Form drawer with Name and Description fields, Usage set to Staff Incident with a note that every submission creates a Staff Incident and this cannot be changed after form creation, and Internal selected under Form Type.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/forms-create-form-usage-locked-description.png)

### Form Name

This is the title displayed on the form and in Astalty.

### Form Description

Explain what the form collects or when it should be used.

## Form Usage Type

Available usage types are:

- **General**: stores an ordinary form submission.
- **Staff Incident**: creates a staff incident from each submission. This usage is Internal only.
- **Participant Incident**: creates a Participant incident from each submission. This usage is Internal only.
- **Referral & Intake**: creates a referral from each submission. This usage is External only and requires the Referrals feature.
- **Register**: creates a tracked register entry from each submission. This option requires the Registers feature. See [Registers](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/registers/overview).

There's no default Usage - you must choose one before you can create the form. **Staff Incident** and **Participant Incident** are separate, locked usages: a form built as one can't later cover the other, so create a separate form for each kind of incident you need to collect.

New forms start as **Unpublished**. Astalty initially allows the Admin, Manager, and Team Member groups to submit the form, and allows the Admin group to view its submissions. Review these access settings before publishing.

### Referral & Intake

The **Referral & Intake** usage lets you build your own referral form from scratch. Every submission of a Referral & Intake form creates a referral in the [Referrals register](https://app.astalty.com.au/referrals), exactly like the built-in Participant Referral Form template.

![The Form Usage section with the Usage list open on General, Staff Incident, Participant Incident, Referral and Intake and Register, and an arrow pointing to Referral and Intake. A note says this can not be changed after form creation.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/forms-create-form-referral-intake-usage.png)

A few things to know about this usage type:

- Referral & Intake forms are always **External** - the Internal option is unavailable, so anyone with a link to the form can fill it out.
- **First Name** and **Last Name** fields are added to the form automatically as required system fields.
- In the form builder, each field can be linked to a Participant profile field, so Astalty knows where the answer belongs when a Participant is created or updated from the referral. See [Mapping Form Fields to Participant Profile Fields](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/referrals/referrals#mapping-form-fields-to-participant-profile-fields).

> **Referral & Intake requires the Referrals feature**
>
> The Referral & Intake usage only appears when your account includes the [Referrals](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/referrals/referrals) feature.

## Form Type Internal or External

The Type controls who can open the form:

- **Internal**: only signed-in Astalty users with access to the form can complete it.
- **External**: anyone with the link can complete it.

![The Add Form drawer with the Internal and External options highlighted. Internal is selected, and each option explains who can fill out the form.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/intext.png)

Click **Create Form** to open the [Form Builder](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/forms/manage-forms/form-builder).