Introduction to Application Forms
The Application Form in AcceleratorApp allows you to collect structured information from applicants who wish to join your program. This customizable tool helps streamline the application process, ensuring you gather all necessary details for evaluation and selection.
Feature Location
To create an Application Form, navigate to the Side Bar Menu > Forms Management, click Create New Form, name your form, and select Application as the form type. If needed, add additional languages from the dropdown menu to support multilingual applicants.
Step-by-Step Actions
1. Adding Questions
Use the Drag and Drop functionality to add different types of questions:
- Text fields (Long and One Liner) – For open-ended responses like personal statements.
- Multiple choice – To standardize applicant responses.
- Rating scales – For self-assessment or reference ratings.
- Yes/No questions (Single Choice) – To gather binary responses.
- Attachment questions – To allow applicants to upload attachments like CVs, business plans, or portfolios.
- Number questions – For capturing numerical values like financial data or experience years.
- Date questions – To collect date-based questions like birthdates or business start dates.
- User Add Row questions – To let applicants submit multiple entries (e.g., listing previous accelerators attended or founding team).
2. Formatting Elements
Improve the form layout by adding:
- Section Headers – To categorize different areas such as Personal Information, Business Details, and Funding Needs.
- Subheaders – To introduce sections and guide applicants.
- Paragraphs – To provide instructions or additional context.
3. Setting Validations
Ensure accurate and complete applications by setting validations:
- Character limits for text responses (e.g., 500 words for motivation statements).
- Required fields for essential questions (e.g., email, business name).
- Email format validation to ensure correct contact details.
- Numerical range for financial figures like revenue or funding raised.
- Date restrictions to ensure eligibility (e.g., business must be registered before a certain date).
- Etc, depending on the field you can apply multiple type of validation
4. Applying Conditional Rules
Personalize the form based on applicant responses:
- Trigger additional fields based on specific answers (e.g., request additional details if an applicant selects ‘Yes’ for prior funding received).
- Show relevant questions based on applicant type (e.g., startups vs. scale-ups).
5. Converting Fields into Custom Fields
Frequently used questions can be converted into Custom Fields to improve data tracking and synchronization. This is especially useful for fields like industry type, funding stage, or location. To learn more about data synchronization with custom fields, click here.
6. Sharing and downloading
You can share the application form as a preview link that allows external users to visualize the form without needing an account. However, this link is for preview purposes only and does not allow submissions.
If needed, you can download a PDF version of the form to share it offline.
Useful Tips
- Keep questions clear and to the point to reduce application fatigue.
- Use file attachments to collect business plans, pitch decks, or financial statements.
- Test your form internally before launching to ensure a smooth applicant experience.
Common Use Cases
- Startup applications – Collect details on business ideas, funding needs, and founder backgrounds.
- Accelerator/Incubator intake – Screen candidates for program eligibility.
- Grant applications – Gather data for funding consideration.