Entry Form

The form builder is a live preview of the entry page. Open Entrant pages and switch to the Entry page view. Click any question text to edit it in place, hover a question for Settings and the handle beside it (drag the handle to reorder), and add a question with the + beside any question or Add question at the bottom of the Entry Details card. Every change saves as you make it.

What every form includes

• Entry name
• Categories chosen from your configured categories; an entry can compete in more than one
• Your details: the entrant types their name and email into a card on the form. No account is needed; at submit AwardKit emails them a code to confirm the address. Signed-in users see their details prefilled.

Two more questions ship on every new program and can be removed, reordered, or re-added like any other question:

• Entry Summary: a paragraph question that feeds gallery cards, search, and link previews. See Entry Summary.
• Team Members: name and email for each collaborator. See Team Members.

New programs also start with an Attachment question named Attachments.

When your organization sets a Privacy notice link (see AI features, analytics, and privacy notice), the form shows "{Organization} handles the information you submit under its privacy notice" above the submit buttons, linking to it.

Question types

Click Add question at the bottom of the card, or the + beside any question to insert one right under it, and pick a type from the searchable list:

The picker only offers the one-per-form types (Entry Summary, Team Members, Membership Question) while the form does not have one yet. The Province Question is never in the picker: turning on Canadian tax by province adds it.

Picking a type inserts the question with its text selected: type the question and press Enter. Everything else is edited in place too: click the help text to change it (add one from Help text in the question menu, or Intro text on a section heading), click inside the answer box to change what it shows before the entrant types, and on a choice question click an option to rename it, press Enter to add the next one, or use Add option.

The question menu

Hover a question and click Settings at its right (or the handle beside it). The menu holds the question's settings, each saving the moment it changes: Placeholder, Help text, Autofill as on short answer, email, and URL questions, Answer limit, Required, Shown to (the Entrants rule and the Judges setting), Max team members on the Team Members question, Allowed dates on Date questions, and the file rules under Accepts on file questions, then Duplicate and Delete.

Autofill as

Autofill as tells browsers which of the entrant's own details a short answer asks for, so they can fill it in and screen readers can name it: Full name, First name, Last name, Email, Phone, Organization, Job title, Street address, City, Postal code, Country, or Website. Left on Automatic, a question whose label plainly asks for one of these (such as "Email", "Phone number", or "Company") gets it without any setting, and the menu shows which one it found. Choose None for a question that only looks like one, such as an email address for a reference rather than the entrant.

Answer limit

Switch on Answer limit in the menu of a Short Answer or Paragraph question and set the number in Words or Characters. Entrants see a live count on the answer box as they type. Switch it off for no limit. The ceiling is 10,000 words or 50,000 characters.

Allowed dates

Under Allowed dates in the menu of a Date question, set an Earliest date, a Latest date, or both. Both are optional and inclusive, and the x beside a date clears it. The line under the dates shows what entrants will read, such as "Between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2026". An earliest date after the latest is flagged and not saved.

Entrants pick the date from a calendar where days outside the range cannot be picked, and the range shows under the question. A submission with a date outside the range is refused.

What judges see

Under Shown to in the menu, every question that takes an answer has a Judges row. It shows the current setting and opens the Shown to judges dialog with three choices, from most to least visible:

• Always, the default. The answer shows on the judging pages in every round.
• Except in blind rounds. The answer is stripped only in rounds with blind judging switched on, and shows as usual in open rounds. Use it for identifying answers a final jury should see once names come back: a company website, a client name, a LinkedIn profile.
• Never. The answer is hidden from judges entirely, on every judging and audience page, in every round. Use it for questions judges never need: admin fields ("How did you hear about us?", company size), consent forms, CVs. On a file question, the files never appear on the media stage or as a thumbnail either.

The answer is always collected and always visible to you. Rows carry a badge in the builder: Hidden from judges for a question set to Never, and Hidden while blind for one set to Except in blind rounds (its tooltip says whether a round is blind yet, since judges see the answer until one is). An Attachment question whose label mentions a consent form, agreement, signature, or ID shows the reminder "This file probably carries a name or signature. Consider "Never" for judges." until it is set.

Media or file upload

Two question types collect files. Media is for the work judges score: its files show large at the top of the judge's page, and the first one is the entry's image on the judge dashboard. Attachment is for files that support or verify the entry (a consent form, a caption sheet, a CV): they appear as thumbnails in the answers under the question. Under Accepts, both offer Images, Documents (PDF, Word, text, Markdown), Video, Audio (MP3, M4A, WAV, off until you switch it on), and Web pages (HTML prototypes, off until you switch it on), plus the file count and size caps, and they share every other setting; a Media question just starts required, with images and video ticked and up to five files. Each uploaded image offers entrants an optional Alt text box, each video a Video description box, and each audio file a Transcript box, so judges using screen readers get the content too. In the builder each file question carries a Media or Attachment badge beside its label, and its menu header switches between the two with Turn into Attachment or Turn into Media, without touching collected answers. Entrants never see the difference. See Media or Attachment.

Visibility

Entrants under Shown to in the question menu opens the rule: Always show, Only for some categories, or Based on an answer. Questions with a rule show a Conditional badge, and the Preview as switcher lets you view the form as an entrant in a given category would. See Conditional questions.

Section headings

A Section Heading is not a question: it has no answer, no required setting, and no CSV column, and it never counts toward the question limit. Use headings to break a long form into titled chapters ("About your company", "The work", "Results"). Entrants fill the form under those headings, judges review each entry under the same headings, and the public entry page renders answers grouped the same way. Sections with no visible answers are dropped from the read views.

Headings accept visibility rules too, so a whole section can be scoped to a category.

Entry Summary

The Entry Summary is the paragraph that represents the entry everywhere: gallery cards, search, link previews, and the top of the entry page. It ships on every new form as a designated paragraph question. You can rename it, add a limit, or delete it; the Entry Summary tile in the question picker adds it back. Only one summary question exists per form, and its row carries an Entry Summary badge.

Deleting the summary question stops new entries from collecting one; existing summaries keep showing on gallery cards and link previews but disappear from entry detail and judging pages until you add a new Entry Summary question.

Team Members

Team Members is a regular question you can move, delete, or add back from the picker (at most one per form). Entrants click Add a team member and enter a name and email per person. Set Max team members in its menu to cap the team size. To reword the add-member block, click its heading or the name box's placeholder in the builder, or use Heading and Placeholder in the block's menu, for example "Entrant(s)" and "Entrant name / team name"; clear one to go back to "Add a team member" or "Team member name". The person submitting the entry carries a Submitter badge, and every row still asks for an email. Like any question, it can carry a Shown to rule for entrants, so the section appears only for some categories or after an earlier answer such as "Team" to "Individual or team entry?"; team members typed into a section the entrant then hides are not saved. Every team member receives the entry-added email, can open and edit the entry while entries are open, and gets their own certificate when results are published. Programs that honor individuals simply remove the question.

Membership Question

When your program prices entries by entrant type, the Membership Question collects the entrant's declaration ("Are you a member?"). The card on the form shows the question with your help text under it, if you wrote any, and the price range collapses to the exact amount once answered. The declared type shows in your Entries table and CSV export. One per form; it is created for you when you add entrant types.

In the builder it has its own Membership pricing card above Entry Details rather than a row among your questions: entrants answer it while choosing categories when the form has a category step and fees, otherwise at the end of the entry details. Edit its label and help text in place; Edit pricing opens Fees.

Province Question

When Canadian tax by province is on, the Province Question asks each entrant for their province or territory, and the answer sets the tax on their entry fee. In the builder it has its own Tax by province card, below Membership pricing when there is one, rather than a row in Entry Details: entrants answer it while choosing categories when the form has a category step and fees, otherwise after the entry details. Edit its label and help text in place; Edit tax opens the Tax view of Fees. It cannot be moved or deleted while Canadian tax is on.

URL questions and embeds

A URL question takes web addresses starting with https:// or http://.

When an entrant pastes a supported link into a URL question, judges see the content inline on the entry page instead of a bare link:

• YouTube and Loom: video player embedded inline

Other URLs display as clickable links. When Tracking on public pages is off for the organization (see AI features, analytics, and privacy notice), YouTube and Loom links display as clickable links too. For files, use a Media or Attachment question rather than asking for a Drive link.

Entry guidelines

The Entry Guidelines card in the sidebar of the entry page is yours to write. Every program starts with default guidelines that hold for any kind of entry: name the entry as it should appear to judges, answer every question fully, and (when the form has a link, upload, or paragraph question) add supporting material.

Edit the guidelines in place in the Entry page view, like the choices of a question. Hover the card to highlight every line you can edit:

• Click a line to rewrite it. Your first edit turns the defaults into your own list.
• Press Enter at the end of a line to add the next one, or click Add guideline. A program can have up to 10 guidelines of up to 300 characters each.
• Hover a line and click the cross beside it to remove it.
• Click Use defaults in the card header to go back to the defaults. The button shows once you have changed the list.

Remove every line to hide the card: entrants no longer see it, and in the builder it stays dimmed with "No guidelines: entrants do not see this card." so you can add lines back. Duplicating a program copies its guidelines.

Deadline

The entries deadline lives on the program Overview timeline, not in the form builder. After it passes:

• The form shows that entries are closed
• Entrants cannot edit their entries
• You can still edit entries and add new ones with Add entry or Edit as Organizer
• The public entry gallery opens if its visibility is set to After entries close

Entry fees on the form

Entry fees, pricing periods, entrant types, multi-entry discounts, discount codes, and tax are configured on the Fees page. The form shows the active price next to each category, a running total, the multi-entry discount as soon as the entrant qualifies, and any tax line.

Testing before you go live

While a program is in Test mode, the public entry form is a preview: visitors can click through every step, and submitting opens a modal that shows what they would submit and where the email code would appear, without saving anything. Once you go live, submit a real entry yourself to check the confirmation email, then delete it from Entries. See Test mode and going live.

Tips

• Less is more. Five required questions is enough for most programs. The longer the form, the lower the completion rate.
• Put limits on paragraphs. A 300-word limit tells entrants how much detail you want and keeps judging time predictable.
• Group with headings instead of adding more required fields. A form that reads as three chapters feels shorter than the same questions in one list.
• Set what judges see before you open entries: set Judges to Never on admin questions and to Except in blind rounds on identifying ones, so a blind round is a switch, not a rebuild.
• Pre-fill placeholder examples so entrants understand the expected format.