Launch via a kick-off form

What are kick-off forms?

Kick-off forms sit at the beginning of a Tallyfy template and collect information before the main workflow starts. They work for both internal team members and external people - customers, partners, or vendors can submit a public kick-off form to launch a process automatically.

Unlike standalone forms, kick-off form data flows directly into the process steps that follow.

Creating a kick-off form

1. Go to the Templates library.
2. Open a template in Edit mode.
3. In the left sidebar, click Triggers.
4. Select Kick-off Form.
5. Click + Add Field to add questions (form fields).
6. Configure each field - name, type, required toggle, help text, options, and default content if needed.
7. Save your template.

Available field types

Field type	Use for
Short Text	Names, IDs, brief responses
Long Text	Descriptions, detailed explanations
Dropdown	Pick one from a predefined list
Multi-select	Pick multiple from a list
Radio Buttons	Pick exactly one option
Date	Scheduling, deadlines
Email	Email addresses
File Upload	Documents, images, attachments
Table	Structured tabular data
Assignee selector	Pick people to assign within the process

Mark fields as Required only if the process can’t start without that data. Required fields prevent automatic launching via email triggers or some API calls that don’t supply the field values.

Completing kick-off forms

1. Click Launch Process on the template.
2. The kick-off form appears.
3. Fill out the fields (required fields show a *).
4. Click Submit.
5. The process starts with the submitted data.

Viewing kick-off form answers

Anyone on the process can see submitted kick-off data:

1. Open any task in the running process.
2. Click the Info tab.
3. Expand the Kick-off Fields section.

Filling forms automatically

You can pre-fill kick-off forms using data from other systems via web form links or middleware.

Public kick-off forms

Share a kick-off form publicly so anyone - even without a Tallyfy account - can submit it to start a process.

Why use public forms:

• Instant workflow launch - no delay between submission and process start
• Submitter tracking - the person who submits gets a unique link to track progress (after email verification)
• Spam prevention - email verification filters out fake submissions
• Branding - public forms display your organization’s logo

Deactivated members and public forms

Tallyfy uses the kickoff_sharing_user_id to authenticate public form submissions. When that member gets deactivated, Tallyfy automatically reassigns the public form to the template owner. If the template owner is also inactive, the public link won’t work. Check public form assignments before deactivating members. (See Removing Members.)

Pre-fill kick-off form fields via URL

You can pre-fill kick-off form fields using URL parameters - this works for both public and internal kick-off forms. Add ko_fields with JSON field values and default_run_name to pre-set the process name. See magic links for the complete URL format and field type reference.

Making a kick-off form public

1. Open the template in Edit mode.
2. Go to Triggers > Kick-off Form.
3. Find Public Sharing on the right panel and switch it ON.
4. Click Get Public Link.
5. Copy the shareable link from the dialog.
6. Share this link with people outside your organization.

How public form submission works

1. The visitor enters their email address.
2. Tallyfy sends them a private access link via email.
3. They click the link to open the form.
4. They fill out and submit.
5. The process launches inside Tallyfy.
6. They can reuse their private link to check process status later.

Public forms vs. internal steps

	Public kick-off forms	Internal process steps
Audience	External users without Tallyfy accounts	Team members and assigned guests
Purpose	Collect initial data to start a workflow	Execute tasks after the process starts
Access	Public link via email, website, etc.	Tallyfy dashboard with login
Experience	Simple form with your branding	Full task management with comments, attachments, tracking
Visibility	Submitters track overall progress only	Full internal task details

Example: purchase requisitions

A vendor submits a purchase order through your public form. This creates an internal approval workflow where your finance team reviews and processes the order - invisible to the vendor except for status updates.

Best practices

Collect only what’s needed upfront

• Ask for data the launcher definitely has right now
• Save detailed branching questions for later workflow steps
• Keep the form short. Don’t front-load complexity.

Equipment insurance example

Instead of “List all equipment details, specifications, and carrier requirements” on the kick-off form, ask “Equipment or facilities?” and “Client ID?” Then use automations to reveal detailed collection steps based on those answers.

Form design tips

• Use clear field names - skip jargon
• Arrange fields in logical order
• Mark fields required only when truly necessary
• Add help text for anything that needs explanation
• Test the form before sharing it widely

Common mistakes

• Front-loading questionnaires - asking for info that isn’t available yet
• Branching in kick-off forms - conditional logic belongs in workflow steps, not the initial form
• Over-requiring fields - making fields mandatory when launchers might not have that data
• Ignoring user context - different users have different information at launch time

Related articles

Launching > Launch from a form

External web forms can automatically launch Tallyfy processes either through a public kick-off form link that anyone can access without logging in or through a magic link with pre-filled fields using JSON-encoded parameters for logged-in users.

How To > Build effective forms

Tallyfy connects form submissions directly to trackable workflows so that every response automatically triggers defined process steps with email verification for public forms and supports conditional branching and document generation along with field validation and collaborative multi-step completion across teams.

Triggers > Launch via a magic link

Magic links in Tallyfy are special URLs that let logged-in users trigger actions like launching processes or completing tasks simply by clicking a link and these can be embedded in emails or intranet pages with pre-filled data using URL parameters and JSON-encoded field values.

Launching > Triggers

Tallyfy offers seven ways to start a process — manually clicking launch or submitting a form or automatically through API calls and emails and magic links and recurring schedules and task completion chains — with some triggers able to pre-fill kick-off form data to cut manual entry and reduce errors.

Was this helpful?

YesNo