Template builder

The template builder is a three-panel editor where you design your onboarding forms. Steps are on the left, fields in the center, and settings on the right. On screens narrower than 1024 pixels, the builder shows one panel at a time. Select a step to see its fields, and a field to see its settings. A back control returns to the previous panel.

Only owners and admins can create or edit templates. Members see the message "Only admins can edit templates."

Steps

Steps divide your onboarding into pages. Each step becomes a screen in the client form. Above it, numbered circles show the steps, with their titles on wider screens, and a progress bar shows how far the client has come. A form with only one step shows no progress indicator.

• Add a step: click the + button (Add step) in the left panel. The new step is named "Step" plus its number.
• Reorder steps: drag a step by its handle. You can also reorder with the keyboard.
• Rename a step: double-click the step name, or open the step options menu (⋮) and choose Rename. You can also edit Title in Step settings.
• Optional steps: select the step and turn on Optional step in Step settings. Clients can skip an optional step, and its required fields are not enforced.
• Delete a step: open the step options menu (⋮) and choose Delete. Portico deletes it at once. Its row then says how many fields went with it, and how many conditions lost the part that used it. Click Undo to restore the step.

A single click on a step selects it and shows its fields.

Field types

Click Add field to open the field menu. Portico has 18 field types in five groups.

Text inputs

On Short text and Long text, the client sees a character or word counter when you set Max characters or Max words.

Choices

Data

Uploads and signatures

Allowed file types narrows uploads to a subset of PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, and TXT. Leave it empty to accept all nine.

Agreement text on a signature field is the document the client signs, such as your engagement letter. Clients read it above the signature pad. Portico stores it with the signature and prints it on the certificate. A signature field cannot save without it, so a new Signature field shows "Add the agreement text the client signs." until you add the text.

Some gallery templates come with sample agreement text that starts "Replace this with your firm's engagement letter". A template with that text saves, but Portico does not send it. The signature field's settings show "Add your agreement text to" and the field name. Until you replace the text, sending refuses this template everywhere: the onboarding page, the API, Zapier, automations, and self-registration links. An onboarding you created earlier keeps its copy of the sample text, so create a new onboarding after you fix the template.

Turn on Requires countersignature if your firm must also sign. After the client signs, an Owner or Admin signs the same field from the onboarding page.

Special

Payment fields take a fixed Amount in US dollars and a Payment type: One-time, Monthly, or Yearly. Clients cannot change the amount. Amounts under $0.50 show a warning, because Stripe declines them.

Until Stripe is connected, a payment field shows "Clients cannot pay until you connect Stripe." with a Connect Stripe in settings link. You cannot send an onboarding with a required payment field until its amount is valid. Your plan must also be able to collect payments (every plan except Free, and not an expired trial), and Stripe must be connected. See Stripe payments.

Info text uses a rich text editor with Bold, Italic, Add link, Bullet list, and Upload image. Images must be under 5 MB. Info text has no Required switch.

Repeater group columns are set under Sub-fields. Each column is a Text, Email, Number, or Date input and needs a column name. Max rows sets the limit, from 1 to 50.

Field configuration

Select a field to open its settings in the right panel. The settings are grouped into sections:

• General: Label is the question the client sees, and it cannot be empty. Info text fields are the exception, because they show their content instead of a label. Help text adds smaller text below the label. Required means the client must answer before moving to the next step.
• Configuration: the type-specific settings described above, such as character limits, options, upload limits, or the payment amount.
• Conditional logic: rules that change the field based on earlier answers. This section starts collapsed.
• Translations: labels, help text, placeholders, and options in other languages. Info text fields have no Translations section.

New fields start with Required turned on, except Info text.

Translations are available on Pro, Business, the Pro trial, and the lifetime and AppSumo Practice and Firm plans. You can also translate step titles in Step settings and the welcome message in the welcome page settings. On other plans, each section shows a message with an Upgrade plan button. The field section reads "Field translations are available on Pro and Business plans. Upgrade to translate field labels, help text, and options for each locale." The step section reads "Step translations are available on Pro and Business plans." The welcome section reads "Welcome message translations are available on Pro and Business plans." English (US) is the source language. You can translate into English (UK), Español, Français, Deutsch, Português (BR), Italiano, Nederlands, and 日本語. Help text and placeholder translations appear only when the English text exists. Clients see the translation for their locale.

To delete a field, click the delete icon (Delete field) on its row. Portico deletes it at once and says how many conditions lost the part that used it. Click Undo to restore the field.

Conditional logic

Conditional logic changes the form based on the client's answers. Open the Conditional logic section in a field's settings, or in Step settings for a step. Click Add condition to start.

Rule types

Field rules:

• Show when... and Hide when...: control whether the field appears.
• Make required when...: makes the field required when conditions match.
• Set value when...: fills the field with a value you type when conditions match.

Step rules:

• Show when... and Hide when...: control whether the whole step appears.
• Skip to step when...: jumps forward to a later step when conditions match. A skip only moves forward.

For example, to skip a "Corporate documents" step for sole proprietors, add a Hide when... rule to that step. Set it to match when "Business type" is "Sole proprietor".

Building rules

Each rule has an action and one or more conditions:

1. Action: what happens when the rule matches. A new rule starts as Show when..., or Skip to step when... on a step with no earlier questions. Change it in the first dropdown.
2. Condition: the question to check and the comparison, such as is, contains, or is greater than. The comparisons offered depend on the question's field type.
3. How conditions combine: choose All conditions match (AND) or Any condition matches (OR). Click Add group to nest one level of conditions.

A condition can only check a question the client answers earlier in the form. A step rule can check questions in earlier steps. A skip rule can also check questions in its own step. Signature, Payment, Info text, Address, and Repeater group fields cannot be used in conditions.

Logic map

Click Logic in the builder toolbar to open the Logic map. It lists every conditional rule in the template as a sentence, grouped by step, in the order clients answer. For example: "Shown when Do you run payroll? is Yes". Step rules start with "Step:" and the step title. Click a field or step name to open its settings. Click Close logic map to return to the editor.

Preview

The toolbar has three views:

• Editor: the default three-panel editing view.
• Split: the field list and a live preview side by side, with the steps and settings panels still open. The preview moves to the step or welcome page you select. If clients would not see that step with the answers entered in the preview, a note says so. Editor and Split appear only on wide screens.
• Preview: a full-screen preview with a Preview badge. Use the close button (Close preview) to return.

The preview is interactive and runs your conditional logic, so you can test rules by answering questions. It differs from the client form in a few ways:

• It uses your brand color for the step progress. It does not show your logo, custom CSS, or translations.
• File upload and repeater fields are static placeholders.
• Signature fields show the signature pad below your agreement text, with "Preview only. Nothing is signed or saved."
• Payment fields show "Preview only. No card is charged."
• Nothing you enter is saved or submitted.

Saving

Changes save automatically less than a second after you stop editing. There is no Save button. The toolbar shows Saving... while a change saves and Saved when it is done. If a save fails, the toolbar shows Unsaved changes and a banner reads "Could not save the template. Your changes are still here. Try again." Click Try again to save the same draft.

If you click a link while a change is not saved, your browser asks you to confirm. Confirming leaves the builder, and the unsaved change is lost.

Portico does not save a draft that breaks a rule. The draft stays on your screen, and the toolbar shows "Not saved: fix the highlighted field". The step or field with the problem shows an alert icon. Its tooltip reads "Needs a fix before it can save", and the setting to fix shows its own error. These rules apply:

• The template name, step titles, field labels (except on Info text), and repeater column names cannot be empty.
• A payment amount must be greater than $0.00.
• A signature field must have Agreement text.
• A Skip to step when... rule must name a later step. A Set value when... rule must have a value to set.
• Every condition needs a question and a comparison. Its question must come earlier in the form.
• A condition needs a value. Six comparisons need none: is empty, is not empty, is checked, is not checked, has a file, and has no file.
• On a Dropdown, Radio buttons, or Multi-select question, the value must be one of the current options. On a Yes / No question, it must be yes or no. After you rename or remove an option, the condition shows "This value is no longer an option. Choose one of the current options."

Short links from URL shorteners are refused in the template name, description, step titles, field labels, field settings, and translations. The English welcome message is not checked. Field settings include help text, options, info text, and agreement text. For this rule the builder highlights no field. It shows "Short links cannot be sent to clients. Paste the full web address instead."

A template holds up to 100 steps and up to 500 fields in total. Template names can be 200 characters, and step titles and labels 500.

If someone else saves the template while you edit, Portico shows "Someone saved a newer version. Your draft is still here. Reload the saved version to continue." Your draft cannot save until you reload. Reload saved version asks "Discard your unsaved draft and reload the saved version?" and replaces your draft with the saved version. Copy any edits you want to keep before you confirm.

Each onboarding keeps a copy of the template from when you created it. Edits change only the onboardings you create afterwards.

Template settings

• Welcome page: the first row in the Steps list. Its checkbox turns the welcome page on or off. Select the row to open its settings. There you can use Show welcome page and write a Welcome message of up to 2,000 characters. Each browser shows the welcome page once per link. A resent or reopened link shows it again.
• Custom CSS (Business plan only): the right panel shows Add custom CSS on wide screens only when no step is selected. On other plans, that spot reads "Custom CSS for the client form is available on the Business plan." with an Upgrade plan button. The builder keeps a step selected while the template has steps, so this appears only in a template with no steps. Portico scopes your selectors to .portico-client-form and strips unsafe patterns. Custom CSS applies to this template's client form.

Tips

• Start with a template from the Template gallery and customize it rather than building from scratch.
• Keep steps focused. Three to five fields per step keeps each page short.
• Use Info text fields to provide context at the top of a step before asking questions.
• Test your template using Preview mode before sending it to real clients.