Dubsado has a new form builder that will give you a website quality, professional design on all of your business forms and it is awesome! This new form builder has been in Beta since the summer of 2022 but will go permanently live on Jan 31, 2023, so I want you to be prepared for what it can do and where you might find problems as you learn the ropes.
Throughout the past few months, users have identified some big changes that make your branding shine, small changes that make the program more user-friendly and some areas where you may experience more issues than before. In order to make the most of the changes Dubsado is rolling out, you need to stay ahead of the curve so let’s dive into these pros and cons to see what we’re up against.
Big changes
In an attempt to make the system more all-in-one, cut out 3rd party resources (like Canva) and optimize your workflows, Dubsado has created a system that allows your forms to be customized much in the same way as a website. They’ve done this through many small changes but the biggest impact can be found in the “containers” (what used to be called “columns”) – that’s where the most noteworthy design changes are located.
Before this new form builder was implemented, your columns, images, and text boxes fit in within a specific, static, predetermined parameter on your page. With the new Dubsado containers, you can expand the width and height to your desired dimensions and even add padding and margins to customize the design to match your business branding.
New Dubsado Form Hack: If you want to add some character to your forms by creating a 3-D look to your containers, add padding and stack them!
You can also change the background image and color of your containers while keeping the primary text and images at the forefront. Once you’ve made a professional background for the information on your form, you can format your text with custom colors, fonts, and sizes too. Design-wise, you can make most of the changes you want on your forms straight in Dubsado rather than pulling from other sites to customize it to your needs.
Small Changes
Dubsado has also made some smaller, user-friendly changes that are noteworthy as well. Aesthetically, the container boxes have moved from the right side to the left side of your screen. Although they made it a little more like a website builder, it’s still “drag and drop” like it’s always been but now you can edit your content in the side box OR in the actual text box on the editable preview. Here are three other cool design aspects that make life easier with this new form builder:
- When you add new containers, you can drag and drop what you would like to be in the columns OR you can click the little plus sign in the column to add what you need.
- There are legitimate spacers! (So now you don’t have to add a text box to create white space between the elements on your form)
- Custom divider lines prevent you from needing to customize using Canva images. You can choose your color, thickness, and style right in the form builder.
These in-program customizations also get users away from some of the manual codings that some were using to personalize their client experience. In the past, it wouldn’t be unusual to take the time to learn the necessary coding or hire an expert for this type of job. However, if any changes needed to be made to that customization, you risked messing up your whole system or spending more money getting someone else to do a potentially simple task. This new form builder makes it easier for the average user to manipulate and change things in their design right in Dubsado.
Possible Issue
Keeping in mind that Dubsado is still ironing out this new feature (Remember, it’s not out of Beta until Jan 31, 2023), there have been some pretty big inconveniences regarding the mobile view. Since you are fully able to customize the containers, they may not adapt to the mobile view in a very user-friendly way which could impact client experience and your professional image. If you design the form with a lot of new features, you’re going to need to check your mobile progress along the way. To do this you will have to save your form, bring it up on your mobile device, take a close look at the layout and edit as needed. It’s a minor inconvenience but with major consequences, if you’re not aware of the glitch. We are all hoping Dubsado corrects it in the next few months.
Using Dubsado’s new form builder, you will move beyond the outdated static proposals of the past and into the professional space where your onboarding and client management look like a completely custom digital journey. You will stand out as an innovative leader and curate an experience that is unforgettable for your clients. Streamlining the entire customer experience makes a massive difference in your sales, testimonial return rates, referrals, and more!
If you’re ready to explore how Dubsado can improve your all-around business experience, Book a call today and experience it for yourself.