Overview
Every so often, a parent submits a form and a field you expected to see, like an annual physical or immunization record upload, comes through blank. Before assuming something went wrong on the parent's end, it's worth checking the form configuration itself. In most cases, the field wasn't actually marked as required, so the system let the submission through as-is.
This article walks through how to confirm whether a field is required, and what to do next depending on what you find.
Step 1: Check whether the field is actually required
Open the form submission in question.
Toggle on "Hiding empty fields."
Look for the field that came through blank (e.g., Annual Physical Upload).
If the field appears in your view, that confirms it was not marked as required, which is why the parent was able to submit without it.
💡 Tip: Hiding empty fields is the fastest way to spot every optional field a parent skipped, not just the one you're investigating.
Step 2: Decide whether the field should be required
Ask yourself: does this submission actually need this field to be usable? For something like an annual physical upload, the answer is usually yes.
If it should be required: move on to Step 3 to update the form and follow up with the parent.
If it's genuinely optional: no action needed. The parent's submission is complete as far as the form is concerned.
Step 3: Update the form question
Go to Forms → Templates and open the form.
Click "Edit question" for the field (e.g., Annual Physical Upload).
Check the box to make the Answer required.
Save your changes.
This ensures future parents won't be able to submit the form without completing that field.
Step 4: Follow up with the parent
Since the original submission is already in, updating the form won't retroactively fill in what's missing. Send the parent a follow-up and ask them to resubmit with the required document attached.
💡 Tip: Reference the specific field by name in your message (e.g., "Could you resubmit the form with a copy of your child's annual physical?") so there's no ambiguity about what's needed.
Best Practices & Tips
Check "Hiding empty fields" first. It's the quickest way to confirm whether a blank submission is a configuration issue or a parent error.
Mark sensitive or essential documents as required at the time you build the form, so you're not chasing resubmissions later.
Update the form before contacting the parent. That way you're not asking them to resubmit into a form that will let the same thing happen again.