Custom editor: build your school's own forms

Use the Custom editor for anything your school records about students that Managira has no place for yet. You make a section (a form), choose where it lives, and add its fields. The answers come back to one place.

Open the Custom editor

1. Open Management, then Custom editor.

   

2. Each row is one section: its name, where it lives, its classes, how often it's collected and how many fields it has.

3. Select a row to open it. On the right: Answers, Report, the eye to show or hide it, and arrows to move it.

Create a section

1. Select Create New Section.

2. Choose a ready school form, or Blank section.

   

3. Type its name.

4. Lives in: choose who fills it in.

5. Classes: All classes, or Choose classes.

6. Collect: Once, or Many times and then how often.

7. Select Save.

   

Lives in

Lives in	Who fills it in	Where they find it
Classroom	Teachers and office staff	The class page, Forms tab
Parent portal	Parents	Their child's page, Forms tile
Student portal	Students	Their dashboard, Forms tile
Driver portal	Drivers, for students on their bus	The driver app, Forms card

Collect

Collect	What it means	Good for
Once	One answer per student.	Photo consent, medical details
Every day	One answer per student each day.	Lunch count
Every week	One answer per student each week.	Lunch orders, weekly check-ins
Every term	One answer per student, asked again each term.	Skills and effort, seating charts, groups
Every year	One answer per student, asked again each school year.	Handbook and device agreements
Any time	A list that grows: add an entry whenever something happens.	Behavior log, reading log, health office visits

Add fields

1. In the open section, select Add field and choose a type.

2. Type the question. Add help text if it needs explaining.

3. Tick Required if it must be answered.

4. Select Add field. Drag fields to reorder them. Select one to change it.

Type	Use it for
Text – single line, Text – multiple lines	Names, notes and explanations
Number, Date, Time	Amounts, dates and times
Yes / No	A simple yes or no. Show it as words, or as a tick and a cross.
Dropdown list	Pick one. Show it as a dropdown, as buttons with words, or as icons.
Checklist (pick several)	Pick all that apply
Rating (1–5)	A score from 1 to 5
Email, Phone, Link	Contact details and web addresses
File upload	A photo or document, such as a doctor's note
Signature	The person types their name and ticks a box to sign
Seat (seating chart)	Where a student sits. Classroom sections only. It turns the section into a seating chart, with each student's photo and name, or names only.
Instructions	Text to read. Nothing to answer.

Show a field only when it's needed

1. Select the field, then open More options.

2. Under Show this field, choose Show or Hide, the other field to watch, and the answer.

   

3. Select Done, then Save.

• Width: Half puts two short fields side by side.
• Stop using this field: hides it from now on. Answers already given are kept.

More options for a section

Open More options at the bottom of a section. You only see the ones that fit where it lives.

Option	What it does
Deadline	Parent and student forms. The due date shows on the form.
Required	Marks the form required. Families who haven't filled it in are reminded once, 2 days before the deadline.
Tell families by	Parent forms. Families always get a notification. Tick Email to email them too. Text message and WhatsApp show when your school has them switched on in Integrations. Used when the form goes live and when you send a reminder.
When it's sent, tell	Who gets a notification each time someone sends the form: the class's main teacher, the people who build forms, or both.
Who sees the answers	The class's teachers always do. Tick Parents or Students to share a classroom or driver section with them. Tick Keep it from teachers for sensitive records, such as support plans: then only people who build forms can open it.
Attendance	Classroom sections collected every day. Adds the section as a column on the attendance page.
Report card	Prints each student's answers for the term on their report card.
Its own tile	Gives the section its own place, by name: an item in Class Tools, a tile on the child's page or the student's dashboard, or a card on the driver's page. Without it, the section sits under Forms.
Notes	A note for the people who build forms.

Ready-made school forms

Each one opens with its fields ready. Change anything before you save.

Group	Forms
Report card	Skills & effort, Student reflection
Health	Medical & allergies, Medication authorization, Immunization record, Health office visit
Permissions	Field trip permission, Photo & media consent, Handbook acknowledgement, Device agreement
Requests from parents	Absence note, Early dismissal request, Meeting request
Every day in class	Lunch count, Seating chart, Student groups, Lunch order
Classroom records	Behavior log, Reading log, Support plan
Sign-ups & surveys	Club & sports sign-up, Volunteer sign-up, Family survey

Fill in a form in the classroom

1. Open the class, then Forms in Class Tools.

   

2. Choose a form. Each student shows Done, Waiting or Not started.

3. Select a student, fill in the fields, and select Save.

• Many times sections keep a list: add a new entry each time.
• Every term and Every year sections start from the student's last answers, so you only change what's different.
• A parent handed the form in on paper? Open the student and select Received on paper? Fill it in.

Lunch counts, seating charts and groups

A section made only of tap-to-answer fields (Yes / No, dropdown, rating, seat) is quick: teachers answer for the whole class on one screen, with no window to open. The editor tells you when a section is quick.

• Icons or words: in the field, choose Show as, Icons. Each choice gets an icon picked from its words (a fork and knife for School lunch, a bag for Packed lunch). Select an icon to change it, or choose Words only.
• One tap: the answer you tap lights up and the others fade. Tap it again to clear it.
• A count: a key above the list shows each answer and how many students have it, so the lunch count is ready for the kitchen.

A lunch count, taken with attendance

1. Create a section from Lunch count in the library (Classroom, Every day).

2. In More options, keep Add it to the attendance page ticked.

3. Teachers take attendance as usual and tap each student's lunch in the column beside the name. The tapped icon lights up and saves at once; the heading counts each lunch.

   

A seating chart

1. Create a section from Seating chart in the library. It has one field, of the type Seat.

2. In the class, open Seating chart in Class Tools. Each student shows with their photo, or their initials. Tap a student, then tap a seat.

   

3. Tap two seated students to swap them. + Row and + Column make the room bigger.

Student groups

1. Create a section from Student groups in the library and rename the groups (reading groups, project teams, houses).

2. In the class, open the form and choose Groups. Tap a student, then the group to move them to.

Forms for parents, students and drivers

• Parents open their child's page and select Forms. See Forms and your child's portfolio.
• Students select Forms on their dashboard.
• Drivers find a Forms card in the driver app, for the students on their bus only.

Read the answers

1. In the Custom editor, open the section and select Answers.

   

2. Select a student to read what was sent.

3. Download saves a spreadsheet (CSV): one row per answer with its day, and students who haven't answered marked Not yet.

4. Report opens Report Builder on this form, with its fields already chosen as columns.

5. Send a reminder (parent forms) sends a notification and an email to families who haven't filled it in. A family is reminded once a day at most.

Print answers on report cards

Use this for things like effort, behavior, work habits or skills that you grade every term.

1. Create a section that lives in Classroom and is collected Every term. Skills & effort in the library is ready-made.

2. Open More options and tick Show on report cards. Save.

3. Teachers fill it in for each student on the class page, Forms tab.

4. Generate report cards as usual. Each student's answers for that term print under the section's name.

   

• To leave them off: open Reports, Report Settings, Advanced, and untick Custom editor sections.
• On your own report card template, add the field {{forms.all}} where the answers should print.

Report on answers in Report Builder

1. The quick way: in the Custom editor, select Report on the section. Report Builder opens on that form with its fields as columns. Select Run.

2. Or open Reports, Report Builder, choose Students, then Custom forms.

3. Filter by Form, class, term or day.

4. Choose columns. Every field of your forms is a column, listed under its form's name.

5. Run it. Save, share or export it like any other report. See Report Builder.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from the fields in Admission Settings?

Admission Settings adds details to the student's or parent's own record, asked when they join. The Custom editor is for forms you collect later, by class, term or event, each with its own list of answers.

Can I change a form after people have answered?

Yes. Add or reword fields at any time. To retire a field, use Stop using this field: it is hidden from now on and the answers already given are kept.

A parent can't see a form.

Check the section is Live, lives in Parent portal, and includes their child's class. A locked form leaves the list once it has been sent.

Who can see the answers?

People who build forms see every answer. Teachers see their own classes, and drivers their own riders. Parents and students see what they sent, and what you choose to share. A protected section opens only for people who build forms.

Does a new term clear the answers?

No. An Every term section starts a fresh answer each term. Earlier terms keep theirs, and you can still download or report on them. The same is true of each day and each week.

Can parents and teachers both fill in the same form?

A form lives in one place. For a parent form, a teacher can enter an answer that came on paper. For a lunch count, choose Lunch count for teachers or Lunch order for parents.

Why don't I see Text message or WhatsApp?

They show only when your school has that channel switched on in Settings, Integrations. Email and notifications are always there.

What happens when I remove a section?

Its answers are removed with it. To keep the answers, switch Live off instead: the section is hidden and nothing is lost.

How many forms can a school have?

Up to 200 sections, each with up to 80 fields.