How to review form submissions

Every response sent through your portal forms lands on the **Submissions** page. Reviewing one means opening it, reading each answer, checking anything the submitter attached, recording where it stands, and merging what you need into a client record.

### Overview

- **What it is:** The **Submissions** page lists one row per response. Opening a row shows the full submission, its files, the form it came from, and its audit trail.
- **Why it matters:** A single reviewed queue keeps responses from sitting unnoticed and gives your agency a record of who handled what.
- **Who uses it:** Administrators, clerks, and case managers who process incoming form data.
- **Expected outcomes:** Each response is read, given a review status, and either merged into a client record or set aside.

### Prerequisites

- An eCourtDate account with access to the **Portals** section
- At least one form linked to a portal (**Admin** > **Portals** > **Forms**)
- At least one response submitted through that form

### How-To Steps

#### Step 1: Open the Submissions Page

1. Click **Admin** > **Portals** in the main navigation.
2. Click the **Submissions** tab.
3. Select the form you want to review in the **Form** picker, or leave it on **All forms** to see every form at once.

With a form selected, its own questions become the table columns. Across all forms the table shows only the fields every submission shares, plus a **Form** column naming the source.

#### Step 2: Narrow the List to What Needs Review

1. Click **Filters** above the table.
2. Select a value under **Status**, such as **New**, to show only the responses at that stage.
3. Enter a date range in **Created From** and **Created To** to limit the list further.
4. Click **Apply**.
5. Click **Clear filters** to go back to the full list.

The **Filters** button carries a badge counting how many filters are active, and the filters live in the address bar, so a review queue can be bookmarked or sent to a colleague.

#### Step 3: Open a Submission

1. Click anywhere on a row, or click the **Open** button at the start of it.
2. Read each answer in the **Submission Data** card. Fields appear in the order the form asks them.
3. Check the **Attached Form** card on the right to confirm which form the response came from.
4. Click **Next** to move to the following submission on the same form, or **Previous** to go back.
5. Click **Close** to return to the table.

**Previous** and **Next** appear only when the form has more than one submission, and they walk the most recent responses on that form.

#### Step 4: Open Anything the Submitter Attached

1. Find the **Files** card in the middle column. Its title counts the files on the submission.
2. Click a file name to open it in a new tab.
3. Check the size and file type shown beside each name.

The card reads **No Files** when nothing was attached. In the table, an answer holding a file shows as a button that opens that file.

#### Step 5: Record Where the Submission Stands

1. Select a value in **Review Status** on the open submission.
2. Click **Save**.

To work faster from the table instead:

1. Select a form in the **Form** picker, then turn on **Edit mode**. The switch sits above the table and appears once a form is selected.
2. Select a value in the **Status** column of any row. It saves on its own.

To set the same status on several rows at once:

1. Tick the checkbox at the start of each row you want.
2. Click one of the **Mark** buttons that appear, such as **Mark In Review** or **Mark Processed**.
3. Click **Confirm**.

The default statuses are **New**, **In Review**, **Needs Info**, and **Processed**. To use your own instead, go to **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses** and create statuses with **Type** set to submission.

#### Step 6: Correct a Value

1. Change the value in the **Submission Data** card.
2. Click **Save**.

**Name**, **Review Status**, **Default Language**, and **Internal Notes** are edited in the **Edit Submission** card on the left and saved the same way. Use **Internal Notes** for anything your team needs to remember about the response.

#### Step 7: Merge the Submission into a Client Record

1. Click **Merge to Client** at the top of the submission.
2. Enter a name, reference, phone, or email in **Search clients**, then click the client in the results. To start a new record instead, click **Create a new client instead**.
3. Check the mapping table. Each submitted value sits beside the **Client field** it will be written to. Set the rest yourself, or leave them on **Do not merge**.
4. Click **Merge to client**, or **Create client and merge** when you are creating a new record.

Values can be mapped to **First Name**, **Middle Name**, **Last Name**, **Client Reference**, **Date of Birth**, **Language**, **Group**, **Type**, **Notes**, **Email**, and **Phone**. Once merged, the client appears on the submission and the button changes to **Change Client**.

#### Step 8: Keep a Copy or Set the Submission Aside

1. Click **PDF** to download the submission as a PDF file.
2. Click **CSV** to download it as a single-row spreadsheet.
3. Click **Tools**, then **Archive** or **Trash**, to take a handled submission out of the active list.

Archived and trashed submissions leave the table. Tick **Archived** or **Trashed** in the filters to find them again, tick the rows you want back, then click **Restore** and **Confirm**.

### What to Expect

New responses appear in the table within moments of being sent, the count at the top of the page updates with them, and each one arrives at the status set in the form's **Default Submission Status**. Status changes and answer corrections save immediately, and correcting a cell in the table raises an undo bar with an **Undo** button that puts the previous value back. Merged values reach the client record right away, so anything that depends on client fields, such as auto messages, uses the updated information from then on. While **Edit mode** is on, responses arriving in the background are held back and announced in a banner instead of shifting rows under your cursor, so click **Show** to fold them in.

### Best Practices

- Work the queue by status rather than by memory. Filter to **New**, and mark each submission as you go.
- Turn **Edit mode** off while you are only reading, so a stray click cannot change a value.
- Use **Internal Notes** to record why a submission is on hold, rather than editing what the submitter wrote.
- Check the **Files** card before marking a submission processed, because a missing attachment is easy to overlook in the table.
- Archive submissions once they are handled, so the active list stays down to what still needs attention.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I change an answer after it has been submitted?**

A: Yes. Edit the value in the **Submission Data** card and click **Save**, or turn on **Edit mode** in the table and edit the cell. Corrections are for fixing data-entry errors, not for rewriting what was reported.

**Q: What happens to the client record when I merge?**

A: Any client field you map is overwritten with the submitted value, and fields left on **Do not merge** are untouched. Email and phone are added as contact methods on the client rather than replacing existing ones.

**Q: Why can I not merge this submission?**

A: **Merge to Client** is hidden on archived and trashed submissions. Restore the submission from **Tools** first.

**Q: Can I review submissions from more than one form in one list?**

A: Yes. Leave the **Form** picker on **All forms**. The table then shows the fields all submissions share, plus a **Form** column, and clicking that column's link opens the form.

**Q: Where do the review status choices come from?**

A: The defaults are **New**, **In Review**, **Needs Info**, and **Processed**. If your agency creates statuses with **Type** set to submission under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses**, that list replaces the defaults everywhere submissions are shown.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** Clicking a row does not open the submission.

**Symptoms:** Clicks land in the table but nothing opens.

**Solution:** **Edit mode** is on, which turns a click into a cell edit. Switch **Edit mode** off, or click the **Open** button at the start of the row.

**Issue:** A submission you expected is missing from the list.

**Symptoms:** The table is empty or the response is nowhere in it.

**Solution:** Check the **Form** picker is on the right form, then click **Filters** and **Clear filters**. If it still does not appear, tick **Archived**, then **Trashed**, to see whether it was set aside. Only one of the two can be ticked at a time.

**Issue:** The **Files** card shows no files.

**Symptoms:** The submission reads **No Files** although an attachment was expected.

**Solution:** Confirm the form has a file field and that the submitter completed it. Answers holding a file also appear as buttons in the table row, so check there before assuming the upload failed.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How to manage form submissions](/how-to-manage-form-submissions)
- [How to Create Forms](/how-to-create-forms)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)
- [How to define custom statuses](/how-to-define-custom-statuses)