Open Data in ClearForms 

Information collected from Form Submissions can be shared publicly through the Open Data feature in ClearForms. 

Below, you will learn:

• What is Open Data in ClearForms?
• How to turn off Open Data in your Forms
• Where does Open Data present to the public? 

Note: You can click on any image below to zoom in.

ClearForms Can Display Your Open Data

Information collected in form fields can be displayed publicly through Open Data. On a form with Open Data enabled, applicants fill out a form submission, which becomes searchable through the Form’s public records search and/or Stats page (depending on your preferences) - no need to send things to a separate open data portal. 

How it Works

As submissions are in progress, any form fields marked as Open Data will be displayed on the Public Record Search or Stats tab, available to all users for searching. The links to the Public Record search page and the Stats page are both unique and can be shared directly on your site or with those inquiring, such as the media.

Manage Open Data in Forms

You can elect to turn off Open Data for each Form or for specific form fields, as needed. We recommend disabling Open Data in these cases:
Internal forms are not meant for public use. 

Forms that collect sensitive information, for example. PII, etc., due to the potential for that data to appear in a web search. 

Note that for all Forms created after 2024, Open Data is turned off to start by default. Any Form Admin can turn this feature back on, so double-check your settings for any sensitive forms or form fields.

How to turn Open Data on or off at the Form level: 

1. Sign in as an Administrator to your ClearForms account.
2. Navigate to the Forms Manager tab.
3. Select the Form that you wish to edit.
4. Navigate to the Settings and locate the Open Data option.
5. Open Data can be toggled on or off for each Form. If you have Open Data toggled off, you still can access the Internal Admin Data discussed in the section below. 

We recommend taking caution to only turn on Open Data for forms and fields that are public information, and to be careful if using ClearForms for internal or PII or sensitive information collection. 

Manage Open Data for a Specific Field in a Form

Open Data can be toggled off for each field in a Collect/Record Information Step. 

1. Sign in as an Administrator to your ClearForms account.
2. Navigate to the Form Manager tab.
3. Select the Form to Edit.
4. Navigate to the collect/record information step.
5. Select the form field you want to toggle on or off.
6. Select Advanced Settings to expand the Advanced Settings section.
7. Toggle on/off the switch for “Included in Public Open Data”.

For additional information, see our training article: Customize the Collect Information Step

Where is Open Data Presented? 

If Open Data is toggled on, the information collected from the forms will be available to the general public in two places: The Public Data Search and the Public Stats Page. 

If Open Data is toggled off, Administrators can still view the data in the internal-only Stats Page and Data Visualizer. 

Note: Any data that you toggle on as Open Data can be subject to showing up in a web search portal, such as Google.

Public Data Search and Data Visualizer 

Public Data Search allows people to explore the data and find something specific. If you select an individual form, either by searching or selecting it from the Activity section, you're taken to an Activity Detail page for each submission. The data that appears is governed by which fields are set to Open Data by the form administrator.

The following information is displayed: 

• Number of submissions completed
• The average time to complete the form
• How many have been launched/ halted/ completed
• A chart that shows the distribution of submissions launched over time
• Data visualizer, with visualizations based on field type
  • For example, multiple-choice fields are visualized as pie charts, and address data appears on a map.  To the right, there are links to click into individual submissions.

Turn Off Public Data Search

You can turn off the Public Data Search in the Form Settings.

• For additional information about Form Settings, see our training & support article: All about Form Settings 

Pro Tip: Add a Description for the Public Data Search to better guide viewers on what they might see. For example, consider adding instructions and point of contact information.