Administrator Documentation

Form Elements

Brightspace uses system-defined form items to gather data from users through its pages and forms. The Form Elements tool lists forms that group form items for use in specific Brightspace tools.

Form items can be fields, drop-down lists, check boxes, and other data types. Some form items are reusable across tools and can be accessed by users. For example, the UserProfile form includes form items that an Instructor with appropriate permissions can add as System Fields to new form templates at the organization and course level.

Administering Form Elements

If you have the necessary permissions, you can use the Form Elements tool to view and change properties of system-defined forms and form items. You cannot edit top-level Form Elements in the treeview to change the names of or disable Brightspace tools that integrate with Form Elements. You can edit the labels, values, and display order of some form items.

View system-defined forms and form item properties

From the Admin Tools menu, click Form Elements.
To expand the treeview to view all system-defined forms, click Form Elements.
Click a form to view the form items configured for that form. The Form Description provides details about how Brightspace uses the form.
Click a form item to view its properties.

Change display options for system-defined forms

From the Admin Tools menu on the minibar, click Form Elements.
To expand the treeview to view all system-defined forms, click Form Elements.
Click a form to view its form items. The Form Description provides details about how Brightspace uses the form.
Click Edit. You can make any of the following changes for a form item that is not locked:
- In the Form Item Name field, type a new name for a form item.
  - Note: Any changes to the Name field are only visible in Form Elements. To make a change to the field where it displays in Brightspace, use Language Management.
- To change whether the form item is displayed on the form, select or clear the Is Displayed check box. A lock icon appears next to form items that you cannot remove.
- To move form items in the Display Order, click the Up and Down arrows.
Click Save.

Change properties of system-defined form items

From the Admin Tools menu, click Form Elements.
To view all system-defined forms, click Form Elements to expand the treeview.
Click a form to view its form items. The Form Description provides details about how Brightspace uses the form.
Click a form item to view its properties. A lock icon appears next to form items that you cannot select to change whether they are displayed or required.
Click Edit. You can make any of the following changes:
- In the Name field, type a new name.
  - Note: Any changes to the Name field are only visible in Form Elements. To make a change to the field where it displays in Brightspace, use Language Management.
- To change whether the form item is displayed on the form, select or clear the Is Displayed check box.
- To change whether the user must enter or select a value for the item, select or clear the Is Required check box.
- To change the display order of the form item, enter a new Sort Order value. Sort order numbers for form items within a form must follow a sequence (for example, 1, 2, 3,� or 0, 1, 2, 3,� or 100, 200, 300,�).
Click Save.