FAQ

Answers to the most common questions from users and form designers.

Designer

Why is the default layout shown (one tab with all fields)?

The form displays the default layout when it cannot find a usable configuration for the list. Common causes:

• No configuration has been saved yet. Open Form Settings, adjust the layout, and click Save Form.
• The saved configuration is invalid or could not be read; see below.
• The user does not have permission to read the configuration. Configuration storage is readable by everyone by default, but the site owner may have disabled reading for the organization or guests in Security settings. Check the Allow configuration read for the entire organization and Allow configuration read for external users (guests) toggles in the Security dialog.
• A configuration always belongs to a specific list. Another list or a copy of the list does not have it until you transfer it using export and import.

If the standard SharePoint form appears instead of your custom form, the form is not activated on the list; see Activating the Form on a List.

What does "Saved form configuration is invalid" or "Could not read saved form configuration" mean?

• Invalid: the stored JSON does not match the schema (for example, a manually edited file). The form runs with the default layout, nothing is overwritten, and saving is blocked. An administrator can click Repair Configuration to view the list of detected issues and the stored JSON (Raw JSON) in a panel, fix it, and apply it with Validate and Apply JSON.
• Could not read: reading failed (temporary network error or permissions). The form runs with the default layout and saving is blocked so the stored configuration is not overwritten with the default one. Refresh the page. Regular users see the message The form could not be loaded in full. Contact the site owner.
• From a newer product version: the configuration was saved by a newer version of the package. The form renders as best it can, but saving is blocked to prevent data loss. Update the solution package.

Older versions of the configuration are retained in SharePoint (the last 10 versions plus the last backup); see Import, Export, and Restore.

Why can't I save the form in the designer?

The Save Form button is disabled when the configuration contains validation errors (status text Cannot save · N validation errors), when the stored configuration is invalid, unreadable, or from a newer version, or when you lack write permission to the storage. Fix the errors listed above the toolbar. The list configuration folder is created on the first save by a site owner (otherwise you see The configuration folder for this list does not exist yet. A site owner must save the form first.).

Why don't I see the Form Settings button?

The button is only visible to site owners and, if configured, members of the selected designer group (Configuration Security). A member with Edit permission does not see the button.

A field is in the palette, but I can't add it

Each field can appear in the form only once. A field already placed in another section or tab is marked in the palette. Remove it from its current location and add it again.

I added a choice value in SharePoint, but it's missing in the form

Choice options are copied into the form when the field is added and do not update automatically. Add the new value to options on the JSON tab, or remove and re-add the field. See Choice.

What does "Fields failed to load and are read-only" mean?

When loading an item, part of the query for related column values (lookup, person, taxonomy term) failed. Affected fields are read-only and are not saved, while other fields work normally. Try refreshing the page. If the problem persists, verify that users have access to the target lookup lists.

What does "Column is not indexed" mean?

The Related Items and Related Documents widgets filter the target list by a foreign key column. On lists with more than 5,000 items, SharePoint rejects queries on an unindexed column. The form therefore does not run the query and displays Column "…" is not indexed. For lists with more than 5,000 items, it must be indexed. In the designer, the widget settings may offer an Index Column button; otherwise ask the target list owner to index it in list settings. See Related Items.

Lookup doesn't list all values

When a target list has more than 500 items, the lookup switches to search mode: type at least 2 characters and up to 50 matches are shown. See searching over 500 items.

Rules and Expressions

A rule is not working

1. Check that the rule is not disabled or marked as invalid (referencing a deleted field, tab, section, or function). Such rules are skipped by the form.
2. Verify the trigger (always, on load, on save) and operator; see Rules.
3. The Community edition allows at most 3 rules in the designer.
4. Enable debug mode (?fcdebug=1 in the URL) to see in the browser console which rule matched and what actions it ran.

Why are my scripts not running?

Custom scripts are disabled by default at the tenant level. Form administrators see an info banner above the form: Custom scripts are disabled on this tenant, so they will not run. Only a tenant administrator (App Catalog) can enable them in the Security dialog in the designer or via PowerShell; see Script Policy. The change takes effect after refreshing the form, within 15 minutes at most. When scripts are disabled:

• rules, expressions (calculations), and non-script button actions continue to work,
• onBeforeSave validation does not run and does not block saving. To block saving, use a rule with the blockSave action.

A script may also fail to run if the browser or tenant Content Security Policy (CSP) blocks dynamic code execution. The console will log the error. See Scripts.

An expression cleared a field value

An expression with an invalid result clears the target field. Check the field names in square brackets and value types; see Expressions and Functions.

Widgets

Related Items or Related Documents shows "Widget is not fully configured"

In the widget inspector, select the target list or library and the foreign key column; see Related Items and Related Documents.

I don't see related records in a new form

Related records become available only after the item is saved for the first time, because they are linked by its ID. The message Related records will be available after the item is saved for the first time. is displayed.

Version History is empty

Version History shows versions of an existing item. On a new item or in a list without versioning enabled, it shows nothing. See Version History.

Permissions and Licensing

The form shows "Powered by FormCraft 365 (Community Free)"

Without a valid license key, the Community edition runs: up to 2 tabs and 3 rules, with a product attribution in the footer. Enter the key in the designer via the License button; it applies to the entire tenant or a selected site collection. Setup and error troubleshooting: Licensing. If a key is invalid or unreachable, the form does not crash—it simply falls back to Community mode.

A user cannot save an item

The form writes using the signed-in user's permissions. The user must have permission to add or edit items in the list. Permission issues are covered in Permissions and Troubleshooting.

Saving reports that the item was modified elsewhere

This is protection against concurrent edits; see Concurrent Edit Conflict.

I forgot the editor lock password

The lock only prevents accidental edits and is not a security boundary. A site owner can edit the configuration directly in SiteAssets/FormCustomizer/<List ID>/config.json (remove passwordHash), or restore an earlier version. See Configuration Security.