Using Form-Filling API in Tempalte Files

User Support Writer
1

Hey there,

I’m very new to collabora online and stumbled across this handy feature, featured on #feature-friday: Form-Filling API in Collabora Online #FeatureFriday (lots of features here :face_with_peeking_eye:)

I have a similar use case to the one in this video but couldn’t find any detailed informations about how to define or how I can use this feature for my templates.

Perhaps I’m overseeing something or this feature isn’t just there but I would like to know more about the possibilities of the Form-Filling API in combination with collabora online and nextcloud.

Do i have to define specific placeholders or form-fields in my template file to trigger the form to occur by creating a new document?

Thanks a lot!

2

hi @WRX

Great question — the Form-Filling API shown in the #FeatureFriday video is indeed very helpful, but at the moment it’s not a user-facing feature inside Collabora Online yet.

A few important points:

  • You currently won’t see any UI in Collabora Online to define form templates.
  • You cannot trigger the form dialog just by adding placeholders or fields in a Writer document.
  • The API is still developer-focused, used in controlled partner integrations, and therefore not documented for general end users or for standard Nextcloud Office setups.

That’s why you don’t find instructions for “how to prepare a template” — the feature is not exposed in the editor yet.

Thanks
Darshan

3

Thank you for your quick response. This helps me to better understand the feature and its intention.

Is there a roadmap for this feature or can you tell, when it might be released for the public?

I’m looking for a solution to pass, for example, the first and last name of the current user into a document template.