All Collections
Build Your Program
How can I make my full application available to applicants ahead of time?
How can I make my full application available to applicants ahead of time?

Here's how to make your full application available to applicants ahead of time by linking a PDF to your Project Guidelines.

Natalya Taylor avatar
Written by Natalya Taylor
Updated over a week ago

One way that you can ease the burden on applicants to your program is by allowing them to access your full application form before they sit down to apply. With Submittable, you can make your application available by adding a link to a PDF version of your full form to your Project Guidelines. This allows applicants to access it without needing to log in or even create a Submittable account. Here's how.

Create a copy of your full form in a PDF

First, you'll need to create a PDF. There are a few ways that may work best for you:

  • Preview your form, or visit it from the applicant's perspective, and copy/paste the content into a word processing software such as Microsoft Word or Google Forms. Then save it as a PDF.

  • If you originally created your form outside of Submittable, you can also simply save your original document as a PDF.

Pro tip: You'll want to copy all questions, regardless of the use of Form Logic, for this purpose. Consider adding an asterisk (*) to any questions with branching, and noting at the top of your document that questions with an asterisk may or may not apply to all applicants.

Make your PDF available online

Once you have a PDF, you'll need to make it available online in order to share it via hyperlink. You can do this by:

  • Adding the PDF as media to your own website or to a content platform such as Contentful or Wordpress.

  • You can also generate a link directly from your PDF software, such as Adobe Acrobat. (Do so in Adobe by clicking the hyperlink icon and copying the link, as shown below. Be sure to turn off the ability to comment.)

Share the PDF via hyperlink in your Project Guidelines

Now that you have a link to share, you're ready to add it to your Project Guidelines.

  • Go to the Project or Form you are working on, and edit the Guidelines on the General Settings tab.

  • Include text explaining that applicants can access a full version of your form, and add the hyperlink, as shown in the gif below.

Applicants will now be able to access the full version of your form through your Project Guidelines, even before they have created a Submittable account.


Did this answer your question?