Zottle

Share a collection link

A public collection link lets anyone answer a form in their browser without an account. Responses arrive in the validation queue as anonymous.

Open the Forms list and select the form. Its details show the Anonymous share link panel — for a live form. If the panel instead asks you to set the form to Live first, deploy a live version before sharing (see Create your first form).

Set the submission window — a Start date and an End date; by default it runs from today to 30 days out — then choose Generate link. The link looks like:

https://<your-zottle-address>/collect/<token>

Two conditions are enforced by the server: the form must be live, and anonymous collection must be enabled for your workspace (Organisation settings → Anonymous collection; owner only, off by default). Otherwise generation is refused with a message saying anonymous collection is disabled in this workspace.

The dates stay editable while the link is active. Saving a new window re-issues the link: the token changes, so the previous URL stops working — replace it wherever it was shared. Outside the window, the page answers "This collection link is invalid or expired."

  • Disable link stops collection immediately. Submissions already received are kept.
  • Regenerating the link (or updating its window) issues a new token — the previous URL no longer works.
  • Share the link only with the target population. If it leaks, disable it and generate a new one.

Who can submit: the panel offers Any workspace user (default) or Only a surveyor. This is a real form setting, enforced by the server: with Only a surveyor, accounts without the surveyor role in this workspace are refused when they submit with an account. Anonymous responses through the link carry no account, so no role check applies to them.

What respondents see

The link opens an invitation page: your workspace name, the form title and a short introduction — a text you can edit, shown on the anonymous survey landing page — followed by a Begin the survey button.

Questions are shown one at a time, with a progress bar, Back and Next buttons and inline validation of the answers. At the end the respondent sees a thank-you screen and can start a new response.

No account is needed. Submissions reach the validation queue marked as anonymous and follow the project's usual validation flow.

The Collect tab of a project offers a Public submission link too: anyone with it can open the project's forms in KoboCollect and submit without an account; in a browser it opens a page with the setup steps and the list of live forms. Choose an expiry (Never, 7, 30 or 90 days) then Generate public link. Regenerate rotates the link, Disable link stops it immediately, and submissions appear in the queue as "Anonymous".

Note

Organisation settings → Invitation link expiry sets the default lifetime of project invitation links — the links that add members to a project. Collection links carry their own window or expiry, set as above.

Next steps