Use conditions and sensitive fields

Show the right questions and protect sensitive Short Text answers from casual viewing.

Conditions show or hide later questions based on an earlier answer. For example, show “Which service?” only after a client chooses “Yes” to “Do you need help?” An encrypted answer is masked until a team member chooses to reveal it.

Choose the right tool

Use a condition when a question applies only in some cases.
Use the padlock in Prefill when clients should read a saved answer without changing it.
Use Encrypt Answer when a Short Text answer should not appear in ordinary Request views.
Use a private Request when only one selected client should be able to open the form.

Before you start

Core and Growth include conditional logic and encrypted Request answers. Solo includes neither option.
These options are also available during an active trial. For an older plan, check the builder: an upgrade message appears when the plan does not include them. Ask the workspace owner to review the plan if needed.
Conditions work only with an earlier field in the same Request.
Only Short Text can use Encrypt Answer.

Show or hide a field

Open the Request builder.
Select the field or Section you want to control.
Open its condition settings.
Add a rule.
Choose the earlier question that controls the rule.
Choose SHOW or HIDE, an operator, and a value when needed.
Add more rules when needed. Use AND when every rule must match. Use OR when any one rule can match.
Open Preview and use Test to try each answer path.

SHOW rules use AND by default. HIDE rules use OR by default. If both sets of rules match, the field stays hidden.

What are the condition limits?

A field can have up to 10 conditions.
A field cannot control itself.
The question that controls a rule must come before the field being controlled.
Section cannot control another field.
An encrypted Short Text field cannot control another field.
Color, File Upload, and Signature can only test whether an answer is empty or not empty.
A condition on a Section also controls the fields inside that Section.

Hidden questions clients can edit stay out of their progress and required-field checks. Locked answers also stay out of client work. Locking clears Required; see the answer-lock guide for older Requests that still have required locked answers. Hidden answers stay out of the team Form and Timeline views while the rule keeps the field hidden.

Encrypt a Short Text answer

Add or select Short Text.
In the field settings, turn on Encrypt Answer.
Save the field and test the Request.

Sydnee saves the answer in encrypted form and shows dots in ordinary views. A team member with access to the Request can use the reveal control for that field.

Encrypted answers are not printed in the PDF. The PDF shows a note in place of the answer. Uploaded-file ZIP files do not contain Short Text answers.

Before turning Encrypt Answer off, check who should read the saved answers. Turning it off makes existing answers and their stored history readable in ordinary views. Keep it on if those answers should stay masked.

If the change can't be saved, keep the current setting and contact support. Keep sensitive answers out of the support message.

What does “private” mean here?

Private request and Encrypt Answer solve different problems.

Private request limits portal access to one selected client.
Encrypt Answer protects one Short Text answer from casual viewing.
Encrypt Answer does not make the whole Request private.

Do not treat a signature field as identity proof. Do not use these controls as proof of a law or compliance standard.

Fix a common problem

If the condition controls are locked, your plan does not include them. Ask the workspace owner to review the plan.

If a field cannot be selected as a trigger, move it above the target field and make sure it is not a Section or encrypted Short Text field.

If Sydnee asks you to remove conditions before encrypting a question, review the later questions that use it. Remove those rules first, then retry Encrypt Answer. If Sydnee can't save the change, your rules and answers stay as they are.