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Custom block widget: design a form

Lay out your own form from typed fields, fill it in like a record, and save the layout as a template to reuse in any Custom block.

All plansUpdated

A Custom block is a form you design yourself. You place typed fields where you want them, such as a client name, a start date, a budget and a status, then fill the form in. What you enter is saved with the widget, so the block works as a record that lives on your desk.

Use it when one Field is not enough and a Table is more than you need: an intake form for a new client, a project brief, a checklist with notes, or a card of key facts you keep up to date.

More about this widget Coming soon

Before you start

  • The Custom block is on every plan.
  • You need a desk open.
  • It needs no AI.

Add a Custom block

  1. Open the desk you want the form on.
  2. Click Add widget in the centre of the header.
  3. Click Custom block.

The Add widget menu groups widgets into columns by what they are for. Custom block is in the Build & automate column. You can also type custom block in the search box at the top of the menu and press Enter.

You can also press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows, type custom block and choose Add Custom block.

A new block opens in Design mode, ready for its first fields. Until you add one, it says Add fields from the palette, then drag to arrange them.

The parts of a Custom block

  • The block's title, at the top left. It starts as Untitled block. Click it and type a name for the form, such as New client intake. This title belongs to the form. The name in the widget's title bar is separate: double-click that to rename the widget.
  • Design and Use, at the top right. Design is for laying the form out; Use is for filling it in.
  • Templates, the bookmark button beside them, saves a layout and starts new forms from it.
  • The palette, a row of buttons for the ten field types. It shows only in Design mode.
  • The form itself, below. In Design mode it has a dotted background.

Add fields

In Design mode, click a button in the palette to add that field. Each new field appears near the top left, a little lower than the one before, and is selected so you can name it straight away.

Field What it holds
Text One line of text, such as a name.
Paragraph Several lines of text, such as notes.
Number A number, such as a budget.
Date A date, picked from a calendar or typed.
Email An email address.
URL A web address.
Select One choice from a list you write.
Checkbox A box to tick, with its label beside it.
Heading A bold heading that splits the form into parts. It holds no value.
Divider A thin line between parts of the form. It holds no value.

Name and set up a field

In Design mode, click a field to select it. It gets a coloured outline, and a bar of settings opens under the palette:

  • The label box. Type the field's name, such as Client name. A new field is labelled with its type, for example Number, and a new Heading says Section heading. A Divider has no label.
  • The options box, on a Select field only. It lists the choices, separated by commas. A new Select has Option 1, Option 2: replace them with your own, for example New, In progress, Done.
  • required. On a Text, Paragraph, Number, Date, Email, URL or Select field, tick it to show a red asterisk after the label, so whoever fills in the form knows to complete that field. It is a marker: the block keeps whatever is entered, including an empty field.
  • Delete field, the bin at the end of the bar, removes the field.

To deselect a field, click an empty part of the form.

Arrange fields

  • Move a field. Drag the strip along its top edge; its tooltip says Drag to move. To move a Divider, drag anywhere on it.
  • Resize a field. Drag its bottom-right corner; its tooltip says Resize. A taller Paragraph field gives more room for notes. A field can be as small as 60 by 24 pixels.

Fields stay exactly where you drop them. They do not snap to the dots, so you can line them up by eye.

The block grows taller to show all its fields, up to a limit. Beyond that, scroll inside the block. You can also make the widget bigger by dragging its edge.

Fill in the form

  1. Click Use at the top right. The palette and the settings bar go away, and the fields become boxes you can type in.
  2. Fill in each field: type in Text, Paragraph, Number, Email and URL fields, pick or type a date, choose an option from a Select list, and tick a Checkbox. To clear a Select, choose — at the top of its list.

What you enter is saved with the widget as you type. A block that has fields opens in Use mode the next time you come back to the desk, with your entries in place.

To change the layout later, click Design. Your entries stay in the fields while you move them. The boxes are greyed out in Design mode, so a click selects and moves a field instead of editing it.

Save a layout as a template

A template keeps the block's title and its fields, with their labels, options, positions, sizes and required marks. It does not keep anything entered in the fields. Use it to start the same form again, for example one intake form for each new client.

  1. Click Templates (the bookmark) at the top right of the block.
  2. Click Save as template….
  3. Type a name for the template. It starts as the block's title.
  4. Click Save template.

Templates are saved on this computer. Every Custom block on this computer lists them in its Templates menu, on any desk, newest first.

Start a form from a template

  1. Add a new Custom block.
  2. Click Templates, then click the template's name.

The block takes the template's title and fields, every field empty, and switches to Use mode, ready to fill in.

Delete a template

  1. Click Templates.
  2. Point at the template and click the bin beside its name.

The template leaves the menu. Blocks you already made from it stay as they are. With no templates saved, the menu says No templates yet.

Work with Plexii and other widgets

The title bar starts with an AI button (the sparkle). The Custom block has no AI of its own, so this button opens the Plexii panel with the block attached, and you can ask Plexii about it. Plexii reads the block's title and each field's label and value. See Use a widget's AI button.

  • A Desk agent can read it. Wire the block into a Desk agent and the agent reads its title and each field's label and value, along with its other inputs. See Link widgets and set up wires.
  • Synced copies stay the same. Right-click the title bar and choose Advanced > Duplicate (keep synced). Every copy shares the block's fields and entries: fill in one and the others follow. See Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync.
  • Share it. Right-click the title bar and choose Share.... See Share a widget, document or file Coming soon.
  • Live views. When you publish a live view of a desk, a Custom block shows its title. Its fields and entries are not published. See Publish a live view of a desk.

Good uses

  • A client intake form with a heading, Text fields for the name and company, an Email field, a Date for the start and a Select for the service.
  • A project brief with a Paragraph for the goal, a Number for the budget, a Date for the deadline and a Select for the status.
  • A meeting record with a Date, a Paragraph for decisions and Checkboxes for follow-ups.
  • A reusable checklist of Checkboxes under Headings, saved as a template and inserted on each new desk.

Common questions

Where did the palette go?

The palette shows only in Design mode. Click Design at the top right of the block.

I can't type in a field

The block is in Design mode, where clicks select and move fields. Click Use to fill the form in.

Can I use my templates on another computer?

Templates are saved on the computer where you made them. On another computer, save the layout as a template there too.

Does required stop the form being saved without that field?

No. It marks the field with a red asterisk so people know to fill it in. The block saves whatever is entered.

Should I use a Custom block or a Table?

Use a Custom block for one record you want to read at a glance, laid out your way. Use a Table when you have many records of the same shape, such as one row per client.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].