# 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. Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-custom-block Section: Widgets > Build and automate Plans: All plans Updated: 2026-10-11 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-field) is not enough and a [Table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-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 ## 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. > **Note:** > Inserting a template replaces the fields already in the block, with anything entered in them. Insert templates into a new, empty block. ### 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai). - **A Desk agent can read it.** Wire the block into a [Desk agent](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-link-widgets). - **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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-duplicate-sync). - **Share it.** Right-click the title bar and choose **Share...**. See [Share a widget, document or file](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/share-live-web-view). ## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table) when you have many records of the same shape, such as one row per client. ## Related tasks - [Build & automate widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-build-and-automate) - [Field widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-field) - [Desk agent widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-desk-agent) - [The controls on every widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-title-bar)