Import form templates

How to load forms from a JSON file produced on another SGEN site

The Import & Export page lets you upload a JSON file containing one or more forms and create them on your site in one shot. This is how you move forms between sites — from staging to production, from one tenant to another, or from an old site to a migration. Each imported form comes in with its fields, mail settings, and per-form integration destinations intact, but receives a new form id (so any shortcodes that pointed at the source's form id need to be repointed).

What is this for?

Import is your form migration tool. You reach for it when:

• You built a good form on staging and want to copy it to production.
• You're moving from an old SGEN site to a new one and need to bring your forms along.
• A colleague shared a form template as a JSON file and you want to load it.

Each JSON file can contain one form or many; importing creates the rows, metas, and per-form integration destinations for every form in the file. No submissions are imported — just the form definition and its configuration.

Good use cases

Example 1: Staging-to-production migration. You've built a form on staging and want it on production. On staging, open Forms → Import & Export, switch to the Export tab, pick the form, download the JSON. On production, open the same screen, switch to Import, upload the JSON, click Import JSON File. The form is now available on production with a new form id.

Example 2: Sharing a form template with a partner site. A sister company runs SGEN and wants your Contact form as a starting point. Export the form as JSON, send them the file, they import it on their site. They can then edit the mail recipient to their own inbox.

Example 3: Restoring a form from backup. You exported a form last month as part of a routine backup. Today you need it back after an accidental trash-and-purge. Upload the JSON, click Import — the form returns as a fresh draft.

What NOT to use this for

• Do not use Import to restore submissions. The import file contains form definitions only — field layout, mail settings, destinations. Submissions are NOT in the JSON and do not come back through this path. For submissions, use Export submissions.
• Do not use Import to update an existing form. Every import creates a NEW form row with a new id. Importing the same JSON twice creates two copies. If you want to update an existing form, open it in the builder and edit it there.
• Do not expect the imported form id to match the source site's id. Each site issues its own ids. Your source site's Err: Form not found! becomes Err: Form not found! (or whatever the new id is) on the destination. You must update any page shortcodes to the new id.
• Do not paste a JSON file from a drastically older or newer version of SGEN. The import format has to match what the current site understands. If the file is from a different major version, importing may fail partway through and leave a partial form behind.

How this connects to other features

• Pages — after importing, you get a new form with a new id. Any page that embedded the form from the source site with the old shortcode needs its shortcode updated to the new id. Open Forms → All Forms, find the imported form, copy its new Err: Form not found! value, paste into the page that needs it.
• Per-form Integrations — destinations (webhook, CRM, Slack) DO come through the JSON import. Double-check them after import — credentials (API keys, webhook URLs) may have moved to a different inbox between environments.
• Forms list — imported forms land in Draft by default or carry the status the source had. Check Forms → All Forms after import to confirm status before pasting shortcodes on pages.
• Export submissions — the Import screen is not where you'd restore submissions. Use the submission export + spreadsheet path for that data.

Before you start

• You have a JSON file exported from SGEN's own form export, either from this site or another SGEN site.
• You know the file is valid JSON (opens in a text editor without errors).
• You are signed in as an Administrator on the destination site.

Where to go

1. Open the left navigation.
2. Click Forms → Import & Export (or open /sg-admin/forms/import_export directly).
3. Make sure the Import tab is active (it is by default).

Steps — Import forms from a JSON file

1. Pick your file

Click Choose File (or the file drop area). Select your .json file from your computer.

2. Click Import JSON File

The page uploads your file and processes it. On success, a green banner at the top of the page reads "Import Summary: Inserted Forms: N" where N is the count of forms imported. The page stays on Import & Export — visit Forms → All Forms to see the new rows.

3. Confirm the import

Open Forms → All Forms. Your imported forms are in the list. Each has a new shortcode like Err: Form not found!.

4. Repoint shortcodes on pages (if relevant)

If you're migrating from another site and pages on the destination still have the old shortcode, edit each page and change Err: Form not found! to Err: Form not found!. Otherwise the old id resolves to nothing and no form renders.

5. Review Mail Settings

Imported Mail Settings carry over exactly — including the original admin inbox. If the destination site is a different environment or belongs to a different team, open the form and change the Mail To field.

6. Review Integrations

If the source form had per-form integrations (webhooks, CRM, Slack), those destinations are imported. Test one before trusting it — the credentials may need updating for the destination environment.

What success looks like

• After clicking Import, the page reloads with a green "Import Summary: Inserted Forms: N" banner.
• Forms → All Forms shows the imported forms in the list, each with a unique shortcode.
• Opening an imported form in the builder shows the fields, mail settings, and settings as they were on the source.
• Pasting the new shortcode on a page renders the form to visitors after you save the page.

What to do if it does not work

• The upload completes but the banner says "No forms were inserted." The file probably isn't valid SGEN form-export JSON. Open it in a text editor; it should start with a JSON array [{...}]. If it starts with anything else (CSV, a <html> page, etc.), it is not a valid import file.
• I get a generic warning banner after clicking Import. The file is JSON but the schema is wrong for your current SGEN version. Try a more recent export from the source site, or rebuild the form manually on the destination.
• The form imported but its fields or mail settings look wrong. The source file may have been partially built or from an old SGEN version. Open the imported form, re-check each tab, and fix in place.
• My page still shows nothing after pasting the imported form's shortcode. The imported form may be in Draft. Open it, flip Status to Publish, save, reload the public page.

Next step