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A Gavel questionnaire is not a single long scrolling form — it is organized into pages, where each page represents one screen the respondent sees. Within a set of pages, you can create sections to group pages under a common heading, giving respondents a clear sense of structure and progress. Getting your page and section structure right makes the questionnaire easier to complete and reduces the chance of errors.

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Pages

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What a page is

Each page in your workflow is a separate screen in the questionnaire. When a respondent clicks Continue, they move from the current page to the next. You decide how many questions appear on each page and in what order. A simple workflow might have three or four pages; a detailed intake form might have fifteen or more.
Repeating Item questions must always be placed on their own dedicated page, separate from other questions. Create a new page before adding a Repeating Item question type.

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Adding a page

To add a new page to your workflow:
  1. In the Builder’s left sidebar, click + New.
  2. Select Page.
The new page appears in the sidebar and becomes the active editing canvas. You can then add questions to it as usual.

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Reordering pages

Drag pages up or down in the left sidebar to reorder them. The order in the sidebar is the order respondents will encounter them in the questionnaire.

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Deleting a page

To remove a page:
  1. Select the page in the sidebar.
  2. Click the delete icon on the page, or open the page settings menu and choose the delete option.
Deleting a page is permanent and cannot be undone. Any questions on that page will also be deleted. Make sure you have moved or noted any questions you want to keep before deleting.

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Page titles and descriptions

You can give each page a title and an optional description. The title appears as a heading at the top of the page in the questionnaire, helping respondents understand what the page is about. Use clear, plain-language titles like “Your personal information” or “Details about the property.”

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Sections

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What a section is

Sections are groupings of pages. They appear in the questionnaire as a labeled stage or category in the progress indicator, helping respondents understand which part of the overall workflow they are in. For example, a complex estate planning questionnaire might have sections like “Personal Information,” “Assets,” “Beneficiaries,” and “Document Preferences.” Sections do not add new screens — they simply label and group the pages that already exist. From a respondent’s perspective, sections appear as navigational context, not as a separate step to complete.

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Adding a section

To create a new section:
  1. Open the section dropdown next to the page dropdown at the top of the Builder canvas (or use the left sidebar).
  2. Select + New Section (or the equivalent option in the sidebar).
  3. The currently selected page is automatically grouped into the new section.
  4. Give the section a name.
You can see section assignments at a glance in the left sidebar, which displays which pages belong to which sections.

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Moving pages between sections

To reassign a page to a different section, use the section dropdown on that page in the Builder to select the section it should belong to. Pages within a section are displayed in the sidebar under the section’s heading, making it easy to see the overall questionnaire structure.

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Review pages

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The default review page

By default, Gavel includes a Review Page at the very end of every workflow. On this page, respondents can see all their answers, navigate back to any earlier page to edit their responses, and re-run the document generation. This built-in review step is a safety net that prevents errors from making it into the final documents. If your workflow design does not require a review step — for example, a very simple single-page form — you can remove the default review page through the workflow settings.

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Custom review pages

You can create additional review pages at any point in the workflow, not just at the end. This is especially useful for long forms where you want respondents to confirm a section before moving on. To allow editing of a specific prior answer, add an Instruction question to your workflow and insert the following syntax, replacing the placeholders with your own values: 
[Custom link text](${ url_action('VariableName') })
Example: 
[Click here to go back and edit your name.](${ url_action('ClientFullName') })
This places a clickable link in the questionnaire that returns the respondent to the page where that variable was collected.

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Review pages for repeating items

If your workflow includes Repeating Item questions, you can create a dedicated review page for each repeating item. This lets respondents see a summary of all the entries they have added and edit or add more before proceeding. To add a repeating item review page, create a new Instruction question at the appropriate point in your workflow and enter the following, replacing ItemName with your repeating item’s variable name: 
${ hsl_ItemName_table }

${ ItemName.add_action() }
This displays a table of all collected entries for that repeating item, along with a control for adding or editing entries.

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Tips for good questionnaire structure

One topic per page

Group questions about the same subject together on one page. This reduces cognitive load and makes it easier for respondents to focus.

Use sections for long workflows

If your workflow has more than eight to ten pages, use sections to break it into named stages. Respondents will feel more oriented and less overwhelmed.

Keep repeating items isolated

Always put Repeating Item questions on their own page. Mixing them with other questions is not supported.

Test the flow as a respondent

Use the Preview mode to walk through your questionnaire from start to finish. Pay attention to where page breaks feel abrupt or where a section heading would help.