You can use a task form’s history to find out when recorded structural changes were made and who made them. Compare the history with the form’s current structure: the history does not include every change or the change history of answers on individual tasks.
Open the form and its history
Viewing the history requires permission to edit the task form. Permission only to view or carry out a task that uses the form is not sufficient.
- In the browser menu, open Manage tasks → Tasks → Task forms.
- Select the Task forms tab on the page. Open the form you want by clicking its name or the pencil icon on the same row.
- View the form’s current sections and fields on the Basic info tab in the window that opens.
- Select the History tab in the same window.
Viewing the history does not change the form or the answers on tasks.
Find and interpret an event
Events are displayed from newest to oldest. In the table, the Created at column shows when the event occurred, Event shows the kind of change, Item type shows the type of item changed, Item shows the section or field, and Made by shows the recorded information about who made the change. For a field, the section name is also shown when available.
Filter the rows using the filters below the column headings. Select a date range in the Created at column and the option you want in the Event and Item type columns. Enter the text you are looking for in the search field in the Item or Made by column. If you cannot find an event, clear the filters and check that you opened the correct form.
Added, Update or Removed on a row indicates the kind of event recorded. The view shows recorded events for sections, as well as fields being added to and removed from sections. It does not show the old and new values of every setting.
What does the history not tell you?
Events affecting the form itself, such as name changes, are not included in this list. Updates to a field placed in a section, such as changes to whether it is required or to its order, are not shown either. Changes to a shared field definition and answers entered on tasks are separate from the structural events shown here.
The form’s current structure may have changed even without a history row. Do not use a missing row as evidence that a change was not saved. The history is not a restore point and cannot be used to restore the entire form to an earlier state.
Compare the structure with the task’s information
A task form defines the sections and fields. The same shared field definition can be used in several forms, while a field’s location, order and required status belong to its placement in a section. A task template brings together the default information for the work, and answers saved on an individual task belong to that task.
The required information in a section of an unfinished task is checked against the current form structure. A new required field can therefore make a previously completed section incomplete. A required checkbox must be selected; other fields need a value that is not empty.
When the entire task is completed, the structural definitions at the time of completion are saved for the sections carried out and their current fields. The browser view of a completed task uses this section and field information. This is separate from marking a section as complete or from the form’s history. You should not infer from this that all section settings on mobile or a PDF report generated later will remain unchanged.
Removing a field from a section marks the field placement as deleted; this operation does not destroy answer values saved on tasks. Removing extra placements of the same field also preserves the saved values. However, preservation does not mean that the removed field will appear in the current form or that the history provides a way to restore it.
Check the result by reopening the form and comparing its Basic info tab with a suitable unfinished task and a completed task. Check field visibility, required status and saved answers separately. A history row confirms the recorded event, but does not by itself confirm all its effects.
There is a separate guide for viewing and entering task information: Filling in a task form. Report appearance is covered in Task form PDF layout.