Advanced Question Types

The Input Portal's specialised question types — file uploads, addresses, sub-forms, people, contacts, lookups, linked records, and display blocks.

This guide covers the specialised question types in Input Hub. For everyday types like Short Text, Number, or Dropdown, see Form Question Types.

File uploads

File Upload

UI label: File Upload
Type value: File

Lets the applicant upload a single file.

File constraints: maximum file size and accepted file types (MIME types).
Required Later: removes the question from the form body and surfaces it in a dedicated Documents section. The applicant finishes the rest of the form first, then uploads later. The platform tracks the file as outstanding until supplied — useful for documents you need eventually but not upfront (e.g. a valuation, a signed approval).
Uploading triggers AI extraction: the platform reads the document and auto-fills other fields marked as AI-extractable. Configure extraction on the destination fields, not here.

Example: "Driver's licence (front)", "Most recent payslip".

Multiple Files

UI label: Multiple Files
Type value: Files

Same as File Upload but accepts several files at once. Adds a max file count constraint alongside the standard file constraints. Required Later works identically.

Example: "Last three months' bank statements".

Required Later applies only to File Upload and Multiple Files. These fields do not block form submission if empty — they appear in the Documents section for later collection.

Address

UI label: Address
Type value: Address

A composite address field with autocomplete. Captures street, suburb, state, postcode, and country together and validates that they're consistent.

Autocomplete suggests real addresses as the applicant types.
Hidden sub-fields are created automatically for each component — you don't add them by hand.
An AddressComponents rule specifies which components are required (country is optional).
Australian postcode/state consistency is enforced automatically.
AI-extractable.

Example: "Current residential address", "Security property address".

Sub-Form

UI label: Sub-Form
Type value: NestedForm

Embeds another published form template as a section inside your form. This is the tool for collecting structured, repeatable data — employment history, assets, dependants, liabilities.

Choose a nested form template to embed.
Repeatable: off means a single embedded instance; on lets the applicant add and remove instances (each appears as its own card).
Min / Max instances: set how many instances are required and how many are allowed. A maximum of 0 means unlimited.
Date coverage: a NestedDateCoverage rule can require that a date field across all instances covers a minimum span of time — for example, "employment history must cover at least 3 years": the applicant keeps adding jobs until the earliest start date is far enough back.

Setting	Meaning
Min = 0	Optional — zero instances is fine.
Min ≥ 1	At least that many instances required.
Max = 0	Unlimited instances allowed.
Max = N	At most N instances.

Example: An Employment sub-form inside Borrower Details, repeatable, min 1, so each borrower must list at least one job.

Sub-Forms can be nested arbitrarily deep — a sub-form can itself contain a Sub-Form field. Keep nesting shallow (one or two levels) to keep forms understandable.

People and contacts

Person

UI label: Person
Type value: UserSelection

A searchable picker for an internal team member — someone who has an account in your organisation on ZiplineOS.

You set the member type (broker, manager, underwriter, etc.) to scope the search list to only the right people.

Example: "Assigned broker", "Witness".

Contact / Applicant

UI label: Contact / Applicant
Type value: ContactSelection

Collects name, email, and phone for one or more contacts and links them to the deal as applicants. Selecting an existing Rolodex contact links that record; creating a new one adds it to the CRM automatically.

Allow multiple lets the applicant add more than one contact entry.
Each entry is assigned an applicant role (Primary Borrower, Co-Borrower, Guarantor, etc.) that you specify on the field.
Required contact fields specifies which details must be filled when creating a new contact.
A unique roles rule prevents the same role being assigned twice.

Example: "Borrowers on this application" — with unique roles so you can't add two Primary Borrowers.

Search List

UI label: Search List
Type value: Autocomplete

A type-ahead search backed by a Lookup List — a managed list you maintain in Input Hub under Settings → Lookup Lists.

As the applicant types, the field searches the list and suggests matches.
By default, the applicant must select a value from the list. Turning on allow free text lets them type anything if no matching item exists.

Example: "Industry", "Country of residence" — anything with a long, curated list where typing-to-search is faster than scrolling.

Linked Record

UI label: Linked Record
Type value: EntityReference

Links this answer to another record. Currently you can link to another form submission on the same deal.

Set the referenced form template (the form whose submissions to search).
Scope: search within the current deal (default) or across the whole organisation.
The answer stores the submission ID and a display label.

Example: "Which security property does this loan relate to?" — linking to a Security Property submission already captured on the deal.

Display blocks (no answer collected)

These two types render content between questions but never collect an answer. They can't be marked required, they never appear in submitted data, and a one-question-at-a-time form auto-advances past them.

Image and Message blocks are shown to applicants in the Collect client portal. They are not rendered in the Input Hub deal-fill view for internal users.

Image

UI label: Image
Type value: Image
Answerable: No

Renders an image inline between questions — useful for diagrams, annotated screenshots, or a lender's logo.

Provide an image URL or upload a file directly.
Set alt text for accessibility.
Size preset: Small (~50% width), Medium (~66%), or Large (full width, the default).

Example: A diagram showing where to find a document number; a logo above a consent section.

Message

UI label: Message
Type value: Display
Answerable: No

A rich-text block for instructions or explanations. Supports formatting, lists, and links.

[[fieldKey]] tokens echo answers back — e.g. "Thanks [[first_name]], we'll be in touch."
{{merge}} tokens can reference computed deal data.

Example: "In the next section we'll ask about your income. Have your last two payslips ready."