Change the Tab Order of Fields

When determining the order to ask questions in the interview, HotDocs begins with the top-left field of the form and processes all of the fields until it reaches the bottom-right field. This processing affects two things—the order questions are asked in the default interview and the order in which the user is able to tab through fields on the form.

Because of this default field ordering, sometimes you may find the tab order of fields to be incorrect. You can change this order.

Once you specify a fill order for one field, you must specify the order for every field you want processed after that field. In effect, when you specify a fill order for just one field, you set that field to be answered last. This is because all the other fields are still set to Row 0, Column 0—they are lower than the Row 1 or Column 1 , so they will be filled first. Therefore, to change the order of the fields in the middle of the form, you must also change the order for every remaining field.

The following rules control field ordering:

  • Fill order is determined first by row, then by column.
  • All field values are initially set the same—Row 0, Column 0.
  • When fields have different row numbers, fields with lower row numbers are asked first, for example, Row 0, Column 0; Row 1, Column 0; etc.
  • When fields have the same row numbers, but different column numbers, fields with lower column numbers are asked first, for example, Row 1, Column 0; Row 1, Column 1; etc.
  • Fill order is treated separately for each page of the template—you cannot specify a fill order that runs from one page to another.

To change the tab order for fields

  1. Edit a form template. (See Edit a Saved Form Document.)
  2. Select the field. (See Select a Field.)
  3. Click the Field PropertiesField Properties button. The Field Properties dialog box appears.
  4. Click the Additional tab. The view changes to show ordering options.
  5. In the Row box, type the row number.
  6. If you need to specify the order for fields in the same row, type a number in the Column box.
  7. Optionally, at the Order dialog box, you can click the First, Previous, Next, or Last button to save the current field's settings and display the next field's order.

By selecting and ordering different groups of fields, you can use fill order to handle various situations. For example:

  • Remove all fill order settings: Select all fields and set the Row and Column numbers to 0.
  • Organize large sections of fields: Select the desired fields and specify the order.
  • Flow answers across fields contrary to the default order (top to bottom, left to right): Set the desired order, then group the fields. (See Group Form Fields So Answers Can Flow From One Field to Another.)
  • Fill table columns in an order different from the static text: Set the desired order, then group the fields as a table.