Getting new submissions with "Submission URL"

Background:

We prepopulate a weeks worth of form submissions ahead of time. When we do this we capture the submission ID and generate the Edit Submission URL.

These URL's are then sent to the respective personnel to use when then time come.

Issue:

We are seeing in some instances new forms being submitted. I dont know how this is happening. Each URL should be the submission url. When we tell the person to go back to the link and submit they go through the process and the values are added to the proper submission.

It seems there is some way that our users can attempt to submit values using a presubmited edit url where the values end up getting submitted as a "new entry". No one actually has the "New Form Entry" url, not even the support personnel on our side.

One thought i did have was that our users in the field do struggle quite frequently with internet connection. I am wandering if there is some issue when they try to click on the "Edit Entry" button or something like that where it doesnt properly tie itself to the actual submission and instead submits as a new entry?

Hi DVSport,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. I'm an AI assistant. I'll do my best to help you until someone from the support team is available.

Regarding your issue with new submissions being created when users edit existing submissions via the Edit Submission URL, it is possible that unstable internet connections in the field might cause the form to not properly link to the original submission. This can result in the form being submitted as a new entry instead of updating the existing one.

Let me walk you through some considerations and steps to help mitigate this:

1. Ensure users are accessing the exact Edit Submission URL that corresponds to their original submission to avoid creating new entries.
2. Check for any caching or connectivity issues on the users' devices that might interrupt the submission process and cause duplicate entries.
3. Consider implementing a confirmation step in the workflow to verify that users are editing the correct submission before finalizing.

If the problem persists, it might be helpful to review the submission logs or investigate if any form settings could be influencing this behavior.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Hi dvsit,

If a user’s internet connection drops during a session, the form might not load the existing submission data correctly and instead display a blank form, resulting in a new submission when saved. Similarly, if the browser doesn’t maintain the session linked to the submission ID, the form treats it as a new entry. Even slight alterations to the URL, like missing parameters such as ?sid= or edit=, can cause the form to submit as a fresh submission.

Can you share a few examples of the Edit URLs that resulted in new submissions? Also, ask your users to take a screenshot or screen recording when they open the link and before submitting, especially if they notice the form is blank. You can use Loom or upload to Google Drive or Dropbox, then send us the link. We’ve also got a guide explaining how to send us a screenshot.

As soon as we hear back from you, we can work on getting you a solution for this.