Creating Forms
Creating forms allows you to gather standardized information from requesters, ensuring clarity and consistency across your intake process.
Admins can create forms by following these steps:
Go to Settings → Configurations → Intake → Request Forms.
Click Create Form to open the Advanced Form Builder. If you need to create a legacy form, click the arrow beside the button and select Create Legacy Form.
On the Form Details tab, fill in the form name, description, business units, request type, and default request owner.
On the Form Builder tab, drag and drop fields and page elements onto the canvas to build out your questions. You can add multiple pages, apply conditional logic, set required fields, and mark fields or pages as internal.
Once your form is ready, return to the Form Details tab and toggle the form to Active to make it visible to requesters.
💡 Looking for inspiration? Check out the Request Form Question Bank for a library of commonly used questions you can reference when building your forms.
Inviting Users to Submit Requests
To submit requests in Cognota, users must have a registered Cognota account.
Admins can invite new users — after completing registration, those users can log in and start submitting requests.
To invite a new user:
Go to Settings → Users → Add User.
Follow the prompts to send them a registration invitation.
Once they complete registration, they can sign into Cognota and submit requests from the Requests tab.
Submitting Requests
Both learning team users and business users can submit requests directly from the Requests tab.
Go to Requests and click Create Request.
On the Select Request Type screen, choose the form that best fits your request and click Start Request.
Business users will only see forms configured for their business unit.
Learning team users can see all available forms.
Fill out all required fields. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk (*).
Click Save to save as a draft and return to it later, or Submit Request to send it for review. The request owner will be notified upon submission.
If any required fields are missing when you click Submit Request, an error message will appear at the top and the missing fields will be highlighted in red.
Reviewing Requests
Reviewing requests lets you ensure that submitted training needs align with organizational goals and priorities.
As a Request Owner or Admin, you can review requests and take action on them:
Go to the Requests tab and click on any request to open it.
Each request has two tabs — Request Details, which shows all submitted information, and Linked Projects, which shows any projects associated with the request.
If the form was built with multiple pages, each page appears as a labeled tab at the top of the Request Details view for easy navigation.
Use the status dropdown in the top right to update the request status — options are In Review, Approved, Waitlisted, and Declined.
Click the ... menu to Delete, Archive, or Cancel the request.
Reviewing Insights
Cognota gives you two ways to track trends, measure performance, and make informed decisions to improve your intake management process — Flexible Dashboards for a customizable, shareable view, and the Insights tab for a pre-built view ready to use with no setup required.
Flexible Dashboards
Build a custom dashboard using pre-built request insight cards. Track metrics like request status, decision rate, time in review, decline reasons, and breakdowns by business unit, priority, and type — and combine them with project, capacity, and user data all in one view.
Insights tab → Intake
Access a pre-built view of your request data from Insights → Intake, filterable by date, owner, business unit, request type, and form. Key metrics include total requests received, approval and decline ratios, requests in review, and historical trend charts over time.
Note: The Insights tab and Flexible Dashboards currently coexist in Cognota. We recommend building your reporting workflows in Dashboards to take advantage of customization, sharing, and richer data options.
Best Practices
Request Form Question Bank and Template
Check out this handy list of frequently used questions our customers include in their request forms. We've also included a free Training Request Form template you can download to reference.
eBook: Managing Training Intake for Strategic Success
Download this eBook to streamline training requests and align them with business goals. It includes tools like a training request scorecard for better prioritization and management.
Ultimate Guide to Managing Training Requests
Access this guide for clear steps on creating a standardized training intake process. It helps you prioritize requests, ensure quality outcomes, and leverage data-driven decisions.
eBook: How to Make L&D a Strategic Pillar
This eBook explores the value of establishing a Learning Advisory Committee. Learn how to align L&D with business goals, identify true training needs, and collaborate with key stakeholders for better outcomes.
