What Are Repeatable Sections?
Repeatable Sections act like sub-forms within your main form. Each entry in a repeatable section is a child record, linked to the main (parent) record. This structure is especially useful when you're inspecting multiple components at a single site or you need to log multiple observations tied to the same item.
Here we are viewing several child records located in a repeatable section in the parent record. Notice how you have the option to click into each of the child records to view their related data.
Example Use Case:
Imagine you're conducting park surveys. For each park you visit, you want to track different park features like playgrounds, benches, and restrooms. Instead of creating a record for each park feature inspection, you could use repeatables to track all the features for each park location within the same record (like what you see above). See below for how you would set this up:
The parent record is the park where you could list out general information about where the park is located.
The repeatable section tracks park features like playgrounds, benches, and restrooms.
Each of these becomes a child record with its own data, location, and timestamp—while still tied to the same park.
When a field user goes to create a new child record, or in this case another feature at the park they'd like to inspect, they could select the feature type, add photos, a status, and any additional fields you'd like to add!
For more information on how to set up a Repeatable Section, see What are Repeatable Sections?
Using Repeatables vs. No Repeatables in your form
From a design perspective, you can reduce the number of fields you manage when collecting multiple instances of the same type of asset or observation within one inspection. Below is a visual comparison between an app designed with duplicated fields to accommodate multiple safety issues, versus on the right, you see the same capability using repeatables instead.
Notice how short the form is when leveraging the repeatable field type. Not only is your form design shorter, but the number of safety issues also does not need to be predetermined by the app designer.
Locating Child Records On the Web App:
Access child records by opening a parent record and selecting the repeatable section.
You can also open them from the app dropdown menu in the Record Editor, as seen below.
When exporting your data, child records will include the parent record ID, so the relationship is always preserved.
Viewing all the child records together can save you time, especially when you are trying to compare child record data across all of your records. In this example, you'd be able to see all the park features listed out and order them by status to see which park needs the most attention.
Mobile App Best Practices:
Tap the repeatable section within a record and click the + button to start adding entries. Always go back to the parent record and tap save to keep all your child record entries.
A counter shows how many child entries exist in each section, helping you stay organized.
Each repeatable can have a location tied to it with a point, line or polygon.
You can also make it a required field if this is vital to your data collection.
What’s Next? Now that you know the basics of Repeatable Sections:
To see if repeatables are the best fit for your use case, see Repeatables Vs Record Links for more information.
Check out our App Design Best Practices guide.
Explore more advanced topics like importing data into repeatable fields in our Help Center.
Need help? Reach out to the Customer Success Team at csm@fulcrumapp.com to dive further into best practices.