How to Easily Clone Elements and Slides to Scale Your Business Forms
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash
Creating intake forms, surveys, and quizzes for a growing business can quickly become a time sink. We need consistent branding, reliable field settings, and predictable behavior across dozens of forms. Recreating the same logo, font, or question blocks every time wastes hours and introduces avoidable errors.
Cloning elements and slides inside our business software changes that. It keeps styling, validations, and settings intact so we can build faster, onboard teammates more easily, and deliver a consistent experience to customers. Below we explain what to clone, when to clone it, and practical workflows we use to scale form creation without sacrificing quality.
Why cloning is a game changer for growing teams
Cloning is more than a neat shortcut. For businesses that handle recurring intake, lead qualification, or client onboarding, cloning provides concrete benefits:
Speed: Build a base form once, then reuse elements rather than rebuilding them from scratch.
Consistency: Retain brand fonts, colors, and privacy text across every form and slide.
Less training: New hires can assemble forms quickly using preconfigured elements.
Fewer mistakes: Preset validation rules and field types reduce the chance of incorrect setup.
Better productivity: Focus on content and workflow instead of styling each element every time.
What you can clone and where it works best
Cloning supports different element types and different contexts. Knowing which items you can clone helps you design a scalable workflow.
Text blocks: Titles, instructions, and legal text retain font family, size, and color when cloned.
Images: Logos and graphics copy over without re-uploading or reformatting.
Input fields: Short answers, phone/email fields, and date fields keep their validation and placeholder text.
Question blocks: Multiple choice, single choice, and dropdowns copy with options intact.
Entire slides: Available in surveys and quizzes. Slides copy all contained elements as a single unit for multi-step flows.
Note that cloning entire slides is a feature that applies to multi-step content like surveys and quizzes. In single-page forms, you can clone individual elements, but not whole slides.
Step-by-step: cloning elements inside forms
When we need a consistent, single-page form—such as a simple application or a contact form—cloning individual elements is the fastest route. Here’s a practical approach we use.
Start a new form inside our business software and give it a clear name that reflects the purpose, such as Application Form.
Add a logo by dragging an image element into the canvas, uploading the file, and positioning it. Once the logo is placed, it becomes one of the elements you can reuse.
Add a text block for headings or instructions and style it to match our brand. Set the font family, font size, and color once.
Use the element’s duplicate or clone control to create new text blocks with the same styling. Replace placeholder text as needed without reapplying styles.
Repeat for input fields. Add a short answer or email field, set the label and validation, then clone that field to maintain the same rules across the form.
A few small practices make this process smoother:
Name elements clearly so teammates can find the right block to clone.
Use placeholder text to mark where content needs editing after cloning.
Build a master form that acts as a template for all single-page forms.
Step-by-step: cloning entire slides in surveys and quizzes
For multi-step workflows—client onboarding, multi-page applications, or qualification quizzes—we prefer cloning entire slides. Slides keep grouped content together so you can reproduce a full interaction in seconds.
Create a new survey or quiz and name it according to the process you are automating, for example New Client Intake.
Build the first slide: add your logo, include any required legal text like privacy policy or terms, and add the input fields you need on that step (name, date of birth, contact info).
When that first slide looks right, use the clone slide control to duplicate the entire slide. The cloned slide will include the logo, text blocks, and all field settings exactly as configured.
Edit the cloned slide to add the next set of questions or to tailor the content for the next step in the flow.
Save and test the multi-step flow to ensure all cloned fields behave as expected.
Cloning slides is particularly helpful when each step in your workflow requires the same branding or repeated elements, such as a logo or legal notices. Instead of adding those elements to each step manually, we clone a full slide and adjust only the bits that change.
How we use cloning in real business scenarios
The value of cloning becomes clear when we map it to everyday tasks:
Hiring and applications: We maintain a master application form with all required fields and legal text. For different roles, we clone the form and only change role-specific questions.
Client onboarding: Our onboarding is multi-step. The first slide captures contact and billing details while the next slides collect scope and preferences. Cloning slides lets us replicate the structure for different service lines quickly.
Lead qualification: We create a base quiz to qualify leads. When we run a campaign targeting a different industry, we clone the quiz and tweak questions for relevance without losing the scoring logic.
Recurring surveys: Quarterly satisfaction surveys are cloned from a template so the same rating scales and consent statements remain consistent across periods.
Best practices for building a scalable cloning workflow
Cloning is most effective when combined with systemized practices. These are the routines we follow to keep form creation fast, consistent, and low-risk.
Create a component library. Keep preconfigured text blocks, logos, and common fields that everyone on the team can clone.
Build master templates. Have a master form and master multi-step flow that serve as the single source of truth for styling and required fields.
Document naming conventions. Use predictable names like Client Onboarding - Template so teammates can find templates quickly.
Train new hires on cloning. A short onboarding checklist that shows how to clone and edit elements reduces setup errors.
Test cloned items. Validate required fields, conditional logic, and confirmation settings after cloning before publishing.
Keep a change log. When a key element like a privacy statement changes, note where the master template is and re-clone where required.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Cloning can create problems when used without standards. These are the most common issues we have encountered and how we handle them.
Assuming clones update automatically. A cloned element is a copy, not a live link. If you need changes to propagate, update the master and re-clone or implement a versioning step in your deployment process.
Over-duplicating. Too many slightly different clones leads to maintenance headaches. Periodically audit forms and consolidate variants.
Neglecting accessibility. Cloned content can inherit poor labels or missing alt text. Include an accessibility checklist in your template.
Missing conditional logic. If cloned questions have conditional jumps or scoring, verify those connections after cloning.
Inconsistent legal language. Keep privacy and terms in the master template and track regulatory updates centrally.
Quick tips to speed up cloning and editing
Set default fonts and colors in the software so cloned text blocks already match brand styling.
Use placeholder tokens like [client_name] in master templates to flag where personalized content should go.
Group related elements visually on a slide so cloning keeps logical blocks together.
Clone then edit rather than build then style: cloning preserves styles so it is faster to clone and swap labels.
Keep minimal variations—capture differences with optional fields or conditional visibility rather than separate clones when possible.
What to expect after you start cloning
After we implemented cloning across our forms and multi-step flows, we noticed three immediate changes:
Faster delivery of new forms for campaigns and services.
Fewer brand inconsistencies across customer touchpoints.
Reduced time spent onboarding teammates to form building.
These gains compound over time. As the library of reusable components grows, building a new workflow becomes a matter of assembling known pieces rather than recreating them.
FAQ
Can we clone elements from one form to another?
Yes. Individual elements such as text blocks, images, and input fields can be cloned and reused across forms. This keeps styling, placeholder text, and validation rules intact when moved between single-page forms.
Can we clone entire slides across forms?
Entire slides can be cloned within survey and quiz workflows. Slides copy everything on the page, which is ideal for multi-step onboarding and multi-page applications. Single-page forms do not support cloning whole slides, only individual elements.
Do cloned elements update if the original changes?
No. Cloning creates a separate copy. If you update the original, the cloned copies will not change automatically. To apply updates broadly, edit the master template and re-clone or implement a controlled update process.
Will cloned input fields keep validation rules and placeholders?
Yes. Cloned input fields retain their validation settings, placeholder text, and field types. Always test cloned fields to confirm conditional logic and required settings work as intended.
Can cloning help with onboarding new team members?
Absolutely. A library of cloned elements and master templates reduces the learning curve for new hires. Provide a short checklist that explains how to clone, edit, test, and publish forms.
Are there any accessibility or compliance checks we should run after cloning?
Yes. Cloned content can copy accessibility oversights like missing alt text or insufficient label semantics. Include accessibility and compliance steps in your testing routine after cloning, especially for legal text and consent fields.
How do we manage multiple versions of similar forms?
Use a simple versioning system: keep a single master template, clone it for each variant, and track changes in a log or spreadsheet. Periodically audit forms and consolidate variants to reduce maintenance overhead.
Final thoughts
Cloning elements and slides is a practical change that gives small teams the power to scale administrative work without adding complexity. It removes repetitive setup, preserves brand identity, and reduces errors. For businesses juggling hiring, campaigns, and client onboarding, it quickly becomes one of the most valuable time-saving practices.
We recommend starting with a single master template and a short internal guide showing how to clone and edit elements. Once the team adopts those patterns, creating a new form is less about design and more about solving the specific problem at hand.
Cloning is not a replacement for good design and governance. It is a productivity tool that, when used with clear templates and testing steps, lets us scale form creation without sacrificing quality.
