Advanced Forms - am I missing some configurability?

[Rosa M Fossi]

Hello There... long time admin, but I've never worked with the  Advanced (ProForma?) forms in Jira Software before. 

The forms I'm building don't look good. The output is, umm, I'm not sure how to politely say ugly... perhaps, "unprofessional" is more accurate (Examples below).   The header repeats itself, there are no page numbers, and the questions/responses might breakup between pages depending on the responses. If I submit this as a solution for our use cases (Incident Checklist, and Incident Post Mortem that would be circulated to Execs) I know it won't pass muster.

Am I missing some place to configure the form styles?  Is there a way to update the header / banner or add an image? Edit the color of the field names / change font? 

Thanks in advance!

[Walter Buggenhout]

Hi @Rosa M Fossi,

I don't think you're missing configuration options, but there might be misalignment on expectations regarding forms in Jira (Software).

As you mention being a long time Jira admin and through the ProForma reference, I think there is the pinnacle ... Those forms are indeed rich, advanced forms that have some decent layout and config capabilities. But those are the forms used in Jira Service Management after the acquisition of Proforma by Atlassian. The forms in Jira projects are not those forms. They are a different implementation, not off the same foundation.

The forms in Jira projects are primarily designed for work intake - potentially also from people without Jira access (or occasional users who are not very familiar with navigating around in Jira). The main goal is to create work items in the right project and with the right, structured information so your team has a good, qualitative entry point into its workflow. Not so much using the form as an output source of the data.

Hope this helps! 

[Olha Yevdokymova_SaaSJet]

Hi @Rosa M Fossi 

You're experiencing the limitations of Jira Software's built-in forms, which are indeed quite basic in terms of styling and professional presentation. It lacks conditional logic and other options to make forms more usable. 

For JSM Projects: If you can move your use case to a Jira Service Management project, you'll have access to much more polished JSM Forms with better styling, customizable themes, and professional output formatting - much more suitable for executive-level documents.

For Enhanced Styling & Professional Output: However, if you need to stay in Jira Software OR want even more advanced customization options, I'd recommend checking out Smart Forms for Jira (developed by our team at SaaSJet). It specifically addresses the styling limitations you're experiencing:

Custom branding with logos, colors, and professional themes
Clean PDF exports with proper headers, page numbers, and formatting
Embedded content support for images like logos
Executive-ready reports that you can view inside the app to analyse responses.
Font customization and professional styling options
Works across all Jira products (Software, JSM, JPD)

Specific features perfect for your Incident use cases:

For Incident Checklists:

• Auto-attach forms to incident issues automatically based on issue type
• Required field validation to ensure all checklist items are completed
• Conditional logic - show different checklist sections based on incident severity/type
• Draft auto-save so responders can complete checklists over time without losing progress
• Access restrictions to control who can edit vs. view incident forms

For Post-Mortem Reports:

• Professional PDF export with your company logo and consistent formatting
• Multiple file attachments for supporting documentation, screenshots, logs
• Pre-filled fields that auto-populate incident details from thework-item fields
• Form responses dashboard for trend analysis across multiple incidents
• Excel export for executive reporting and incident metrics tracking
• Custom submission messages to guide next steps after post-mortem completion

Executive Presentation Benefits:

• Clean, branded output that looks professional in board presentations
• Consistent formatting across all incident documentation
• Comprehensive analytics to show incident trends and response improvements
• No more broken pages or repeated headers in executive reports

You can find it on the Atlassian Marketplace - to test if it meets your styling and professional output requirements.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions about the different options.