How to set a form's style/theme using an API?

I am creating a Jotform form from the Python package. However, setting the form's style does not work and the form is created with the default style (which is unacceptable to our use-case). Here is a code example:

    form_questions = {}

    form_questions['0'] = {

        'type': 'control_head',

        'text': f'Form title',

        'order': '0',

        'name': 'form_header'

    }

    for i, question in enumerate(questions):

        question_type = type_mapping.get(question.data_type)

        if not question_type:

            # Default to textbox for any unmapped types

            question_type = 'control_textbox'





        jotform_question = {

            'type': question_type,

            'text': question.prompt,

            'order': str(i + 1),

            'name': f'q{i+1}_{question.prompt.replace(" ", "_").lower()}'

        }





        # Specific configurations for certain types

        if question.data_type == PythonDataType.BOOLEAN:

            jotform_question['options'] = 'Yes|No'

        

        if question.data_type == PythonDataType.DATE:

            jotform_question['allowTime'] = 'No' # Disable time for date-only questions





        form_questions[str(i+1)] = jotform_question

    if True:

        # Add a submit button at the end of the form

        form_questions[str(len(questions))] = {

            'type': 'control_button',

            'text': 'Submit',

            'order': str(len(questions) + 1),

            'name': 'submit_button'

        }

    form_payload = {

        'properties': {

            'title': f'form title',

            'email': 'my@email.com',

            "styles": "Baby Blue",

        },

        'questions': form_questions

    }

    created_form = jotform_client.create_form(form_payload)

I tried various values from api.jotform.com/docs/properties/index.php?field=form but none of them work.

I tried to ask your AI assistant but its suggestions also did not work.

Thanks

Hi docaugai,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. Currently, applying a style or theme directly through the API by setting a style property in the form payload is not supported. As a result, the form is created with the default style, even if different values are provided.

As a workaround, after creating the form via API, you can manually apply a theme using the Jotform Form Builder's Form Designer. This lets you choose from available themes and styles to customize the form's look and feel. Let me show you how:

1. In Form Builder, click on the Paint Roller icon in the upper right side of the panel to open the Form Designer Menu and go to the Themes tab.

Also, to customize the form's appearance programmatically, consider Injecting Custom CSS. Note that this is only supported in Classic Form Layouts, not in Card Forms. To enable CSS injection, switch your form layout to Classic. Let me show you how:

1. Click on the Paint Roller icon in the upper right side of the panel and go to the Layout tab and select the Classic Form option.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for the explanation!

From what I could read there is no option to inject CSS via the API, so that won't solve the need for automatically applied styling - Happy to learn otherwise.

Hi docaugai,

To confirm what my colleague shared, you can’t inject or apply custom CSS to the form via API. I’ve also moved your other question into a new thread so we can focus on it properly. You can view and follow it here.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Hi Keenly,

Thanks for the info. That's unfortunate but I understand the limitation. Ticket can be closed. The same as the other thread.