# Builder tour

Source: https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/03-builder-tour
Topic: Getting Started

The Builder is organised around libraries, services and pages. This tour follows the usual route from selecting a library to editing a page and testing the participant experience.

## Start from libraries

The libraries area is the entry point for the services you can access. Select a library to see its services and shared administration. The library navigation separates **My services**, **Library settings**, **User management**, **Patterns** and **Properties & secrets**. These areas can affect many services, so confirm the library before making a change.

Within Library settings, a side menu groups general, access, integration, developer and destructive controls. Some values are saved directly; many integration, authentication, style and email settings must also be applied to QA and Production separately.

## Service overview

When you open a service, the overview gives you the main working areas:

| Area | Use it for |
| --- | --- |
| **Service overview** | see the page structure, add pages and move between list and flow views |
| **Service settings** | configure service-wide behaviour and content |
| **Conditions** | create and maintain reusable rules |
| **Change management** | review change history and use undo/redo where appropriate |
| **Environments** | deploy and view environment-specific service status |
| **User view** | test the participant-facing journey |

List view helps you scan the service structure and locate a page. Flow view is useful for checking branches, alternative routes and action flow. Use both: a flow can reveal a missing route, while a list is often faster for direct editing.

```
flowchart LR
  A[Libraries] --> B[Service overview]
  B --> C[Pages]
  B --> D[Service settings]
  B --> E[Conditions]
  B --> F[Environments]
  C --> G[Page content]
  C --> H[Page settings]
  C --> I[Page actions]
```

## Work on a page

Open a page to access its three primary areas:

-   **Page content** — add, order and configure components.
-   **Page settings** — set the page’s title, navigation and other page-level behaviour.
-   **Page actions** — add work that should happen at a defined lifecycle point.

Select a component in Page content to open its settings. Most components have shared settings such as label, hint, Field ID, validation and visibility, plus type-specific settings.

Use **Add page** to create a new page and **Add workflow step** when the journey needs an operational step rather than an ordinary participant page.

## Test as you build

Open **User view** frequently. Check the page in context, not just its Builder form: does the question make sense after the preceding page, do validation errors help, and does the next step match the answer?

For a connected service, User view is the early journey check. Move to QA to verify actual integrations, permissions, messages and file storage with safe test data.

## Make changes with confidence

Make one focused change at a time, save it, test the relevant route and record why a non-obvious condition or action exists. Use change management to understand recent work before changing a shared setting or a complex journey.

## Settings and response workspaces

[Library settings](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/20-library-settings>) includes regional defaults, branding, security, authentication and integrations. Review the settings publication guide because some Save/Apply controls update all environments.

Use [Response Hub](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/16-use-response-hub>) for staff response work, [Collection programmes](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/17-manage-collection-programmes>) for expected regular returns and [Govform Sign](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/18-send-documents-for-signing>) for standalone documents. These are separate from the service's page actions.

## Related guidance

-   [Build your first service](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/04-build-your-first-service>)
-   [Design pages and navigation](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/05-design-pages-and-navigation>)
-   [Add and configure components](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/06-add-and-configure-components>)
-   [Test, deploy and maintain a service](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/13-test-deploy-and-maintain-a-service>)
-   [Library settings overview](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/20-library-settings>)
-   [Manage services in a library](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/19-manage-services-in-a-library>)
-   [Service change management](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/21-08-service-change-management>)
-   [Service environments and deployments](<https://govform.com/resources/documentation/article/21-09-service-environments-and-deployments>)