# Anonymous Starts

You may choose to start your submission directly if you're the first collaborator and you want to invite your collaborators in the form itself via fields.

If a submission is started from the form itself rather than from the collaboration flow in the dashboard, it can still become a collaborative submission with multiple collaborators. To do so, first check the `Allow Anonymous Starts` toggle on the `Collaboration` tab of your form settings.

<figure><img src="https://640450274-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FHAVngDAEk3s8Bw7P6Ntz%2Fuploads%2F3DoxO6IarATKLghC1c8i%2FScreenshot%202024-07-13%20at%2011.00.16%E2%80%AFPM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=769bc6b4-90f0-49da-a83b-1138bcbd2259" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

The first visitor to the form will assume the role of the first collaborator anonymously since their email will not be known.

## Invite Additional Collaborators

Much like the [Start Directly](https://docs.feathery.io/platform/collaborative-workflows/collaboration/start-directly) method, you can configure button actions on your form to [invite additional collaborators.](https://docs.feathery.io/platform/collaborative-workflows/start-directly#invite-additional-collaborators)

## Return to Previous Collaborator

The [Return to Previous Collaborator](https://docs.feathery.io/platform/collaborative-workflows/start-directly#return-to-previous-collaborator) action can be leveraged as well. But if you're trying to rewind to the very first (anonymous) collaborator, you'll have to map the `Assign Email` setting on the action to the Feathery field containing the email of the first user. `Assign Email` will only appear when anonymous starts are enabled and returning to the very first collaborator.

<figure><img src="https://640450274-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FHAVngDAEk3s8Bw7P6Ntz%2Fuploads%2FuPR5pPHCBljM1HhiCbrI%2FScreenshot%202024-07-13%20at%2011.07.27%E2%80%AFPM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=e28da28b-b657-4e1e-9ef1-1647b574b784" alt="" width="323"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

This assumes the first collaborator entered their email at some point, and it allows us to de-anonymize them and send them a notification email when returning.