diff --git a/server/AyaNova/biz/FormCustomBiz.cs b/server/AyaNova/biz/FormCustomBiz.cs
index e2ab83da..1808dee0 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/biz/FormCustomBiz.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/biz/FormCustomBiz.cs
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
                 //
                 FormCustom outObj = inObj;
 
-                outObj.Template=JsonUtil.CompactJson(outObj.Template);
-               
+                outObj.Template = JsonUtil.CompactJson(outObj.Template);
+
                 await ct.FormCustom.AddAsync(outObj);
                 await ct.SaveChangesAsync();
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
         //put
         internal bool Put(FormCustom dbObj, FormCustom inObj)
         {
-          
+
             //Replace the db object with the PUT object
             CopyObject.Copy(inObj, dbObj, "Id");
             //Set "original" value of concurrency token to input token
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
             if (HasErrors)
                 return false;
 
-            dbObj.Template=JsonUtil.CompactJson(dbObj.Template);
+            dbObj.Template = JsonUtil.CompactJson(dbObj.Template);
 
             //Log modification
             EventLogProcessor.LogEventToDatabase(new Event(UserId, dbObj.Id, BizType, AyaEvent.Modified), ct);
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
                     //Parse the json, expecting something like this:
                     //[{fld:"ltkeyfieldname",hide:"true/false",required:"true/false", type:"bool"},{fld:"ltkeyfieldname",hide:"true/false",required:"true/false", type:"text"]
                     //Array at root is valid json and saves a bit of bandwidth so minimal is best
-                    var v = JArray.Parse(inObj.Template);                   
+                    var v = JArray.Parse(inObj.Template);
 
                     for (int i = 0; i < v.Count; i++)
                     {
@@ -218,11 +218,12 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
                             }
 
                             //validate if it's a custom field that it has a type specified
-                             if (MasterFormField.Custom && formFieldItem["type"]==null){
-                                    AddError(ApiErrorCode.VALIDATION_INVALID_VALUE, "Template", $"Template array item {i}, \"type\" property value is MISSING for custom filed, Custom fields MUST have types specified");
-                             }
-                             
-                                
+                            if (MasterFormField.Custom && formFieldItem["type"] == null)
+                            {
+                                AddError(ApiErrorCode.VALIDATION_INVALID_VALUE, "Template", $"Template array item {i}, \"type\" property value is MISSING for custom filed, Custom fields MUST have types specified");
+                            }
+
+
 
                             if (formFieldItem["type"] != null)
                             {
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
 
                         }
 
-TODO: why is required required if it's just a regular field being hidden?
+                        //other code depends on seeing the required value even if it's not set to true
                         if (formFieldItem["required"] == null)
                             AddError(ApiErrorCode.VALIDATION_REQUIRED, "Template", $"Template array item {i}, object is missing required \"required\" property ");
 
diff --git a/server/AyaNova/util/Seeder.cs b/server/AyaNova/util/Seeder.cs
index 1851c7ad..39e86360 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/util/Seeder.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/util/Seeder.cs
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Util
                                             },
                                             {
                                             ""fld"": ""WidgetSerial"",
+                                             ""required"": ""false"",
                                             ""hide"": ""true""
                                             },
                                             {