00:00:00 Introduction

Welcome to today's Office Hours session with ActivityInfo. My name is Jeric Kison, the Customer Success Director here at ActivityInfo, and I am joined by my colleague, Guru, from our marketing team. For those who have not attended one of these sessions before, this is a new format we have started in addition to our regular schedule of webinars where we cover specific topics on how to use ActivityInfo. We wanted to offer these open-ended sessions where we invite users to share their experiences, ask questions, learn about specific features, or discuss particular challenges.

We have been conducting these Office Hours for a few weeks now, with each session having a particular focus. Two weeks ago, we discussed database design, and last week we covered analysis and reporting. This week, the focus is on managing your implementation. We will look at things you can keep in mind to maintain your ActivityInfo implementation over the long run, ensuring the database continues to work well, forms remain functional, and users have a good experience.

00:04:11 Increasing data quality

Let's start with a question submitted via our survey: "How can I increase the quality of my data?" When it comes to data quality, there are many dimensions to consider, such as accuracy, precision, and reliability. ActivityInfo offers several features to help you increase the quality of the data in your database.

The first recommendation involves input masks and record matching, specifically for scenarios where you expect text values that must comply with a specific format, such as a 10-digit phone number or a valid email address. In the form settings for a text field, you can configure an input mask to define exactly what characters are expected. For example, if you require a phone number starting with specific digits, you can set a mask like 078 followed by zeros representing any digit. If a user enters data that does not match this pattern, an error message will appear explaining the expected format.

For more complex formatting rules, you can use validation rules with the REGEXMATCH function. This allows you to use regular expressions to define accepted formats. For instance, if a phone number can start with either 078 or 079, you can write a formula using REGEXMATCH to accommodate both scenarios. This ensures that the text entered meets specific logical criteria before it is accepted by the system.

Beyond text formatting, you can set validation rules to ensure quantitative data makes logical sense. For example, when collecting a beneficiary's age, you want to avoid negative numbers or impossibly high values. You can set a validation rule requiring the value to be greater than or equal to 0 and less than 150. You can configure these rules using logical operators or by writing a specific formula that evaluates whether a value should be accepted based on other data in the record.

Finally, to improve data quality through workflow, you can use "Reviewer only" fields. This is useful for organizations with specific roles for data validation, such as an M&E officer. You can create a field, such as "Validation status," and check the "Reviewer only" setting. This ensures that only users with the "Edit reviewer only fields" permission can modify this specific field. Data entry users can view the record but cannot change the validation status, allowing you to lock in validated data and filter it for reporting.

00:26:45 Linking data from reference forms

Another common question is: "How can we link data from our reference forms?" You might have a scenario where you have a beneficiary registry containing demographic information and separate forms for surveys or activity tracking. Rather than forcing users to re-enter demographic data in every form, you can use a reference form. However, if you want to analyze survey results against demographic data (e.g., satisfaction levels by sex), you need to combine these data points efficiently.

You can achieve this in ActivityInfo using calculated fields. A calculated field can pull in values related to a record via a reference field. For example, if your survey form references the Beneficiary Registry, you can create a calculated field in the survey form to display the "Sex" of the beneficiary.

To do this, go to the form settings and add a calculated field. In the formula editor, navigate to the reference field (e.g., "Beneficiary Registry") and click the dropdown arrow to reveal the fields within that referenced form. Select the field you want to pull in, such as "Sex." The system uses dot notation to reference the specific field within the beneficiary form. Once saved, this column will automatically populate with data from the registry, and it will update dynamically as you add new records.

00:35:00 Efficiently managing multiple records

For those managing large projects with hundreds or thousands of records, working efficiently is key. A common question is: "How can I efficiently manage multiple records?" There are two primary methods built into ActivityInfo for this.

First, you can select multiple records using the Shift or Control keys. If you need to delete a range of records, select the first record, hold down the Shift key, and select the last record to highlight the entire group. If you need to select specific, non-adjacent records, hold down the Control key while clicking the individual records. Once selected, you can delete them all at once using the "Delete records" button.

Second, for batch editing, you can use the Importer. If you need to update a specific field for many records simultaneously—for example, marking 100 records as "Validated"—editing them one by one is inefficient. Instead, export the records to Excel, update the values in the spreadsheet, and then copy the table. Back in ActivityInfo, click "Import," paste the data, and the system will automatically match the columns. It will identify that the records already exist and offer to update them. This allows you to perform batch edits on thousands of records in a single operation.

00:44:19 Reviewing database updates

Database administrators often ask: "How can I review what updates have been done on my database?" Monitoring changes is crucial for maintaining the state of your database. ActivityInfo provides two features for this: Record History and the Audit Log.

To view the history of a specific record, select the record and look at the history panel on the right-hand side. This shows a timeline of when the record was added, who added it, and every change made to it since. If a user changes a value, the history updates instantly to reflect what was changed, who changed it, and when.

For a broader view, you can access the Audit Log via the Database Settings. The Audit Log captures all actions taken by any user across the entire database. You can see record additions, deletions, and modifications. If a record was deleted accidentally, the Audit Log allows you to recover it with a single click. You can filter the log by date, event type (e.g., record changes vs. form design changes), or by specific forms to find exactly what you are looking for.

00:51:04 Modifying database structure

Finally, you may need to make changes to your database structure as your program evolves. A common question is: "How can I manage changes to my database structure?" You might need to reorganize forms or change who can see them.

You can organize your database by moving forms into folders. In the Database Settings under "Database design," select a form and click "Move" to place it into a different folder, such as grouping all evaluation forms together. You can also duplicate forms if you need to create a new survey that follows a similar structure to an existing one.

Additionally, you can manage form visibility. If a form contains sensitive data, you can set it to "Private" so only specific users can access it. Alternatively, you can set it to "Reference visibility." This setting hides the form from the general list of forms for most users but still allows the data to be referenced in other forms. This is useful for beneficiary registries where you want users to select a beneficiary in a survey but not browse the entire registry directly. Only users with permission to manage reference data will be able to view and edit the form directly.