00:00:00 Introduction

Hello and welcome to everybody. Feel free to introduce yourself in the chat. I am excited to be joined by my new colleague, Timothy Macheru, who is coming to us from Nairobi. Together, we will give you an introduction to some of the new features that we have released and some that have been out for a while, but perhaps you are not using them yet. We are going to look at a general introduction to views, personal versus shared views, and then go through the different types and how you can use them.

00:00:42 Understanding form views

To start with, what are form views exactly? You are likely familiar with forms in ActivityInfo; they have fields and records. Views are different ways of presenting those records. They are different from reports. Reports are intended to summarize the data that is in a form, such as finding the average age of a participant or the average age by region. Form views are meant to display the actual values of the record in different ways.

You have always been able to customize the Table view in ActivityInfo—resizing columns, filtering, and sorting. However, previously, if you closed your browser or changed the view, there was no way to go back to that structure. When we introduced views for forms a couple of months ago, it allowed you for the first time to save the views and the filters you had constructed, first for yourself and now as shared views.

If you switch to the Map view, for example, you are displaying the same records and all the same information is there; we are not summarizing them as we are in a report, but we are displaying the geographic coordinates spatially. The Reader view, which has been out for some time, allows you to display multi-line text and qualitative data in a way that is easy to consume.

00:02:46 The roadmap for service delivery

I want to place this in the context of our larger roadmap. While it is useful to save the configuration of columns and filters, more generally, this is about helping you use ActivityInfo for service delivery directly and digitizing your actual work within your organization. ActivityInfo has always been a solid foundation as a relational database and a great tool for monitoring and evaluation. However, often data is generated and manipulated elsewhere, such as project managers using spreadsheets or field workers using different case management software. This creates inefficiency because you are constantly moving data between systems.

We envision views as a way to help you use ActivityInfo for service delivery. You can invite a project manager, a health professional, or a clinician to use ActivityInfo directly so that all the data is integrated in one place from the beginning. This allows us to use the data much more quickly and ensures that colleagues delivering services have the latest information they need.

00:05:14 Types of views

Right now, there are four different types of views available: Table, Map, Reader, and the newest addition, Record detail. We currently have a Matrix view in progress, which is useful for working with indicator data, and a mobile version for the Record detail view. We plan to keep expanding this to include Kanban views, Calendar views for time management, and Gantt views for project management.

These views can be stored in two different ways. Personal views are something any user can create. These are saved to your local device and synchronized across devices, so they are always available to you. Shared views require more permission to create. Once shared, they are available to all users who have access to the form. They can also be set as the default view, which is useful for building tools for your team members, allowing database administrators to shape the interface for other users.

00:07:30 Demo: Table and Map views

I will jump into a dummy database to demonstrate a couple of the simpler views. Using the Development Assistance template, we can look at a Farm registry form. Typically, forms have many fields, which can be overwhelming for teammates who don't need to see everything. We can start by creating a more streamlined view.

In the Table view, I can select columns to remove information that isn't relevant for a specific user, such as website or mailing address, while keeping critical info like the city or farm type. I can sort by date to see the most recently registered farms first and set a filter to show only existing farms. I can save this as a personal view called "Overview."

To make this available to others, I can set it to "Shared." I can also set it as the default, meaning when anyone navigates to the farm registry, they will see this streamlined overview first instead of the default view with all the fields. To this, I can add a Map view. For example, I can display population density to see which farms are in urban versus rural areas and save this as a "Map overview," sharing it as well. This gives users an easy way to switch between predefined views.

00:11:55 Demo: Reader view

The third view is the Reader view. This is particularly useful when collecting qualitative data, such as a survey with many open-ended questions. In a standard table or detail view, this text is difficult to read. The Reader view allows you to consume qualitative information in a much more natural way, displaying the text fully so you can read it as if you were reading a questionnaire. This is helpful for doing a first pass over a survey to understand responses before coding or categorizing the data.

00:14:04 Demo: Record detail view

Timothy Macheru: The Record detail view is functionality that enables you to see everything entailed about a parent record in one screen. For this demo, I will use the EMR (Electronic Medical Records) database template available on the ActivityInfo website. This is similar to a case management use case where you have details about a client or patient.

First, I will add a record for a patient, including name, gender, date of birth, ID, contact details, and medical history like existing conditions and allergies. We also have a subform for "Vitals," where we record height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. Following that, we have a "Consultation" subform where a physician records the visit date, complaints (e.g., severe chest pain), and diagnosis. Finally, there is a "Lab Test" subform for recording tests like a PCR for flu or pneumonia.

Once the data is entered, the Record detail view helps us view this information in one spot. There are four different components for the Record detail view: the Heading, Field list, Calculated table, and Navigation.

Once configured, you save the view. You can then share it and make it the default, ensuring that anyone on the team viewing a patient record sees this consistent, consolidated interface.

00:38:09 Q&A: Editing shared views

Alex Bertram: We have a question from Quentin asking how to edit a shared view. If you have a shared view and you want to change it—for example, changing the column width—it will initially show up as an "Untitled personal view." To update the shared version, click on the three dots next to the view name and select "Update with current view." This will apply your changes to the shared view for everyone.

00:40:16 Q&A: Field descriptions and navigation

Alex Bertram: Emmanuella asked if it is possible to remove the description of the fields in the Record detail view, as they are useful for data entry but clutter the view. You are absolutely right; we should be able to get that removed, and I will pass that on to the team.

Regarding sorting records in calculated tables, we are working on adding functionality so you can sort entries by date. We hope to have that in the next release.

Emmanuella also asked about navigating to subforms of subforms. Currently, navigation is generally direct to the immediate children. If you need to see data from a subform of a subform, you might need to create a calculated table to pull that data up, or we can discuss specific database design offline.

00:44:24 Q&A: Database structure and subforms

Alex Bertram: Valentina asked about structuring a relational database for patient management. She has separate tables for patients, nutritional care, and medical consultations, rather than subforms.

You can certainly use subforms, which automatically create a one-to-many relationship. However, if you prefer separate forms—perhaps to manage permissions by role—you can link them using Reference fields. To bring that data together in a Record detail view, you can use a Reverse Reference field. By adding a reverse reference in the patient form back to the nutritional intervention form, you create a bi-directional link similar to a subform. This allows you to pull that data into a calculated table in the Record detail view.

Regarding permissions, you can still use subforms and assign different permissions to them. In the database settings, you can create a role (e.g., "Lab Tech") and grant access to the parent form but deny access to specific subforms like "Finance" or "Consultations," while allowing access to the "Laboratory" subform.

00:51:45 Q&A: Default views and other topics

Alex Bertram: Kwame asked if users need to select shared views manually. If you create a shared view, users can select it from the list. However, if you set it as the Default view, they will see it immediately when they navigate to the form without needing to make a selection.

Regarding French language resources, we have translated our documentation library into French and Spanish, including the tutorial on Electronic Medical Records that Timothy demonstrated.

Abraham asked about creating a database for IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps. We have an "IDP Response" template on our website. You can start with a list of IDP sites and then add a registration form. In the registration form, you would add a reference field to the IDP site to link the individuals to the location, along with fields for name, date of birth, and other registration details.

Thank you to everyone for joining us, and thank you, Timothy, for the presentation.