idea Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet in ArcGIS Survey123 Ideas

Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet

Jim-Moore — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 06:33:12 GMT

ArcGIS Survey123 has a mountain of great resources, including (but not limited to):

Documentation
Esri Community blog
Learn paths and lessons
Videos
See the Survey123 Resources page for more.

But what if you want something in a more lightweight format, either for quick reference or to take with you in the field? We've been considering a document like this for a while now, so we're putting it to you: for this ArcGIS Idea we're proposing either a quick reference document or a "cheat sheet" template for Survey123. If you think either would be useful, please add your vote! If you have a preference for the type of document, please let us know in a comment.

Quick reference

A summary of features in a static PDF document, more suited to survey authors (administrators). For Survey123 this could include question types, appearances, formulas or field app functions. For those that know and love ArcPad, here's an example quick reference guide to help users in the field. This (slightly different) example provides a one-page summary of which ArcGIS Insights visualisations are suitable for each data type.

Cheat sheet

An editable template that you can customise for your own project or business requirements and circulate to your users. This could be in the form of a set of field app instructions for survey respondents (mobile workers). Here you can download an excellent cheat sheet example for Collector, produced by Kylie Donia. It includes concise step-by-step instructions for navigating the app and using essential functions. Here's a version for Collector Classic.

If you think a similar document for Survey123 would be useful:

What functions or features should it cover?
How many pages should it be?
What parts of Survey123 should it cover (field app, web app, Connect, website)?
Which groups of users in your organisation would benefit from a guide like this?

If you've designed your own cheat sheet or quick reference document we would be excited to see it. You can share it here in a comment, or send it to us at survey123@esri.com. We're looking forward to your feedback.

Jim Moore‌ Marika Vertzonis‌ Claire Proctor‌

Re: Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet

ILoveMap — Tue, 04 May 2021 14:37:22 GMT

Hi @Jim-Moore ,

I'm curious if any progress has been made on a cheat sheet geared towards field workers? I would find this very useful for giving field staff additional resources that they can quickly reference while working. I'm thinking a concise, one page document. Covering basic interface questions like descriptions of the folders (collect, sent, drafts, inbox etc.) as well as FAQs pertaining to the field app would be a great help to both GIS and field staff. Some examples below:

1. How do I save a survey in my drafts folder?

2. Why can't a see a survey I submitted in the inbox? (forgetting to refresh inbox)

3. How do I update the location of the survey to my current location?

Re: Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet

Jim-Moore — Mon, 31 May 2021 02:13:46 GMT

Hi @ILoveMap thank you for your reply.

You're the first to reach out regarding this cheat sheet idea. Marika, Claire and I were gauging need from Survey123 users - and as such, no progress has been made as yet!

Thanks for your comments and suggestions - these are really useful. As a start, what if we could provide our documented FAQs and quick reference in PDF and make these available for download? And if you think that would be useful, are there any other parts of the documentation that would be good to have in PDF form?

Best, Jim

cc: @MarikaVertzonis

Re: Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet

ILoveMap — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 11:23:10 GMT

@Jim-Moore Thanks for the reply!

Providing those pages as downloadable/printable PDFs would be a great start and big help for our field staff. The documentation contained under the basics tab would also be helpful.

Re: Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet

Jim-Moore — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 04:33:41 GMT

Great, thanks again @ILoveMap the Basics topics make good candidates too. We'll put it on the to-do list and I'll endeavour to provide any updates on this thread. Best, Jim

Re: Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet

Jim-Moore — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 06:35:44 GMT

Hi @ILoveMap I've attached a first draft of a Survey123 field guide to the original post (please see above). The PDF includes the four "Basics" topics and the quick reference from the Get Answers documentation. We experimented with various combinations of doc topics (including Troubleshoot, FAQ, etc.), but landed on this set as we thought it provided the most relevant information for reference in the field without being too long and unwieldy.

We'd be keen to hear your feedback.

Thanks & best, Jim and Marika

cc: @MarikaVertzonis

Re: Survey123 quick reference or cheat sheet

PegGronemeyer1 — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 22:30:49 GMT

@Jim-Moore

Is this still an ongoing project? I just now saw this post... 3 years after original date. I decided to make my own technical manual because the information for connect is scattered all over the place. I would be interested in hearing the latest....

thanks