Explore the latest ActivityInfo features - App Collection links, Merge duplicates, Custom views, Lookup fields and more

We are excited to share the latest features available in ActivityInfo developed to help you work with your data more quickly and effectively.

From merging duplicate records to app collection links and from custom views to multiple reference and custom lookup fields dive into this article to discover new functionalities.

In this article, we look into everything that is new in the platform including:

• Merging duplicate records
• App Collection links
• Custom views
• Reader view
• Multiple reference fields
• Custom lookup fields
• Default values and importing
• Exporting user details across all databases
• R package updates

Merging duplicate records for high quality, reliable data

Quality data is not only important for your accountability to donors but also ensures you have the right basis to understand the impact of your activities so as to make informed decisions. Duplicate records is a recurring challenge with consequences that can affect the quality of your program and the support that rights holders eventually receive. Manually detecting records is a tedious, time consuming process which is also error prone and can prove unmanageable when your program and your database grows.

For these reasons, we have been working on a series of improvements to help you detect and merge duplicate records quickly and effectively.

Following the release of the first version of record deduplication –a tool that allows you to scan records to identify duplicates for exact or slightly fuzzy matching records– you can now take a step further into ensuring high quality data by merging duplicate records.

Once you have scanned and detected the duplicate records, you can proceed to the merging interface where you can select which field values you wish to keep to synthesize a unique, primary record out of the duplicates.

Preserving referential integrity: The record you select as primary record receives the information and the dependencies contained in the secondary records, including Subform records, attachments, references, and reverse references. After all this information is added to the primary record, the secondary record(s) are then deleted as part of the merging process. This means that references and dependencies that pointed to the secondary data will now point to the primary record.

Learn more about identifying and merging records in our documentation.

In the future, we plan to continue improving the duplicate detection routine to handle duplicates across languages, synonyms, and other heuristics.

App Collection links

Data collection is a key step of the data lifecycle and ActivityInfo offers a variety of tools to support this. From partner organizations reporting on their activities using the data entry interface, to field enumerators and case workers using the mobile app or rights holders using collection links, all stakeholders have access to the data collection tool they need.

To enhance the survey experience, we released App Collection links, with which you can deploy offline-ready field surveys using only a link without the need for a user account for the enumerator. Anonymous feedback surveys, collecting responses directly from participants or rights holders becomes simpler even when there is no Internet connection. App Collection Links are the perfect way to deploy field surveys that are conducted by temporary enumerators who don’t need access to existing data and only need to submit survey results.

Custom views

When you collect data in ActivityInfo, you can end up with tables of hundreds of records. At different points in time or based on diverse requirements, you and other stakeholders might need to view only a selected aspect of the data.

Custom views allow you to create multiple, diverse views of your data for personal use or to share with other users. These are available in Table, Map and Reader view display.

With Custom views you can save and reuse your column selection, filtering and sorting on a form’s records. You can create as many Custom views as needed and switch between different views of your form data quickly and easily. You can also share these views with other users and select a default custom view for them to see when they enter the Table View interface.

Learn more about working with Custom views.

Reader view

When working with qualitative data, viewing the contents of Records on a Table display is not as efficient as viewing them individually on a vertical Reader view. The first version of the Reader view offers you a new way to explore your records and is particularly useful for reading through qualitative data (e.g. transcripts of interviews, user stories, case studies, focus groups’ insights, etc.)

When selecting this view, the record field values appear vertically one after the other, offering you a long format inspection of all records. When the record includes subform records, you can easily navigate the Reader view of those records via a link.

Learn more about the Reader view.

Multiple Reference fields

ActivityInfo’s effectiveness in handling complex datasets lies in the relational database model. By keeping datasets connected to each other, you ensure a comprehensive data overview that is based on quality reference data and you simplify data entry for users by offering predetermined options for their answers. We have been working on a series of improvements to enhance working with reference data, including reverse reference fields, in-place reference records, translating reference data, and lookup fields (see next feature).

In many cases, such as in beneficiary management and case management, the data model of the project includes many to many relationships between the data. For example, in the humanitarian context, a partner might be working in a project that is connected to multiple provinces. In the past, to keep this referential integrity intact, you would need to add a subform and combine it with a reference field. This, however, added complexity to data entry and analysis.

Multiple reference fields is a new field type that allows users to select multiple options from the reference dataset when they fill in the data entry form. This allows users to work with lists much more efficiently. Combined with the TEXTJOIN() formula, it is possible to view all selected options in one calculated field. As a result, instead of viewing a count of the referenced records, users can now see the list of the records themselves.

Read more about Multiple Reference fields.

In the future, we aim to add more functions to help users manage lists, such as set operations and series.

Custom lookup fields

Custom lookups can be useful when you work with lists such as patient data, beneficiary data, participant data, and in other cases where you might want to show a dropdown of only some specific fields instead of all of the Key fields found in the reference form. This way, you present options more compactly to the users doing data entry and improve the efficiency of the process.

Configuring custom lookups for your reference fields offer you even more flexibility and control on database design. By creating a custom lookup, you can specify which fields will appear to data entry users, no longer depending on the Key fields of the reference form. The lookup values may or may not be current Key fields or they can be a subset of Key fields, and you can create different types of lookups for each data entry form that links to the reference form.

Specifying lookup values makes it easier to work with reference forms that include Serial Numbers too, as you can now show additional fields in the dropdown of the data entry form.

Learn more about Custom lookup fields.

Default values and importing

Default values is a feature that allows you to design forms that include pre-populated fields. You can use default values to guide users and speed up data entry or as a good reference value for sanity checks. Default values are now supported in the importer too so when a user omits a field with a default value in the dataset, that field will automatically get populated with the default value.

Learn more about default values.

Exporting user details across all databases

Managing users of accounts that include multiple databases can quickly become a time consuming task. For this reason, we added new functionality that allows Technical Contacts to export to a spreadsheet a complete overview of users across all databases. The exported file includes separate sheets for each database and user details (including user type and last login date) to help simplify user management.

R package updates

We also released a new version of the ActivityInfo R package which includes various fixes and support for all the latest functionality related to Roles and permissions. Watch our Webinar to learn more.

Do you have feedback for the new functionalities? Feel free to contact us at support@activityinfo.org.