Configuring Questions | OpsAnalitica University

At the heart of building a checklist is adding the questions you want to ask the end users. In the previous article, we described in detail the different question types available to you.

In this article, we are going to go through all of the options available to you to configure the questions.

There are two types of elements for each question:

Common Elements: every question type shares these elements, such as question text and the possible score.
- (Above the line for each question in the image above)
Question Type Elements: These are specific to the question type and are dependent on the type of data that is collected.
- (Below the line for each question in the image Above)
  - You'll notice differences, below the lines, in the different question types in the image. The True False labels are different from the number labels and options.

Common Question Elements Explained: Question Tab

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Question Text	Required	This is where you ask the question or explain what information you want the End User to enter. You can edit this text whenever you want and it is instantly live. Pro Tip: Don't edit the meaning of the question text for a question that has already been answered. Ex: Don't ask if the bathroom is clean and then change the question text to is the bathroom dirty? The last question text will apply to all previous answers so by changing the meaning of the question you changed the meaning of all the past answers. If you don't want the current question but you want to ask a new one, make a copy of the question, make the original question Inactive and configure the copy.
Background	Not Required	Allows you to pick a background color for the question text.
Foreground	Not Required	Allows you to pick a text color for the question.
Possible Score	Required	You have to have a possible score for every question. The higher the Possible Score the higher the impact that question has on the entire Checklist Score. If a question is just informational and doesn't have anything to do with performance, just enter a 0. An example of an informational question might be: What is the Manager's name? There is no reason to give or take away points because the manager's name has nothing to do with performance.
Tags	Not Required	Tags are not required but are recommended to link similar types of questions together to aid in reporting. Also, a Critical tag on a question coupled with an Unsatisfactory Response Tag, generated by an OpsLogic Rule, designates the response as a Critical Violation. Tags are also used with rules to make questions visible and not visible. This is advanced checklist configuration and will be covered in the OpsLogic section of the training. When you apply a tag to a question it applies retroactively, this can be useful if you want to report on a couple of disparate questions on different checklists and different categories.
Status	Required	Active means the question is visible and can be answered. Inactive means the question is not visible and will not be asked. On checklists, Inactive questions are hidden but you can make them visible by clicking the Show All button at the top of the categories list.
Read Only	Not Required	This is an advanced feature. It makes the question not able to be answered or edited. Using OpsLogic we use this to display dynamic data in the question box. Examples would be that we total up some values, or calculate a score, etc..
Visible	Not Required	Visible is defaulted to be true. For most questions, you want them Visible so they can be answered. Advanced: A question needs to be Visible to have the rules run on it when the checklist loads. Advanced: A lot of times we will make a question Visible so it can run a rule and the outcome of the rule is to make it Not Visible based on some other factor.
Calculated	Not Required	This is an advanced feature. Calculated means that every time a person touches the screen of the checklist the rules on the question run. This not true of non-calculated questions, there rules run on the load, when the question is answered, and on submittal. Ex: think of a cell in a spreadsheet with a sum function in it. Every time you add a number above in the range, the sum recalculates it self to take the new number. This is what the Calculated box does, every time you do something on the checklist the Calculated question re-runs its rules. This is usually used in conjunction with the Read Only check box.

Common Question Elements Explained: Help Tab

This is the help text control that the End User sees:

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Help Text	Not Required	When you add help text it adds a red button on the question that in the upper right corner that the end user can click on and view. The help text is used to put more information about the standard or how to answer the question in a pop-up. This allows you to provide more information to the End User without cluttering up the question text. Good Checklist design stipulates that you give the End User everything they would need to accurately answer the question so they don't have to look for it. This is an advantage of using a digital system vs. paper where their isn't room to put extra information. You will also notice that there is a text configuration menu on the top image, this is available on all text boxes and it allows you to configure the text, add photos, add bullets, etc. The help text is great place to insert job aids by taking screen shots and uploading them.

Common Question Elements Explained: Comments Tab

This is the Comment text control that the End User sees:

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Comment Template	Not Required	A comment template is a prepopulated comment that can be added to the comment box for End Users. The name is what appears in the drop-down box and the text appears in the comment box when selected. When you add Comment Templates to a question, the End User can select the comment from a drop-down on the comment box. It will insert the text below into the comment box. These are used to speed up completing checklists when the comments that are being added are generally always the same. The best practice is to use these on the above store leader checklists only. End Users doing daily checklists should put their own comments in because they can be instructive to management. A bad comment from an End User might signify that the person doesn't understand the issue and prompt some training and follow-up. You can create as many comment templates as you want. The End User can add more text or edit the text of the prepopulated comment from the comment box.

Common Question Elements Explained: OpsLogic

Here is what a question looks like with rules:

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
OpsLogic	Not Required	OpsLogic are the rules that you use to have the checklist take action, score, require follow-ups, etc. Currently, only the Pre-create Response Rules are enabled. The Post-create do not work. If you don't apply any rules you are just collecting data and you are missing out on assigning meaning to that data and requiring follow-up actions from the End User completing the checklist. Each Question Type has different rules assigned to it. Rules have to be created and saved in the OpsLogic section before they can be used in a Checklist. You can assign as many rules as you need or want to the question. The rule names should explain what the rule does.

Question Type Elements Explained: True False

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Allow Null	Not Required	Creates an N/A Option that a person can click, it answers the question but doesn't affect the score.
True Label	Required	This is where you can put in your own custom True button Label. Ex: Complete, Yes, Done If you leave this blank the default button label is True
False Label	Required	This is where you can put in your own custom False button Label. Ex: Not Complete, No, Not Done. If you leave this blank the default button label is False.

Question Type Elements Explained: Enter Number

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Precision	Not Required	This determines how many decimal points you will allow. If you leave this blank it defaults to 0.
Before	Not Required	This is a label to the left of the enter data entry box. You can explain more about the data you are entering. Ex: $, Count
Hint	Not Required	Hint text is the light grey text that appears in the data entry box. If you look at the picture in the Hint Control, "Hint When Empty" is an example of Hint Text
After	Not Required	This is a label to the right of the data entry box. You can explain more about the data you are entering. Ex: $, Count, F

Question Type Elements Explained: Number Multiple Choice

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Precision	Not Required	This determines how many decimal points you will allow. If you leave this blank it defaults to 0.
Display As	Required	This will show how the multiple choice options are displayed. Your choices are: Buttons, Drop Down, or Radio Buttons
Choices	Required	You have to add at least one choice to save the Question Set.
Label	Required	This is the text the end user will see.
Value	Required	This will be the number stored in the database.
User Editable	Not Required	This will make the box editable and the End User will be able to enter the value.

Question Type Elements Explained: Date Time Question Types (are all the same)

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Before	Not Required	This is a label to the left of the data entry box. You can explain more about the data you are entering. Ex: $, Count
Hint	Not Required	Hint text is the light grey text that appears in the data entry box. If you look at the picture in the Hint Control, "Hint When Empty" is an example of Hint Text
After	Not Required	This is a label to the right of the data entry box. You can explain more about the data you are entering. Ex: $, Count, F

Question Type Elements Explained: Enter Text Question

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Multi-line	Not Required	This increases the size of the text box from one line to a paragraph box. This doesn't increase the amount of characters that can be entered into the box.
Before	Not Required	This is a label to the left of the data entry box. You can explain more about the data you are entering. Ex: $, Count
Hint	Not Required	Hint text is the light grey text that appears in the data entry box. If you look at the picture in the Hint Control, "Hint When Empty" is an example of Hint Text
After	Not Required	This is a label to the right of the data entry box. You can explain more about the data you are entering. Ex: $, Count, F

Question Type Elements Explained: Multiple Choice Text Question

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Display As	Required	This will show how the multiple choice options are displayed. Your choices are: Buttons, Drop Down, or Radio Buttons
Choices	Required	You have to add at least one choice to save the Question Set.
Label	Required	This is the text the end user will see.
Value	Required	This will be the text stored in the database.
User Editable	Not Required	This will make the box editable and the End User will be able to enter the value.

Question Type Elements Explained: Attachment Picture & File

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Attachment Type	Required	This will determine if the question is expecting a photo and will display the camera button. Or, expecting a document that will display the Document icon.
Label	Not Required	You have the option of adding a label, such as: Take Photo or Upload Document.

Question Type Elements Explained: No Response

Element	Required/Not Required	Explanation
Text Box	Required	This is the text you will put in the No Response Question. Remember there is no answer to this type it is simply a text box you can put in your checklist to type out instructions or provide job aids.
Help	Not Required	No response help functions like the help box on questions.
OpsLogic	Not Required	No Response Questions can have rules applied to them through their own OpsLogic Section.

This has shown you how to configure questions. Remember the common elements of all questions are the same no matter what question type.

Based on the question type, the question elements will change. All of these changes are based on database and programming languages. Text is handled differently than numbers or True False questions in coding and in databases. That is why there are differences.

In the next article, we will teach you how to put together a checklist.

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