Kobotoolbox User Manual 2023
Kobotoolbox User Manual 2023
Table of Content
1. What is KoboToolbox .................................................................................................. 5
2. Who is KoboToolbox for? ............................................................................................ 5
2.1. What can KoboToolbox do?.................................................................................. 5
3. KoboToolbox components .......................................................................................... 5
4. Creating an account on KoboToolbox ......................................................................... 6
4.1. Creating an account ............................................................................................. 6
.5 The KoboToolbox Interface ........................................................................................ 8
5.1. Search bar ............................................................................................................ 8
5.2. User profile options ............................................................................................. 8
5.3. Draft, deployed and archived projects ................................................................. 8
5.4. Project actions ..................................................................................................... 9
6. Overview of creating and managing projects .............................................................. 9
6.1. Creating your first form ....................................................................................... 9
6.2. Adding questions ................................................................................................ 10
7. Save your Work progress ........................................................................................... 12
8. Getting started with XLSForm ................................................................................... 13
8.1. What is XLSForm ................................................................................................ 13
8.2. How to set up XLSForm ...................................................................................... 13
8.3. Adding questions ................................................................................................ 14
8.4. Adding choices ................................................................................................... 15
8.5. Uploading and previewing the XLSForm in KoboToolbox .................................... 15
8.6. Replacing a form with an XLSForm file ............................................................... 16
9. Previewing the form .................................................................................................. 17
10. Deploying the form ................................................................................................. 17
11. Collecting Data through Web Forms ....................................................................... 18
11.1. Why do I need web forms instead of KoboCollect Android App? ...................... 18
11.2. Collection Settings: ......................................................................................... 19
11.3. Data Collection setting ................................................................................... 20
11.4. Start Data Collection: ...................................................................................... 21
12. How do I save an offline web form on a mobile device? ......................................... 23
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Table of Figures
Figure 1: Creating Account Page ............................................................................................................ 7
Figure 2:KoboToolbox Login page .......................................................................................................... 8
Figure 3: Project Action page ................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 4:Creating First Project ............................................................................................................. 10
Figure 5:Project Details ......................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 6: Adding Questions ................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 7: Question Types ....................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 8: Question Type Details ............................................................................................................ 12
Figure 9: Question Format XLS form .................................................................................................... 14
Figure 10:Previeing the Form before sharing. ..................................................................................... 17
Figure 11: Deploying Form ...................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 12: Data Collection setting......................................................................................................... 19
Figure 13: Form Sharing Setting ........................................................................................................... 21
Figure 14: A Completed Form in Preview ............................................................................................. 22
Figure 15:save an offline web form on a mobile device. ..................................................................... 23
Figure 16: Downloading Kobo App for Mobile Device .......................................................................... 24
Figure 17: Setting up the server connection manually........................................................................ 25
Figure 18: Submitting form.................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 19: View Recorded/ Collected Data ........................................................................................... 29
Figure 20: Preview Data Individually and validation ............................................................................ 29
Figure 21: Respondent Location on the map ....................................................................................... 30
Figure 22: Summary of Recorded Data ................................................................................................ 31
Figure 23: Managing Project ................................................................................................................. 32
Figure 24: Validating Data ..................................................................................................................... 34
Figure 25: Exporting Data ..................................................................................................................... 35
Figure 26: Advance Downloading Option ............................................................................................. 36
Figure 27: Deleting the Project ............................................................................................................. 37
Figure 28: Deleting the Project ............................................................................................................. 38
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1. What is KoboToolbox
KoboToolbox was built for humanitarian aid professionals but can be used to suit any of
your data collection needs. Our users range anywhere from governmental organizations,
search and rescue teams, UN agencies, and large and small NGOs, to business
consultancies, accounting firms, and individuals.
3. KoboToolbox components
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Here, you are presented with two different servers where you can create your account.
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6. Log in to the email address you used when creating your account and click the
activation link sent to you.
7. Login to your Kobo account.
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Depending on whether you are on the Projects or Library section, the search
bar at the top allows you to quickly filter the items displayed.
In the Projects section of the interface, your individual projects are organized
into 3 categories:
1. Draft projects are forms that have been created but not deployed. These
forms will not appear on KoboCollect for data entry until they have been
deployed.
2. When a form has been deployed, it will appear under Deployed. These
forms are available for data collection through
both KoboCollect and Enketo web forms.
3. When data collection is complete, you can archive the project. These
projects will appear under Archived.
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Option Description
Use a template Build a form using a template from the question library.
Upload XLSForm Upload an XLSForm file where you have defined your questions.
Import an Upload an XLSForm file from an online source such as Google Drive
XLSForm via URL or Dropbox
• Click Build from scratch to start creating your form using the
formbuilder.
• On the ‘Project details’ dialog box that opens up, enter the relevant
information about your project and then click CREATE PROJECT
Once the formbuilder opens up, you can start adding your questions.
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1. Click the + button below the message that says, “This form is empty”.
2. Type in your question text.
3. Press ENTER or click the ADD QUESTION button. Figure 6: Adding Questions
4. Finally, select the question type from the list (see the example below)
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When building forms for KoboToolbox, there are two main methods you can
use. One is by using the KoboToolbox form builder, and the other is using
XLSForm.
Not only does using XLSForm offer enhanced functionalities, but it can also
make collaborating on form building easier in some case. For example,
members of your team can work on building the form in Google Sheets,
allowing for real time collaboration.
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1. In the survey sheet, under the type column, type “text”. This is the
question type for our first question. To learn more about question
types in XLSForm.
2. Under the name column, type “yourname”. This will be the variable
name of our first question. The variable name uniquely identifies each
question in the form. It’s also the name of the question in the database
when we start collecting data. Each question must have a unique name
and cannot contain spaces or symbols (except the underscore).
3. Under the label column, type “What is your name”. This label will be
shown as the question text on the form when we collect data.
1. Still in the survey sheet, type select_one gender in the type column
below the previous question (make sure to put a space between the 2
words). select_one is the question type that allows us to specify a list
of choices where a user will only be allowed to pick one choice. (If a
user can select several choices, this would be specified by
the select_multiple question type.) “sex” is the name of the list of
choices which we have to define in the choices sheet.
2. Type the name and label of the question as “sex” and “Sex” respectively.
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Since we defined one question that has a list of choices (“sex”) in the
previous step, we need to add this list in the choices sheet as follows:
1. Switch to the choices sheet so that you can add your list of choices for
the “Sex” question.
2. In the cell below list_name, type “sex”. This is the list name we defined
for the “Sex” question in the survey sheet. In the cell below name, type
“male”. This is the value that will be stored when the user chooses the
option “Male”. Under label, type “Male”. This is what will be shown for
this option in the survey.
3. For the second choice, type “sex” as list_name, “female” as the name,
and “Female” as the label.
Once you have finished creating the XLSForm you must upload it to
KoboToolbox in order to preview it.
1. While you are on the Project List view (the first screen after you have
just logged in to KoboToolbox), click NEW.
2. Click Upload an XLSForm (if you were creating the form using Google
Sheets, you can either download the file as an Excel file, to import it
via a URL).
3. Choose the Excel file you just created and wait until it uploads.
4. Confirm the project details and click CREATE PROJECT.
5. You can then click the Preview form button to preview your form.
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You can replace the existing form with a new version using an XLSForm (for
example, after having edited the form in Excel). To do this while you are on
the Project List view:
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The form we created in the Adding questions section above will display as
follows:
You can press the Escape key (Esc) on the keyboard to return to the
formbuilder (or click the close button on the Form Preview window).
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1. Make sure you have saved all the changes you have made to the form
(If there is a * symbol on the SAVE button, you have changes that need
to be saved before exiting).
2. Click the X close button next to the SAVE button at the top.
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To start collecting data, you will need to deploy your project first. Once your
project is deployed you will see a screen as shown below with options on
how to Collect data.
1. Choose a data entry method from the drop-down list below the
heading Collect data. There are seven methods of data collection.
This option opens the Enketo Web Form, and allows you to enter
multiple submissions, even while you are offline.
2. In the drop-down menu under Collect data, you have several options
available for Web Forms:
Online-only (once per respondent): This allows your web form only to be
submitted once per user, using basic protection to prevent the same user
(on the same browser & device) from submitting more than once.
Embeddable web form code: Use this html5 code snippet to integrate your
form on your own website using smaller margins.
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View only: Use this version for testing, getting feedback. Does not allow
submitting data.
Android application: Use this option to collect data in the field with your
Android device.
For setting data collection, we will use setting menu which is consist of five
parts:
General: in this part we can edit the overall general information of the form
like name description and so on.
Media: in this part we can attach other files like photos or documents to the
form.
Sharing: in this part we can adjust the sharing policy of the form. Moreover,
we can set who can access to this data apart from the owner.
Connect projects: in this part we can join other projects to our
form/project.
Reset services: You can use REST Services to automatically post
submissions to a third-party application.
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Once the form is opened, you should see a screen like the one shown in the
bellow:
1. Signal Bars: The signal bars indicate whether the form can be launched
offline or not. Web forms are built to be able to collect data while you
are offline, however, it is essential to visit the form URL with an internet
connection before going offline. Once your form has been loaded and
cached, you’ll see the offline availability icon (empty “signal bars” and a
check mark) in the top-left corner indicating that you can now access
the form offline.
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2. Queued Records Counter: The Queued Records Counter shows you the
total number of records submitted and waiting to be uploaded to a server.
3. Your device location: this message asks to permit the location of your
data collection device if it is not essentially on.
4. Printer Icon: The printer icon provides you access to print your form or
save it as a PDF version.
5. Queue Records Pane: Clicking the side button shows you the records that
are available as drafts (which can still be edited).
6. GPS Location: this part will record your / your clint location existing as a
GPS format on the background map. However, it depends on your question
type. If you don’t have GPS question, you will not have this part.
7. Delete GPS record: this icon will delete your GPS record.
8. Save as Draft: Use this feature to edit or update your records before
submitting it to the KoboToolbox server.
9. Submit: Press the Submit button if you have completed collecting
information and wish to send the filled-up form to the KoboToolbox server.
After pressing the Submit button, you will not have an option to edit the
records on your device.
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If you have an Android version below 5, you can install an older version of the
app through the KoboToolbox GitHub Repository. We have a support article
outlining how to collect data in the older version of KoboCollect here. We
recommend using the latest version of the app, if possible, as it includes
features and bug fixes that may not be available in older versions.
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After setting up the server, you should now see the following home screen.
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Once you have configured the URL, Username, and Password in the app
correctly, you can send blank forms to your device from
the KoboToolbox server.
• Open KoboCollect.
• Make sure that you have at least one project set up in
your KoboToolbox user account and that your device is
connected to the internet.
• Select Get Blank Form from the home menu.
Once you have blank form(s) in the app, you will no longer
require an internet connection to collect data. The blank
forms and the filled in forms will stay on the device until you delete them
from the app or submit them to the server.
• Open KoboCollect.
• Select Fill Blank Form from the home menu.
• Select the survey form that you want to use to start
collecting data.
• Go through all the questions by swiping your finger from
right to left or by selecting the NEXT key after answering
the questions.
• At the end of the survey, select Save Form and Exit.
Figure 18: Submitting form.
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Once you have collected your data, and made any necessary edits, you can
upload the forms to the KoboToolbox server.
• Open KoboCollect.
• Make sure the device is securely connected to the internet.
• Select Send Finalized Form from the home screen.
• A list of all the collected forms should appear.
• Press Select All (or select the ones you wish to upload) and then
press Send Selected.
• To ensure the forms were uploaded successfully, select View Sent Form.
You should now be able to view all the submitted forms.
Users will need an internet connection while submitting data
from KoboCollect to the server.
13.6. Deleting Saved Forms in KoboCollect
Once you have completed data collection for your survey project and all the
filled in forms have been uploaded to the server, it is recommended to delete
the forms from the KoboCollect app. Keeping them in the app can confuse
interviewers while collecting data for a different project. Follow the steps
outlined below to delete Saved Forms and Blank Forms from your app.
• Open KoboCollect.
• Select Delete Saved Form from the home screen.
• Users should now see two tabs. The default is Saved
Forms. These are the forms that were filled in while
collecting data. Press Select All to delete all the Saved
Forms from the app and then Delete Selected.
• The next tab is the Blank Forms. Press Select All to
delete all the Blank Forms from the app and
then Delete Selected.
Users should not require an internet connection to delete
saved forms in KoboCollect.
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You will see the number of records that has been submitted on the top right of
the screen:
3. To view the data submitted, click the DATA tab in the top menu.
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From the Data part you can access the other formats of recorded data:
Table: the data will be represented in table format.
Report: in this part we can access the recorded data in graphs/ charts and
statistic question wise.
Image gallery: in this part we can access the images answers to the question.
Download: we can download the recorded data in 8 formats like Excel, csv,
zip etc. we can export the data based on specific filtration.
Map: you can observe the respondence /occasion location on Google map.
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The Project Summary tab gives you a visual display of all the high-level
information related to your project. Depending on whether you’re the project
owner or a user with restricted permissions, different information will be
shown to you. The Project Summary includes:
A Project owner can now give a “Can Validate” permission to other users.
Users with this permission can view a record, edit it if necessary, and assign
a status to the record in question. Assigning a status to a particular
record/submission raises data collection standards for teams with more
than one enumerator.
15.3. What are the statuses that you can assign to a record?
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• Users can filter the table view based on the validation status or any
other select-one question. For example, you can use these filters to
view the submissions associated with a particular enumerator in
District X. It is possible to use more than one filter at a time.
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To update all the records on the page, select the checkbox on the top left;
or to update all the records in your dataset, select the blue text that says,
“Select all XXX”. Then, click on “Update Selected” to select the new status.
KoboToolbox allows you to download the data you have collected in several
different formats. There are also several customizations you can make to
your export settings.
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A new export can take between a few seconds and several minutes to be
created (depending on the number of submissions, size of the form and
current load on the servers) and will be shown below in the Exports section
of the page.
Export types:
SPSS when run. Learn more about importing data into SPSS (and
STATA).
• GPS Coordinates (KML) - Generates a KML file which can be used to
work with your data in GIS software, such as Google Earth
• Media Attachments (ZIP) - Downloads a ZIP file with all the media
collected through the form.
• XLS (legacy) - Generates an XLSX (Microsoft Excel) file using a legacy
interface of KoboToolbox.
• CSV (legacy) - Generates a CSV file using a legacy interface of
KoboToolbox.
Advanced options:
Aside from being able to customize the value and header format, non-legacy
formats also allow you to customize other aspects of the exported file in
the Advanced Options section:
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In the Project Dashboard page hover over the far-right side of the project you
wish to delete. Click the three-dot icon (circled) that appears and then click
Delete. A dialogue box will appear that will require you to read and check a set
warning, before deleting the project from your KoboToolbox account.
In the General window within the SETTINGS tab of the Project Page, click
DELETE PROJECT AND DATA. A dialogue box will appear that will require you
to read and check a set warning, before deleting the project from your
KoboToolbox account.
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17. References
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www.immap.org
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