3 of 29

Create a form

Give your form a title

Add Questions to your form

Go to Open Data Kit form builder

https://build.opendatakit.org

Create an account

4 of 29

You can also start a form by uploading a file from your computer

For our activity, use the TABworkshop.odkbuild file at the bottom of the website

Take a look at the questions, they are designed to correspond to the BIT Site Details page

6 of 29

Remember to save your form

Export your form to XLSForm and save your XLSForm on your computer desktop

We can now use your XLSForm to set up a Google Drive spreadsheet for your submissions

7 of 29

Link ODK form to Google Drive

You can see examples of the XLSForm and submission sheet below the slide decks on the website

To begin to set a submission spreadsheet in your Google Drive, open the XLSForm you downloaded to your computer in Excel

Take a look at the spreadsheet, it should have tabs for the survey, choices and settings

8 of 29

Survey sheet

The survey sheet contains your questions with the following columns:

type = question format
name = the name of the column in the submission spreadsheet
label = this is the text of your question
hint = additional information to help answer the question
appearance = controls the appearance of your question click here for list

9 of 29

Question Type	Answer Input
integer	Integer (i.e., whole number) input.
decimal	Decimal input.
text	Free text response.
select_one [options]	Multiple choice question; only one answer can be selected.
select_multiple [options]	Multiple choice question; multiple answers can be selected.
note	Display a note on the screen, takes no input.
geopoint	Collect a single GPS coordinates.
geotrace	Record a line of two or more GPS coordinates.
geoshape	Record a polygon of multiple GPS coordinates; the last point is the same as the first point.
date	Date input.
time	Time input.
dateTime	Accepts a date and a time input.
image	Take a picture.
audio	Take an audio recording.
video	Take a video recording.
barcode	Scan a barcode, requires the barcode scanner app to be installed.
calculate	Perform a calculation; see the Calculation section below.
acknowledge	Acknowledge prompt that sets value to “OK” if selected.

10 of 29

Choices sheet

This sheet contains the answers to multiple choice questions

11 of 29

Settings sheet

This is where you will put the url of your submission spreadsheet

The submission spreadsheet is where you will send your answers when you submit them through ODK Collect

12 of 29

Create submission spreadsheet

Now go to your Google Drive

https://drive.google.com

And create a new spreadsheet

Name your sheet

13 of 29

Link ODK form to submission spreadsheet

Copy the url of your Google Drive Spreadsheet and go back to your XLSform on your computer (in Excel)

Go to the Settings sheet, add a column called “submission_url” and paste your url in the column

14 of 29

Convert XLSForm to XML file

Now our form has the information we need to link it to a Google Drive Spreadsheet so that the submissions from our ODK form will go directly into the Spreadsheet

Photographs will also be uploaded to Google Drive and linked to our submission spreadsheet (there will be a column with the URLs for the photos online)

The next step is to convert the spreadsheet into an XML file so that we can use it on our mobile devices using ODK Collect

15 of 29

XML Converter

16 of 29

Convert the XLS file to XML XForms:

Open http://opendatakit.org/xiframe
Click Choose File and select your XLS file from your computer
Click Submit
If there are any mistakes in the XLS file correct them
Click Download and specify the file name and location to download your XML file
Click Preview in enketo to see what the form will look like

17 of 29

Upload to Drive

Create a Google Drive folder and add the XML file that you just created for your ODK Collect form, add the submission spreadsheet and the XLSForm so everything is in one place on your Google Drive

18 of 29

ODK Collect

Now we’re ready to put the form on our Android devices

Using your Android phone or tablet, go to the Google Play Store and search for ODK Collect and install it on your device

19 of 29

Configure your account

Click on the three dots in the upper right corner to get the menu

Click on General Settings

20 of 29

Choose Google Drive, Google Sheets as your platform

Enter your Google account email

Enter your ODK Username

Enter your Google Password

21 of 29

Get Blank Form

Click Get Blank Form

Search for your XML file in your Google Drive and select your file

Click Download Selected

22 of 29

Once your form is downloaded to your phone or tablet you will be able to access it and fill it out offline (out of cell service and away from wifi)

All information will be stored on your phone or tablet until you are back online and can upload it to Google Drive

23 of 29

Fill Blank Form

Choose your form and begin to fill it in

25 of 29

Photos will be stored on your phone or tablet so if you plan to take a lot of photos you should get a device that allows you to use micro SD cards to increase memory

Photos are uploaded to your Google Drive and a link is added to your submission spreadsheet

26 of 29

When you are back online

Save Form and Exit

Send Finalized Form

Send Selected

27 of 29

Submission Spreadsheet

Now your answers should show in your Google Drive Sheet

Go to your Google Drive folder and open the submission spreadsheet

28 of 29

Import Spreadsheet to My Maps

There are many things you can do with your submission spreadsheet, including importing it to a My Maps

Create a new My Maps in the Google Drive folder containing your XLSForm, XML file and submission spreadsheet so that you can easily find all of the materials you have created for your project

You can visualize your data using Google Earth desktop, which allows you to layer additional geospatial data without uploading it to the web

Your submission spreadsheet can also be used in ESRI ArcGIS

1 of 29

2 of 29