Once you have created your new Instrument, you can begin setting up the specific parts (questions), which are organized into Pages. You can preview your instrument, and even apply advanced functionality such as branching logic, pre-population, and multiple languages.
Pages
After the New Instrument view, or any time you open an existing Instrument to edit it, you’ll be taken to the Page view.
Click the white sheet of paper icon in the upper right to add, organize, and name/rename Pages.
You can add as many pages as you want, and you can reorder them by clicking and dragging the horizontal lines to the left of the page name (marked A below) and dragging it to where you want it to go.
You can remove a page by clicking on the blue minus circle to the right of the page name in the Page list (marked B above). Any time you complete an action to remove something within Fabric, you’ll see a prompt giving you the option to confirm removal or cancel:
After initial setup of your Page structure, you can begin to build out the components of the Instrument.
Rows
To add parts to an Instrument, we work with Rows. To add a new Row to an empty Instrument, or at the bottom of any Page at any time, click ADD ROW.
Any time you add a new Row/part, you’ll see options for Standard, Question, Content, Existing, and Cancel. The following sections discuss each of these options in detail.
Once you have created at least one part, the part will include the (=) icon to the left. Clicking this pops up a menu, from which you can choose to add a Row (part) above or below that question, move it, remove it, or save to library.
Content
We’ll start out of order with adding Content, as it’s the simplest option. You’ll be taken to a rich text editor, where you can add and format the narrative content, which will be displayed within the Instrument as read-only to the respondent.
Content is typically used for informational purposes. For example, you could create an Introduction Page at the beginning of the instrument which would provide background information to the respondent that you’d like them to read prior to beginning to complete responses.
Standards
A Standard row is a criterion-based Element, which refers to a specific sub-part of a Standard that you’ve set up in Fabric (see the Standards user guide). After selecting Standard as your Element type,
The criterion field is type-ahead and will show you a list of Standards elements which match your search text.
After selecting the reference criterion, you can add ratings and findings via the menu which pops up when you click the gear icon.
When you select Allow Findings, you’ll see a rich text box appear, which allows the respondent to add narrative in addition to selecting a rating.
Allow Documents and Allow Comments will show the respondent selection buttons they can use to attach a document or insert a comment for that specific part.
Note: Associating Multiple Criteria to a Part
If you now add a Question, that Question has an implicit association to any criteria in this part, thus any question added here receives that same association until you add another Criterion part, and then any question below that will associate to that Criterion.
Questions
There are three categories of Questions: Simple, Form, or Table.
Simple Questions
A Simple Question is a single question within its own part.
You can choose text input, several formats of choice questions, a question which only allows a number or date/time as input, or a question which only provides mechanism for the respondent to submit a document attachment. We’ll discuss each of these question types in turn below.
Text Questions
For basic text responses, you can choose either Short Answer or Narrative:
Short Answer: The Instrument input view the respondent sees will include only one line visible for text input. As the name implies, this is used for short answers.
Narrative: The respondent will see a larger text box, which will wrap the input text onto multiple lines and expand as needed to show all text entered.
Choice Questions
There are five types of Choice questions:
Boolean: Displays Question text and an associated checkbox. The text associated with the single checkbox can be if needed, and the status of this item’s selection (or not) is often used in Branching logic (discussed later in Advanced Options). A common use of this type of Question is for the respondent to agree to acceptance of terms and conditions, or to confirm accuracy of information provided.
Radio Buttons: Displays all configured choices alongside selection buttons. The respondent can only make a single selection from the list of choices.
Checkboxes: Displays all configured choices alongside checkboxes and allows the respondent to select multiple items.
Dropdown: Displays all configured choices in a drop-down menu (like the one shown above when you select Choice Type). The respondent can only make a single selection from the list of choices.
List box: Displays all configured choices in a list. The respondent can make multiple selections from the list of choices using the Shift or Ctrl keys.
For all options above except Boolean, once you’ve selected the Choice Type you can click on the blue list icon to set up the choices for this Question.
The Question details window will pop up and default to the OPTIONS tab. Here you can select the checkboxes to enable the desired functionality described below.
Element Options
Read-Only: Selecting this prevents the user from entering their own response to the question. You’d likely only use this if you were pre-populating the response.
Allow Documents: Enables respondents to upload and attach documentation evidence for a question. It’s not required, but respondents can upload as many documents as they want.
Allow Comments: Allows respondents to add notes and comments which are not captured as part of the response to the question (like comments features in Microsoft Office applications).
Allow Issues: This box only appears as an option on an Assessment type of Instrument. Issues are especially relevant for Criteria parts; for example, if they are not fully compliant to a criterion, that can be captured within Fabric as an Issue (see user guide for Issues).
You can also specify Element details such as Field Name, Data Key, and Variable information. We discuss these advanced functions at the end of this user guide in the Advanced Options section.
Under the CHOICES tab you can add as many choices as needed by clicking the blue
+Add Choice button and entering the choice options in the text fields to the right of the horizontal lines. Use the horizontal lines to drag the choices up or down to rearrange into the desired order, and the blue circle on the right to delete a choice if needed. Then click Done to save the changes.
Number Questions
When you select a Number Question, you must select the allowed format for the number input. Types of number responses you can specify include: Whole Number, Decimal, Currency, or Percentage.
Date/Time Questions
You can specify that the response will include only a date, or date and time. For either option, when the respondent clicks in the field, a calendar pops up, and if set as Date/Time the pop-up includes a timestamp.
Document Questions
This type of Question allows the respondent to upload a document. The question will allow for a single document attachment only per Document Question.
Form Questions
A Form Question is a grouping of Simple Questions that you want to act within the Instrument as a single unit. For example, an address entry requires multiple inputs
(Street 1, Street 2, City, State, etc.) that are typically consumed as a grouping. Form cells are independent pieces and are responsive – meaning they will rearrange automatically depending on the size of the viewer’s display and window.
Specify the desired number of columns and rows and click Apply.
(Note: this is the initial sizing, and you’re not stuck with it; you can always add more columns and rows from within the form builder.)
The Form builder opens. For the 3x3 specified above, it looks like this:
For each cell, you must select whether it will be an Element or Content. This depends on whether you want that cell to be informational (read-only) or a question input.
Content is read-only text – such as instructions or guidance – for your respondents to refer to as they complete the form. This is shown in the upper-right cell of the form pictured below.
Elements are questions – the pieces used for data entry by the respondent. You select from the same Question Types and sub-types as in a Simple Question. This is shown in the middle-right cell of the form pictured below.
Helpful Tip: When you’re setting up your Element fields, the text entry boxes do not appear outlined unless you click right in the space where the cell should be, so you may need to click around in the white spaces to activate a text entry box.
To make changes to your form/cell layout, click the menu icon on the right-hand side of any cell and select the desired action.
Helpful Tip: Once you’ve clicked Element or Content for a given cell, you cannot change to the other type. If you need to do so, you can remove the cell and add another one in its place.
Table Questions
Like Form questions, Table questions allow you to group related inputs into a single Instrument part, however they differ in that they behave and display like a classic document table and allow you to perform calculations against the information. You can add or remove columns at any time while configuring, but not independent cells.
Start by specifying your number of columns and rows and click Apply. The table configuration appears.
Like Form questions, you must choose whether each cell acts as an Element or Content (text), however you can select multiple cells or an entire row or column and apply the same parameters simultaneously.
If you choose Element in the window above you will then choose the Simple Question type (Text, Choice, Number, Date/Time, or Document) and associated settings.
Header and Repeating Rows
If you select all the cells in the first row and click on the icon third from the right you’ll see your row options.
Header Row: Once you’ve designated a row as a header, the table will automatically shade the row and format the text. For each cell in that row, select TEXT in the Cell Configuration window and enter the information for that header piece.
Allow Repeat: If selected, when respondents get to this table, they’ll see a static row with a button to Add an Additional Row. They can add as many rows as they want, and the cells’ parameters will duplicate for each row added.
Formatting and Calculations
Use the settings under the OPTIONS tab to format the text for the selected cell(s) (text alignment, font weight, font, etc.). You can designate the cell(s) as Required or Read Only.
For cells set as Number Questions, you can also set up calculations in the options tab, and you specify whether to add a calculated sum for the column or row.
Table Options
You can set similar aspects to Questions in the Table Configuration menu, and allow document attachments, comments, or a selection to indicate “no data”. If Allow No Data is selected (with option to add a caption to the checkbox), respondents will be able to check a box to indicate they’ve reviewed the Question and have answered the requirements without input of data into the table itself.
If you select the checkbox on the REPEATING tab, the entire Table (Question/part) will be repeatable, rather than a single Row.
You can input text into the HELP tab and this will provide a help icon the respondent can hover over to see guidance regarding this Question.
Publishing
Once you have completed your Instrument, you must publish it before it can be used.
Go to Setup > Instruments, and choose the WORKING tab. Click the menu icon to the left of the name of the Instrument you want to Publish and select Publish from the drop-down.
You’ll be taken to the Publish Instrument view:
Name: The Name used when publishing can from the name of the baseline the Instrument itself. For example, you might include the date or a version number to differentiate similar but revised versions of an Instrument.
Description: (Optional) This text will be visible to users when they are choosing from published Instruments to schedule one.
Evaluation Date: This date relates to the criteria (pieces of a Standard) you have added to the Instrument. When a Standard referenced by an Instrument gets Published/changed, the Instrument will still use content from the referenced Standard as it was on the Evaluation Date specified. Basically the most recent standard that was published prior to the effective date will be used within the instrument.
Effective Date: The date entered will pre-populate to the Open Date field when scheduling the instrument response. This date can be changed when scheduling the instrument response.
Check to Accept Standards: You must check this box to “accept the standards used in this instrument” and acknowledge that “the evaluation date can’t be changed” after publication.
After completing all the required information, click the button to Publish the Instrument, and then it’s available to Schedule (or self-start if applicable).