SMDS Help Desk

•    Login to SMDS.

•    Place your cursor over the Evaluation link.

•    Click the New Evaluation link.

The Create New Evaluation window will display. The only required information is the evaluation name and start date. Everything else is optional.

•    Enter the Name in the text field. 

Be specific enough in your Evaluation Name that it will make sense to you and other staff, such as “Main Street Building Observations” or “Revitalization Initiative Resident Survey”.

•    Enter the Start Date of the evaluation. 

It is optional to add information about your evaluation, such as location, population served, and a general description.  

•    Click the Save button.

A new window will display asking you to insert a tool.

•    Click the Insert Data Collection Tool button. 

•    Click the search icon next to the “Find a tool” box in the upper right corner. 

From here, you will see a list of every tool in your tool set.  You can filter by a tool name, or scan the list for the tool you would like to insert.  You can insert multiple tools at the same time.  

•    Click the checkbox next to the tool(s) you would like to insert. 

•    Click the Insert button. 

After adding the tools, you need to select the Source of Information for each tool.  If your information is coming from a person, select individual. If your information is coming from a physical place, select location.  

•    Click the Set Source of Information link for each tool. 

After your tools are inserted and the information source is selected, you need to activate your evaluation so data can be entered.  This will take your evaluation out of draft mode.  

•    Click the Activate button at the bottom of the screen.  

If you need to make a change to your active evaluation before data is entered, you can return your evaluation to draft mode by clicking the Draft button.  

If you have finished entering data and do not want any more data entered into your evaluation, you can deactivate your evaluation.  That will disallow data to be entered. 

To enter data into an active evaluation, please see the SMDS guides on entering survey and location responses.