SMDS Help Desk

This guide demonstrates how to add an entire tool or module to a custom SMDS tool.

A Tool is a set of questions that can stand alone, meaning it can be placed into an Evaluation for use in data collection. A Module is a set of questions that is intended to be inserted into a tool. Both can have a title, instructions, and questions. A Module on its own cannot be placed into an evaluation to be used in data collection. Visually a Tool and a Module may look alike in tool builder, as these example images shown below. The first is a tool, the second is a module.

To add either a Tool or a Module to your draft tool, begin with finding the draft tool in your SMDS space.

• Place cursor over the Data Collection Tools tab.
• Click the Manage Tools from the dropdown list.

Here, you will see a list of every tool in your SMDS account.  

• To find the tool you are customizing, select the tool directly from your tool list under the Display Name column, or search for the tool by name in the search box.  
• Click the name of the tool to open it in Tool Builder. 

 TIP: Only tools in draft form can be customized (see Status column). To learn how to put a tool into draft form, please use the Creating and Customizing Tools guide on the SMDS Help Desk.

• In Tool Builder, click the insert tab in the place where you would like to insert the tool/module.

• This will open a row of insert options. Click the blue Tool button.

• The Insert Tool(s) screen will display. Type the name or keywords of the tool or module you want to use into the Find a Tool search box. Click the magnifying glass icon to search. 

A list of every tool and module related to your search terms will be displayed. On the list you can see whether it is a tool or a module.

To view the details of a tool/module, click the green plus (+) sign to the far right of the tool. This displays the number of questions in the tool and the languages offered.

For a preview of the tool, to see the questions and answer options, click either the green Preview button or the green View Questions button.

• When you find the tool or module you want to insert, click the checkmark to the left of the name, and then click the Insert button at the bottom of the screen.

If the tool/module you are inserting includes questions your custom tool already has, the system will tell you this:

If you click Yes to proceed, the system will insert those questions that are not already in your custom tool. The system will automatically renumber the questions within your survey.

The system will only insert the tool/module in the languages that are in your custom tool. 

• After inserting the tool/module, be sure to scroll through to remove any duplications of title, thank you’s, copyrights, or other unnecessary information.

• When you have finished making changes to your tool, review your tool in Word format or in Preview mode by using the buttons at the bottom of the screen. Both can help you check that the questions are in the order you want, and let you check the skip logic to make sure it was not impacted by the insertion of the new tool/module.