Creating an Evaluation
Modified on: Fri, 5 Apr, 2024 at 10:02 AM
- Login to SMDS.
- Place your cursor over the Evaluation tab.
- Click New Evaluation.
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 other 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.
- You can either type in the name of an existing tool you have in your SMDS space, or you can click the search icon at the end of the Find a Tool box in the upper right corner.
From here, you will see a list of every published tool in your tool set. You can filter by a tool name using the Find a Tool box 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.
NOTE: Only published tools will appear on this list to select from. A tool cannot be added to an evaluation if it is still in draft format. If you don’t see the tool you are looking for, go to the Tools tab and select Manage Tools to open the full list of all your tools both draft and published. If the tool you want is still in draft form, you need to finish making any desired edits and then publish the tool. Then you will be able to add it to your evaluation.
NOTE: You can add multiple tools to an evaluation, but once data entry has occurred within any of them you will not be able to make changes to any of those tools. For this reason, make sure you are using the final version of your tools before activating the evaluation and beginning data entry.
- After adding the tools, you need to select the Source of Information for each tool. There are four options:
- Location – Select if your information is from a physical place.
- Individual – Select if your information is from a person.
- Group – Select if your information is from a focus group.
- Record – Select if your information is from either an administrative or public record.
- Click the option you need to Set Source of Information 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 Activate 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. This will prevent data from being entered.
To enter data into an active evaluation, please see the Entering a Survey Response Manually with SMDS guide on entering responses manually or Generating Spreadsheet Templates and Importing Responses guide to enter data using the Excel import template.
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