Request forms Summary screen

Request forms are managed by using the Request forms summary items in the System menu. Request forms summary displays the Request forms summary screen as shown in the screen print above.  Note that, by default, the list of Requester service forms are shown, but there are three types of Request forms that can be selected from the menu list or from the Service type drop down in this screen.

The three types of Request forms relate to the three Service types that can be managed through RefTracker, and are designed to ensure that statistics for the work you do are correctly reported in relation to the services that you provided for end users, and the other work that you do:

• Requester service which are forms use to record and respond to requests from end users.
• Internal task which are forms use to record and respond to requests form other staff or management of your information delivery team.
• and Direct to KB which are forms designed to capture information directly to the knowledge base (not in relation to any service provided).

For each type of form, this screen allows you to rename existing forms, create new forms (by copying existing forms as a starting point), delete unwanted forms, and set the order of presentation of forms under New and in the Client interface.

Forms marked as System forms cannot be deleted as they are required by RefTracker processes, but their layout can be amended.

Forms that have ticks in the client or staff columns are available for use when creating new questions. Forms that are not available for staff or client use, but are valid, are available for use when working with already existing questions. To completely remove a form from all possible use set it to Disabled (Click Options and then untick the “Enabled” parameter), or delete it if you no longer need it.

This screen also provides access to the screens that enable customisation of the the design of each form.

Administrators see this screen in update mode and can make changes. Supervisors can only see this screen in Display mode, which means they cannot make any changes to it or to the design of any of the forms.

The fields on this screen allow you to manage Request forms in the following ways:

Sel: Check this box if you want to Delete or Copy this form (then use the appropriate button at the top or bottom of this screen – Delete or Copy button).

Key: This is the key that you can use to individually use this form by using its direct URL (more on how to do this later in this manual). Keys can be up to 20 alphanumeric characters in length and cannot include spaces or special characters that are not allowed, or have special purposes, in URL’s such as “&”.

Description: This is the description that will be used to indicate this form (its name) when it is used in the client and staff interfaces.

Form type indicator: Forms can be for Customer service, for Internal tasks, or just for adding entries to the KB.  If you want to create a new form always copy one of the right type as the starting point.  Use the Service type drop down in the top right fo the screen to show the different types.

A Requester service form is used where it will collect details of a service provided to an end user.
An Internal task form is used where the form defines a task being done at the request of another staff member of your service.  It might be a stand alone service that is being done as part of the general operation of your information delivery service, or it might be a sub task that will be performed as just part of a customer service.  In either scenario it is not a customer service, and using an Internal task form ensures that an internal service statistic is generated rather than a customer service one.
A Direct to KB form is used where the data to be entered will create a new Knowledge base entry – not a Customer service or an Internal task, but a KB management statistic.

Location: This shows the Location limitation setting for this form, as set in the form layout accessible through the Details link on this page. Where this displays Any the form is available at all of your locations. Where a location is listed, this form is ONLY available to staff at that location (not staff at other locations and not any end users). For example you may only offer a photocopy service at your main location – this function can be used to ensure that the Photocopy form displays for staff of the main location only.

Enabled: This indicates whether the form has been removed from active use.  To enable or disable a form click [Options] and tick or untick the Enabled parameter.  When a form has been disabled is will no longer show anywhere in the application.  It will be removed from staff use under New, Change, QA review, or any of the Copy/Create functions, and it will not show in the client interface.  Disabling a form in this way takes it out of use with one click! Use it to retain a form that you might want to use again at some time in the future.

Client and Staff: The Client and Staff columns of this screen show the availability of the form in these interface. A tick in the column means it is available for that type of use. A cross means it is not available for use by that type of user. Availability is changed in the Request forms Edit options screen accessible from the [Options] link on this page.

Sys: When a tick appears in this column for a particular form, the form is a RefTracker system form and so cannot be deleted. However its layout can be amended using the [Layout] link on this screen.

Valid: Whenever you change the Details of a Request form, RefTracker performs a validation check on the form. If the form is not yet a valid form, a cross will appear in this column and the form will be disabled until the Edit layout screen is used to amend this form so that it passes validation. Forms that are invalid cannot be used anywhere in the system.

Note that forms can become invalid without you making any changes to the form, for example, if the form has been set to use a default value that has since been deleted or disabled.  If a form disappears from the New menu list, it will be because the form has become invalid.

Seq: The numbers here control the order in which these forms will be presented under New in the Staff interface, and in the Ask new question summary page of the Client interface. To change the position at which a form is presented, select the new position at which you want the form to appear, and click Update.  Note that new copied forms are always filed directly under the form that you just copied.

[Options]: Click here to access the screens that allow the format of the Request form listed on this line, to be amended, starting at the Edit options screen.

[Layout]: Click here to access the screens that allow the format of the Request form listed on this line, to be amended, starting at the Edit layout screen.

[Preview]: Click here to access the screens that allow the format of the Request form listed on this line, to be amended, starting at the Preview screen that shows the existing layout as it would be seen by a client. This screen has a display of the URL for this form – cut and paste the displayed URL into your web pages to bring up this form in your web pages.

Update button: use this button after making any change to the Key, or Description, to save those changes.

Delete button: use this button after selecting the form/s you want to delete by checking the appropriate Sel box/s. You will be asked to confirm the forms you want deleted, before they are actually deleted. The Default form in the list will be automatically used by any existing uses of the deleted form.

You may want to consider Disabling a form rather than deleting it (to Disable it go to Edit options for that forms and untick the “Enabled” parameter in the main access options tab).  Disabling a form means that it no longer appears as an option in places like the Change screen, making that screen easier to use, but it is still available in the system to provide labels for the fields in requests that use that form.  If a form is deleted, the labels are no longer available and the system has to use the labels provided by the Data dictionary, for the fields in those questions.

Copy button: use this button after selecting the form/s you want to copy by checking the appropriate Sel box/s. New forms will be added to the list with the description “Copied form” and with the key “<copiedkey>_copynn” where <copiedkey> will be truncated if longer than 13 characters, and nn starts at 01 and is incremented until a unique key is created. You will find the new form located immediately under the form that you copied, when the screen redisplays. Give it a more appropriate key and Description by editing these fields and then clicking on the Update button.

To create a new form use the Copy button with a form that is closest to the one you want to create – be sure to Copy the right type of form – Customer service, Internal task or Direct to KB.  New forms are created using Copy because that way you can start with the basis of a form that is already set up to do the type of activity you want it to do – Customer service, Internal task or Direct to KB addition.

Exercise:

For this exercise we are going to copy an existing form, the Basic form, then edit it to include some new fields. The important thing about being able to copy forms is that you can create a form that has all the values set out in the way that you normally want them to be set out, which means that when you copy that form you only need to address the things that are truly different about that new form. In addition to providing consistency,  Choose another form if needs be, but our examples will use the Basic form.
In the Request forms summary screen check the Sel box next to the Basic Request form, and click on the Copy button. The screen will redisplay.
Find the Copy of Basic Request form created (remember its name is now “Copied form” and is filed under the form you copied) and change its key, and description, to the name you want for it, then click on the Update button to save the change. Then click on the [Preview] link on the line for the form that you created.

We are now going to examine how to use each of these modes, starting with Preview.