Magpi has made the decision to shut down their services in January 2025. If you are looking for a new platform for data collection, we strongly recommend SurveyCTO!
SurveyCTO is a fantastic and easy-to-use data collection platform with a vast number of features for both data collection and data security. It is an excellent choice for your next data collection project.
Although both Magpi and SurveyCTO share strong parallelisms, there are some meaningful differences. This article offers a foundational understanding of how to adapt Magpi forms to SurveyCTO.
Check out our home page for a brief overview video of what SurveyCTO does.
1. Getting started with SurveyCTO
While SurveyCTO uses flexible and popular spreadsheet form definitions, Magpi does not rely on this method, so you will have to re-create your form in SurveyCTO.
If you have never used SurveyCTO before, you can start with a 15-day free trial here. That will create a new server where you can use SurveyCTO. You will then be able to access your very own server console.
If you aren't ready to create or use your own form, go to the Discover tab of your server console (in the top-left), where the Hub contains many workflows you can install and use on your server.
If you want to test out a form (either a form installed from the Hub, or a form you created yourself), go to the Design tab in the server console, scroll to the form you created, and click Test. If you would like to fill out the form using a mobile device (including filling out the form offline), then in our Quick start guide, follow section 2. Collecting data on a mobile device.
2. Converting a Magpi form
When you are ready to create a basic form, check out section 1. Creating your first form of our Quick start guide. That will walk you through the basics of your first form.
Below, we offer some tips on how to use popular features from Magpi in SurveyCTO.
Skip logic
In Magpi, skip logic is used to skip to a specific point in the form. In SurveyCTO, skip logic is applied to a specific field—we call it relevance.
If a field's relevance condition is met, then the field will appear in the form. If it is not met, then that field will be skipped, and the enumerator will be brought to the following field instead.
For example, let's say a field has this relevance expression:
${num_kids} > 3
The ${num_kids} will retrieve the value of the form field "num_kids". So, if a field has the relevance expression above, then that field will only appear if the value of the field "num_kids" is greater than 3.
A relevance expression can also be applied to a series of fields. For example, if fields are in a group, and that group has a relevance expression applied, then all fields in that group will have the relevance of that group.
To learn more, check out our Guide to relevance.
Field type - Rank
When you would like to rank choices in SurveyCTO, you can use the ranking-choices field plug-in. Explained simply, a field plug-in is a way to customize the appearance of and behavior of fields. (See a screenshot example below.)
You can learn more about field plug-ins in our Guide to field plug-ins (see section 3. Getting started with a plug-in for a quick start guide to field plug-ins).
Subforms
In Magpi, when you want to fill out the same series of fields multiple times, you fill out a "subform". In SurveyCTO, you use a repeat group.
In your SurveyCTO form, add a repeat group, and specify a repeat_count, which can be either a static number (e.g. 2, 3, etc) or an expression so the repeat count is different for each form instance.
Add fields to that repeat group, and that group will repeat the number of times specified in the repeat_count, meaning every field will repeat.
You can learn more in our Guide to repeat groups.
Collecting media (images, audio, video, and other files)
In Magpi, you need to connect a Dropbox account where media files will be saved. In SurveyCTO, all media and submission attachments are saved on your SurveyCTO server.
To quickly download your attachments, use SurveyCTO Desktop. If you have never used SurveyCTO Desktop before, check out our Quick start guide, section 3.2 Downloading data using SurveyCTO Desktop.
3. Major value adds in the SurveyCTO platform
When you switch to SurveyCTO, you will get access to many great, new features! Some of these include:
i. Spreadsheet form definition template
SurveyCTO's Spreadsheet form definition template simplifies form design. With its user-friendly spreadsheet interface, users can easily define form elements like questions, constraints, and validation rules. This template enhances efficiency and flexibility, enabling users to quickly design customized forms tailored to their data collection needs. Check out our support articles to learn more.
ii. Google Sheets compatibility
SurveyCTO supports Google Sheets as one of the form upload options. This enables a streamlined workflow and facilitates real-time collaboration among team members.
iii. Built-in encryption feature
SurveyCTO's built-in data encryption is an easy-to-use and powerful data security tool. This feature ensures that sensitive data collected through SurveyCTO forms remains encrypted from collection to transmission. SurveyCTO's encryption complies with industry standards, providing users with robust security measures and enhancing trust in the platform.
iv. The Hub - Off the shelf workflows
The Hub in SurveyCTO offers pre-designed workflow templates that cater to diverse data collection needs, reducing the time and effort required to create forms from scratch. These templates are fully customizable, ensuring flexibility for users to adapt them to their specific project requirements.
v. Field plug-ins
SurveyCTO's field plug-in empowers users to extend and customize their form fields. Using field plug-ins, users can enhance forms with dynamic interactions and real-time data validation. Along with extensive documentation, the field plug-in catalog facilitates easy adoption and development. Field plug-ins expand data collection capabilities, enabling sophisticated methods and improved respondent engagement.
vi. Support Center - useful resources, 24/7 support team
In the Support Center, users can find comprehensive support articles with versatile topics and easy to follow instructions. Trial and paid users have access to our 24/7 customer support team who assists users with any questions or issues that may arise in using SurveyCTO, ensuring that users in any time zone can receive timely help when they need it. This level of availability is crucial for projects with tight deadlines or those operating in different parts of the world.
vii. SurveyCTO's AI Assistant
SurveyCTO's AI Assistant significantly enhances the data collection process by providing expert guidance and nuanced advice tailored to both novice and experienced survey designers. It helps users implement complex survey features like relevance and skip logic, ensuring high-quality data collection.
Additionally, the AI Assistant offers best practices and advanced sampling techniques, making it easier to design effective surveys and improve data accuracy.
4. Best practices on form design using SurveyCTO platform
Here are some best practices that we recommend you check out when designing forms using SurveyCTO:
- Use sample forms and workflows: SurveyCTO provides a variety of sample forms and workflows (the Hub) that can serve as a starting point for your form design. These samples incorporate best practices and can significantly reduce the time and effort required to create effective forms.
- Use field plug-ins to customize your form fields: Check out our support articles to learn about how they work and how to customize them. Also check out our catalog for the latest list of field plug-ins.
- Design for optimal form performance: Check out our resources including documentation and support articles to take advantage of our features to design top notch forms.
- Copy and paste the 'values' only: When you're migrating your existing forms to SurveyCTO's form definition template, use the paste special values only option to make sure that other hidden characters are copied to the form template.
- Use our troubleshooting features: You can use our test view feature and Google Sheets form validator to test your form while you design the forms.
Is there something you want to do, but it's not listed here? We are here to help you!
All trial and paid users can submit unlimited support requests for fast, professional support. You can learn more in our support article How to request help and support, or click here to submit a support request.
You can also request a demo and ask to learn more about how we can provide services to support any migration efforts.
Do you have thoughts on this support article? We'd love to hear them! Feel free to fill out this feedback form.
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