TABLE OF CONTENTS
- General
- Web - Set Up
- Project Settings
- Form Builder
- Results
- User Access (viewing projects)
- Web Collection
- Mobile Platform - Set Up
- Collecting Data
General
What is Dharma Platform?
Dharma Platform is an end-to-end, web and mobile-based solution that streamlines the data collection, management, and analysis process. We believe that better data - and better data management - has the power to transform everyone’s work. Dharma Platform enables people with little-to-no technical expertise to rapidly design, implement, and scale, regardless of connectivity or language, on any device.
Which organizations are using Dharma Platform?
Some of our clients have included UN agencies, academic institutions, disaster response organizations, international NGOs and small nonprofits.
How do I get in touch with Dharma Platform for technical support?
To get in touch with someone from our team, please log a ticket in FreshDesk with your question or the issue you are experiencing.
Is Dharma Platform only for non-profit organizations and those working in international development?
No, Dharma is a flexible set of tools and capabilities that can be used by any sector or organization that wants to improve the way they collect, manage, analyze and act on insights from data. Our best-in-class data security, offline capabilities, and simple-to-use design have made Dharma popular among aid and humanitarian agencies, non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs, but our platform can work just as well for small business logistics, a lightweight CRM, academic and research projects, and many other applications.
Where is my data stored?
Your data is stored in a single-tenant PostgreSQL schema stored on our database cluster in a Google Cloud server, located physically in the EU.
Who has access to the data I collect on Dharma Platform?
Our customers can customize access levels depending on their needs. Workspace and Project Administrators have full access to the project forms and data collected. Customers can also designate users who only have access to data results, either for the whole project or just one site, users who can only modify a form, users who can manage staff, data managers, and other administrative roles.
What kind of analytics can be done on Dharma Platform?
Automated data analytics is handled for all primary data types (numeric, categorical, calculated). Certain types of questions are graphed, with the option to select the type of visualization. A data export from Dharma can also be used with another data analysis tool.
Is Dharma Platform open-source software?
Dharma Platform is not open-source software.
Web - Set Up
I did not receive a set-up email from Dharma Platform.
Take the following steps to resolve this issue:
Please verify that your Dharma License administrator has added you as a user role to a specific project.
Review your SPAM folder
If your email account has a custom name, i.e. @who.int, it might be blocking our email. If that’s the case, consider using a different email.
How do I reset my password?
On the Dharma Platform login portal via web or mobile, click on the “Forgot Password” button and type in the email under which your Dharma account has been created. Once you click the “send email” button, you should receive an email in the next few minutes to reset your password.
I've been added to the project but I can't access "x"
The features you have access to on Dharma are based on your user role assignment. For example, if you are assigned a role of collector your main function is to collect data, therefore, you will not have access to viewing results. If you believe your user role has been incorrectly assigned you should contact your project administrator.
Project Settings
How do I customize my form and why are project settings important?
You can customize the form by navigating to the “Parameters” tab within “Project settings.” Setting project parameters is important as it gives you the flexibility to modify your form to meet your mode of data collection, whether it is a basic single point project, longitudinal, or hierarchical.
You are also able to set parameters to view results in a time series and select the type of time increment you would like to view.
What does setting project duration do?
Project duration is a feature that sets a start and/or stop date for data collection so that collectors will only be able to add data during that time frame. You can change the dates at any time, as well as set different dates for each project site.
What are the unique user roles on Dharma and what are the permissions for each role?
Project Administrator - has access to everything within the project, from modifying the form, seeing results, and adding/deleting users.
Collaborators - only have access to the Form Builder feature of the project and can edit/add/delete questions in the form, create forms, and etc.
Researchers - only have access to the results and export features of the project.
Guests - similar to researchers only have access to the results feature of a project. However, guests are assigned to specific sites and will only be able to view results for the site they are assigned to. A guest does not have access to the export feature.
Staff Managers - can add/delete staff and change staff grouping.
Collectors - are field staff that will be collecting data once the forms are complete. Once the form is pushed to mobile, collectors will have access to the forms on their mobile devices.
Data Manager - have access to all of the records collected and can lock and unlock records.
Helpful Support Portal Article(s):
How do I add new users?
To have the ability to add users, you must either be a project admin or staff manager. Given you are one of those two user roles, you can go to “Project Settings” > “Users” to assign new users to particular roles.
Helpful Support Portal Article(s):
What are sites, groups, and teams and why are they important?
Sites are locations where you will be collecting your data. For example, you may be collecting data in two hospitals, Hospital A and Hospital B. Groups are subgroups within specific sites. To continue the hospital example, we may want to create a group for each department: Cardiology, ICU, Neuroscience, and more. Within groups, we can also create smaller subgroups called teams. For instance, within each department there may be teams for day shift and night shift.
Within a project, you'll have the option to add sites and assign different groups and teams of collectors to these sites. While it’s not mandatory, this allows you to disaggregate your results so you can get a clearer understanding of your data.
Helpful Support Portal Article(s):
Understanding Sites, Groups, and Teams
Form Builder
Can I export my form as a printable survey form?
Survey form items and response variables can be viewed and printed by downloading the excel export and looking at the Data Dictionary. Directly exporting and printing a form directly as it is observed on the Form Builder is not currently available. We believe in replacing paper in every way with something more sustainable, secure, and reliable. Instead of paper, you can share your custom-made Dharma project/program/application with whomever you’d like, both internally and across other organizations through the specified user roles.
What is skip logic? Or What is a group/condition? Or How can I incorporate skip logic into form building?
Skip logic gives you the ability to ask only relevant questions to each respondent filling out a form. For example, you may only want to ask a follow-up question “What medication are you taking?” to respondents who answered YES to a prior question “Are you currently taking any medication?” Skip logic makes the data collector and respondent’s survey experience easier by only asking appropriate questions to the right audience.
A single follow up question is the simplest example of skip logic. But there may be instances where there are multiple follow up questions to a certain response. Groups allow you to link several follow up questions by conditions and specific responses that respondents must answer to be shown the following questions.
Skip logic is easily incorporated into form building through the Add Group button, which allows you to set complex conditions and create questions in the group.
Helpful Support Portal Article(s):
Skip Logic Part 1: If-then Questions/ Adding Groups
Skip Logic Part 2: Complex Conditionals (AND, OR, NOT)
Can I prevent a collector from entering a date that is in the future?
Each response type comes with unique settings. Specifically for dates, you can set a minimum and maximum date in order to limit the range of dates that can be selected.
How do I duplicate questions?
You can duplicate a question by clicking on the “copy icon” on the right corner of the question bar and you will get a pop up message indicating that you have created a duplicate question.
I've created a hierarchical structure to my project but I can't access x level of the hierarchy, what is happening? What is the pivot button?
While a basic form may have one level of the form, longitudinal and hierarchical forms have several levels. To access these additional levels you can use the pivot button located to the left of the form builder blue header.
This button will allow you to jump to the other levels and build out additional questions in that level.
Helpful Support Portal Article(s):
How do I create the form in another language?
After you finish creating the form, there is an option on the form builder to set the language for web and mobile. If you select mobile, you will be able to manually input translations to all questions and responses. On the mobile app, a collector will be able to switch to the mobile language.
Helpful Support Portal Article(s):
Results
I've collected a few data points but I don't see the results dashboard being populated
The default results show completed responses. If your results are ‘incomplete’ (you just selected ‘done’ on each response instead of ‘lock’, click on ‘add filter’ on the top right corner and deselect ‘show only completed responses?’ to show a combination of both complete and incomplete responses.
I've added a filter and now the dashboard doesn't show any results!
It may be due to the fact that results are loading, because it takes a moment for the filtered results to load. If the results continue to be blank, it may be due to the type of question or data that has been entered. If you encounter a bug, please log it in FreshDesk.
I've collected several records on mobile and they are not showing on the results or the export, is my data lost?
You must check if the records have been synced yet. Only records that have successfully uploaded to the server will be reflected on the results and export. If records are still waiting to upload, make sure you have a data/wi-fi connection and keep the app open until the records are synced to the server.
Can I import data to Dharma?
Yes, please contact our sales team by logging a ticket in FreshDesk to learn about our import feature options.
User Access (viewing projects)
I've been added to the project but it’s not displaying on the mobile app.
You must specifically be added as the collector user role to view the project on a mobile device.
Web Collection
Can I collect information on a web browser?
Yes! You must be assigned as a collector to the project and then you will be able to add new records on the data page of the web app.
Mobile Platform - Set Up
How do I download the Dharma mobile application?
Dharma mobile application can be downloaded via the following links:
For Android users the Dharma app can be found on the Google Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dharmaplatform&hl=en
For Apple users the Dharma app can be found on the Apple Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dharma-platform/id1135052541?mt=8
Collecting Data
How do I navigate collecting data on multiple levels? (for hierarchical, longitudinal)
When you are collecting data on a hierarchical or longitudinal project, you will be automatically directed to create a new record at the next level after completing a record at the previous level.
Helpful Support Portal Article(s):
What is the difference between complete and done?
Complete will let you save the record and will lock it from future edits. Done lets you save the record and you will be able to edit it later.
How do I know my record has successfully uploaded to the server?
All records upload automatically once the device is connected to data or wifi. To verify that the record has been uploaded, please note the different icons that can appear on each record to show upload status:
Form Uploaded:
Form waiting to be uploaded (with or without images):
Can I collect data without wifi/service?
Yes, data can be collected without wifi or internet services as the application was designed to be deployed in even the most remote locations. The Dharma app will automatically save all the data entered during collection. Once you re-enter the wifi zone, the data will automatically start uploading to the server. However, you do need an internet connection when you sign into the Dharma app with your username and password. Once you have signed in, you will be able to collect data when you go into an area without connection.
How do I search through my forms?
If you are scrolling through many records in your project, you can make use of the search bar to look up your record by any of its lookup or primary key questions. You can also filter your forms by specific responses to questions to narrow down the results.
How do I toggle between languages?
Once you enter a project, click on the the three vertical buttons
On the top right corner, then on the “Details” button. There is a Display Language option at the bottom. Click on Toggle Language to switch between Results language and Display language.
What are filters and how do I add them?
Filters are useful in situations where you would like to only see the results for specific criteria rather than the list of all responses. On the results and data pages, there is an Add Filter button at the top of the page. Selecting that button will open a dialog box where you can filter by specific questions and responses listed on the drop down menu.
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