OVERVIEW: Forms

Overview of the "Forms" module

The custom forms module allows you to create databases to store information pertinent to your project and organization.

You can use the custom forms that have already been created by other users in the system, or you can create your own. 

Custom forms allow you to manage any data that would otherwise be contained in Excel. 

Information can be collected through the mobile or the web app and then used to feed indicators. Data in them can be analyzed using the analytics module.

  1. Forms menu and tools
  2. Create a form
  3. Add records and import data
  4. Share access to the form
  5. Link indicators to your forms
  6. Analyze your data

When you have published a form, the following items will appear in your Form's menu:

  • Records (consult the list of items that were entered in this form)
  • Share (share the form with other users or generate a link for non-users)
  • Fields & sections (design the form)
  • Edit (change the name or description of the form)
  • More:
    • Clone (Duplicate the form. This copies the design, not the records.)
    • Sync history (see when records were added with the mobile app)

Create a form

In the main menu (left), click " Custom forms." You will access the list of forms. 

Click the " +" button to create your form.

You will be redirected to the form design page. 

At first, you will see the panel to rename the first section of your form. But you can ignore this for now and directly click " Save."

You can then "drag-and-drop" various fields, like Number, Text, Date fields, etc., from the left to the right to create your survey or form. 

For each field, you can enter the label (name) of the field where it says "Field name."

You can view this video tutorial or read the Configure form fields article for more detailed instructions.

Enter or import data

You can add data by:

  • Adding records using the "Record" form,
  • Importing data (Excel file),
  • Using the mobile app.

To add a record using the "Record" form, click "Add record." 

A side panel will appear, allowing you to enter the record. 

To import data using an Excel file, click "Import." 

Then, click " Generate template" and click "Download." Open the generated Excel file and copy-paste data from your source to the template file.

Be careful with "yes-no" dropdown lists and locations fields: the data that will be imported must match the available options in LogAlto.

When you are finished copy-pasting data in the template file, you can go back in your form and click " Import," + click "Import template."

LogALto will display "Importation was successful' when the import is successful. Click the "Refresh" icon to display the imported data.

LogAlto will display "Error while importing" when the import is unsuccessful. Click the "Details" link and then click "Download the file" to view the imported file with highlighted erroneous cells. Correct the highlighted cells and try to import again.

You can view this video tutorial or read the Import data from Excel article for more detailed instructions.


The LogAlto mobile app allows users to add new records. (existing records cannot be modified or viewed). It also lets users collect data offline and sync with LogAlto once a connection is available.

To add a record using the LogAlto mobile app, you must design and publish your form.

For more detailed instructions, you can view the articles in the Mobile application section of the Help Center.

Share access to the form

You can create a link that can later be sent by email (the recipients will be able to fill the form without login into LogAlto).

You can read the Share form with the URL article for more detailed instructions.


To share the form with other LogAlto users, click "Share." You can select specific users, projects, countries (org. units) or profiles with access to the form. You can give different access rights to each one and specify whether they will see confidential fields.

For more detailed instructions, you can view this video tutorial or read the Share Form with Colleagues article

In LogAlto, you can link an indicator to custom forms and feed the indicator with the data from your custom form. To do so, follow the below three steps:

  • Step 1: Create your custom form
  • Step 2: Link your form to your indicator
  • Step 3: Update your indicator with data from your form

You can view the Link indicator to form an article if you want more detailed instructions you can view the Link indicator to create an article if you want more detailed instructions.

Analyse your data

To analyze your data, click " Analytics" in the main menu (left). Then click the "+" button.

Enter the name of your report (or chart), and select a dataset and an output type (grid, chart, map, etc.). Click " Save".

You will be redirected by a default table or chart containing the selected dataset. Click on the configuration icon (upper right).

A side panel will open, allowing you to configure your report. The configuration options vary depending on the output type (for example, a bar chart will have different options than a radar chart or distribution map).

Once configuring the report to your satisfaction, click " Save."

You can view this video tutorial or read the Overview: Analytics  article for more detailed instructions.

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