Survey forms in the app ask the same questions as on the Cartographer web site, laid out for a small screen. Here are some tips for filling them in. See Recording a Survey in the App for starting and saving a survey.
Help Text#
Every form has built-in help for its questions. Tap the options button at the top of the form to open Form Options, and switch Show Help on or off. With help on, each question shows a short explanation under its title.
Pages#
Longer forms are split into pages. The page's title and number sit in a strip under the title bar, with a badge showing how many errors and hints the page has. Use the arrows either side of the title, or the Page 2 buttons at the bottom of each page, to move between pages, or tap the title to Jump to page.
Red Errors and Blue Hints#
The app checks your answers as you type. Red errors are things it can't accept, and you can't save until they're fixed. Blue hints are things it thinks you may have missed; you can ignore them. A new form starts with a red count because its required questions are still empty. See Tips on Completing Survey Forms for the full explanation.
Your Work Is Saved as You Go#
The app keeps your answers on your device as you type, including when you change page or switch to another app. If the app closes, or your battery runs out, your answers are there when you reopen the survey. Nothing goes to our servers until you tap Done.
Choosing From Lists#
Questions with a list of options, such as a site or a species, show the options held on your device, so they work without mobile signal. Start typing to narrow the list. If an option you expect isn't there, the project's data may not have finished downloading, or the option may have been added on the web site since: switch off Work Offline on wifi and pull down on the survey list to refresh.
Surveyor and Team#
The form fills in your name as the surveyor and, if you belong to one team in the project, your team. If you belong to several teams, choose the right one. Coordinators can record a survey on someone else's behalf by changing the surveyor.
Locations and Photos#
Map questions and photo questions have their own pages: Locations and Map Fields in the App and Adding Photos in the App.
Other Form Options#
Form Options also lets you choose a Location Mode, which sets whether map questions show latitude and longitude or Ordnance Survey grid references, and Show Other Survey Locations, which marks the locations of other surveys on map questions so you can see where people have surveyed before.