Best practices for making Record Logs

Your questions on building record logs answered

Tilly James avatar
Written by Tilly James
Updated over a week ago

Editing Record Logs is a feature of the Team and Standard plans only - if you're interested in upgrading from Solo, please head to your Billing page in the app.
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Record Logs are an easy way to record data that can't be captured in a checklist e.g. fridge temperatures and names.

You can use our templates, but building your own from scratch is a great way to tailor your tasks to the individual needs of your business.

In this article, we’ve put together our best tips and answered some FAQs for Admins, but for more info on how the Task Editor works, click here.


Top tips:

πŸ“š Check the Templates Library before starting any record log to see if we've got any similar ones. You can edit the task as needed, but it'll give you a great head start!

⏰ Use only essential fields to help teams complete tasks quickly e.g. don't use sign-offs unless you need them

πŸ‘·β€β™€οΈ Build tables of data with multiple records where possible - more on that below

πŸ“† Don't capture dates or times (we do it for you) but if you must, use text fields


♻️ Use repeats & options wherever the same data is entered each day, e.g. supplier names to help teams work through tasks quickly


When would I use Tables vs Forms?

Tables are really powerful for creating tables of data. It allows the same information to be filled in multiple times and viewed in a table format e.g. temperatures of different fridges.

You can configure how many times you need the information to be recorded with the minimum number of records. In this case that'd be the number of fridges you have (5).

You can also set items to 'repeat' if needed in order to save your teams a bunch of time (explained below).

Forms are useful for creating long forms where data only needs to be collected once each time the task is completed. For example, an Accident Report Form or an audit.


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Which field type should I use?

Text fields are useful for capturing short answers, like names or initials. Dates also work best as text fields.

Number fields capture temperatures, counts or any other numerical data. They can have prefixes (e.g. Β£) or suffixes (e.g. Β°C). You'll also be able to add out-of-range warnings, which is useful for compliance tasks (explained below).

Our Exception Logging means that any number that is recorded that is out of range will automatically count towards an exception. Our Corrective Action setting can also be applied here, if needed teams can then raise a corrective follow-up action.

πŸ’‘ Note: Exception Logging & Corrective Actions are only available on the Standard Plan.
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Options give a selection of multiple choices for teams, either in a dropdown menu, or button selector. These work best for things that don't change often, like menu items. Text fields are better for capturing something changeable as otherwise, the options will need to be edited often.
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Section Title field types create subheadings in Record Logs, this will create a new section in the Record Log, breaking up the task into sections which is useful for longer forms like audits.

File or Photo has an upload attached directly to this field.
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Additional Settings

Duplicate a Record Log field

To save time, it's possible to duplicate a Record Log field during the building process.

Simply click the 'copy' icon - this is particularly useful when using the same set of 'options' multiple times throughout your Log.
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Hitting this button will copy over all of the settings of the previous field (e.g. the answers, the scores, whether the field is mandatory, whether it's a dropdown or buttons etc.) The only thing that will have to be entered in from scratch would be the questions!


Mandatory Fields

This means a value must be entered before the task can be completed - it’s worth only using this for important fields.
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Restricted Fields & Records

Data in restricted fields can only be entered or edited by a Manager or Admin level user.

By enabling Restrict Records, only managers and admins can add or delete rows from the Record Log table. In this case, teams would always have to enter 5 fridge/freezer temperatures πŸ‘‡
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Repeat Setting

Enabling the repeat setting means that when the field is filled in once, it'll repeat on all future tasks. This is a big time saver for teams on information that doesn't change like fridge names in the picture above.

These fields are filled in by teams at sites on the Complete Tasks page, not on the Task Editor. This is so that teams can accurately put site-specific records in (e.g. number of Fridge/Freezer Units may differ between sites). If you want to fill in the fields for them, assign the task to the site and visit it via the Complete Tasks page. Here's an article that explains more.


Scoring

Scores can be assigned to different options in a record log - this is useful for audits, read more about audits here.
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Each section & task is then given an overall score based on the record log performance.


Out-of-range warnings

You can set up a task to give a warning when numbers are out of an ideal range. It's really useful for compliance with temperatures.

Different ranges might be required for different options e.g. differences in acceptable temperatures for a fridge vs. a freezer. In this case, a combination of an Options Field and a Number Field can be used to set bespoke ranges for each.

Any temperatures entered outside of the acceptable range will automatically be logged as an exception. Settings like Corrective Actions can also be applied here to prompt the team to follow-up if an exception has been logged.

πŸ’‘ Note: Exception Logging & Corrective Actions are only available on the Standard Plan.


Copying a Record Log

If a copy is made of a task containing a Record Log this will create a link between the original Record Log, and the copied Record Log.
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All other components of the task will act independently if changed from the original (e.g. Title, Description, Checklist, Schedule etc.)
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Making changes to the Record Log will apply to all the tasks the Record Link is linked to.
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This is displayed in the yellow box, so it’s easy to spot which tasks the edits will make changes to.
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