a few suggestions

Hi DHIS users,

Here are a few suggestions I had for future functionality. If these have already been brought up, then consider this another vote! If you have any comments or questions on these, let me know.

Thanks,

Tom

  1.    Question in entry form hyperlinked to metadata entry of data element – If you want more information about a data element in the data entry screen you can click on the question and a pop-up window shows the link that was defined in the metadata.
    
  2.    Automatic emails to new users – The user creation process could be simplified with an automatic introductory email to new users. A user manager could simply enter username, name, email, role, org unit and an automatic email based on a template would be sent to users with an auto-generated password.
    
  3.    Forgotten password functionality – does this already exist? Similar to new users, automatic password management would save a lot of time.
    
  4.    Instruction field in dataset section – Add another field (rich text) in addition to title in the dataset section for brief instructions/explanation. Right now I use the title for this, but that could be better for sure.
    
  5.    Generic dataset section – This could be used with the suggestion above just without any data elements to add in another section or whatever to make the form clearer.
    
  6.    Set dataset years as an attribute – Currently you can go back to the end of time (I suppose) using the Prev and Next buttons. (This is a bit confusing for yearly data collection, but it works.) However for future years, you are limited only to the current year. Being able to define future years (ie for Budget data or projected figures) would expand this functionality.
    
  7.    See users accessing the system – It’s very handy to see how many users have accessed under user statistics. It would also be great to see attempted logins, and a useful addition would be to be able to click that number and see who accessed. And even better would be to be able to click on that name and see their entries in the log. This would make it easier to troubleshoot with users.
    
···

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Hi Tom,

thanks, I think all of your suggestions are excellent.

2. is already on the plan. 6. is already implemented in trunk, look
for "Allow future periods" in add/edit data set screen.

Can you elaborate a bit on 5. ?

Do you feel like writing blueprints for the rest ?

https://launchpad.net/dhis2

best regards,

Lars

···

On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 8:48 AM, <hiattt@wpro.who.int> wrote:

Hi DHIS users,

Here are a few suggestions I had for future functionality. If these have
already been brought up, then consider this another vote! If you have any
comments or questions on these, let me know.

Thanks,

Tom

1. Question in entry form hyperlinked to metadata entry of data
element – If you want more information about a data element in the data
entry screen you can click on the question and a pop-up window shows the
link that was defined in the metadata.

2. Automatic emails to new users – The user creation process could be
simplified with an automatic introductory email to new users. A user manager
could simply enter username, name, email, role, org unit and an automatic
email based on a template would be sent to users with an auto-generated
password.

3. Forgotten password functionality – does this already exist? Similar
to new users, automatic password management would save a lot of time.

4. Instruction field in dataset section – Add another field (rich
text) in addition to title in the dataset section for brief
instructions/explanation. Right now I use the title for this, but that could
be better for sure.

5. Generic dataset section – This could be used with the suggestion
above just without any data elements to add in another section or whatever
to make the form clearer.

6. Set dataset years as an attribute – Currently you can go back to
the end of time (I suppose) using the Prev and Next buttons. (This is a bit
confusing for yearly data collection, but it works.) However for future
years, you are limited only to the current year. Being able to define future
years (ie for Budget data or projected figures) would expand this
functionality.

7. See users accessing the system – It’s very handy to see how many
users have accessed under user statistics. It would also be great to see
attempted logins, and a useful addition would be to be able to click that
number and see who accessed. And even better would be to be able to click on
that name and see their entries in the log. This would make it easier to
troubleshoot with users.

________________________________

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Thanks, Lars. Yes I'd be happy to write those up. (I wanted to put them here first for those that were already in the works. Thanks for pointing them out.)

For 5. If it's possible to create a dataset section with the instruction field (as in 4.) without any data elements in it then this could already be taken care of. I'm thinking of the ability to add components into a form that aren't directly tied to a dataset section. Perhaps a subheading for all the dataset sections that fall below it, for example. With the hyperlink described in 1. and the 13-month popup on double click, there would already be quite a bit of flexibility to create a rich form without moving to custom forms. Adding this generic element could I think cover the other potential needs to add extra explanation or details or whatever to make the form easiest for users. Does that make sense? Again, maybe it should just be incorporated into 4.

Tom

···

-----Original Message-----
From: Lars Helge Øverland [mailto:larshelge@gmail.com]
Sent: 26 July 2012 22:03
To: Hiatt, Mr Tom (WPRO)
Cc: dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-users] a few suggestions

Hi Tom,

thanks, I think all of your suggestions are excellent.

2. is already on the plan. 6. is already implemented in trunk, look
for "Allow future periods" in add/edit data set screen.

Can you elaborate a bit on 5. ?

Do you feel like writing blueprints for the rest ?

https://launchpad.net/dhis2

best regards,

Lars

On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 8:48 AM, <hiattt@wpro.who.int> wrote:

Hi DHIS users,

Here are a few suggestions I had for future functionality. If these have
already been brought up, then consider this another vote! If you have any
comments or questions on these, let me know.

Thanks,

Tom

1. Question in entry form hyperlinked to metadata entry of data
element - If you want more information about a data element in the data
entry screen you can click on the question and a pop-up window shows the
link that was defined in the metadata.

2. Automatic emails to new users - The user creation process could be
simplified with an automatic introductory email to new users. A user manager
could simply enter username, name, email, role, org unit and an automatic
email based on a template would be sent to users with an auto-generated
password.

3. Forgotten password functionality - does this already exist? Similar
to new users, automatic password management would save a lot of time.

4. Instruction field in dataset section - Add another field (rich
text) in addition to title in the dataset section for brief
instructions/explanation. Right now I use the title for this, but that could
be better for sure.

5. Generic dataset section - This could be used with the suggestion
above just without any data elements to add in another section or whatever
to make the form clearer.

6. Set dataset years as an attribute - Currently you can go back to
the end of time (I suppose) using the Prev and Next buttons. (This is a bit
confusing for yearly data collection, but it works.) However for future
years, you are limited only to the current year. Being able to define future
years (ie for Budget data or projected figures) would expand this
functionality.

7. See users accessing the system - It's very handy to see how many
users have accessed under user statistics. It would also be great to see
attempted logins, and a useful addition would be to be able to click that
number and see who accessed. And even better would be to be able to click on
that name and see their entries in the log. This would make it easier to
troubleshoot with users.

________________________________

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MailSecurity and GFI MailEssentials by the World Health Organization
Regional Office for the Western Pacific. However, the recipient is advised
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protected by law.

If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately by
reply e-mail and delete it and any attachments from your system. You may not
copy or disclose its contents to anyone.

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Unsubscribe : DHIS 2 Users in Launchpad
More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

====================================================
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Hi Tom

I also like all of these suggestions (with a small caveat below).
Would be great if you can create blueprints for these then we can
discuss them individually. Some brief comments inline:

Hi DHIS users,

Here are a few suggestions I had for future functionality. If these have
already been brought up, then consider this another vote! If you have any
comments or questions on these, let me know.

Thanks,

Tom

1. Question in entry form hyperlinked to metadata entry of data
element – If you want more information about a data element in the data
entry screen you can click on the question and a pop-up window shows the
link that was defined in the metadata.

2. Automatic emails to new users – The user creation process could be
simplified with an automatic introductory email to new users. A user manager
could simply enter username, name, email, role, org unit and an automatic
email based on a template would be sent to users with an auto-generated
password.

3. Forgotten password functionality – does this already exist? Similar
to new users, automatic password management would save a lot of time.

4. Instruction field in dataset section – Add another field (rich
text) in addition to title in the dataset section for brief
instructions/explanation. Right now I use the title for this, but that could
be better for sure.

5. Generic dataset section – This could be used with the suggestion
above just without any data elements to add in another section or whatever
to make the form clearer.

(Caveat) I am already a bit concerned that we are a bit entangled
between model and view with our datasets and sections. This starts to
push us further in this direction, but we should find a way to
implement the functionality, perhaps doing some disentanglement at the
same time..

6. Set dataset years as an attribute – Currently you can go back to
the end of time (I suppose) using the Prev and Next buttons. (This is a bit
confusing for yearly data collection, but it works.) However for future
years, you are limited only to the current year. Being able to define future
years (ie for Budget data or projected figures) would expand this
functionality.

7. See users accessing the system – It’s very handy to see how many
users have accessed under user statistics. It would also be great to see
attempted logins, and a useful addition would be to be able to click that
number and see who accessed. And even better would be to be able to click on
that name and see their entries in the log. This would make it easier to
troubleshoot with users.

There is already an audit log functionality, but this information is
being appended to an audit log file. Doing this would probably
require redirecting this log to the database to make it easier to
access from the application or capturing the result of external
scripts which process the log file. I guess either is doable.

Regards
Bob

···

On 26 July 2012 07:48, <hiattt@wpro.who.int> wrote:

________________________________

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copy or disclose its contents to anyone.

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Thanks, Lars. Yes I'd be happy to write those up. (I wanted to put them here first for those that were already in the works. Thanks for pointing them out.)

Great. Just go ahead..

For 5. If it's possible to create a dataset section with the instruction field (as in 4.) without any data elements in it then this could already be taken care of. I'm thinking of the ability to add components into a form that aren't directly tied to a dataset section. Perhaps a subheading for all the dataset sections that fall below it, for example. With the hyperlink described in 1. and the 13-month popup on double click, there would already be quite a bit of flexibility to create a rich form without moving to custom forms. Adding this generic element could I think cover the other potential needs to add extra explanation or details or whatever to make the form easiest for users. Does that make sense? Again, maybe it should just be incorporated into 4.

Yes makes sense. Maybe it is as simple as point 4 + the ability to add
sections without data elements..

···

On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 2:27 AM, <hiattt@wpro.who.int> wrote: