How to create a Blank (simple) Database without partners

This article is a tutorial on creating a Simple Database to help you get quickly started with your first Database in ActivityInfo.

In ActivityInfo, you can use the readily available templates to get quickly started with your programme. The "Simple database" template is ideal if you want to create a Database for your organization and you don't need to add any Partners (e.g. for internal reporting).

View all roles and permissions for this template. You can edit a Role and create your own Roles too.

Watch the following video to set up a simple database from scratch and to learn how to use reference data, design a simple form, invite users, edit roles, add locks and design a simple pivot table. After watching this video you will be able to create your own database for M&E or to monitor other reporting activities.

For a quicker introduction to form design and user management, watch this video to set up a simple database with a form and a subform:

If you want to create a Database for many Partners, view the Tutorial "How to create a Database for Multi-Partner Reporting". If you want to create a Database with multiple teams and users such as Supervisors and Case Workers view the Tutorial "How to create a Database for Case Management".

How to create a Simple Database

Add a Database using a template
  • Log in your ActivityInfo account and make sure your system meets the ActivityInfo Requirements.
  • Click on "Add database" to add a new Database.
  • Give a short and self-descriptive name to your Database and select "Blank database" from the list of templates to get started with it. The name of the database should correspond to information contained in the Database (program, country activities, etc.) and should be comprehensive for the users who will perform data entry.
  • Click on "Add database".
  • In the next page you can start designing the Database and the Forms in the way you need.
Add a Form
  • Now you can add your first Form. Click on "Add form" to get started. If you want to organize your Forms in Folders, you can add a Folder first by clicking on "Add folder".
  • Give a name to your Form and start designing it by adding fields. Click on "Add fields" to get started.

Take a look at all the available Fields and their Common or Individual Properties before you design your Form. You can also read the articles on Designing a Form to make sure you know all you need to design a powerful Form.

  • In this example, we designed a simple Form to gather the Type of NFI distributions that took place per Governorate. You can add, edit and remove fields from your Form depending on your needs. When you finish designing the Form click on "Save" to save it.
  • The Form has been added to the Database and you can view the Table View for that Form. Users will add their Records using the Table View. Navigate back to the Database by clicking on the name of the Database on the breadcrumb at the top of the Table View.
Add Users
  • Now it's time to add some users to the Database so they can start adding Records to your Form. Click on "Database settings" to navigate to the Database Settings page.
  • You can define the Permissions that each user will have by assigning a Role to them. You can view an overview of the Permissions of each Role in the Roles section. Just click on a Role from the list and view the Permissions in the Side panel.
  • In the Database Settings page, click on "User management" to start adding users and click on "Add user".
  • In the Side panel, type the email of the user you want to add and click on "Continue".
  • If the user doesn't have an ActivityInfo account, you will invite them to ActivityInfo. ActivityInfo sends an email to the user you invite to a Database, if the user doesn't have an ActivityInfo account.
  • Give a name to the user by entering a name in the "Name" field and  select the language of the invitation they will receive. The user will be able to change that name when they accept their invitation to ActivityInfo and they sign up.
  • In the next steps you will define the Permission levels for this user.
  • First you need to define a Role for the user. The available Roles and the default permission for these Roles can be found in the Roles section. To view the permissions that go with each Role, click on a Role from the list and view the Permissions in the Side panel.
  • Select the Role you want to assign to the user you are inviting.
  • Finally select the Forms and Folders to which you want this user to be added and click on "Send invite".

Please note that:

  • When a user is invited to one or more Forms that exist within a Folder, the user will be able to see the Name of the Folder.
  • When a user is invited to one or more Subforms that exist within a Form, the user will be able to see the Name of the Form.
  • The user has been invited. Repeat the same steps to invite more users.

In the User management section, "Invalid email" means that the email of the user is not valid and "Invite pending" means that the user hasn't accepted the invitation to ActivityInfo yet.

  • If you start adding a user that has already been added to this Database, an alert will warn you about it and you won't be able to click on "Continue". Instead you can edit the user.
  • If you start adding a user that already has an account in ActivityInfo, you will be notified about it.
  • You can select the Role for this user and select the Forms and Folders to which you want this user to be added but you cannot change their name.
  • Click on "Send invite" to add this user to this Database.

You can override the Permissions of a Role for a specific user to better match the Permissions you want to assign.  Click on "Database Design", select the Form or Folder for which you want to apply changes and click on the user on the Side Panel to reveal the assigned Permissions.  Click on the Permissions you want to add or remove any unwanted Permission by unticking a ticked box. Click on "Save" to save the changes.

If the Permissions that come with a Role don't match you needs, you can also  edit a Role.

Help the invited Users get started with Data Entry
  • The added Records appear in Table View. You can view the History and the Details of every Record in the Side panel and Filter and Sort the Records according to your needs.