Getting started with KoboToolbox

What is KoboToolbox?

KoboToolbox is a tool for designing forms and collecting survey data. Teams use it for baseline surveys, post-distribution monitoring, needs assessments and registration. You build a form once, share it, and the answers arrive in one place where you can view, edit and download them.

Its official quickstart guide says the process has four parts: create an account, build and deploy a form, and start collecting data. This article follows the same path and adds practical advice for teams in Myanmar.

How do you create an account and a project?

1. Go to the KoboToolbox sign-up page and create an account on one of the public servers. The guide says most users choose the Global server. Organisations that need data hosted in the European Union can use the European Union server.
2. Click the link in the activation email and sign in.
3. Click NEW to create a project. You can build from scratch with the Formbuilder, use a template from the question library, upload an XLSForm file, or import an XLSForm from a link.
4. Enter project details and click Create project.

Choose your server and organisation account carefully before you collect personal data. Check your organisation's data protection rules first, and see data protection for NGOs.

How do you build a form?

In the Formbuilder, you add questions one by one.

1. Click the button to add a question, type the question text and choose a type, such as text, number, select one, select many, date or GPS point.
2. Click the settings icon on a question to make it required, change its appearance or add skip logic.
3. Click Preview form to test it.
4. Click Save, then close the form.

Keep forms short. Group questions in logical order. Use select questions instead of free text where possible, because they give cleaner data. Plan the questions from your indicators first, so that each question has a use. For advanced forms, use a spreadsheet. See XLSForm basics for survey design.

How do you deploy the form?

A form is not live until you deploy it. In the project, open the FORM page and click DEPLOY. Then choose how people will submit data:

• Under Collect data, copy the web form link and share it. It works in a browser on a computer, iPhone or Android phone.
• Or set up the KoboCollect Android app on your team's devices.

Note that the documentation says deployed projects require users to sign in by default. To let anyone with the link submit data, you must turn off the authentication option. If you keep authentication on, share the project with specific KoboToolbox users and give them permission to add submissions. For surveys of personal data, keep authentication on.

Web form or KoboCollect?

KoboToolbox support pages compare the two methods.

Choose KoboCollect when much of your data collection is field-based and offline, or when you need features such as barcode scanning or photos and video. Choose web forms for simplicity and mixed devices.

How do you collect data offline?

For web forms, the KoboToolbox guide advises this:

1. Open the form while connected and wait for it to load fully. This can take up to 30 seconds.
2. Wait for the confirmation icon that shows it is cached.
3. Collect data. Finished submissions wait in a queue.
4. When the device reconnects, submissions upload automatically while the form is open.
5. Do not clear browser cache or site data during collection, or you can lose queued records.

For KoboCollect: download the form while online, tap Start new form, complete it offline, then use Ready to send and Send selected when you have a connection. Check the Sent list to confirm the upload.

This suits areas with weak connectivity. See also offline mobile data collection.

What should you do before fieldwork?

1. Test the form with the same devices and method your enumerators will use. KoboToolbox says to test in a scenario similar to your actual data collection.
2. Train enumerators on the form, on consent and on how to upload.
3. Run a small pilot with a few respondents, then fix unclear questions.
4. Redeploy after any change.
5. Agree who uploads and when, so no data stays on phones for weeks.
6. Plan data checks. Check data daily during fieldwork. See five data quality checks.

What mistakes do new users make?

• Skipping the test. Errors in skip logic are found too late.
• Forgetting to redeploy after a change.
• Leaving the form open to anyone when it collects personal data.
• Clearing browser data during offline web form use.
• Long forms that tire respondents and lower data quality.
• No consent question or script at the start for personal data.

How EMPO can help

EMPO is a reliable, Yangon-based training and consultancy provider and one of Myanmar's leading names in practical NGO training, with 1,200+ people trained and 15 partner organisations. Our MEAL training covers data collection tools, and our store offers a KoboToolbox XLS Forms package with 23 ready-to-use forms. Training is online or in person across Myanmar, in English and Burmese. See our training services or contact us.

Sources

• Quickstart guide — KoboToolbox documentation
• Data collection with KoboToolbox — KoboToolbox documentation