FAQ

MIS stands for Management Information System. The system is developed and maintained by Mainlevel Consulting AG and consists of a number of modules and features that enable various functions. The system is completely web-based which makes it highly flexible while maintaining excellent performance. The following non-exhaustive list provides an overview of key modules:

• Collection and management of data

• Indicator tracking

• Information sharing and knowledge management

• Analytical dashboard and automatic reports

• Geographic mapping

• Surveying

• Mobile application and remote monitoring

The system can be applied in a very broad range of uses cases and sectors (e.g. social protection, biodiversity, reforestation, health, education, employment promotion, citizen engagement). It can be integrated with existing or with auxiliary systems. For more details on use cases, modules and functionalities see <link>.

The process of setting up a MIS follows typically an agile and iterative sequence of work steps. Initially, the use case is narrowed down and defined, which enables the specification of requirements. In iterative rounds, the system is developed and refined. After some testing, capacity development of the users ensures that the users are able to operate the system and ownership for the system is generated.

The typical duration for such a process can calst from 2 months to more than a year, depending on the complexity of the system and the number of stakeholders involved.

To learn more about the process of setting up an MIS, see MIS Knowledge Base.

The system is generally navigated via the navigation sidebare on the left of the screen. This sidebar is adaptable to the use case of the system and to specific user roles and groups (following the permission scheme).

Data collection refers to the place where data is stored within the MIS. There are different ways for storing data in the MIS within a data collection (values lists, structure lists and data pots).

A data collection form provides an interface to enter new data and add it to an existing data collection. Once data is entered and saved, the submission is added to the data collection. Typically, data collection forms feed the data pots while referencing to value lists and structure lists.

A question is a field on the data collection form, where various types of data can be entered. For each data collection form there is a template where the questions are selected and arranged.

Click here for an overview of all types of questions.

There is high flexibility in defining questions and restraining possible data that can be entered to make sure users enter the right data at the right place.

For more information see the instructions on how to create and modify a template.

A data table in the MIS is a very simple way to visualize data from a data collection. Tables simply list all entries. Filters can be applied to narrow down the entries to be shown. From data tables, data can be extracted to Excel.

The Dashboard is a graphical user interface that visualizes data from data collection(s). It can be configurated to the specific needs of a project.

For more informatino see the instructions on how to create and edit a dashboard.

The types of users in the MIS differ for every project and need to be discussed individually. The MIS has an extensive permission scheme where access to features and data can be granted and restricted.

Administrators can add new users and configure their permissions in the User Management.

Data collection is the generic term for technically identical but functionally different ways to collect data in the MIS.

1. Value Lists: Predefined and reusable lists of values that can be refered to in a question of a data collection (e.g. Gender, Type of Training, etc.)

2. Structure Lists: Predefined and reusable lists of structural data (i.e. provinces or sectors) that can be refered to in a question of a data collection

3. Data Pot: Collection that references the reusable and predefined Value and Structure Lists and that contains free input fields.

For more information see the Data Management.

An aggregation is an operation which processes data from the MIS and returns a computed results. It can group values from multiple submissions, and can perform a variety of operations on the grouped data to return a single or multiple results. 

This information will be available soon.

A dashboard for one data pot can be configured by enabling the dashboard function in the Layout section of the data collection settings.

To edit dashboards,

1. go to the dashboard you want to edit,

2. click on the Additional Settings Button and

   

3. click on Edit Dashboard.

For further instructions see instructions on how to edit a dashboard.

To add a new chart to a dashboard

1. go to the dashboard you want to edit,

2. click on the Additional Settings Button and

   

3. click on Edit Dashboard.

4. Click on the Add Button to select a new dashboard item. Go to Dashboard Items to find an overview of all available items and instructions how to set them up.

   

5. Click apply.

6. Finally, click on the Save Button.

For further instructions see instructions on how to edit a dashboard.

Chart types can be custimised in its editor.

1. Open the edit mode of the chart
   

   

2. click on the type of chart you selected,

   

3. click on settings and the chart editor opens.

When opening the Chart Editor, you have the possibility to change the chart configuration by entering code snippets in the Configuration.

Click here for a list of the frequently used code snippets for costumisation.

This information will be available soon.

This information will be available soon.

Results model and results matrices can be created in the system settings Models.

New results can be added to the results model either via the Results Dashboard or the Results Model.

For more information see the instructions on how to create a results model.

To add an Indicator to a results model,

1. Go to the results model,

2. navigate to the Indicator List tab,

3. click on the Add Indicator Button which opens up the Indicator Editor

For more information see the instructions on how to create a new indicator.

Indicators can be linked to data by adding an aggregation to an indicator.

For further informatin see instructions on how to create and edit an indicator.

This information will be available soon.

For data collections to appear in the navigation sidebar, data collections need to be configured as items in the navigation.

This can be done in the navigation section of the administration.

For further informatin see instructions on how to set up the navigation.

Editing the navigation and creating new navigation items can be done in the navigation section of the administration.

For further informatin see instructions on how to set up the navigation.

This information will be available soon.

This information will be available soon.

To create a new data collection for your project, click on the “Add Button” in the “Data Settings” which is accessed through the navigation bar.

For more information see the instructions on how to create a data collection.

There are various kind of question to choose from in your data entry form (e.g. date, text, number, selection, file, geo, photo and matrix questions).

For more information see the overview of the types of questions.

Questions can be added to the data collection form via the template editor of a data collection.

For more information see the instructions on how to configure a template.

Questions can be edited via the template editor for the data collection form. Depending on the question type, different configuration settings are available.

For more information see the instructions on how to configure a template.

Data collections forms can be linked by creating a selection question that references another data collection.

For more information see instructions on how to set up a selection question.

The layout of the data collection form can be changed by editing the layout configurations for each question on the form.

For more information see the instructions on how to configure the layout for a question.

This information will be available soon.

For the data table in any data collection you have the standardized features Search, View Columns and Addtional Settings (download Excel, reset table settings, etc)

For more information see the instructions on how to search and custumize data tables.

In any data view there is a Filter Button in the top-right corner where you can select a predefined filter.

For more information see the instructions on how to set filters to your data.

Filters are configured individually for every data collection in the respective settings. Here a filter property can be selected.

For more information see the instructions on how to set filters to your data collection.

Users can be added via the user mangement in the administration section. This feature is only available to users with administration rights.

For more information see the instructions on how to create and edit users.

The MIS has an extensive permission scheme where access to features and data can be granted and restricted. This feature is only available to users with administration rights.

For more information see the explanation of the permission scheme and the instructions on how to configure it.

This information will be available soon.

The password can be reset by the Forgot Password? link on the login screen.

For further information see the instructions on how to reset your password.

In the Theme section of the administration you can customize the display of the MIS with the logos of the tenant. This feature is only available to users with administration rights.

For further information see the instructions on how to change logos.

In the Theme section of the administration you can customize the display of the MIS with the colors of the tenant. This feature is only available to users with administration rights.

For further information see the instructions on how to change colors.

Documents can either be uploaded via an data collection form or the data view Documents in a data collection.

When an upload is requested in a data collection form,

1. click the Upload Button and

2. select a file via Drag-and-Drop or the File Explorer.

In the data view Documents

1. click on the Upload Button in the top-right corner and

2. select a file via Drag-and-Drop or the File Explorer.

The MIS tool supports any common file format (e.g. .csv, .xlsx, .pptx, .txt). In the configuration of the data entry form a list of allowed file formats can be set up.

For further information see the instructions on how to configure a File Question.

In any data collection you will find a table with all documents that have been uploaded via the Documents tab. In the top-right corner you will find a search field.

If the Documents tab is not visible, it needs to be activated in the data collections settings. Click here for further information on how to set it up.

If the import feature is activated you can import data via an Excel file in the Import tab of a data pot.

As preparatory steps need to done beforehand, follow the instructions here on how to import data.

Data can be exported for every data collection in an Excel file.

1. Go to the data table in the Data tab,

2. click on the Additional Settings Button and

   

3. select Download Excel.

For more information see the introduction to the Data Table Features.

Descriptive analytics in form of dashboard items can be exported as an PNG file.

1. Go to the Dashboard tab in a data collection,

2. click on the Additional Settings Button at the dashboard item you wish to export and
   

   

3. select Download as PNG.