Checklist templates

A checklist template is a reusable list of questions: you write the questions once, and xMatix asks them wherever a checklist is needed. Field executives answer them during visits, warehouse staff on delivery orders and goods receipts, technicians on service orders and health checks, and claim reviewers on claim lines. Each answer is saved against the record it was given on, so a template never holds answers itself.

Overview

A template has two parts:

• The header (the Checklist Template record): its name, a Type that says what kind of checklist it is, and optional scoping by item, customer, customer group and dates.
• The questions (Checklist Template Line records, listed on the template's Related tab): each with a name, a Data Type that decides the answer control, optional answer choices, a default answer and a mandatory flag.

When someone fills in a checklist, xMatix creates one Checklist Line record for each answer. That record is linked to the question and to the record the checklist was filled on, such as a visit activity, a delivery order or a claim line.

When to use it

Create a checklist template when the same questions are asked repeatedly and you want the answers in a consistent, reportable shape. Typical examples are a store audit on a visit, a pre-delivery inspection, a vehicle health check or a warranty claim review.

Do not use a checklist template for the order of work on a visit. That is a visit task template. A visit task template can run a checklist template as one of its activities.

How xMatix handles it

Different screens look up a template in different ways. Before you build one, check which screen will ask its questions, because that decides which header fields matter.

When a mobile activity looks up a template by Type, the app picks one template using these rules, in order:

1. Only templates whose Type matches the activity type. Case and surrounding spaces are ignored.
2. A template with Is Active cleared is skipped. A template where Is Active was never set still counts.
3. Today must fall between From Date and To Date. A blank date means no limit on that side.
4. The narrowest scope wins. A template whose Account Name is the visit's customer comes first, then templates with no scope. A template scoped to a different customer is never used. Templates scoped by Account Group or Resource Group do not match at present.
5. If two templates tie, the one with the shorter date window wins, then the one modified most recently.

The other lookups are simpler. The Checklist widget's type and name modes, Open Checklist and Populate Checklist ignore Is Active, From Date, To Date and the customer scoping. To retire a template from those screens, change its Type or delete it.

Prerequisites

• To build templates, you need access to the Field Sales Setup app. The template list is under Templates → Checklist Templates. You can also type /ChecklistTemplate in the address bar after your tenant address.
• The Type you need must be in the Type picklist. The delivered values are Claim, Competitor Capture, Health Check, Inspection, Merchandising Audit, New Outlet Registration, Product Demo and Window Display Onboarding. Delivery and Service Order are not delivered. An administrator adds them before anyone can build a template for Populate Checklist (see Configuration).

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the template list

Open the Field Sales Setup app and select Templates → Checklist Templates. The list shows each template's Name, Type, Partner Account, Item, From Date, To Date and Is Active, plus who created and last changed it. Two views are delivered: All Checklist Templates and All Checklist Templates (Type).

Step 2 — Create the template

1. Select New.
2. Enter a Name. This is the title people see on the checklist. It is required.
3. Optionally enter a Code for your own reference.
4. Tick Is Active.
5. On the Details tab, choose the Type and, if the template is for one product, the Item. Claim checklists and health checks find their template by item, so set the Item for those.
6. On the Timeline tab, set a From Date and To Date if the template should be used only for a period (for example a seasonal display audit). Only mobile visit activities that look up a template by Type honour these dates.
7. Select Save.

The template's record page opens. Its header shows Partner Account, Type and Is Active, with Edit and Delete buttons.

Step 3 — Scope it to a customer (optional)

On the record page, open Details → Other Details and set Account Name (one customer) or Account Group with the pencil beside the field. Only mobile visit activities that look up a template by Type use this scope. When a customer has its own template of a Type, its visits use it instead of the general one. Leave both empty for a template that applies everywhere.

Step 4 — Add the questions

1. Open the Related tab and select New on the Checklist Template Line list.
2. Enter the question as the Name. The Checklist Template is filled in for you.
3. Set a Sequence Number to control the order.
4. Tick Is Mandatory if the question must be answered.
5. Under Details, choose the Data Type (see Answer types). For a choice question, enter the choices in Picklist Values, separated by commas. Optionally set a Default Value, and a Length to limit the text length.
6. To show a question only after a particular answer to an earlier one, choose the earlier question as Parent Template Line and enter the triggering answer in Dependent Answer. Only mobile visit activities that use the template in place of their built-in questions support this.
7. Select Save, then repeat for each question.

The list shows each question's Name, Checklist Template and Data Type, seven at a time. Use the row pencil to edit a question and the bin to delete it.

Step 5 — Connect the template to the screen that uses it

• Visits: on the visit task template, open the checklist activity and pick this template as its Checklist Template (see Checklists and tasks). For other activity types, give the template a Type that matches the activity type, or pick it on the activity.
• Record-page checklist tabs: in the layout designer, select the Checklist widget and set Source to Template ID with this template chosen, or to By Template Type with this template's Type.
• Claims: no linking is needed. Use Type Claim and set the Item.
• Health checks: point the Health Check widget at this template, or switch it to the asset lookup and set this template's Item to the asset's item.
• Populate Checklist: use Type Delivery or Service Order. Add the action to the document's page header if it is not there (see Configuration).

Step 6 — Change or retire a template

Select Edit to reopen the create form, where you can change the Name, Code, Is Active, Type, Frequency, Parent Checklist, Item and dates. Name, Is Active and the Other Details fields can also be edited in place on the record page.

Changes to questions affect checklists filled in from then on. Answers already given keep their question link and value.

To stop a template being picked by mobile visit activities, clear Is Active or set a To Date. For every other screen, change its Type, repoint the widget or delete the template.

Answer types

The Health Check widget ignores the Data Type: every question is answered as Good / Warning / Critical (Green / Amber / Red), with an optional reading and remarks.

Checklist answers

Every answer is a Checklist Line record. A template never stores answers itself. Each answer row records:

• the question it answers (Checklist Template and Checklist Template Line) and that question's Data Type;
• the record it was given on (Related Entity Type and Related Record), for example a visit activity, a delivery order, a service order or a claim line;
• the answer itself, in the value column that matches the Data Type.

One answer per question per record

When a checklist opens, the screen looks up the answers already saved for that record and template and fills them in. Saving again updates those rows rather than adding new ones, so a record keeps one answer per question. Two ways of working are different:

• Populate Checklist and the service order's Checklist action always add a new full set of blank answer rows, one per question, each time they run.
• Some lookup questions on the mobile app let you pick several records. Each pick is saved as its own answer row, and a pick you remove is deleted.

A record-page Checklist widget on the same record and template picks up rows that Populate Checklist created, so it is a convenient way to answer them.

Where each answer is kept

Health checks always save a RAG answer: the condition goes in RAG Value, the reading in Decimal Value and the note in Remarks.

What saving an answer sets off

• Service recommendations. When an answer is saved or changed, the service recommendation rules for its question are checked, and each matching rule raises a recommendation in the same save. Deleting an answer removes the recommendations it raised that have not been utilised.
• No server check on answers. The server accepts an answer row with no value and does not enforce Is Mandatory. Each checklist screen applies its own rules (see Fields).
• Clearing an answer. The record-page Checklist widget and the mobile record checklist save only questions that have a value. If you empty an answer and save, the earlier answer stays. To remove it, delete the Checklist Line record.
• Deleting the record. Deleting a delivery order, service order or other record does not delete its answer rows.

Fields

Checklist Template

Checklist Template Line (a question)

Checklist Line (an answer)

Checklist screens create these rows for you. Open one to see a single answer. It is not in any delivered app's navigation, and the delivered All Checklist Lines list shows Name, Checklist Template, Checklist Template Line, Related Record and the audit columns.

The answer's record page shows Checklist Template, Checklist Template Line and Data Type, then RAG Value, Decimal Value and Remarks. With Edit you can change those values in place. Other value columns, including Numeric Value, are not on the page.

Business rules

• Populate Checklist copies every matching template. It takes the questions of every template whose Type is exactly Delivery (delivery orders) or Service Order (service orders). Active flag, dates and scope are ignored. Each question becomes a checklist line on the document. Running it again adds a second full set.
• No populate on other documents. Goods receipts, shipments and inspections have no populate action in the delivered configuration.
• Type and name lookups take the first match. When a Checklist widget finds its template by Type or name, it uses the first matching template, with no active, date or scope check. Keep one template per Type for those screens.
• Claim checklists use the newest template. Open Checklist picks the most recently created Claim template for the item.
• Sub-questions on the Checklist widget. The record-page Checklist widget asks only questions whose Checklist Template Line field is empty. Questions linked to another question through that field are left out.
• Answers and follow-up work. Service recommendation rules are set per question. A rule with a RAG value matches a RAG answer. A rule with number bounds reads only the answer's Numeric Value. Decimal and Currency answers are kept in their own columns (except on the web visit checklist), and health-check readings are kept in Decimal Value, so they never trigger a number rule. A rule with neither matches any answered Text question. See Checklist answers.
• Advanced answer routing. A question can send its answer to a field on a custom entity instead of a checklist line (Target Entity Name, Target Entity Field, Target Group Key). These fields are on no delivered form. If they are set by import, the question is refused on save when the entity or field does not exist, when the field's type does not suit the Data Type, or when two questions on the same template map to the same field and group.

Example

A beverage distributor wants a quarterly cooler audit on every outlet visit, plus a stricter version for one large supermarket customer.

1. In Field Sales Setup → Checklist Templates, the administrator creates Cooler audit Q3: Type Merchandising Audit, Is Active ticked, From Date 1 July, To Date 30 September.
2. On Related, they add four questions: Cooler switched on (Boolean, Picklist Values Yes, No, mandatory, sequence 1); Cooler temperature °C (Numeric, sequence 2); Shelf share of own brand (Picklist, Under 25%, 25-50%, Over 50%, sequence 3); Cooler front photo (Take Picture, sequence 4).
3. They create a second template, Cooler audit Q3 – Greenleaf Market, with the same Type and dates. On Other Details they set Account Name to Greenleaf Market, then add a fifth question.
4. On a visit to any other outlet, the mobile Merchandising Audit activity asks the four questions and requires one photo. At Greenleaf Market it uses the customer's own template.
5. On 1 October neither template applies any more, so the activity falls back to its built-in questions until a Q4 template is created.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, create a template Practice – store check with Type Merchandising Audit and Is Active ticked. Add three questions: a Boolean Door clean (mandatory), a Numeric Facings counted and a Take Picture Shelf photo. Then open a test visit on the mobile app and start a Merchandising Audit activity that has no checklist template of its own.

Expected result: the activity asks Door clean and Facings counted in sequence order and asks for exactly one photo. If another active Merchandising Audit template with no scope also exists, the one modified most recently wins.

Quick reference

• Templates live in Field Sales Setup → Templates → Checklist Templates.
• The questions are on the template's Related tab. The header holds no questions.
• Type decides which screens can find the template. Delivery and Service Order must be added to the picklist first.
• Item drives claim checklists and asset health checks.
• Is Active, dates and customer scope matter only to mobile visit activities that look up a template by Type.
• Populate Checklist copies every matching template, every time it runs.
• Number-bound recommendation rules need Numeric questions.
• Code, Frequency, Parent Checklist and Partner Account are for reference only.
• Every answer is a Checklist Line linked to the question and to the record. Saving again updates it.
• Emptying an answer does not remove the saved one. Delete the Checklist Line instead.

Permissions

Access follows the security profile's permissions on the Checklist Template and Checklist Template Line entities. The delivered System Admin, Standard User, Sales Manager, Sales Executive and Service profiles have full access (read, create, edit and delete) to both. A user without read access does not see the list or the template picker. To answer a checklist, a user needs access to the record it is on, read access to the template and its questions, and create and edit access to Checklist Line, where the answers are stored. The same five delivered profiles have full access to Checklist Line. Without it, answers cannot be saved.

On the mobile app, a visit checklist saves its answers on the phone when there is no connection ("Checklist stored · syncs later") and sends them when the phone is back online. The record-page checklist and the health check need a connection to save.

The template record page offers no Clone button. To copy a template, create a new one and add its questions again.

Configuration

Common problems

The checklist tab says "No checklist for this record"

The widget found no template: the record has no template picked, or the widget points at a template that is not in your tenant. Pick a template on the record, or in the layout designer point the Checklist widget at your template.

The checklist tab says "No checklist questions yet"

The widget found its template, but the template has no questions, or every question is linked to another question through Checklist Template Line. Open the template and add questions on its Related tab.

Open Checklist says "No checklist defined for this item."

No template with Type Claim has the claim line's item as its Item. Create one, or set the Item on the existing claim template.

Open Checklist says "This checklist has no questions."

The newest Claim template for the item has no questions. Add them, or delete the empty template so the older one is used.

Populate Checklist did nothing

No template has the Type Delivery (delivery orders) or Service Order (service orders), or those templates have no questions. Add the Type value, create the template and its questions, and run the action again.

The same questions appear twice on a document

Populate Checklist was run twice, or two templates have the same Type. Delete the extra checklist lines, and change the Type of any template you do not want copied.

A visit activity still shows its built-in questions

The mobile app found no template that applies. Check the template's Type against the activity type, Is Active, the From and To dates, and the customer scope. Group-scoped templates do not match. If the template sits on a different customer, the visit's customer does not qualify.

A number rule never raises a recommendation

The question is Decimal or Currency, or the answer comes from a health check. Number rules read Numeric answers only. Change the question to Numeric, or use a RAG rule.

I cleared an answer, but the old answer comes back

The record-page Checklist widget and the mobile record checklist save only the questions that have a value, so an emptied answer is not saved. The earlier answer stays on its Checklist Line. Enter the correct answer instead, or delete that Checklist Line record.

The checklist says it cannot save until the record is saved

Answers are linked to the record they are given on. On a new record, save the record first, then answer the checklist. The mobile app says "Save the record first, then answer the checklist". The claim checklist says "Save the parent record first, then enter checklist answers."

A visit says some checklist answers did not save

The web visit checklist reports "N of M checklist answers did not save — the activity was left open." The answers that did save are kept. Submit the checklist again to save the rest.

I marked a question mandatory but people can skip it

The web visit checklist and the server do not enforce the flag. Use the mobile app's checklist sheet, or the record-page Checklist widget, where a blank mandatory answer is refused.

Common questions

Do Frequency and Is Mandatory on the template do anything?

No. The template's Frequency and its Is Mandatory flag are for your reference only. Nothing schedules a checklist by its frequency, and nothing stops a visit or document from closing because a template is marked mandatory. To require answers, tick Is Mandatory on individual questions instead. To require a checklist on a visit, make the activity that runs it mandatory on the visit task template.

Can one template serve several screens?

Yes, if each screen can find it. A template with Type Merchandising Audit can be picked on a visit activity and also named directly on a Checklist widget. The Type can hold only one value, though, so a template for Populate Checklist (Delivery or Service Order) cannot also be the claim template (Claim). When the same questions are needed in two of those places, create two templates.

What happens to answers when I edit or delete a question?

Answers already given are separate records linked to the record they were filled on, so they keep their values. A new or changed question shows up the next time the checklist is opened. Questions copied onto a document by Populate Checklist are not refreshed. Run the action again only if you are ready to remove the old lines.

Where can I see the answers given on a record?

Open the checklist again on that record: the screen fills in the answers already saved. To review answers across records, an administrator adds the Checklist Line entity to an app in Setup → Design Studio → Apps, then filters the All Checklist Lines list by Checklist Template or Related Record. Each answer row names the question and the record it belongs to. Only the value column that matches the question's Data Type holds the answer, so add that column to the list view when you report on a particular question.

Why does my customer-specific template not show on the web?

Customer scoping applies when a mobile visit activity looks up its template by Type. The web visit screens and record-page Checklist widgets use the template named on the activity or the widget. To use a specific template on the web, name it there.

Related topics

• Checklists and tasks — visit task templates and the activity catalog
• Checklists on service orders
• Service recommendations
• Claims
• Delivery orders
• Goods receipts
• Checklist Template — entity reference
• Checklist Template Line — entity reference
• Checklist Line — entity reference