Creating a Contact Log

[Norah Vii]

I'm looking for a simplistic way to create a contact log. 

I want this done in such a way that the person filling it out can view previous logs on the same screen as the form for adding new logs. 

For example, you might see a plus button that says "add log"

And that will let add a new log right below the most recent log (assuming it is not the first).

I do not want this done in such a way that the person cannot see the logs of the past.

[David Edwards]

Hi Norah,

You could try using an instance table:

      https://github.com/lsgs/redcap-instance-table

First of all, let's call the form that displays all the contacts Contact_Log, and the form you use to add an individual contact Contact_Form (in reality you can call these whatever you like of course). 

The Instance Table external module will enable you to display all contacts that have previously been added to Contact_Form as a table with an Add button to add a new Contact at the bottom.

This is roughly*** what you need to do to set it up:

1. In your REDCap project, find the External Modules heading on the left hand menu, click Manage, and click Enable a Module, and add the Instance Table external module to your project.
   
   
   (but if it's not in the list of available external modules, you'll first need to go to the control panel and import it)
   
   
2. Add a new instrument, Contact_Form, including all the fields you want the user to complete for a new contact, along with all the labels and branching etc you'd normally have on an instrument. 
   
   
3. In Contact_Log, add a new descriptive field(call it anything you like), which will contain your table of contacts. Add these 2 action tags to the Action Tags / Field Annotation section:
   
   
   @INSTANCETABLE=contact_form (or event_name: contact_form if you're using events) 
   @INSTANCETABLE_VARLIST={list here all the fields from Contact_Form you want to appear in the table - doesn't need to be all of them - just the important ones}

      (see above link for other action tags you can add here to control appearance/behaviour of the instance table)

4. If you want the table in Contact_Log to have different column headings to the raw field names in Contact_Form, add this action tag to the fields concerned in Contact_Form:
   

5. @INSTANCETABLE_LABEL='{User Friendly Column Name}'
   
   

*** I've not used instance tables in a while and I've not double checked any of this, so if anyone reading this notices any errors or omissions, please feel free to correct them with a reply to all.

Well, that's probably enough to be getting on with. See how you get on with that.

All the best,

David.

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From: redca...@googlegroups.com <redca...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Norah Vii <hellon...@gmail.com>
Sent: 02 April 2024 20:03
To: Redcap Open <redca...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Creating a Contact Log

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[Tom Maloney]

Super-simplistic seems like creating a form with a long-text control that allows notes to accumulate inside a single field. If the contents aggregate and editing them into a readable narrative is important, that minimalism might fully suit the need.

But perhaps you need something more structured?  REDCap's repeating INSTANCES can do wonderful stuff. Repeating instances even give you the requested [+add new] button. They can be used fairly simply for purposes like logging contacts. You need to create your contact form, then [pipe] its fields (or any other useful fields in the project) into the "Custom label for repeating instruments" (bottom screenshot).

When you have a view focused on a single subject record, whatever repeating instance forms you have defined appear as panels below the record's grid of forms and events. (I do not believe REDCap offers a way to alter the position or shape of the repeating instance panels.)

You could create a minimalist user dashboard to hide unrelated forms and thus avoid having to scroll to the bottom of the screen to review your contacts.

 

Repeating instances are actually very well worked out in REDCap now. Our site is running v14.0.14, but as I recall, repeating instances have been maturing since at least v10.

Best regards,

-Tom

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[Florence Breslin]

Hi Norah, I'm replying to this for 2 reasons, one is I'm not sure there is a better way, so i'll share what I do, but if someone has a better/more sophisticated method, I want to know too.

So what I have done is I have a contact log instrument, then I have seperate boxes for each contact, with a drop down to select how many I need. If we get new information, I add a new box, but all the prior ones are still present. 

[Tom Maloney]

Is anyone else finding that replies which appear in the google group are not actually appearing in its' email distributions? It seems like some do, some don't. I found my reply, and some others, in there, but not in emails I received from redcap_open.

Here's the link to the group threads:  https://groups.google.com/g/redcap_open/c/Li2olGx2y5M

-Tom

[Norah Vii]

Click "Reply All" to send your message to the thread publicly. 

Special thanks to Tom for volunteering an idea that doesn't require additional modules. 

On Friday, April 5, 2024 at 12:12:38 PM UTC-5 Norah Vii wrote:

Yeah. Something is broken.

[David Edwards]

Yes Tom, I originally replied to Norah's post, then later realised I didn't get the usual email notification from the group. So I tried again but same result. So I went directly to the group and replied. Then of course both the older emails from the day before came through as well, so I had to delete them.

Not sure if it was a temporary thing or  if affecting all posts/users.

Al the best,
David.

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From: redca...@googlegroups.com <redca...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tom Maloney <malon...@gmail.com>
Sent: 05 April 2024 16:58
To: Redcap Open <redca...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [REDCap Open] Re: Creating a Contact Log

 

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