Overview
Checklists are the core of Mobaro — they capture the data behind your Results and dashboards. A Checklist is built from pages and elements (questions, text, and images), with optional scoring, triggers, logic, and reference materials. This guide walks through building one from scratch.
When you click Save in the Checklist editor, your changes apply to the live Checklist straight away — there's no separate draft or publish step. Staff see the Checklist in the mobile app once you add it to a Schedule.
At a glance |
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Who can do this | Super Users, a Role with Checklists › Create, or an Administrator of a permission folder (inside that folder, not at the top level) |
Where | Checklists › + (Create) |
Works on | Backend (web). Staff complete Checklists in the mobile app. |
Availability | All organizations |
💡 Why this matters: A well-built Checklist is the difference between data you can act on and a form people rush through. Getting the structure, scoring, and automation right once means every Result it produces is consistent and useful downstream.
Create the checklist
1. Start a new checklist
Go to Checklists and click + (Create). If your organization uses AI checklist generation, the + opens a menu instead — choose New checklist. If permission folders are shown (Toggle Permission Folders), select the folder first: the new Checklist is created in the selected folder. See Utilizing checklist permission folders.
2. Set the language, title, and description
Choose a Primary Language — used when editing, and as a fallback when no translation exists in the User's language. Then give the Checklist a clear Title (shown to Users in the mobile app) and a Description (visible only in the Backend).
3. Set the checklist options
Set these now or later in the Checklist's Settings:
Secondary Languages — present the Checklist in other languages. See Translate a checklist.
Require downloading the entire checklist for offline use — the Checklist and its content must download fully before it can start. Useful for staff working with limited connectivity.
Four defaults for new questions: Enable “Allow attachments from device gallery” when creating new questions, and the same for camera, comments, and assignments. When you tick or untick one, Mobaro asks whether to Update all existing questions. Each question keeps its own setting, so you can still change it per question.
Categories and Folders — labels for sorting and filtering the Checklist in dashboards, Results, and the mobile app. Checklist Folders aren't permission folders and don't control access.
For every option, see Configuring checklist settings.
Add pages and elements
A Checklist has at least one page. Click the top box to title a page (up to 30 characters), then Add an element at the bottom of the page to add a question, text, or image. Use Add a new page for more pages. Drag and drop to reorder elements within or between pages. Copy page and Copy element duplicate an item inside the same Checklist.
For every element and question type and what each captures, see the Question Types collection. Per question, you can also:
Assign a Question Category for reporting — see Comparing scores across Checklists with Question Categories.
Attach a manual, external link, or video (added to the Library first).
Add logic and triggers (below).
Score answers
Points turn answers into a score. You can give Points to each option of a Select Question or Select Question Group, to each face of a Smiley Question, and to ranges of values with Score Intervals on Number, Slider, and Temperature questions. When the Checklist is submitted, Mobaro reports points collected ÷ maximum possible. For example, "OK" on 9 of 10 questions and "NOT OK" on one gives 90%.
ℹ️ Note: Scoring measures the quality of a finished Result, not completion. Give points to every answer that should affect the score (including 0), and leave the points field empty for answers that shouldn't — for example an N/A option, which is then excluded from the calculation. On a Smiley Question, tick Allow N/A answer instead.
Equally important questions — give the positive answer the same points across questions (e.g. OK = 1) so they weigh equally.
Weighted questions — give more important questions higher points (e.g. 5 or 10 vs 1).
Rating scales — assign graded points across answers (e.g. very good → very bad).
See Understanding checklist scoring for more.
Add triggers
Triggers automate follow-up from an answer. Expand a question's Triggers panel, click Add Trigger, and choose:
Assignment Trigger — creates an Assignment automatically.
Ad Hoc Slot Trigger — schedules an additional Checklist.
Requirement Trigger — requires a comment, a photo, or both before the User can continue.
⚠️ Heads-up: Triggers work only on Select, Select Question Group, Smiley, Number, Temperature, Date, and Water Quality questions. Other types — including Slider and Duration — have no Triggers panel. See Adding triggers to a checklist.
Add logic
Logic shows or hides pages, questions, or elements based on conditions — an earlier answer, the date and time, a Location property, the Checklist's state, User Group membership, or another element's visibility. Conditions can be combined so that all, or one or more, must be met. See Adding logic to a Checklist.
Schedule the checklist
When the Checklist is built, decide which Locations and Users it applies to with a Schedule. Until it's on a Schedule, staff don't see it in the mobile app. See What you need before you can schedule a Checklist.
Best practices
Build a template per Checklist type (daily maintenance, training, annual PM) and copy it with Create Copy — keeping settings, triggers, and logic consistent across your program.
Set the four question defaults in Settings before you add questions, so new questions start with the right attachment, comment, and assignment options.
Add an N/A answer with an empty points field for cases a User genuinely can't assess — it keeps the score fair by excluding that question.
Frequently asked questions
How do I print a checklist or save a blank copy as a PDF?
Select the Checklist in Checklists, click Backup Preview, then Download PDF. To export several at once, select them and click Export Backup — up to 5 at a time. The PDF is a record only; it can't be imported back into Mobaro.
I created a checklist. Why can't my staff see it in the app?
It isn't on a Schedule yet. Saving makes the Checklist live, but it only reaches the mobile app through a Schedule that assigns it to Locations and Users. See What you need before you can schedule a Checklist.
Can I copy a page or question from one checklist into another?
No. Copy page and Copy element duplicate items within the same Checklist only. To reuse content, use Create Copy on the whole Checklist and remove what you don't need. See How to duplicate a checklist.
Can I import a checklist from Excel or a spreadsheet?
No. There's no spreadsheet or CSV import for Checklists. Build the Checklist in the editor, or start from a copy of an existing one with Create Copy.
Can I copy a checklist to another organization?
Yes. Select it, click Create Copy, and choose the Destination Organization. Manuals, videos, links, question categories, checklist categories and folders, and Location-property logic aren't copied. See How to duplicate a checklist for the full list.
Do I need separate checklists for different languages?
No. Add Secondary Languages and translate the Checklist, so one Checklist appears in each User's language. See Translate a checklist.