Overview
An orphaned assignment is an Assignment that was raised while a Checklist was being completed, reached Mobaro before the Checklist was finished, and then wasn’t part of the Result that was finally submitted — for example because the answer that triggered it changed.
Mobaro keeps these Assignments and lists them on the Result’s report under Orphaned Assignments, so nothing raised in the field disappears without a trace. This article explains how they happen, what happens to them, and how to hide them from reports.
At a glance |
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Who can do this | Anyone who can view the Result: Super Users, or a Role with Results › View (at Locations they have access to). Hiding them: Super Users, or a Role with Report Templates › Modify. |
Where | The Result’s report › Orphaned Assignments; Report Templates › Hide orphaned assignments |
Works on | Backend (web) and Result reports (PDF). They come from Checklists completed in the Mobile app. |
Availability | All organizations |
💡 Why this matters: An Assignment can be created before a Checklist is finished. If the situation changes before submission, the Assignment shouldn’t silently vanish — surfacing it as orphaned keeps a transparent record of what was raised and lets someone decide what to do with it.
How assignments become orphaned
An Assignment raised in a Checklist — manually on a question or by an Assignment trigger — is created in Mobaro when a version of the Result containing it reaches Mobaro — when the User taps Save progress in the cloud, and at submission. So an Assignment can be left behind when:
the Result was saved to the cloud and later resumed, or
a submitted Result is invalidated, made resumable and completed again.
If the answers then change so that the Assignment is no longer in the Result that’s finally submitted, it becomes orphaned. Typical cases:
Removed by hand — the User deleted the Assignment from the question before submitting.
Trigger no longer applies — the User changed the answer that triggered it. The app warns that changing the answer could result in loss of cloud data or assignment that was triggered by previous answer.
Resumed and changed — someone resumed the saved or reopened Result and changed it before submitting.
Progress saved only on the device doesn’t reach Mobaro, so Assignments in it aren’t created yet and can’t become orphaned.
What happens to an orphaned assignment
Mobaro doesn’t delete, close or reassign it. It stays in Assignments with its assignees, deadline and link to the Result, and assignees can still see and work on it like any other Assignment.
⚠️ Heads-up: Because orphaned Assignments stay open, they can keep a team busy — or, if they’re high priority, hold a Location red — after the Checklist decided they weren’t needed. Review them and resolve or delete the ones that no longer apply. See Resolving, documenting, and reopening Assignments.
Where they appear
When a Result has orphaned Assignments, its report shows the count on the cover page (2 orphaned assignments, for example) and adds an Orphaned Assignments page: The following assignments were created while answering this result but were later removed because the answers changed. Each entry shows the Assignment and where in the Checklist it came from. Deleted orphaned Assignments are still listed.
Assignments that a Result only referenced, rather than raised, are a different thing — see Referenced Assignments in Checklist Results.
Hide them from reports
To leave the Orphaned Assignments page out of a report, open Report Templates, edit the template, tick Hide orphaned assignments under Other, and save. It applies wherever that template is used, including Result Report emails. The count on the cover page still shows unless the template also has Hide frontpage ticked. See Creating and using Report Templates.
Hiding them only changes the report. The Assignments themselves stay in Assignments.
Best practices
Check the Orphaned Assignments page when you review Results, and close out any orphaned Assignment that no longer applies.
Brief staff that changing a triggering answer after saving to the cloud leaves the Assignment behind, so they tell the assignee or delete it.
Hide orphaned Assignments on report templates you send outside your team, and keep them visible on your internal template.
Frequently asked questions
What is an orphaned assignment?
An Assignment raised during a Checklist that reached Mobaro — through a cloud save or a reopened Result — but wasn’t in the final submitted Result, usually because the triggering answer changed or the User removed it.
How can I remove an orphaned assignment from showing on a report?
Tick Hide orphaned assignments in the Report Template you use (Report Templates › template › Other). Deleting the Assignment doesn’t remove it from the report — deleted ones are still listed.
Is an orphaned assignment still active?
Yes. Mobaro doesn’t delete or close it, so it stays open in Assignments with its assignees until someone resolves or deletes it.