Overview
A Text Question captures a free-text answer that the User types: a description, a note, a name or a reference number. Use it when the answer can't be one of a few fixed options.
The answer is saved on the Result as written, including line breaks. It isn't scored and can't raise triggers, so pair it with a Select Question when you need to act on the answer.
At a glance |
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Who can do this | Super Users, a Role with Checklists › Modify (or Create, for Checklists you created), or an Administrator or Editor of the Checklist's permission folder |
Where | Checklists › open a Checklist › Add an element › Text Question |
Works on | Backend (web) to set up. Answered in the Mobile app and RideOps. |
Availability | All organizations |
💡 Why this matters: Some answers need words: what was wrong, what was done, which work order. A Text Question keeps that context on the Result so a reviewer isn't left guessing. Free text can't be scored, charted or trigger an action, so use it to support a structured answer, not to replace one.
Add a Text Question
1. Open the Checklist editor
In the Mobaro Backend, go to Checklists and open or create a Checklist.
2. Add the question
Click Add an element and choose Text Question.
3. Enter the title and explanatory text
Enter a Title (required, up to 1,000 characters) that says what to write. Add Explanatory Text if the User needs instructions, such as the format of a work order number.
4. Save
Click Accept Changes, then Save the Checklist.
Settings
A Text Question has no Question Configuration panel: there is no format, option or points setting. These settings are available:
Setting | Available? | Notes |
Title, Explanatory Text | Yes | The Title is required. |
Reference Images, Manuals, Videos, Links | Yes | Show an example or the procedure to follow. |
Question Categories | Yes | Group questions for filtering and reports. |
Action Menu Options | Yes | Allow comments, attachments or Assignments on the question. |
Logic | Yes | Show the question only when it applies. See below for conditions on its answer. |
Triggers | No | There is no Triggers panel. |
Points or Score Intervals | No | A text answer isn't scored. |
Answering in the app
In the Mobaro app, the question shows a text box with the placeholder Enter text here. The User taps it and types; line breaks are kept.
Every visible question must be answered, so the Checklist can't be completed until the Text Question has some text. There is no setting to make it optional. To ask for it only in some cases, hide it with logic: hidden questions don't need an answer.
RideOps supports Text Questions. Operators answer them the same way, in an Enter text here box.
Logic and triggers
A Text Question can be shown or hidden by any logic condition, for example only when a Select Question is answered Not OK. See Adding logic to a Checklist.
Other pages and elements can also depend on its answer, with equal to or not equal to a text of up to 75 characters. See Logic based on an answer to a question.
⚠️ Heads-up: Known issue in the mobile app: conditions on a Text Question or Email Question don't compare typed words correctly. equal to a word is never met, and not equal to is always met, whatever was typed. RideOps compares the text exactly. Until this is fixed, ask the question as a Select Question with fixed options and base the logic on those.
Text Questions don't support triggers. To raise an Assignment from a finding, add a Select Question next to the Text Question and put the trigger on that. See Adding triggers to a checklist.
Text answers on Results
The answer appears on the Result, in the Backend and in its PDF report, with its line breaks. It doesn't add to or lower the score, and no dashboard widget shows free text. See Viewing Checklist Results.
Users with Results › Modify and Super Users can correct the answer on a completed Result. See Modify Checklist Results.
Best practices
Say in the Title exactly what to write, for example "Describe the fault and the action taken".
Put a format example in Explanatory Text when you need a number or code in a set format.
Pair the Text Question with a Select Question when the answer must be scored, charted or raise work, and show the Text Question only when it's needed.
Keep free text for detail. Several Text Questions on one page slow Users down.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a question with no mandatory answer?
You can't make a visible Text Question optional: every visible question needs an answer. To ask it only sometimes, hide it with logic, for example show it only when another question is answered No. Hidden questions don't need an answer.
Where do the answers to text questions go?
Onto the Result. Open the Result under Results in the Backend, or its PDF report, to read the text. See Viewing Checklist Results.
Is there a dashboard widget that would display text answers to a question?
No. Widgets chart scores and fixed answers, not free text. Read the text on the Result, or add a Select Question next to it and chart that with the Answer Distribution widget.
Can I show a field based on what someone typed in a Text Question?
Not reliably at the moment: a known issue in the mobile app stops Text conditions comparing words. Use a Select Question for the condition instead. See Logic based on an answer to a question.