ODK Forms#
Forms provide a structured way to collect and provide information. Typically forms are used by data collectors (also called enumerators) with the Collect app who ask questions of and share information with participants. For self-report, web forms can instead be used.
ODK forms can be used to do things like:
Conduct a socioeconomic survey of households
Collect geo-tagged plant species data at different points in time
Record video and audio of wild animals for later identification
Guide health workers through a medical triage protocol in multiple languages
Deliver video-based agricultural training based on a farmer's responses to questions
Forms are made of fields of different types which can each collect or display one piece of information. Visible fields generally represent questions and are displayed differently based on their type.
Questions can be grouped together including on one screen. They can also be repeated. Form logic, datasets, hidden fields, and external apps make it possible to create easy-to-use, but powerful forms that represent complex data collector workflows.
Most ODK users design their forms in XLSForm with Google Sheets or Excel and examples in this documentation use XLSForm. Get started with the XLSForm tutorial or the XLSForm reference.