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Getting Started with 3D

This guide takes you through one small project from start to finish. At the end you have a project with a form, some collected data, and a dashboard that shows it, once an analyst has built the dashboard.

It takes about an hour. You need a 3D login. Step 1 needs a system administrator, so if you are not one, ask them to do that step with you.

The guide shows one path through 3D. Each step links to the page that explains the feature in full. Read those pages when you need more than the guide gives.

The example

The example is a farmer training programme. Field staff visit farmers after a training session and record what they saw. The project needs:

  • a table of Farmers, so a visit links to a known farmer,
  • a Farm Visit form that field staff complete on a phone,
  • a dashboard that shows visits by village and by month.

You can follow the guide with your own subject instead. The steps are the same.

The steps

  1. Create a project. A project holds your tables, forms, views and dashboards.
  2. Invite your team. Add a user and give them a role.
  3. Build a form. Add questions of different types, and link one of them to the Farmers table.
  4. Collect data. Complete the form on the web, and then in the 3D app.
  5. Review submissions and records. Approve a submission and see it become a record in a table.
  6. See your data on a dashboard. Open the project's dashboard and filter it.

Before you start

Step 6 needs a dashboard. An analyst with Metabase access builds it from your project's tables. Ask your system administrator to arrange this before you reach step 6.

Read Core Concepts first if you are new to 3D. It explains how forms, tables, views and dashboards fit together, in five minutes.