trackers forms

Trackers (Overview)

What are Trackers?

Using Trackers, you can create forms for collecting data and make reports from that data. Trackers can combine structured information collected from users; the feature is a powerful, flexible tool. Originally, trackers were used to collect and manage bugs. They evolved into an open-ended system where you can track any kind of user input in a customizable form. Each tracker has its own mini database. Trackers operate as a standalone feature, and can be fully integrated within wiki pages. Users with the appropriate permissions can devise trackers to collect any kind of information they want. Combining trackers and the wiki makes Tiki a Structured Wiki.

Trackers
This demo shows how to create a tracker and tracker fields. It then demonstrates two methods to populate the tracker and display the tracker information. Thanks to Tiki for Smarties

Trackers can:

be used to collect additional data from users upon registration.
be used like a customizable articles feature with admin definable forms
assist workflows by tracking tasks.
act as expanded polls, surveys or quizzes
import and export their settings and data.
Have customized templates to submit and display your information with a Pretty Tracker

Trackers can't yet: (but it improves with each version)

do extensive calculations - the calculations are limited. For advanced calculations, use the Spreadsheet. Tighter integration between trackers and the spreadsheet is under development.

Four Steps to make a Tracker

Step	Details	Help Page
1. Create the Tracker	Admin names the tracker and assigns overall parameters and permissions	Creating a Tracker
2. Add Fields to the Tracker	Admin defines the columns and type of information collected	Adding fields to a tracker
3. Submit Items to the tracker	Users fill out the forms to create items in the tracker	Adding items to a tracker
4. View or List the results	Use tracker plugins to view a customized tracker output in a page	Viewing Tracker Results
5.Assign Trackers to Groups	optional - trackers can also be used upon registration.	Assigning Trackers to groups

What can Trackers be used for?

Trackers can recreate online any kind of table or spreadsheet, not including the fancy formatting or calculations.

support tickets
contact managers
feature requests
purchase orders
bug reports
feedback reports
news submissions
project management

Next Page . . .

Example: Department Staff

Demos of Trackers used for production

Visit http://tiki.org/Trackers to see a list of some Tiki sites (as examples) using them at production level.
You can import the tracker definition used for dev.tiki.org

Profiles

Profiles making use of trackers
http://profiles.tiki.org/Bug_Tracker

Alias

Tracker
Form
Forms
Form Generator
Questionnaire
Questionnaires
Database
Database creator
Base
CRUD Create, read, update and delete (CRUD) is done with Trackers.

Note regarding notify_user on tracker fields

If your smtp server is not configured correctly; saving a tracker that contains one or more of these fields, will result in a timout, thus freezing the current session until the server's php execution timeout is reached. This will result in an Error 500 unless PHP is setup to allow remote errors.