Designing the Instrument
Calculated Field
Stop Action
Branching Logic
Action tags
Matrix of Fields

You create your data collection form/instrument with the Online Designer. You can access the Online Designer from two places when you are on the Project Setup page:

When in Online Designer, click on the name of the form, and you can start creating your form: 

The first field of the form is always the Record ID. You can add fields by clicking 'Add Field':
 

• Choose Field Type from the drop down list.
• You can give (Variable Name) yourself or you can use auto naming. 
  • You can't use letters: å,ä,ö (only letters, numbers, underscore can be used).
• Validation specifies the format or the limits of the data that can entered in the field.E
  • e.g. does the date have to be in a specific format or do the figures have a minimum or maximum value that can be entered? 
  • The use of validation is optional.
• Is the field Required.
• Does the field contain Identifiers? 
  • It is vital to mark the fields that contain identifiers!
  • Later, when you are exporting data from REDCap, you can decide that you don't export fields with identifiers.
• Field Label  is where you write you question.
  • With Rich Text Editor you get more formatting options. 

You can use the following field types: 

• Text Box
• Notes Box (for longer text)
• Calculated Field
• Multiple Choice – Drop–down List
• Multiple Choice – Radio Buttons
• Checkboxes
• Yes–No
• True–False
• Signature
• Slider/Visual

A video about the different field types

once you have created a field, the functions behind the icons:

With Calculared Field it is possible to calculate automatically e.g. a person's BMI based on the person's height and weigth:

• First create fields for collecting data about height and weight.
• Add field type: Calculated Field, where you have the equation for calculating BMI.
  • With the equation you get the BMI automatically. 

Calculated Field: the Calculation Equation: 

You can edit the equation with the Logic Editor:

Use Stop Action for the survey to end when a participant gives a certain answer:

Determine, when the Stop Action is activated:

Stop Action is activated when the participant answers "no" - the survey ends:

With Branching Logic you can direct respondents to different questions based on their previous answer. 

In the following example the question about favourite ice cream flavour is asked, if the respondent has answered "Yes, I like ice cream" in the previous question:

To create branching logic, start by creating the field to which you want the previous field to be directed (in the example above: the favourite ice cream flavours). When you have created the field that would be follow-up field, click on the green arrows on that field.  That opens a window, where you can determine the branching logic (It is easier to use the Drag-N-Drop Logic Builder):

Action Tags are special terms that begin with the '@' sign that can be placed inside a field's Field Annotation. Each action tag has a corresponding action that is performed for the field when displayed on data entry forms and survey pages. For example, in a multiple-choice field, you can specify how many different multiple-choice options the respondent can choose. You can also use the tag to hide the field or specify the number of characters that can be entered to the field.

Click on @ Action Tags text and you get a list of all the different actiong tags you can use:

Click 'Add' next to the name of the tag and the tag is added to the field:

You can have multiple tags within a field. If you have several tags, make sure you have a space or line break between tags.

You see the tags in the Action Tags field:

The matrix allows you to link several questions together. You can use it for creating Likert scale. Click 'Add Matrix of Fields':

Add Field Label. Give a variable name to all field labels. Add column choices and determine whether the participant can choose several choices per column or just one. You have to give the matrix group a name or you won't be able to save the matrix. 

The finished matrix looks like this: