Observations

The Observations screen lists everything a project records, in one place: every viewpoint placed on every plan, and every general observation.

Not everything sits on a plan. A blocked site entrance, a badly placed skip, a remark that applies to the whole site: those are general observations. A general observation is documented exactly like a viewpoint (number, comment, photos, videos, audio comments). Only the position is missing.

Opening the list

For the whole project: open the project and tap Observations. It shows how many there are and sits above the plans. On an empty project it is not shown yet: the Add plan and Add observation cards take its place.

For one plan: open the plan and tap Observations on this plan in the viewer toolbar. The list opens limited to that plan.

A chip with the plan’s name, next to the search field, shows the list is limited to that plan. Tap its × to show the whole project, general observations included. The back button returns to the drawing.

How the list is organised

Observations are grouped into bands you can fold and unfold. By default:

• The General Observations band comes first.
• Then one band per plan, each with an Open plan link that opens the drawing.

Tap a row to open the observation: comment, media gallery, audio player.

Search

The search field matches an observation’s number and the words in its comment. It ignores case and accents. It does not search plan names: to see one plan, open the list from that plan.

Group and sort

The Group by button, next to +, opens a menu in two parts. It changes how the list is arranged, never what it shows:

• Group by: Plan (the default), Colour, Day or Author.
• Sort by: Number, Newest first or Oldest first.

Check before you export

The Filter menu opens with a Before you export section. Each check shows how many observations it finds:

• No photo or video: observations with no photo or video. An audio comment alone does not count.
• No comment: observations whose comment is empty.

Tick both to see the observations that have neither. Fix them from the list, then untick the checks.

Below, the usual filters: days, authors, media type, plans and colours. Clear all resets the search, the checks and the filters in one go.

Acting on an observation

Each row has a ⋮ button. Pressing and holding a row opens the same menu:

• Open: opens the observation.
• Show on plan: for a viewpoint. Opens its plan, zooms onto the pin and briefly highlights it.
• Pin to plan: for a general observation, when the project has plans. See below.
• Delete.

On an observation you can edit the comment, add and delete photos and videos, rotate them, draw on them, record an audio comment and choose a colour.

Pinning a general observation to a plan

Once the plans are imported, you can give a general observation its place.

1. Choose Pin to plan from the row’s menu, or from the open observation.
2. Choose the plan.
3. The plan opens. Tap where the observation belongs, then drag to set its orientation.

The observation keeps its photos, videos and comment. It becomes a viewpoint on that plan and takes the plan’s next number. The remaining general observations are renumbered from 1.

Tip

This is the right reflex on a first visit, when you do not have the plans yet: photograph everything as general observations, then pin them to the plans once those are imported.

Adding an observation

Tap + at the top of the list.

On the whole project, the New observation panel asks what you want to add:

• Under General Observations: Observation with a photo opens the camera. The new observation opens with the photo, ready for a comment and more photos (Take photos keeps the camera open, see Photos and videos). Observation without a photo opens a new observation for you to fill in.
• Under On a plan: the project’s plans, with their observation counts. Choosing one opens that plan so you can tap where the observation belongs.

If the project has no plans yet, + simply offers the two general observation choices.

On a list limited to a plan, + asks nothing: it opens that plan in Visit mode, ready for you to tap where the new viewpoint goes. See Plan viewer.

Reordering general observations

A general observation’s number is its place in the report. To change the order, drag a row by its handle in the General Observations band. The numbers follow.

The handle is shown when:

• the list is grouped by Plan and sorted by Number,
• no search, filter or check is active.

Viewpoints on a plan are not reordered here: their numbers belong to the plan.

In reports

General observations form their own section of the report, in the order of their numbers. At export time, a filter lets you include or exclude them. See Create a report.

Deleted by mistake?

A deleted observation or viewpoint can be brought back. Right after the delete, tap Undo in the bar that appears (it stays for 8 seconds). After that, restore it from Project settings > Recently deleted, where it stays for 7 days. See Recently deleted. Deleted projects are in App settings.

The same list exists on iOS and on the web dashboard, with the same data.