Beginner: Getting Started

This section covers the foundations: creating a project, organising your team, building a table and form, collecting data, and sharing your form with field workers. By the end you will have a complete data collection workflow.

If you do not have an account yet, see Create an Account first.

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Step 1: Create the project

Every piece of work in Information Hub lives inside a project. A project groups your data, files, forms, team members, and tools together.

1. From the Home screen, click the + button to create a new project.

2. Enter the name Fynbos in Siberia.

3. Set the visibility to Private (only invited members will have access).

4. Add a description, for example: "Investigating the survival of South African fynbos species under Siberian climatic conditions across two field sites."

5. Click Create.

Creating the project

Your new project appears in the sidebar. Click on it to open the project workspace.

The project is ready

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Step 2: Set up your organisation and group

Before adding data, Dr. Mwangi sets up her team structure. Information Hub uses a hierarchy of organisations, groups, and projects to manage people and permissions.

Create an organisation

An organisation is the top-level container. It represents your institution, lab, or company.

1. From the Home screen, click Organisations in the sidebar.

2. Click the + button to create a new organisation.

3. Enter the name Mwangi Research Lab.

4. Click Create.

Create a group

Groups sit inside organisations and let you organise people by team, department, or role.

1. Open the Mwangi Research Lab organisation.

2. Click Groups in the sidebar, then click the + button.

3. Enter the name Siberian Field Team.

4. Click Create.

Add team members

1. Open the Siberian Field Team group.

2. Click Members, then click the + button to invite members.

3. Add Dr. Yuki Tanaka and Dr. Pavel Volkov by entering their email addresses.

4. Assign each member an appropriate role (e.g., Member).

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Step 3: Understand permissions

Information Hub uses role-based permissions at four levels:

Level	What it controls
Site	Platform-wide access (managed by administrators)
Organisation	Who can manage the organisation and its groups
Group	Who belongs to the group and what they can do inside it
Project	Who can view, edit, or manage a specific project

Permissions trickle down through the hierarchy. If Dr. Tanaka has the Member role in the Siberian Field Team group, and that group is linked to the Fynbos in Siberia project, she automatically inherits the appropriate project permissions.

For now, the default roles are sufficient. You will learn how to configure custom permissions in the Advanced section.

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Step 4: Create the Species Observations table

Dr. Mwangi needs a structured table to store every observation her team records in the field.

1. In the project sidebar, click Tables.

2. Click the + button to create a new table.

3. Enter the name Species Observations.

4. Keep the default auto-incrementing integer primary key - this gives each observation a unique ID automatically.

5. Click Create.

Creating the table

Now add the columns the team needs. For each column, click the + button in the table header and choose the appropriate data type:

Column name	Data type	Purpose
species_name	Text	Which species was observed
site	Text	Site Alpha or Site Beta
location	Text	GPS coordinates from the location question
height_cm	Real	Plant height in centimetres
leaf_count	Integer	Number of leaves counted
soil_ph	Real	Soil pH at the observation point
observation_date	Date	Date the observation was recorded
observer	Text	Name of the person who recorded it

The location column is a plain Text column. The Location question type on the form stores coordinates as a latitude,longitude string (e.g. 62.0355,129.6753). If you want latitude and longitude stored in separate columns for dashboard use, add two Double Precision columns called latitude and longitude - you can then map the Location question to two separate Number questions linked to each column. For this tutorial we use a single column for simplicity.

All columns added to the table

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Step 5: Enter observation data

Click the ADD button in the toolbar, then select Add Row. A form appears with a field for each column. Fill in the values and click Add to save the row. Repeat for each observation.

Here are the first observations Dr. Mwangi's team recorded:

species_name	site	location	height_cm	leaf_count	soil_ph	observation_date	observer
Protea siberica	Site Alpha	62.0355,129.6753	45.2	34	5.8	2026-01-15	Dr. Lena Mwangi
Erica glacialis	Site Alpha	62.0361,129.6748	12.7	156	5.6	2026-01-15	Dr. Lena Mwangi
Restio permafrostii	Site Beta	55.0084,82.9357	78.5	22	6.1	2026-01-16	Dr. Yuki Tanaka
Protea siberica	Site Beta	55.0090,82.9361	38.9	28	6.3	2026-01-16	Dr. Yuki Tanaka
Erica glacialis	Site Beta	55.0087,82.9355	15.3	189	6.0	2026-01-16	Dr. Lena Mwangi

After entering all five rows, the table looks like this:

Five observations recorded

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Step 6: Upload files to Storage

Before heading into the field, Dr. Mwangi uploads some reference files so the team has everything in one place.

1. In the project sidebar, click Storage.

2. Drag and drop files into the storage area, or click the upload button. Upload:

   • A photo of each field site (e.g., site_alpha.jpg, site_beta.jpg)

   • The field protocol document (e.g., field_protocol.pdf)

3. The files appear in the storage list immediately.

Storage works like a simple file manager. You can create folders to organise files, preview images, and download anything you have uploaded. Think of it as a backup for all your project's supporting documents.

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Step 7: Create a data collection form

To make field data collection easier, Dr. Mwangi creates a mobile-friendly form linked to the table.

1. Click Forms in the project sidebar.

2. Click Create Form.

3. Enter the name Field Observation Form and click Create.

Creating the Field Observation Form

1. The form builder opens. Click CLICK HERE TO ADD A NEW SECTION to create a section.

2. Name the section Observation Details.

Now add questions - one for each column in the Species Observations table. For each question, select the matching table and column so that submitted answers are stored directly in the table.

Most questions use straightforward text or number types, but the location column deserves special attention:

Using the Location question type

Instead of asking respondents to type coordinates by hand, use the Location question type. It provides an interactive map that makes GPS capture fast and accurate in the field.

1. Add a question and set the Type to Location.

2. Name it Observation Location.

3. Link it to the location column in the Species Observations table.

When a field worker fills in this question:

• An interactive map appears. They can tap or click anywhere to drop a pin and capture the coordinates.

• The Use Current Position button uses the device's GPS to place the pin at their exact location - ideal for field use.

• The Edit coordinates toggle reveals manual text fields for latitude and longitude if they need to enter coordinates by hand.

This replaces the need for separate latitude and longitude text fields and reduces errors in the field.

1. Add the remaining questions for species_name, site, height_cm, leaf_count, soil_ph, observation_date, and observer.

2. Save the form.

The form builder in edit mode

See Question Types for the full guide on all available question types and their settings.

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Step 8: Save a draft and fix errors

Large forms can take time to fill in. Information Hub lets you save your progress and come back later.

1. Open the Field Observation Form.

2. Fill in just the first few fields (e.g., species_name and site) but leave the rest blank.

3. Click Save Draft. The form is saved locally on your device.

4. Close the form and come back to it later - your answers will still be there.

5. When you are ready, fill in the remaining fields and submit.

If you try to submit a form with required fields left empty or invalid values, the form highlights the errors. Click on any error message to jump directly to the problem question so you can fix it without scrolling through the entire form.

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Step 9: Share the form

Dr. Mwangi needs her field team to access the form on their phones without opening the full app.

1. Open the Field Observation Form.

2. Click Share.

3. Copy the share link - anyone with this link can open and submit the form in their browser.

4. Use the QR code - print it or display it on a screen so team members can scan it with their phone camera.

You can configure whether the form requires sign-in or allows anonymous submissions. See Share a Form for details.

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Step 10: Submit field data

Now let's simulate a day of fieldwork. Open the form (either from the Forms list or via the share link) and submit three new observations. For the location, use the Use Current Position button or tap on the map to place a pin at the approximate coordinates:

Submission 1:

Field	Value
species_name	Restio permafrostii
site	Site Alpha
location	Tap map near 62.0358, 129.6751
height_cm	82.1
leaf_count	25
soil_ph	5.7
observation_date	2026-02-01
observer	Dr. Lena Mwangi

Submission 2:

Field	Value
species_name	Protea siberica
site	Site Alpha
location	Tap map near 62.0353, 129.6755
height_cm	47.8
leaf_count	36
soil_ph	5.9
observation_date	2026-02-01
observer	Dr. Yuki Tanaka

Submission 3:

Field	Value
species_name	Erica glacialis
site	Site Beta
location	Tap map near 55.0085, 82.9358
height_cm	16.1
leaf_count	201
soil_ph	6.2
observation_date	2026-02-02
observer	Dr. Lena Mwangi

After submitting all three, go back to Tables and open the Species Observations table. You should now see eight rows - the five you entered manually plus the three from the form.

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Step 11: See your data on a map

Dr. Mwangi wants a live view of where her observations are coming from. A Map dashboard shows every submitted observation as a pin on an interactive map.

Create a dashboard

1. In the project sidebar, click Dashboards.

2. Click the + button to create a new dashboard.

3. Name it Field Map.

4. Click Create.

Add a data source

A dashboard can only display data that has been connected to it through a data source. A data source is a configured link between the dashboard and one of your project's tables.

1. On the Field Map dashboard, click Manage Data Source.

2. Click Add Data Source.

3. Set Data Source Type to Table.

4. Enter the name Observations and leave the description blank.

5. Under Select Data Source, choose Species Observations.

6. Click Test Connection to verify the link works.

7. Click Create.

The data source is now listed. Click it to open the configuration view:

• In the Configure data source section, each column in Species Observations is listed.

• Make sure all the columns you want to use in components (at minimum: location, species_name, site) are enabled (checked).

• Click Save.

Go back to the dashboard using the Back button.

Add a Map component

1. Click Create Component.

2. Set Type to Map.

3. Enter the name Observation Locations.

4. Set the Column Width to 12 (full width) and an appropriate Height.

5. In the Map section, click Add Table to Map to add a layer.

6. Set the layer Name to All Observations and the layer Type to Point Map.

7. Set Datasource to Observations.

8. Set the Latitude column and Longitude column.

Because the tutorial stores coordinates as a combined latitude,longitude text string in one column, you will need separate latitude and longitude columns to use the Map component. If you followed the note in Step 4 and added two Double Precision columns, select those here. If not, skip this step for now and revisit it after the Intermediate section when you import data with separate coordinate columns.

1. Under Location information, click Add Information Column and select species_name - this label appears when a pin is clicked.

2. Click Update to save the component.

The map now shows a pin for every observation in the table. Clicking a pin shows the species name. As more data is submitted, the map updates automatically when you click Refresh.

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Step 12: Explore the Marketplace

Before moving on, take a quick look at the Marketplace. From the Home screen, click Marketplace in the sidebar.

The Marketplace contains pre-built project templates created by other users. You can browse templates, preview what tables, forms, and dashboards they include, and use one to create a new project instantly - saving you the setup work.

For now, just browse and see what is available. You will learn how to create and publish your own templates in the Advanced section.

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What you have learned

• How to create a project and set its visibility

• How to set up an organisation, group, and invite team members

• How permissions work across the four-level hierarchy

• How to create a table and define columns with appropriate data types

• How to enter data manually into a table

• How to upload files to Storage for safekeeping

• How to build a form with a Location question for GPS capture in the field

• How to save form drafts and fix validation errors

• How to share a form via link and QR code

• How to submit data through a form and verify it in the table

• How to connect a table to a dashboard via a data source and create a map of your observations

• Where to find the Marketplace for project templates

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Next steps

In the Intermediate section, you will import a larger dataset from a spreadsheet, add photo capture to your form, manage tasks with kanban boards, document your project in the wiki, build a public app, and collect data offline.