Designing Checklists

You can design your checklists in several different ways. For help enabling and configuring checklists, see Configuring Checklists.

When you create and save a new Checklist Design record or select a Checklist Design record from the object record list page, Vault defaults your view to the Visual Checklist Designer. If you prefer to design a checklist with a visual interface, use the Visual Checklist Designer.

Dependencies

Checklists support question or section dependencies based on multiple choice fields. For example, answering Yes to a Yes/No question could expose a series of follow-up questions, whereas answering No would not show the irrelevant questions. The ability to create dependent questions or sections means that you can configure a checklist that is simpler and shorter to respond to because non-pertinent questions do not appear.

To define a dependency, you must set up the controlling question and the dependent question or section first. After configuring those, you can create the dependency and reference those questions.

If a question or section does not appear due to unmet dependencies, Vault also automatically hides it on the review page.

Limitations

Question dependencies have several constraints:

• You can only configure up to three (3) levels of dependent questions. For example, if Q1.1 is dependent on Q1, Q1.1.1 is dependent on Q1.1, and Q1.1.1.1 is dependent on Q1.1.1, that is three levels of dependency.
• You can only create three (3) levels of dependent sections. You also cannot create a dependent section after a third-level dependent question.
• A controlling question must be a multiple choice question that is either a radio button or drop-down list question type (checklist answer type). Controlling questions cannot be multiple choice questions with the checkbox checklist answer type.
• Controlling questions must be in the same section (related to the same Section Design record) as the dependent questions.
• Controlling questions must not control the section to which they belong.
• Dependent sections can only have one controlling question each.

How to Configure a Dependency

To configure a dependent question or section:

1. Before creating the Dependency Design record, create Question Design records for both the controlling and dependent questions, as well as Available Answer records for the controlling question. We recommend creating all questions and answers for a checklist before configuring dependencies.
2. Navigate to the Dependency Design record list. If your Checklist Design object page layout is set up to show related document sections, we recommend starting from the Checklist Design record.
3. Create a new Dependency Design record.
4. Select Question Dependency or Section Dependency.
5. Select a Behavior for the dependent question or section. In the current release, Show is the only available behavior option.
6. In the Checklist field, select the related Checklist Design. The options for Controlling Question, Answer, and Dependent Question will automatically filter once you select this.
7. Select a Controlling Question, Dependent Question or Dependent Section, and an Answer for the Controlling Question. The behavior defined in step 5 will only apply if respondents select the defined Answer for the Controlling Question.
8. Click Save.

Scoring & Weighting

See Checklist Scoring & Weighting.

Question Library

You can simplify the creation of checklist design questions by creating Library Question records for common questions. When users create a new Question Design record, they’ll be able to select a Library Question record, and Vault will default all of the library question values into the newly created question, including values for Documents Allowed or Documents Required. Vault also defaults the values at the Available Answer Design level for multiple choice questions configured with Documents Allowed or Documents Required. All of the defaulted values are editable and the question design is not tied to the library question.

How to Create Library Questions

To create a new library question, simply create a new Library Question record. The fields are the same as when creating a Question Design record. For multiple choice questions, you must also create Available Answer Design records after creating the question as Vault does not copy these records over from the library question. You can optionally include question guidance text for Library Question records.

How to Use Library Questions

To use a library question when creating a new question design, create the Question Design record as you normally would. After selecting the question type, you’ll see the record details page. Rather than filling in the various fields, select a record in the Library Question field. If you need to edit the values loaded from the library question, you can do so.

Multiple Choice Question Answer Types

There are several ways to configure answer format for multiple choice questions:

Radio Button

Allows users to select from a list of answers by selecting a radio button next to the desired answer. Maximum Selectable Answers must have a value set to one (1).

Drop-Down List

Allows users to select an answer from a drop-down list. Maximum Selectable Answers must have a value set to one (1).

Checkbox

Allows users to select multiple answers by setting the checkbox next to each answer. Maximum Selectable Answers must have a value that is equal to or less than the number of Available Answer Design records for that question, up to a maximum of ten (10).

Reference Documents

You can add up to five (5) Question Design Reference Document records to each Question Design record. Each Question Design Reference Document record represents a document within your Vault and appears as a link under the question. Question respondents can click the link to view the document in a pop-up window with all UI elements hidden. You can choose the version for each document as well as the order in which they appear under the question.

Reference Media

You can add images to a checklist question or answer by using the Reference Media field on the following objects:

• Question Design
• Available Answer Design
• Library Question
• Answer Library Design
• Checklist Field Translation

Reference media is similar to reference documents; however, once an image is added, it displays under the question or answer to which it is uploaded. When previewing the checklist, you can click an image to put it in focus on screen and place the answer or question under it as a caption. Checklist respondents can do the same when completing the checklist.

Reference Media allows you to filter only by documents in your Vault in one of the following supported file types:

• .jpg, .jpeg
• .png
• .gif
• .bmp
• .webp
• .avif
• .svg

You can also upload a translated version of an image when configuring the Checklist Field Translation object. If no translated image is uploaded, the checklist displays the original image in the translated checklist.

Welcome Notification Messages

Each Checklist Type in your vault has a corresponding welcome notification message template that you can customize for each Checklist Design. If configured, the welcome notification is sent to checklist respondents to alert them that they are assigned a checklist to complete.

To customize the welcome notification, update the following fields on the Checklist Design record:

• Welcome Email Subject
• Welcome Email Text
• Welcome Notification Text

Previewing Checklists

Before approving a checklist design and allowing users to start creating instances of it, you can preview the full checklist. The preview is interactive, which lets you test the dependencies and verify the available answers. For Checklist Designs with Aggregate Checklists set to Yes, this action is not available.

How to Preview Checklists

To preview a checklist:

1. From the Checklist Designs object record details page, choose Preview Checklist Template from the Actions menu.
2. When the checklist design preview opens, you can click through the questions and provide answers, including previewing Comments, Attachments, and Document configuration options. You can also navigate between pages (sections).
3. Optional: If the checklist design has been translated, you can preview any available translations using the Language picklist. Translations in the Obsolete state are not available for preview. Additionally, only the translated text will appear in the preview. Other controls are not translated.
4. After previewing, close the window. Vault will not save your answers.

Copying a Checklist Design

You can copy your checklist design along with all related records to create a new checklist based on the same design. Before using the Deep Copy Checklist Design user action, an Admin must configure it for the Draft or Approved Checklist Design lifecycle states. This action is not available on Checklist Designs with Aggregate Checklists set to Yes.

To copy a checklist design:

1. Navigate to Business Admin > Objects > Checklist Designs and select the checklist design.
2. Select Deep Copy Checklist Design from the Actions menu.
3. In the Copy Checklist Design dialog, enter information in the required fields for the new copy of the checklist.
4. Click Save.

You will receive a notification when the checklist copy is complete.

Working with Checklist Versioning

You can enable checklist versioning at the Checklist Type level. For Checklist Types with version control enabled, a Checklist Design Master record is created for the initial Checklist Design version (Version 0). As you create new versions of the Checklist Design, the Checklist Design Master represents the list of versions for that design.

For a versioned Checklist Design, you can have only one version in each of the Draft and Approved states. If you configure the Approved state’s entry action to Make previous checklist design version superseded, then moving a Draft checklist version to Approved moves the previous Approved version to Superseded.

Creating New Checklist Versions

For Checklist Types with version control enabled, you can create a new version of a Checklist Design. You can create a new version only from the latest version, which can be in the Approved, Superseded, Revision Required, or Obsolete state. The new version is automatically created in the Draft state, and the version number is incremented by 1 from the previous version. The new version is associated with the same Checklist Design Master record as the previous version. The name of the new version is defined during creation as the previous checklist design name plus “-V(n)” appended to the name, where n is the previous version incremented by 1, such as: “Example Checklist-V(2)”. You can create a new version by creating from a copy of the current version or by creating a new blank version.

To create a new checklist design version:

1. Navigate to the appropriate Checklist Design record, and select Create New Version from the Actions menu.
2. Select whether to create the new version from a copy of the current design or to create a blank checklist design.
3. Optional: Enter a description of the version.
4. Click Continue.
5. Configure the new checklist design as needed.

Working with Aggregate Checklist Designs

At the Checklist Design level, you can set Aggregate Checklists to Yes, which allows you to instantiate a single runtime checklist that is created by aggregating two or more approved checklist designs. You cannot aggregate an already-aggregated checklist. For an Aggregate Checklist design, you can add Sub-Checklist Designs instead of question sections. For each sub checklist, specify the order in which the sub checklist should appear in the runtime checklist.

Sub checklists must be in the Approved state for the aggregate checklist to be instantiated.

Deleting a Checklist Design

You can delete your checklist designs along with all related records if the need arises. This prevents you from having to manually delete individual records. Select Delete from the Actions menu when editing a checklist design.

This option is only available for designs in the Draft or Inactive lifecycle state, and not available for any checklist designs that you have already used to create a checklist. For Checklist Designs with Aggregate Checklists set to Yes, the Delete action removes the joins to the specified sub checklists; the action does not delete any sub checklists.

Alternatively, you can configure the Delete in Background user action to provide users who have the appropriate permissions the option to delete a checklist design and all related records asynchronously.