Checklists, tasks and visit activities

A visit task template is the reusable list of work a field executive does at each outlet: a set of tasks, each holding the activities to capture, such as taking an order, completing a checklist or collecting a signature. You build the template once in setup. You then attach it to a beat or a visit plan, and every visit on that plan shows its tasks. Templates come after the beat and the plan in the field-sales setup chain, and before the visit itself: see visit plans for how a template reaches a visit and complete a visit for how the executive works through it.

Overview

A template has three levels:

A checklist template is a separate, reusable list of checks that a checklist-type activity runs.

When to use it

• You want every visit on a beat to follow the same steps, in the same order.
• You need some captures to be compulsory, such as an order or a stock count, before a visit counts as productive.
• You want different beats to do different work. For example, a merchandising beat and an order-taking beat each get their own template.

How xMatix handles it

The visit reads the template live. When a plan creates its visits, each visit records only which template it uses. No task or activity records are created at that point. When the executive opens the visit, the web or mobile screen reads the template's entries and their activities and shows them as task cards. The visit's own task record is created the first time the executive starts or completes an activity under an entry, followed by the activity record.

This has three consequences you should plan for:

• Template changes reach visits that are already planned. Adding, renaming, hiding or re-ordering an entry or activity changes every visit on which nobody has started that task yet.
• A started task keeps what it copied. When a task is first started, the visit's task record copies the entry's Name, Task Type, Sequence Number and Hidden flag. Later changes to those entry fields do not change that visit.
• "Not done" means "no record". A visit nobody has worked has no task or activity records. A report that counts task records with an empty status as pending will undercount. Count the template's activities per visit instead.

What a started task leaves behind. The first time an activity under a task card is worked, the visit gets a Visit Task record for that entry. It holds the task's name, type and position, copied from the entry, and a number in the VT series. The visit screens set it to Started when an activity is worked, and the server stamps its Start Time the first time. Nothing on the delivered screens sets a task to Completed. The task cards show progress from their activities (for example 2/3), not from the task's status.

What a worked activity leaves behind. Each activity the executive works becomes a Visit Task Activity record under the visit's task. The record keeps the activity's name, type and position, copied from the template activity. When the activity is completed, it also stores what was captured:

• a one-line summary in Text Value, for example the order number and amount, or Signature captured;
• the full capture as structured text in Long Text Value;
• an amount in Currency Value, where the activity type records one;
• a link to the document the activity created or used: Order, Invoice, Payment, Delivery Order, Service Order or Product Demo.

Photos and signatures are attached to the record as files. Checklist answers are saved as checklist lines that point to the activity, or to the service order when the template activity sends them there. Its status ends as Completed, with an End Time.

Order. Task cards follow the entries' Sequence Number, lowest first. Inside a task, mandatory activities are listed first, then the optional ones, each group in its own sequence order.

What is hidden. An entry with Hidden ticked is not shown. Neither is an entry whose activities are all hidden, or one that has no activities at all.

Where the template comes from. Every visit takes its plan's template. A plan copies the template from its beat when it names one. A beat created by territory planning takes the template of its visit route group. A template set on an individual beat stop is not used. If a visit is later pointed at a different template, any tasks and activities already started under the old template are removed from that visit.

Prerequisites

• Access to the Field Sales Setup app (see Permissions).
• Any checklist templates your activities will run, already created.
• A beat or a visit plan to attach the finished template to.

Procedure

Step 1 — Create the template

1. Open the Field Sales Setup app. Under Templates, open Visit Task Template.
2. Select New.
3. Enter a Name that planners will recognise, a Duration in minutes and a Description of what the visit should achieve.

@guided-image

1. Save. The template's record page opens with two tabs: Visit Task Template Entry (its tasks) and Details.

Step 2 — Add the tasks (entries)

1. On the template's Visit Task Template Entry tab, select Quick Add. An inline form opens with Name, Task Type, Task Duration (Mins) and Sequence Number.
2. Enter the Name the executive will see on the task card, for example Order and stock.
3. Choose Task Type Perform Visit Activities.
4. Enter Task Duration (Mins), the planned time for the task. The task card shows it as "N mins" until the task is started.
5. Enter a Sequence Number. Number the entries 1, 2, 3 in the order the executive should see them.
6. Save. The entry appears in the list, and the template is filled in automatically.
7. Repeat for each task. Use Edit on a row to change these four fields, or the delete action on a row to remove the entry.

Step 3 — Add the activities to each task

1. In the entries list, select the entry's Name to open its record page. The header shows the entry's Visit Task Template and Sequence Number.
2. On the Related tab, select Quick Add in the activities list. An inline form opens with Name, Activity Type, Checklist Template, Sequence Number and Duration (Mins).
3. Enter the Name the executive will see on the activity row, for example Take today's order.
4. Choose the Activity Type. It decides which capture form opens (see the activity catalog). For Checklist, also pick the Checklist Template to run.
5. Enter a Sequence Number (1, 2, 3 within the task) and, if you use the mobile day-end summary, a Duration (Mins).
6. Save. The activity appears in the entry's list. Repeat for every activity in the task. Use Edit on a row to change these five fields, or the delete action on a row to remove the activity.
7. To make the activity compulsory, select its Name in the list to open its record page. In the Controls panel, switch on Is Mandatory. Select the field to edit it in place. Is Hidden in the same panel takes the activity out of use without deleting it.

The activity's record page has the panels Information (Activity Type, Sequence Number, Duration (Mins)), Controls (Is Hidden, Is Mandatory), Metadata (Object Name, Object Api Name, Checklist Template, Field Name, Field Value) and System Information. Its header shows the entry and the activity type, with Edit and Delete buttons. Edit opens the same five fields as Quick Add; the activity's Name is changed there, because it is not shown on the record page.

An entry with no activities does not appear on visits. Each task needs at least one visible activity.

Step 4 — Set the entry's status flags (optional)

1. On the entry's record page, open the Details tab. It has the panels Basic Details (Name, Task Type, Visit Task Template, Sequence Number, Description), Status (Mandatory, Hidden, Execute Out Of Sequence) and System Information.
2. To take a task out of use without deleting it, tick Hidden. Select the field to edit it in place.

Only Hidden changes what the executive sees. Mandatory and Execute Out Of Sequence are saved but have no effect (see Business rules).

Step 5 — Attach the template and check a visit

1. Set the template as the Visit Task Template on a beat (see routes) or directly on a visit plan (see visit plans).
2. Open a visit on that plan, on the web or on the mobile app. Each entry appears as a task card in sequence order, with its activities inside.

Step 6 — Change a template that is already in use

1. Open the template, then the entry, and make the change: rename it, re-number it, hide it, or add or remove activities.
2. Save. Visits where the executive has not yet started that task show the change the next time they are opened. Visits where the task was already started keep the name and position it had when it was started.

Step 7 — Review what was captured on a visit

Use this to check a visit's work in the back office.

1. Open the visit's record page. The Visit Tasks tab shows the task cards with each activity's state: not started, in progress or completed. Completed activities show their one-line summary.
2. To see the stored records, open the Related tab and open a task from the tasks list. The task's page shows the Visit, Task Type and Duration in its header, with its Status as steps (Planned, Started, Completed, Cancelled) beneath. Its Related tab lists the task's Visit Task Activity records. Its Details tab has the panels Information (Name, Task Type, Sequence Number, Status), Planned Timeline (Planned Start Time, Planned End Time, Planned Duration), Related Entity (Visit, Visit Task Template Entry) and System Information.
3. Open an activity. Its page has the panels Key Information (Activity Name, Activity Type), Related Sources (Visit, Visit Task), Timeline (Planned Start Time, Planned End Time, Start Time, End Time), System Information and Notes. The Notes panel holds the attached photos and signature.

Activities appear here only after they have been worked. An activity that nobody touched has no record. Its absence from the list means the work was not done.

Avoid editing an activity record that is not yet completed. Saving any change to it marks it Completed (see Business rules).

Treat task records as read-only too. Changing a task's Sequence Number moves its card on that visit only. Changing its Visit Task Template Entry removes the activities already recorded under it. Clone on a task copies the task's own fields without its activities, and the copy appears on the visit as an extra task card. The task's own Start Time and End Time are not on its page; add them to a view if you need them.

Step 8 — Add an extra activity during a visit (executive)

1. Start the visit. Until the visit is started, the web screen shows Activities unlock after you start the visit. The + button shows only while the visit is in progress.
2. On the task card, select + (Add activity). A dialog titled *Add activity · task name*** opens.
3. Choose an activity type from the list. Type a name if you want one; if you leave the name empty, the type's name is used. Select Add activity. The activity is added at the end of the task. Work it like any other activity.

The mobile app offers the same Add activity sheet on each task while the visit is in progress. An extra activity applies to this visit only and is never mandatory. To add it to every visit, add it to the template instead (Step 3).

The list is grouped under General, Field Sales and Field Service and uses the capture names from the activity catalog. Custom Form and Generic Component are not offered here, because they need settings that only a template activity carries.

Step 9 — Bind an activity to a record, or show it only where it applies (administrator)

Use this when an activity works with a specific record, or should appear only at some outlets.

1. Open the activity's record page (Step 3). Select a field in the Metadata panel to edit it in place. The Edit dialog does not include these fields.
2. In Object Name, choose the record type, for example Account. In Field Name, type the visit field that holds that record's id, for example AccountId for the visited customer.
3. For a Generic Component activity, the executive now gets that record opened in a layout you choose. Put the layout's id in Field Value. The id is shown in the browser's address bar when you open the layout in the layout designer.
4. For a Custom Form, Lead Capture or Log Case activity, a layout id in Field Value replaces the record type's default create form. For Custom Form, Object Name also decides which record type is created.
5. To show the activity only at some outlets, set a visibility rule in the activity's UI Props field, for example {"visibleWhen": {"field": "FieldX"}}. The activity then shows only when that field is ticked on the bound record, or on the visit when no Field Name is set. Add "equals": "<value>" to compare with a value instead. UI Props is on no delivered form: add it to the activity's layout in the form designer, or set it by import.

The rule is checked each time the visit is opened. A bound record that can't be read hides the activity. A UI Props value that is not valid JSON is ignored, so it never hides anything.

Fields

Visit Task Template

The template also stores five display switches: Show Accept/Reject Option, Show Visit Start/End Option, Show Get Direction Option, Show Reschedule Option and Show Progress Panel. They are on no delivered form, they are not copied onto visits, and the visit screens do not read them. The Reject and Accept & start buttons follow Show Accept/Reject Option on the visit itself (see visits), and directions are offered whenever the visit has a location or address. The full column list is on the Visit Task Template reference page.

Visit Task Template Entry

The field reference for every column is on the Visit Task Template Entry reference page.

Visit Task Template Activity

The activity also stores fields that no visit screen reads: Require Picture, Show Details, Related Activity Action (Repeat By Value, Visible By Value, Enabled By Value), Related Visit Task Template Activity, Report URL, Dashboard URL, Description, Record and an external unique identifier. Setting them changes nothing for the executive. Photo requirements come from each capture form. The full column list is on the Visit Task Template Activity reference page.

Visit Task (the visit's record of a task)

The visit screens create and fill this record. You read it from the visit's Related tab.

The task also stores the entry's Hidden flag at creation, which the visit screens do not read. The full field list is on the Visit Task reference page.

Visit Task Activity (the visit's record of an activity)

The visit screens fill these fields in. You read them on the activity's record page or in reports.

Photos and signatures are listed in the record's Notes panel. The full field list, including fields the visit screens never write, is on the Visit Task Activity reference page.

Business rules

• Task order follows the entry's Sequence Number.
• Mandatory activities come first within a task. Until all of them are done, only the lowest-numbered incomplete mandatory activity can be performed, and the task's other activities are locked.
• Closing a visit as Productive. On the mobile app, a visit cannot be ended as Productive while any mandatory activity is pending; Non-productive and Cancelled remain available with a reason. On the web, the end-visit dialog warns how many mandatory activities are pending but lets you confirm the outcome anyway.
• The Mandatory and Execute Out Of Sequence flags on an entry have no effect. Only the Mandatory flag on an activity is read.
• An activity's Mandatory flag is read live. Switching it on or off changes the order and locking on every visit that uses the template, including visits in progress and activities already worked.
• Hiding an activity removes it from visits where it has not been worked yet. A visit where it was already worked keeps it, because the visit's activity record carries its own Hidden flag from the moment it was created.
• What a worked activity copies. When an activity is first worked on a visit, the visit's activity record copies its Name, Activity Type, Sequence Number, Checklist Template, Object Name, Field Name, Field Value and form layout. Later edits to those template fields do not change that record; the visit screens fall back to the template only for binding fields the record lacks.
• Unrecognised activity types open the same simple start-and-complete form as General Task, so nothing breaks, but none of a typed capture's fields are asked for.
• Related Activity Action has no effect. Repeat By Value, Visible By Value and Enabled By Value are stored but not acted on. Use a visibility rule (Step 9) to show an activity only where it applies.
• Hidden entries are left out of the visit's task list and of the mobile day-end must-do and planned-minutes scores.
• Deleting an entry removes it from visits where its task was never started. Its activities are not deleted with it, so delete them first, or hide the entry instead.
• Clone on a template copies the template's own fields only. Its entries and activities are not copied.
• Re-pointing a visit at a different template removes the tasks and activities already started under the old one and creates nothing in their place. The new template's tasks appear as usual.
• Activities unlock when the visit starts. On the web, an activity cannot be opened until the visit is started, and the visit cannot be started until its plan is. On the mobile app, the activity list is live only while the visit is in progress.
• Only the assigned resource can work an activity. Creating or moving an activity record into an in-progress or completed state is refused for a user whose linked resource is not the one the visit plan is assigned to. The message is This activity is assigned to … Only the assigned resource can execute it. Users with no linked resource, such as back-office users and integrations, are not blocked, and neither is work on a plan that is not assigned to anyone.
• Any saved change completes the activity. When an activity record that is not yet Completed is saved with any change, the server sets it to Completed and stamps its End Time. This also happens when someone edits the record by hand.
• A completed activity stays completed. During the visit the executive can reopen it to review or edit what was captured, for example to change the linked order. Nothing sets it back to in progress.
• One record per template activity. Before creating a record, the visit screens check whether the task already has one for that template activity, and reuse it.
• One task record per entry. Before creating a task record, the visit screens check whether the visit already has one for that entry, and reuse it. Any further task record, such as a cloned task or one that matches no entry of the visit's template, is shown as an extra card, placed by its own Sequence Number.
• Task status and times. The visit screens set the task to Started whenever an activity under it is worked. The server stamps Start Time when the status first becomes Started and End Time when it becomes Completed. Only a hand edit sets a task to Completed, so End Time and Duration are normally empty.
• Only the assigned resource can start or complete a task. Moving a task record into Started or Completed follows the same rule as activities. The message is This visit task is assigned to … Only the assigned resource can execute it. Setting a task to Planned or Cancelled is not restricted.
• Re-pointing a task at another entry removes the activities already recorded under it and creates nothing in their place. The new entry's activities appear as untouched, under the task's original name.

Example

A distributor's sales manager wants every outlet visit on the North Market beat to cover ordering first, then shelf work.

1. In Field Sales Setup → Visit Task Template, they create Standard outlet visit with Duration 20.
2. With Quick Add they create two entries: Order and stock (Sequence Number 1, Task Duration 10) and Shelf and display (Sequence Number 2, Task Duration 8).
3. Under Order and stock they add a Take Order activity, marked Mandatory, and a Stock Check activity. Under Shelf and display they add a Merchandising Audit activity.
4. They set Standard outlet visit as the Visit Task Template on the North Market beat.

Next morning, the executive's visits show two task cards: Order and stock (10 mins) and Shelf and display (8 mins). In the first card, Take Order is listed first and Stock Check is locked until the order is taken. Mid-morning, the manager hides Shelf and display. Visits where the executive had not yet started it no longer show it. The visit already in progress, where the audit had been started, keeps it.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox tenant:

1. Create a template Training visit with two entries: First task (Sequence Number 2) and Second task (Sequence Number 1). Give each one General Task activity.
2. Add a third entry, Empty task, with no activities.
3. Attach the template to a visit plan and open one of its visits.

Expected result: two task cards, Second task above First task. Empty task does not appear. Now tick Hidden on First task and reopen the visit: only Second task remains.

Then, as the executive the plan is assigned to, start the plan and the visit. On the web, open Second task's activity and select Mark Complete. Open the visit's Related tab, open the task and confirm that it lists one Visit Task Activity record with Status Completed and an End Time.

Quick reference

• Template → entries (tasks) → activities (captures).
• One entry is one task card. Its Name is the card title.
• Number every entry's Sequence Number from 1.
• An entry needs at least one visible activity to appear.
• Make work compulsory with Mandatory on the activity, not on the entry.
• Hide a task with Hidden rather than deleting it.
• Template changes reach planned visits until the task is started.
• Clone copies the template's own fields only.
• A worked activity becomes a Visit Task Activity record; an untouched one leaves no record.
• The first worked activity in a task creates its Visit Task record, which stays at Started.
• Don't edit an unfinished activity record by hand: any saved change completes it.
• Add activities with Quick Add on the entry's Related tab; set Is Mandatory on the activity's record page.
• Photo Capture opens Customer KYC, not a plain photo step.
• Custom Form needs Object Name; Generic Component needs Field Name and a layout id in Field Value.

Permissions

Visit task templates and their entries follow the record permissions of the security profile. In the delivered profiles, System Admin, Sales Manager, Sales Executive and Standard User have full access (read, create, edit and delete) to both. Because field executives typically hold the Sales Executive profile, restrict template editing in your own profiles if only planners should change them. See security profiles.

Template activities follow record permissions too. System Admin, Sales Executive and Standard User have full access. Sales Manager can read, create, edit and delete within their normal record scope, without the view-all and modify-all rights. Executives need read access to template activities to see their task lists, so take away create, edit and delete rather than read when you restrict them.

Visit Task Activity records follow the same record permissions. System Admin, Sales Executive and Standard User have full access, including all records. Sales Manager can read, create, edit and delete within their normal record scope, without the view-all and modify-all rights. Executives need create and edit rights on activities to work a visit. Record permissions alone do not let anyone work another person's visit: the assigned-resource rule in Business rules applies on top of them.

Visit Task records also follow record permissions: in the delivered profiles, System Admin, Sales Manager, Sales Executive and Standard User have full access. Executives need create and edit rights on tasks as well as activities, because the first worked activity creates the task record. Clone on a task is granted to System Admin, Sales Executive and Standard User, not to Sales Manager.

Configuration

Leave the entry name numbering setting off. The entry's Name is the task card title, and a generated number would replace it.

Common problems

A task I added to the template does not show on a visit

The entry has no activities, all of its activities are hidden, or the entry itself is hidden. Add at least one visible activity, or untick Hidden. Also check that the visit's plan uses this template.

The Visit Tasks tab says "No visit task template linked to this visit."

The visit has no template. Visits take their template from the plan when it creates them, so the plan, or the beat it came from, had no template at that time. Setting a template on the beat or plan afterwards does not update visits that already exist. Set Visit Task Template on the visit itself, or fix the beat or plan and let the next plan create the visits.

Every visit shows the same tasks, whatever the plan says

The Visit Tasks widget on the visit layout has a fixed template in its Visit Task Template (override) setting, which takes precedence over the visit's own template. Clear the setting in the form designer (see Configuration).

Tasks appear in the wrong order

Some entries still have Sequence Number 0, so they are placed by list position. Give every entry its own number, starting at 1. A task that was already started on a visit keeps the position it had then.

I hid a task but one visit still shows it

The executive had already started that task on that visit. Hiding affects only visits where the task was not started.

I renamed a task but a visit still shows the old name

The task was started before the rename, and the visit copied the name when it was started.

Marking the entry Mandatory has no effect

The entry's Mandatory flag is not read. Mark the activities inside the entry Mandatory instead.

My cloned template has no tasks

Clone copies only the template's own fields. Add the entries and activities to the copy.

The mobile app will not let me end the visit as Productive

At least one mandatory activity is still pending. Complete it, or end the visit as Non-productive or Cancelled with a reason.

"This activity is assigned to … Only the assigned resource can execute it."

The visit plan is assigned to a different resource than the one linked to your user. Only that person can start or complete its activities. Reassign the plan to the right resource, or have the assigned executive do the visit.

"This visit task is assigned to … Only the assigned resource can execute it."

You tried to set a task to Started or Completed on a visit whose plan is assigned to another resource. Only the person linked to that resource can work the visit's tasks. Ask them to do it, or reassign the visit plan first.

Every task stays at Started and has no End Time or Duration

This is expected. The visit screens never complete a task record. They show progress from the task's activities instead, and so should your reports: count the Completed activities against the template's activities. If you set a task to Completed by hand, End Time is stamped with the time you saved, not the time the work finished.

A visit shows a task card twice, or a task with no activities

Someone cloned a task record, or created one by hand on the visit's Related tab. The visit uses one task record per entry and shows every other task record as its own card. Delete the extra task record.

The activities on a visit are greyed out on the web

The visit has not been started. Start the visit plan, then the visit. The screen shows Start the visit plan first. until the plan is running, and Activities unlock after you start the visit. until the visit is.

An activity shows Completed although nobody finished it

Someone saved a change to the activity record before it was completed, for example by editing it on its record page. Any saved change completes an activity that is not yet completed. Completion can't be undone. Record the correct capture by reopening the activity during the visit, and don't edit activity records by hand.

I chose Photo Capture and the executive is asked for a selfie and an OTP

Photo Capture is the older name of the Customer KYC capture, which asks for a selfie, an OTP from the customer and a shop photo. There is no plain photo-only type. For shelf or display photos, use Merchandising Audit; for a photo with other answers, use a Checklist whose template asks for a photo.

I hid an activity but one visit still shows it

The activity had already been worked on that visit. Its record on the visit keeps its own Hidden flag, so hiding the template activity affects only visits where it has not been worked yet.

I made an activity Mandatory and a visit in progress changed

This is expected. The Mandatory flag is read from the template each time the visit opens, so the order and locking change on every visit that uses the template, including one in progress. To avoid surprising executives mid-visit, change it outside their working hours.

A Custom Form activity opens a simple complete form instead of a record form

Its Object Name is empty, so there is no record type to open, and the activity falls back to the generic start-and-complete form. Set Object Name on the activity's record page (Step 9).

"This activity has no Form Layout set. Ask your admin to pick one."

A Generic Component activity with a Field Name has no layout to open. Put the layout's id in the activity's Field Value (Step 9).

"This visit has no … to open."

A Generic Component activity is bound through Field Name to a visit field that is empty on this visit, for example a visit with no customer. Fill in that field on the visit, or bind the activity to a field every visit has.

An activity I set up only appears at some outlets, or at none

The activity has a visibility rule in UI Props. It shows only where the named field is ticked, or has the named value, on the bound record. If the bound record can't be read, or the visit's Field Name field is empty, the activity is hidden. Check the field on the outlet, or clear UI Props.

A worked activity has no Start Time or Duration

This is expected. Activity records are usually created already started, so the server never stamps a Start Time on them, and Duration is calculated as 0. Use the task's start time and the activity's End Time instead.

Common questions

Do existing visits pick up changes to the template?

Yes, for any task the executive has not started yet. Visits do not hold their own copies of the template's tasks. The web and mobile screens read the template each time the visit is opened, so a new, renamed, re-ordered or hidden entry shows up on every planned visit that uses the template. Once a task is started on a visit, that visit records the task's name, type, sequence and hidden flag as they were at that moment, and later changes to the entry no longer affect it.

Can executives do tasks in any order?

Yes. Task cards are listed in Sequence Number order, but nothing stops an executive from starting a later task first. The Execute Out Of Sequence flag on an entry is not read. Order is enforced only inside a task: when a task has mandatory activities, they must be completed in their own sequence before the task's other activities unlock.

What is the difference between a task's Mandatory flag and an activity's?

Only the activity's flag does anything. A mandatory activity is listed first in its task, locks the task's other activities until it is done, and on the mobile app blocks ending the visit as Productive. The Mandatory checkbox on the entry is stored but no screen reads it, so ticking it changes nothing for the executive.

Can the template switch the Accept/Reject, directions or reschedule buttons on and off?

No. The template record has fields with those names, but they are on no delivered form, they are not copied onto the visits a plan creates, and neither the web nor the mobile visit screen reads them. The only switch that has an effect is Show Accept/Reject Option on the visit itself: when it is ticked, a visit that has not started shows Reject and Accept & start instead of the usual start button. Plans do not set it, and it is on no delivered visit form. To use it, add the field to the visit layout (see visits), or set it in bulk with an import. Directions are offered whenever the visit has a location or address.

Why do the template's activity types differ from the executive's Add activity list?

Several captures were renamed after templates were first built, and the template's Activity Type list still offers the older names: Checklist, Photo Capture, Returns Pickup, Time & Expense and Custom Form. Each older name opens the renamed capture (Previsit, Customer KYC, Return Pickup, Time & Expenses and the Custom Form record form), so existing templates keep working. The executive's Add activity list is built from the current catalog, so it shows the new names. It leaves out Custom Form and Generic Component, which need settings only a template activity has, and it includes five captures the template list does not offer. The activity catalog maps one to the other.

Can one visit use more than one template?

No. A visit carries a single template, taken from its plan. To combine work, put all the tasks into one template, or create a separate template for each kind of beat and attach each one to the right beats.

How do I report which activities were not done?

Count from the template, not from activity records. A visit gets a Visit Task Activity record only when an activity is worked, so an activity nobody touched leaves nothing behind. Counting activity records with an empty status therefore finds almost nothing. For each visit, compare the template's activities with the activity records that exist and are Completed. The difference is the work that was not done. Extra activities the executive added during the visit have no template activity, so they show up as additional records.

Reference: the activity catalog and captures

The activity catalog

The template stores the Activity Type value, and the web and mobile visit screens look up the same capture form from it. Some values in the template's Activity Type list are older names of a capture that has since been renamed. They still open the renamed capture, and the executive's Add activity list shows the current name. A value the catalog does not recognise opens the generic start-and-complete form.

The Add activity list also offers five captures that the template's Activity Type list does not: Window Display Audit, Window Display Onboarding, Complaint Capture, Vehicle Check-In and Generate Service Invoice.

Checklist templates

A checklist template is a reusable named list of questions. A checklist-type activity names the template to run. Other mobile activities, such as Merchandising Audit, can also pick a template whose Type matches the activity type, honouring its Is Active flag, its dates and its customer scope. The template's Frequency and mandatory flag have no effect. See Checklist templates for building templates, the answer types and every screen that uses them.

Photos and signatures

Photo capture is part of the composed activities rather than a separate step: each type declares how many photos it expects (minimum and maximum), and the images attach to the activity as files. Signatures use a drawn signature pad and attach the same way. Both work offline — files queue with the activity and upload on sync.

Custom types

The template's Activity Type list is delivered with the platform and is the same on every tenant. For capture the catalog does not cover, use one of the two configurable types instead of a new value: Custom Form opens the create form of any record type you name in Object Name, and Generic Component opens a layout you design over a record the visit already holds (see Step 9). Either way, custom capture reaches the visit without code. A value outside the catalog, for example one loaded by import, opens the generic start-and-complete form.

Related topics

• Visit plans
• Beats and routes
• Complete a visit
• Visits and the field day
• Planograms and shelf audits
• Visit Task Template reference
• Visit Task Template Entry reference
• Visit Task Template Activity reference
• Visit Task Activity reference
• Task — entity reference
• Visit — entity reference